How to monitor tank level at remote bush..no electric?

[Maplewalnut]

Alright, looking for a creative way to keep an eye on my tank level ....with no electricity available.

I have two remote woods- one is 3/16 natural vacuum but about 6 miles from sugar house. Sometimes the tank is overflowing sometimes not even enough for full load. I have been trying to figure out a way to use my cellular trail camera to keep an eye on the tank level. The camera needs motion to trigger a picture though

Anyone have anything creative they use to try and save trips

Thanks
Mike

[mike103]

Do you ice fish? I wonder if a flag on a tip up rig would trip the camera motion sensor, then you just need a float on the bottom of the tip up ...

[littleTapper]

What model trail camera? Some have a time lapse mode.

Or, a big pile of corn by the tank and let the critters constantly trip it :)

[Kh7722]

If the budget allows you could use a smartrek system or comparable brand that has a tank level sensor. They are amazing for calming your nerves and simple to use, usually a set of batteries lasts all season if not more.

[Maplewalnut]

I have talked to all the manufacturers and no one has anything that doesnt require electricity since all are based on sonar which needs alot of current.

Unfortunately my Spypoint camera does not have a time lapse feature

[bill m]

We use small battery powered wireless security cameras from Reolink. A small solar panel keeps a 12 volt battery charged for the camera and a hotspot. Live video is available 24/7 from our phones, tablet or laptop. Saved us on a number of occasions from the tank overflowing.

[OGDENS SUGAR BUSH]

12 volt battery ,Zomodo camera and smarttalk hotspot

[wiam]

I use this camera, https://www.ebay.com/itm/720P-WIFI-Wireless-Pan-Tilt-Security-IP-Camera-CCTV-Night-Vision-Security-Cam/333186146238?pageci=4e1c35b7-8c93-41a5-b2a5-8c5b316b728d with a hotspot and deep cycle 12 volt. A solar panel helps.

[Maplewalnut]

Thanks all. I am not familiar with hotspots. Is there a monthly charge or do you have to align it with your phone carrier or can it be independent? Anyone better than another?

Thanks
Mike

[bill m]

My hotspot device was $90, I own it. $10 a month added to my cell phone bill, unlimited usage.

[wmick]

I have talked to all the manufacturers and no one has anything that doesnt require electricity since all are based on sonar which needs alot of current.

Unfortunately my Spypoint camera does not have a time lapse feature

This peaked my interest.... As a hunter, I do have some remote locations where this would be pretty neat... I dont know anything about the different spypoint cameras or software, but I did find this in a "Spypoint Link app" overview.

TIME LAPSE MODE
Interval:
(From 3m to 24h)
Allows the camera to take photos at regular preset intervals. For example,
if "5m" is selected in the TIME LAPSE mode, the camera takes a photo
every 5 minutes even if there is no detection. This option allows the user
to obtain photos of game outside the detection range of the camera.
Note: The TIME LAPSE mode only applies for photos, not videos. When
the TIME LAPSE mode is selected, the DELAY option and the MULTISHOT mode are disabled

https://www.spypoint.com/upload/manuals/5d55ada39aefa.pdf

[Maplewalnut]

This peaked my interest.... As a hunter, I do have some remote locations where this would be pretty neat... I dont know anything about the different spypoint cameras or software, but I did find this in a "Spypoint Link app" overview.

TIME LAPSE MODE
Interval:
(From 3m to 24h)
Allows the camera to take photos at regular preset intervals. For example,
if "5m" is selected in the TIME LAPSE mode, the camera takes a photo
every 5 minutes even if there is no detection. This option allows the user
to obtain photos of game outside the detection range of the camera.
Note: The TIME LAPSE mode only applies for photos, not videos. When
the TIME LAPSE mode is selected, the DELAY option and the MULTISHOT mode are disabled

https://www.spypoint.com/upload/manuals/5d55ada39aefa.pdf

Unfortunately I have the spypoint micro model which does not have time lapse but this does seem like the cheapest easiest option. I am now trying to figure out hot spot options and how I would place a camera looking down into tank? I have milk tank with the port holes that I could remove a cover and rig one up to somehow.

[wmick]

Unfortunately I have the spypoint micro model which does not have time lapse but this does seem like the cheapest easiest option. I am now trying to figure out hot spot options and how I would place a camera looking down into tank? I have milk tank with the port holes that I could remove a cover and rig one up to somehow.
Cool - Instead of getting nagged that you're spending too much on Hunting or too much on Maple, she can nail you for both at once..... :lol:

[VT_K9]

Your challenge is obtaining a network. If you use the CDL monitoring you need to have a gateway for each area monitored or a bunch of relays between...6 miles is far when the relay reach out 600 feet or so.

Next up is a camera which can be viewed live over the internet. Maybe a neighbor nearby will let you "buy" into their system for some syrup. You'll need a decent WIFI system. We are using Ubiquiti here and it works well. The sugarhouse is about 300 feet from my house and we are using an outdoor antenna on each building. I believe I am getting about 400 range around the sugarhouse. I plan to extend the wifi into the woods to our sap shack which is about 1200 feet away. We'll use the outdoor antennas and 12v batteries with a solar panel.

