Cameras around my house

I had the unfortunate situation of having some items stolen from my garden. Time for a security cam I thought.

So I got myself a Raspberry Pi Zero W and a camera.
Hardly any surprise that this security venture grew a bit.
There are now ten cameras round the house. Not all for security.
I only need to supply power as they all connect to two of my 2.4GHz wifi networks. I use the clock setting of the PIs to slow the CPU down to 600MHz which is plenty fast enough for what I want them to do and it helps to keep them cool in the hot summer months.

Listed here, for your amusement are all my cameras as of the 8th Aug 2021.
click on any image for a large picture.

You may also be interested in other Pis about the house here.

What I call - picam01 and picam03

These are the first and third cameras I installed. They consist of a Pi W in a case and a Microsoft LifeCam HD-3000 and a Microsoft LifeCam Cinema Webcam that I picked up for £2 each at a car boot sale.

pic of my picam01 and picam03 cameras


These are cameras 1 and 3 (1 is on the right) they are fastened to the eaves of my bay window.

pic of my picam01 and picam03 pi zero W


The Pi Zero Ws that run these cameras are located inside the house 1 is the higher and 3 the lower. They are early Pi Zero W with a 32Gb micro SD card. Running constantly since 2014 apart from SDcard replacements in 2020. I now have them unboxed as they tended to overheat.

view from Picam01 view from Picam03


and these are the views from these cameras.

What I call - picam02

This was the second camera I installed. It consists of a Pi W in a case and a Microsoft LifeCam Cinema Webcam.

pic of my picam02 cameras


This is camera 2 fastened to the eaves of my bedroom window.

pic of my picam02 pi zero W


The Pi Zero W that runs this camera is located by my bedroom window. It is an early Pi Zero W with a 64Gb micro SD card. Running constantly since 2014.

view from Picam02


and this is the view from this camera.

What I call - picam04

pic of my picam04 camera which is inside the bird nesting box


This is picam4. It is installed in the roof of this bird box. It is an unboxed Pi Zero with 32Gb micro SD card, a 8Mpixel PiCam NOIR and a Edimax wifi dongle. There are also six LEDs used to illuminate the inside of the bird box. Three IR and three white. The white LEDs can be turned on and off via the PI's GPIO.

I don't have an image of this camera as I would have to dismantle the bird box. I've not had any nesting bird in here for some time but I do get the occational visitor.

view from Picam04


and this is the view from this camera. As the bird box uses IR LEDs the images are mostly in monochrome with some natural light getting in through the front enterance.

The power block for cameras 4 and 5


As these cameras are some distance from the 5volt supply in the house they did tend to suffer from voltage drops and spikes on the power line. This has been solved by installing a voltage regulator device and supplying it with 12volts from a leisure battery that powers my radio transceivers. I have set this to drop the 12volts to 5.05volts. Result: No more camera dropouts.

What I call - picam05

pic of my picam05 camera which watches the outside of the bird nesting box


This is camera05. It is installed in a Ferro Rocher plastic box with some polystryene padding as heat protection. It is a Pi Zero W with 32Gb micro SD card and a Microsoft Lifecam. Powered from the same power regulator as Picam04.

view from Picam05


and this is the view from this camera. I get lots of funny shots of dumb people who can't work out how to open the gate. At least I did until one prat demolished the wall!

What I call - picam06 and picam08

These two cameras were installed when we decided to install a hedgehog shelter and an insect sanctuary in the garden. They consist of two Pi Zero W, a Microsoft LifeCam Cinema Webcam and a 8Mpixel NOIR Picam.

pic of my picam06 camera which is under a pile of logs pic of my picam06 camera which is under a pile of logs


This is camera06. It is installed under a pile of logs that provide winter sanctuary for insects and the like. To protect the camera from weather damage or interference by the wild life it is enclosed in a clear plastic box (actually a Ferro Rocher box) and is screwed onto a wooden plinth for stability and to keep it slightly above ground level.

pic of my picam06 and picam08 camera which are inside the hedgehog shelter


This is camera08. It is installed next to picam06 on the inside of the hedgehog shelter. Picam08 is a Pi Zero W with 32Gb micro SD card and a 8Mpixel PiCam NOIR. This is housed in a plastic "business card" box. There are 6 LEDs round the picam. Three are IR LEDs that are on 24/7 and three are white LEDs that can be turned on and off via the GPIO of the pi. Picam06 is a cased Pi Zero W with 32Gb micro SD card connected to the Microsoft LifeCam Cinema Webcam pictured above.


As these cameras are some distance from the 5volt supply in the house they did tend to suffer from voltage drops and spikes on the power line. This has been solved by using a 19volt supply (actually an old laptop PSU) and installing a voltage regulator device inside the same plastic case as picam8. I have set this to drop the 19volts to 5.05volts. Result: No more camera dropouts. You can see an internal image of the power-box under picam07 below

view from Picam06 view from Picam08


and these are the views from these cameras.
As picam08 uses IR LEDs to illuminate the inside of the shelter the images are monochrome.

What I call - picam07

This camera consists of an uncased Pi W and a Microsoft LifeCam HD-3000 Webcam.

pic of my picam7 cameras


This is camera 7 fastened to the underside of the bird table to keep a watch on the bird feeders.


The Pi Zero W that runs this camera is located inside a plastic box along with the camera. It is an early Pi Zero W with a 32Gb micro SD card. Running constantly since 2016.

pic of my picam07 and picam10 camera which are on the bird table


As these cameras are some distance from the 5volt supply in the house they did tend to suffer from voltage drops and spikes on the power line. This has been solved by using the same laptop PSU as cameras 6 and 8 and installing a voltage regulator device inside a plastic business case. I have set this to drop the 19volts to 5.05volts. Result: No more camera dropouts.

view from Picam07


and this is the view from this camera.

What I call - picam09

This camera consists of an uncased Pi W and a cheap and cheerful Webcam.

pic of my picam9 camera


This is camera 9 which sits near the entrance to the garage.


The Pi Zero W that runs this camera is located inside a plastic box along with control circuits to operate the gates at the end of the drive. It is an early Pi Zero W with a 8Gb micro SD card. Running constantly since 2017. Because of the heat that can be generated by the gate power supply (which also powers the Pi Zero W) the pi also controls a cooling fan. The fan is located behind the copper grille in the lower right corner of the control box.

view from Picam09


and this is the view from this camera.

What I call - picam10

This camera consists of an uncased Pi Zero using an Edimax 2.4GHz wifi dongle and a 5Mpixel ZeroCam from the PIHut.

pic of my picam10 camera


This is camera 10 which sits on top of the bird table. It is mounted inside yet another business card case which keeps it safe from the wind and rain of which we have plenty here in Norfolk.
The camera has a fisheye lens giving a better view of the birdies as they feast on the delights we put out for them.
This camera is also powered from the power-box as seen above for camera 7.

view from Picam10


and this is the view from this camera.