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  • Clovis

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Aug 1, 2011
    1,408
    Centreville
    Technology baffles me, so this is over my head, but I think if I were you I would look into a patent application before someone else does. Would be a shame to have someone tell you you can't use your own invention.
     

    campns

    Ultimate Member
    Mar 6, 2013
    1,191
    Germantown, MD
    Technology baffles me, so this is over my head, but I think if I were you I would look into a patent application before someone else does. Would be a shame to have someone tell you you can't use your own invention.
    It only becomes am issue off someone tries to sell the system, everything posted here is public domain this no issues.

    Sent from my E6782 using Tapatalk
     

    ToolAA

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Jun 17, 2016
    10,499
    God's Country
    Technology baffles me, so this is over my head, but I think if I were you I would look into a patent application before someone else does. Would be a shame to have someone tell you you can't use your own invention.


    I didn't invent anything here. I found examples online of guys doing this 15yrd ago using VCR cameras and whatnot. Also there are several good systems already available on the market they just cost $400-700 or so.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     

    Alan3413

    Ultimate Member
    Mar 4, 2013
    16,921
    Umm.. for $150, I can get a pretty decent spotting scope that can see out to beyond WiFi range.
     

    ToolAA

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Jun 17, 2016
    10,499
    God's Country
    Umm.. for $150, I can get a pretty decent spotting scope that can see out to beyond WiFi range.



    True. I ended up getting a spotting scope too for high power matches. However .223 holes on black paper at 200yds is tough to see without spending big money on good glass.

    If you are just plinking at the range there is something about not having to squint through an eyepiece.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     

    Clovis

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Aug 1, 2011
    1,408
    Centreville
    I didn't invent anything here. I found examples online of guys doing this 15yrd ago using VCR cameras and whatnot. Also there are several good systems already available on the market they just cost $400-700 or so.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

    OK, I was just amazed at the technology and your skill with it and thought you should be rewarded for it. Not a big deal, back under my rock.:lol2:
     

    ToolAA

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Jun 17, 2016
    10,499
    God's Country
    Got a chance to test this out at Ft Meade today with another MDS member. Tested at 300yds and 600yds both worked great. Considering the strength of the signal I'm not trying to figure out how and where to test to 1000yds

    Here is a photo at 600yds.

    26c7b9ba7fab64ac459d8b2b56799b0f.jpg


    The only real problem I've found is that sometimes there is a feedback delay. So you fire your shot and then about 1-2sec later you see the impact on the screen. Also when you try to use the pan/tilt controls the camera movement continues for about 1/2sec after you stop pressing the buttons.



    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
     

    dart451

    Member
    Sep 6, 2017
    5
    ToolAA, I've been reading this thread over and over and have noticed that your link on POE Injector Adapters isn't working. Could you look at this and possibly re-link it? I'm trying to get all the parts together and I'm not exactly sure which one you used in this case. Thank.s
     

    ToolAA

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Jun 17, 2016
    10,499
    God's Country

    ToolAA

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Jun 17, 2016
    10,499
    God's Country
    I figured out how to eliminate the external router and updated the instructions above. I'll get some screen shots posted of how to setup the network soon.
     

    ToolAA

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Jun 17, 2016
    10,499
    God's Country
    I’ve had a bit of time and desire to revamp the case design since my last case got shot. The new one is about 1/2 the size and 1/3 of the weight with room to store the remote battery pack and antenna. Plus i mounted the Antenna on the lid so the plan is to leave this in the up position when shooting and getting the antenna about 14” above the ground, which should give me more range.

    Trying to teach myself Fusion 360 in the process. After 33 yrs of 2D drafting and CAD it’s been a challenge to feel somewhat competent with 3D modeling.
    b2a8ba724058f295fc35ca1c4124dc44.jpg


    Still need to add the battery pack and buck boost transformer.
    a1991836460036d292f1cfd73b2685bf.jpg


    I’m happy with the outside appearance.
    f5713789b5c8613e1e0da5951130c201.jpg


    If any of you guys with 3D printers want the STL files to make your own, I’ going to post this on GrabCAD once its all done and tested.
     

