BirdBox2015: monitoring two video streams from motion

We now have two bird boxes which can stream video across our dedicated bird box wifi network.

Prompted by NestBoxTech I have spent a couple of hours this morning looking at simple and tidy ways to monitor the video created by the motion application.

The easiest way has got to be to use a web browser.

BirdBox2015: the blue tit daily routine

A pair (or possibly more than one pair) of blue tits have been visiting our two Raspberry Pi bird boxes since early March.

 

They have a little daily routine which is likely to continue for another week, before they change gear, and start the business of nest building.

Both Pi powered systems seem to be working well, so I'll be ready when the real action kicks off.

RaspberryPi: Simple Time Server

Both my birdbox systems and my Portable (garden) PiCam need to know the time & date in order to properly time-stamp video clips and events.

Up until now I have relied upon an old HP Compaq D510 to help set the correct time, but I've finally got around to replacing this with a not quite so old Pi B v1 Rev1.

Although the D510 was quite economical, my Pi replacement should consume less than 5% of the power of its predecessor.

Gambas, mixing versions, & "Compile All"

This is a reminder to me.

And once I've written it down, I'll probably stop forgetting it!

This should stop me being puzzled when my Gambas applications don't execute as expected.

BirdBoxPi2015: deployed at last!

I managed to finish off the 2015 bird box on Wednesday and attached it to an archway, just a few metres outside our back door.

Something triggered it around midday yesterday, but didn't stick around long enough to be captured on video.

I just have a small niggle where the system is taking 15-20 seconds to find the time file. But other than that, its all systems go!

The RaspberryPi model B+ mark 2

I've just been given a new Raspberry Pi.

It is my 10th Pi and my first mark 2 board, the Raspberry Pi that is claimed to be 6 times faster than a B+.

So it is time to check it out and also measure the current drain using the same test conditions that I've used for my other models.

BirdBoxPi2015: this 'n that

The clock is ticking, but things are coming together nicely, if a little slowly.

Our garden is alive with birds at the moment, with mixed groups of finches, common tits (blue, coal & great), and the usual favourites including blackbird, thrush and a pair of robins.

To be honest, once we switched one of our feeders from mixed bird seed to sun flower hearts, we have seen quite an increase in bird traffic.

BirdBoxPi2015: Jessie U-Turn & other troubles

Unfortunately I've had to abandon Raspbian Jessie and return to Wheezy.

But I'm now back on track, with both hardware and software performing as expected.

I started out using Jessie and had no problems with my Gambas applications, custom scripts and other applications that I rely on for my system, including VLC media player.

BirdBox2015: Picaxe controller details

Progress has been slow due to other commitments, and a heavy bout of man-flu.

But I've been testing the Picaxe powered controller with a RaspberryPi and it works just as I had hoped.

This low power controller may even be a useful building block for other battery-powered application.