We currently have the CDL monitoring system up and running for our sap shack which is about 700 feet away. We have one vacuum sensor between the sugarhouse and the shack which acts as a repeater. We will likely have two sensors acting as repeaters between the sugarhouse and the new shack.

We are using a Battery Tender solar panel to charge the 12v battery and a USB adapter to run the monitor.

I am not sure what your Cell trail cam costs per month, but I am sure you could run a POE style camera through a network connection on a hotspot (portable cell internet device providing wifi for several users) which runs about $10/month when you add it to a plan (for my Verizon plan that is what it costs).

Mike

Mike

[wiam]

Thanks all. I am not familiar with hotspots. Is there a monthly charge or do you have to align it with your phone carrier or can it be independent? Anyone better than another?

Thanks
Mike

My hotspot is from Straighttalk. Device was around $50. 4 gig and 60 days cost $45.

[Delta Glen]

H20 sells a cellular based security camera. They come setup with either Verizon or 'other' enabled network. They can take video or still shot based on motion. Or you can simply send it a text and it will snap a picture and send back to you. There are no yearly contracts. Cheapest plan gets you 100 pics a month for $10. Cancel after season and reup next season.

[Michael Greer]

How about a float with a little flag that would flutter in the wind. The height of the mast could indicate the sap level.

[Maplewalnut]

How about a float with a little flag that would flutter in the wind. The height of the mast could indicate the sap level.

Thanks, this is the way I am headed. I figure i can use a gauge of some sort in the background to tell me how high the flag is which would correspond to a tank level. I ordered a new camera that has time lapse capability. Anothe plus is it will tell me the temperature of this bush which routinely is 4-5 degrees higher than home bush, which as you know makes a huge difference!

[Trapper2]

2050020501
I live 85 miles away from my woods, I set a trail camera on a bag and set the camera to take a picture every 4 hours during the day and send me a picture. This year I will be putting one on my collection tank also as I will be running 3 lines to it. I'm amazed how much better it shows up at night than during the day.
20502

[Trapper2]

20503
I did learn to put the camera closer to the bag during the course of the year. Also, try to get 2-3 bags in the camera frame at the same time. The Covert Codeblack camera you can set to send you a picture as an email or text as often as you want.

[Trapper2]

I guess I should have read all comments before I posted mine. Seeing that you already have a cellular camera even though it doesn’t have a time lapse feature you can still use it. Just set the camera to send you a picture every 3-4 hours or what ever interval you desire and then set a bird feeder in front of the camera with your tank in the background. But me, I would use maple syrup production as as excuse to buy yet another Covert. Lol

[Amber Gold]

How well do these cameras see in the dark?

I'd like to put one inside my pump shed, so I can check vac. level, how fast it's coming into the releaser, and if the vac is running. I might be able to capture this in a single camera. Will I be able to see these if there's no light inside the pump shed? I can install a light if needed, but would prefer not to. I may also mount a second camera on my sap tank railing, so I can see how much sap is in the tank.

[tcross]

i'd say you could very well use it in the dark. the attached picture is using a Stealth Cam (i use only stealth cam and spy point) with "no glo" (basically infrared). they make cameras that have the option of using an actual flash, which would be better. My camera will detect up to 100' and take a pic... however in the dark it's hard to make out the object in the photo if it's more than, say 50-60 feet away. the deer in this pic is about 15-20 feet away from the camera. without all the vegetation to distract you, i'd assume you'd very easily be able to see sap levels. i'd say a short 5 - 7 second video would be even better.
20584

[PARKER MAPLE]

So my question here is. And I believe these cameras will work great and are an inexpensive alternative to the smartrek units.
Here my question. So weather your running a mechanical or electric releaser. It should dump into a tank. If you positioned the camera in such away that every time it would pump out or dump, Would the camera then take a picture of the tank and level all at once? If so what if one would place a object that would float up as the level rises then you could see both if on a time lapse video.

[Sugarmaker]

Folks,
Would a picture of a clear site tube with a indicator float it it tell you that the tank is at a certain level? Another way to try to get around this is to size the tank so that on the best run it still has some head room. I have 600 taps 30 containers at 35 gal each or about 1100 gallons of storage capacity. Approx 2 gallons per tap. I must say though, that I am close enough I can drive about 1/2 mile to the first container and get a feel for how the sap is running.
Good suggestions on here using the cameras.
Regards,
Chris

[wiam]

Here are some pics from my $20 camera. Black and white are taken in complete darkness (infrared) one of releaser dumping is a screenshot taken by camera in motion detection. When I had it set up like that it would send a notification to my phone each time it dumped. You can also watch live from your phone. 20593205942059520596

[Maplewalnut]

To close this out, here is what I did, again remember no electricity is available anywhere near. Bought a cellular camera that takes time lapse pictures. I have a milk tank so I used the 1 1/4 inch port that had a dip stick originally in it. Have a 6 " float (think toilet float) inside the tank and a 1/4 stainless rod threaded into the float. The top of the rod extends up through smaller hole where dip stick was and through the top of tank where I screwed on a 2" cork ball (similar to a fishing bobber) The cork prevents the rod from slipping back into the tank. As the tank fills, the float rises and pushes the cork bobber higher. Paint the cork ball a bright color so you can see contrast on the camera pictures. Cell camera send pics right to my phone or email

Mike