    ToolAA

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Jun 17, 2016
    10,499
    God's Country
    Rainy day in the workshop. Decided to get this thing finished up.

    Had to cut about 1/2” from the sides of the Foscam camera body to get it to fit into the Plano case.
    e4f23f93dae7636f177a84c1e20d82f9.jpg


    Removed the antenna board from the Ubiquiti M2
    907c581283eb6bba1af91b4036ffca68.jpg


    And inserted into the 3D printed housing attached to the case, added a small boost transformer to take the 5v USB power to 24vdc and built a small cat5 jumper to eliminate the POE splitter in the original design.
    aa7d6119f6baa164d57d164f6e5b9289.jpg


    Made a wiring harness and Added some Kaizen foam to securely hold the smaller USB Battery
    8b80e500e4ad1fc25c1e416d3b603691.jpg


    Built a separate 3D printed case to house a small USB battery, transformer and antenna board.
    ca55a5b1ea979177415e8f86d1645671.jpg


    8bbc566c559059556b2caba6686b8127.jpg


    Now I’ve got a remote antenna with battery and an connector so I could charge my phone, ipad or power my Lab Radar.
    bc855921aa20607006656a74afb04018.jpg


    Stores nicely inside of the camera case along with a small USB charger.
    f75a5a25f97764eb62b3bfdfd9da16c2.jpg


    The new redesign is smaller, lighter, has storage for the remote unit and gets the beam antenna further above the ground which should improve signal.

    Now just have to use it at the range.

    I’m going to be updating the setup instructions for the antenna as it seems I made a few mistakes as well adding the instructions on how to setup the camera software.

    Enjoy
     

    ToolAA

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Jun 17, 2016
    10,499
    God's Country
    This is a revised instruction for section 6.

    For some reason I can no longer edit the original post. I noticed a few errors in my previous insttuctions to setup the two Ubiquiti antennas and I've added instructions to setup the Foscam Camera using the web interface.

    Section 6 – Network Setup (Revised 7/22/18)

    Step 1 - Getting Ready to setup the M2 Antennas – If you are a person with network administration experience you could probably download the instructions from the Ubiquity support pages and figured this out faster and probably better than what I've done here. If you are NOT computer or network savvy be patient because it's a little convoluted.

    Anyway download the quick setup instructions for the M2 Here.

    Ubiquiti AirMAX products may have one of two firmware types installed.

    If your unit has the latest version 6 download the user guide Here.

    If your unit has the older version 5.6 you can download the user guide Here.

    You do not have to upgrade the firmware of your M2's to version 6.0, but my screen shot photos do show are from version 6.0. If you are using firmware v5.6 your setup screens will look slightly different.

    Section 6 – Network Setup

    Step 2 - Initial M2 Setup – In order to setup the M2 Antenna's to talk to each other and also operate as a wireless router you'll need a PC/Laptop and a CAT5 Cable, POE injector and a power supply for the antenna.

    When you first power on the M2 the wifi network is not active and the Router functions are turned off by default. Then follow the Quick Start instructions. However I'm going to abbreviate them here.

    This step is used to simply access the antenna control panel for the first time from it's default settings

    2.01 - Turn off Wifi on your PC

    2.02 - Connect the Antenna to the PC through CAT5 (Make sure it's powered)

    2.03 - Set the network controller on your PC to have a static IP address of 192.168.1.21 (this is explained in the quick start guide)

    2.04 - Using your web browser navigate to 192.168.1.20 This will take you to the initial log in page to the M2 setup screens. If you get a warning indicating the site is not secure, you'll need to click "Advanced" or whatever procedure your browser requires to proceed to non-secure site. This warning by the way has nothing to do with protecting your PC from some harmful internet threat it's just that it does not recognize the firmware of the device.

    Login using the user name "ubnt" and pw "ubnt". You may be required to change the user name and password later if you are using 6.0 firmware.

