Camouflage

[Nweaver]

 My wife wasn't having the bare Arlo up front on our porch, so I dreamed up a birdhouse solution:

http://www.amazon.com/Toysmith-2957-Build-Paint-Birdhouse/dp/B0019MQD72/ref=sr_1_15?dd=4sa0ckUuXNb0q...

All I had to do was enlarge the hole ont he front panel, chamfer it, and build a riser off the floor of the birdhouse to hold the camera up to the hole. Double stick tape holds the camera to the riser, and the roof comes off for battery changes.

[TomMac]

Nice outside the box thinking...happy wife, happy life!

but, you do know they have silicon colored skins now... I just used krylon plastic paint and sprayed one of mine black...hides well with trim.

[Nweaver]

In the same Amazon order, I got my skins too. Just put 2 on.

I was wondering though what would stick to the silicone though, so thanks for that.

I don't feel the need to hide ALL of them, just the one at the front door and the others that are reachable by a baddie who could spot it.

Also, the birdhouse took all of 20-30 minutes, and I have ZERO woodworking skills. Just needed something to cut wood with (for the riser scrap), a curved file, and a hammer. It's made as a kids project, which definitely helped 🙂

[Bearscreek]

Very nice!

[JamesC]

Nweaver,

Very creative disguise! Have you caught any birds wondering why they can't get in? 🙂

Have you noticed any issues with the signal strength due to the camera being enclosed in the birdhouse?

JamesC

[rustygearhead]

yes I'm interested to know if the wooden box attenuated the signal much ....

Also, does the birdhouse swaying with the tree/wind trip the motion detected alarm, or is is smart enough to realize that since the entire image is moving that it must be the camera and not something in the field of view?   😉

[jguerdat]

If the camera isn't near the edge of useful connection, I wouldn't think the box would be an issue unless it was waterlogged and/or painted with lead-based or metallic paint.

As for motion, the PIR is a simple differential detection device and wouldn't know the difference between swinging or actual motion.  Maybe smarter firmware or server-end software would be able to tell the difference but that's not where we are now.

[rustygearhead]

Thanks jguerdat !

I was not sure about the motion ... so anchoring the camera to a tree or other object that would "sway" with the wind is likely NOT a good idea ...

That alters my deployment stratigy   😉  

but I'm glad I found out before I got the ladder out and started climbing trees   😉