Viewing a Camera via a phone

[cardiffrob]

I wasnt sure where else to go to find knowledgeable people....

I wanted to see a close-up of a target on a firing range since my eyesight isn't what it used to be.

I bought an ESP32 Camera kit but have really found myself far out of my depth with the programming. Am I missing a simpler cheap option? Are there other devices that come ready for wireless transmission that can be connected to an Ipad or phone by someone barely above "Buffoon" level? Our Range doesn't have a wireless connection nearby so it needs to be self-contained.

If I can make it work it would help lots of us elderly f4rts.

 

[My Old Landy]

Not on a phone but I bought an fpv camera and monitor for around £110 in total.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/VGEBY-480x272-Wireless-Receiver-Monitor/dp/B0CL7HX4W6

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Camera-800TVL-NTSC-Switchable-Drones/dp/B0C537CT2R/

These ones are close to what I got.

 

[addjunkie]

Big binoculars!

 

[sako243]

Spotting scope, kind of what it's designed for...

 

[Migmac]

Two phones, video chat or a good old fashioned spotting scope

 

[cardiffrob]

Ta.

Tried a spotting scope before. Not so easy to use when standing with a BP Pistol. Too much bending over and squinting through the smoke!

Hadn't thought about a second phone. Will try it out tonight.

 

[Anguz]

If you go the phone route there is an app called Alfred that will do what you need

 

[Tinbasherdan]

I think this is the perfect excuse to buy yourself a drone…….

 

[addjunkie]

I think this is the perfect excuse to buy yourself a drone…….

Thats actually not a bad idea, works In Ukraine!

 

[hotponyshoes]

Most of the cheap (<£50) drones use a smartphone app for the camera.
Some use the same app so you tilt your phone to actually fly the drone.

Even if you just placed the drone to look at the target without flying it over it would be a easy and cheap way of showing the camera image on a phone.

I quite regularly install cameras into horseboxes that then connect to a phone/tablet via wireless. But a decent quality picture will cost you £150 or so (plus the phone) and you would need a 12v supply for it as well.
I'd expect the drone battery would run the camera for quite a while with the drone not flying?

 

[Shedendman]

Erm,you have a gun and your eyesights a bit dodgy

 

[Jack Ryan]

I don't know what your camera is, or what the camera kit does, so I can't help much.

Canon has an app for their cameras that allows me to see on my phone what the camera sees. The camera has WiFi though to connect directly with the phone. It might work with a USB cable as well - I forget.

Jack

 

[Ian X]

I bought a phone adapter for an old Parker Hale scope to avoid breaks in eye concentration to look into the eye piece, it works well.

 

[cardiffrob]

Well, I got there eventually. I now have SVGA quality images, at 20 per second, straight to my phone and Ipad but only via a local network. I would have prefered to run it directly from the camera to the phone.

Apologies for the look of total suprise on my face and the lack of a coffee mug for scale.

The camera, minus battery, fits inside a matchbox, thus reducing the chance of an errant round blasting it to oblivion.

 

[Tinbasherdan]

Well, I got there eventually. I now have SVGA quality images, at 20 per second, straight to my phone and Ipad but only via a local network. I would have prefered to run it directly from the camera to the phone.

Apologies for the look of total suprise on my face and the lack of a coffee mug for scale.

The camera, minus battery, fits inside a matchbox, thus reducing the chance of an errant round blasting it to oblivion.


View attachment 485451

Christ I knew work had hit you hard since I saw you last rob but still

 

[Robotstar5]

The camera, minus battery, fits inside a matchbox, thus reducing the chance of an errant round blasting it to oblivion.

What's the matchbox made of if it can survive a bullet strike?

 

[cardiffrob]

Christ I knew work had hit you hard since I saw you last rob but still

Yeah, thanks. Lack of sleep will do that to you. Teaching Indians, Nigerians and Turks to fly scary Jet planes shaves a lot of life off of you.


As to the matchbox, I'm thinking layers of rubber and steel. It's only going to be subsonic 357s and the occasional .577 whilstling past. If it's on a bendy pole then it might survive an errant shot. It ca sit 45 degrees off the centreline at about 4 feet so should be safe, unless Dan is shooting