    **At this point there are different procedures for setting up the Remote Antenna and the Antenna located at the Firing Line***


    Step 3 - M2 Antenna at Target Location (The one in with the camera) – In this section we'll turn on the antenna router and Wifi settings.

    3.01a - The first step is to set the network to Router Mode. This step is temporary. I'm not exactly sure why you have to do this first but I've now tested if a few times and it seems to be the only way to activate DHCP. Go to the Network tab and change it to ROUTER. Press the [Change] button in the lower right hand corner then the [Apply] button at the top right.

    bce8ce2d4337061c3ffa3a4b79b92f1a.jpg


    At this point you will lose connection to the antenna and you will need to type in the new Router IP Address which is now 192.168.1.1 assuming you didn't change the default settings. Re-connect to the control panel and log in if needed.

    3.02 - Once you've changed the IP settings and re-logged into the antenna, From there you go back to the Network tab and then change the network type SOHO-Router. Press the [Change] button in the lower right hand corner then the [Apply] button at the top right.

    You could change the DHCP IP network settings at the bottom of the page if you know what you are doing, otherwise just leave them on the default.

    b91033e0efd5b0bbada9f59287e67e05.jpg


    Again you will lose connection to the antenna and you will need to Re-connect to the control panel and log in if needed.

    3.03 - Now you will setup the WIFI network of the Antenna. Go to the wireless tab.

    2.07 - There are 3 settings that you must change as follows. Change the Wireless Mode to "Access Point", Check the "Enable" WDS box, Change the Chanel Width to "20 Mhz"

    2.08 - If you want a custom name for your Wifi Network you can change it to anything you want here. Otherwise you can use the default Wifi network name which is simply "ubnt"

    2.09 - Like section 3.01 above click change and apply. However you should NOT lose connectivity this time.

    57f07dc1bea486a4da2cbedd5844fb7e.jpg


    2.10 - The last step on the shooting station setup is to disable AirMax, which is enabled by default. This setting is found on the very first tab.

    ef0ab85999db0bc32737583c2df00f39.jpg


    2.11 - If you've done everything correct you can now disconnect the CAT5 Cable, Enable Wifi on your PC and connect to the new Wifi Network from the M2. Test your connection by using your browser to log into the control panel. If it works you are good so far.

    Step 4 - M2 Antenna at Firing Line Station – You are going to have to follow the exact same steps as 2.01 thru 2.04 above to connect to the M2 for the first time.

    34ca92f2b181a588b3aa64a0c0303aeb.jpg


    4.01 - The first step is to go to the network tab. The device should already be set in the network mode "Bridge" If it's not change it to Bridge Mode. Press the [Change] button in the lower right hand corner then the [Apply] button at the top right.

    db508ea59039eb42dd4d124cf39c18f2.jpg


    4.02 - The next step is on the network tab. The default wireless mode should be "Station" if not change it to station. Change the Chanel Width also to "20 Mhz".

    4.03 - Next to SSID you should see "ubnt" Click the "Select" button to the right and this will bring up another screen. Click "Scan" After a short scan you will be able to see all wifi networks in your area.

    **This is important, if you have your other M2 powered on and nearby you should see a wifi network with the name you setup previously in step 2.08 above.**

    Click the button "Lock to AP" which will force the M2 located at the target station to always and only connect with the antenna at the Firing Line.

    85d21295539552ba67b43eb09e31f1a8.jpg


    Like section 3.01 above click change and apply. However you should NOT lose connectivity this time.

    At this point both of your antennas are configured and it's time to setup the camera.




    Continued to Section 7
     

    ToolAA

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Jun 17, 2016
    10,499
    God's Country
    Continued from Section 6

    Section 7 – Foscam Setup Setup

    Once you have the antenna network setup you can move onto setting the parameters of the Wifi Camera. When you first power on the Foscam Camera it will not be connected to ANY network. The Easiest way to get started is simply Plug in the camera to your HOME router first then use the camera's web interface to setup the camera to work on your Ubiquiti network.

    Step 1 - Logging into the camera for the first time

    1.01 - Download the Foscam Camera Search Tool from HERE This is a direct link to the windows version but they do have a mac version too on the Foscam Website.

    1.02 - Unzip and install the search tool. It's safe and once the camera is installed you can delete it. Make sure your camera is powered on and plugged into the same network that your PC is connected to. Then Run the program.

    1.03 - The software should find the camera. The Camera Name and IP Address will be different than displayed below.
    c25a40143095d5c8a06a7952caa0772f.jpg


    1.04 - The address displayed is the default for the camera. You can simply double click onto the address and this will automatically open a web browser.

    1.05 - Logging into the camera web interface for the first time you should see a startup screen like this. Ignote the username and passwork shown on the image below. The Foscam Manual will contain the default camera user name and pw. Use these to login.
    dd8dedf9f1263c6892916df1a753bcca.jpg


    **Note some web browsers do not contain the proper java script libraries to run the camera web interface. If you get a warning about this when trying to login, follow the instructions to download and install the proper web drivers.

    1.06 - The first thing I did was change the camera name. You do not have to, but as you can see, I've just been trying to keep everything uniform by calling it "RangeCAM" Use whatever name you want.

    c37bde6d7d8e5a7dc493db4306857f54.jpg


    1.07 - Create an administrator user account and password. You could leave this as the default, but I've just change the login to RangeCAM again to keep things easy to remember.

    360e27e817d09375782d8765bdd25499.jpg


    1.08 - This step is pretty important. I like to setup a fixed IP address for the camera. Since this is a closed system I just figured it would load faster if DHCP was off and I always connected to the same IP Address. You can choose anything you want or copy mine. You'll need these settings to setup the camera app on your mobile device.

    74b495b141f8d327eab5b3cb4d7ceeae.jpg


    1.09 - Turn on the WIFI antenna. This is NOT optional, you will be using Wifi to connect the camera to the Ubiquiti antenna, not the CAT5 Port so you need to set the wifi name to the same name you setup for the Ubiquiti network. Again I used RangeCAM on the antenna so I'm using RangeCAM here.

    7b3a7c153b2e21c2051527fe274cf97c.jpg


    1.10 - Setting the Video quality settings - The default settings work, but I wanted to tweak them slightly. I made sure I was using the 720P resolution but I lowered the framerate to 10 frames per second. For what we are using the system for, 30 FPS is overkill and just chews up bandwith which could cause lag at longer distances.

    79c9f0e5006d71d504139e410de66ef9.jpg


    1.11 - This next setting controls the speed that the camera will Tilt and Pan when using the controls in the app. I found that if it's set to Very Slow the camera will not overshoot the target position when moving.

    ec3e26ba3fdcc5adfb0b8f00f4804582.jpg


    1.12 - By default the camera will go into some automatic pan and tilt movement when it's first powered on. In my current case design, the lens was hitting the bottom of the case, and stalling. By disabling this the camera will simply startup pointing to whatever was it's last position.

    491c86f8cc5ea97bf5f4629dc435ca9d.jpg


    1.13 - Backup & Restore settings are used to upgrade the camera's firmware ect. I usually like to create a backup file of the settings once I get everything tweaked and I know it works.

    5e32dfb59906c3bf71842a613453b407.jpg


    1.14 - Camera Operation Settings are adjusted on the main screen. You can play around with the contrast and color controls too, however there are few settings you need to adjust.

    Mode: This MUST be set to OUTDOOR if not then the target image will be totally washed out in bright sunshine.

    Stream: The camera stores several stream modes, you should select the HD mode that you programmed in step 1.10 above.

    NAA: Set this to ON (Not exactly sure what it does)

    Mirror and Flip should be checked if you mounted the camera upsaide down like in my design.

    8b2429eb9dc56dd2c7714c87c6a0ce2a.jpg


    At this point you can disconnect the camera from your home network. When you reboot the camera with the Ubiquiti Target Station Antenna ON the camera should automatically connect to the "RangeCAM" network. If you PC is also connected to this wireless network you can simply type in the camera IP Address into the browser or use the Camera Search Tool and log back in.

    Continued to Section 8
     

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