4 ms·

What is the sensitivity/range? I've always wanted something like this to carry in the woods to detect game/trail cameras. Not for any nefarious purpose, but to

What is the sensitivity/range? I've always wanted something like this to carry in the woods to detect game/trail cameras. Not for any nefarious purpose, but to get an idea of how surveilled the woods are.

etrautmann 2y ago
Don’t many of those just store data locally?
- Loggias 2y ago
  [dead]
- kubectl_h 2y ago
  Oh duh, yeah you are right. I had swapped RF and IR in my head for some reason when I was scanning the project page and thought this was somehow picking up signals based off noise from the sensor. Might be time for bed for me.
  - ffujdefvjg 2y ago
    Game cams with cellular modems are getting to be pretty common, and you can equip them with solar panels. Basically just set em and forget em. It wouldn't surprise me if this is making them much more common...you can get them deep into the woods and don't have to go check on them hardly at all. https://www.forestry-suppliers.com/c/trail-game-cameras/3-30-932?page=1 https://www.forestry-suppliers.com/c/trail-game-cameras/3-30...
    - A4ET8a8uTh0 2y ago
      Sigh, it used to be at least woods offered respite from ever-present cameras. I am starting to think I should stop trying to fight the impending 'Transmetropolitan' future.
    - jamil7 2y ago
      Game cameras are truly pathetic.
      - defrost 2y ago
        Some applications are, sure. The cameras themselves are useful for catching remote area | rural thieves on mine leases, rural properties, etc. They're great for spotting and counting rare and endangered species to better direct conservation efforts.
        ffujdefvjg 2y ago
        Quite a few people dumping their trash in the woods illegally have been caught in my area with them. They just need to outlaw private citizens putting them on public property without a permit. Big fines could be a deterrant. Maybe USFS/BLM/NPS employees need some sniffing devices. The upshot is that if it's got a cellular modem, someone's paying a bill and they can usually be found pretty easily if you have the modem. With fire seasons going the way they are west of the Rockies, I'd be a little concerned about a bunch of lion batteries scattered through the woods. Just takes one of them to blow up in late summer (say it gets crushed by a tree) and there's a good chance it'll be a multi-billion dollar problem that kills people.
        potato3732842 2y ago
        Pretty much all the C and D rate state forests, nature preserves, etc, etc, in my state were only ever having their trails maintained by the "nominally illegal but nobody actually cares" SxS and ATV riders because the dog walkers and the hunters are much less averse to going off trail and even if they weren't they aren't packing a 15lb cordless chainsaw around to clear whatever fell on the trail. Karens with game cams have done a lot to curtail this.
      - toss1 2y ago
        Agree, if you are talking about hunters (and I feel the same about fish-finders). To them: dude, if you're going to hunt or fish, don't just cheat, learn the craft. For my purposes, I've found a game camera extremely useful for finding what and when various critters are eating the garden and other plants in the yard, and to figure out what discouraging and diverting measures actually work. I also get a few pretty cool wildlife pics I'd never otherwise get.
- potato3732842 2y ago
  Yes but since it's the woods and not a university computer lab the only other noise source should be your personal devices so the noise from the "sleeping" camera should be pretty easily detectable even when it's simply looking for motion.
  - 05 2y ago
    Not really, those are using PIR motion sensors to wake up, so you'd need to be able to capture the burst of activity when the camera actually wakes up and takes a picture. PIR circuit is very low power, so not much RF energy to detect while it's sleeping..
    - potato3732842 2y ago
      The unshielded electronics are still going to be highly RF reflective the same way that a car headlight is still reflective when not powered. Pretty much all bug sweeping works on this premise. Finding a game cam in the woods with basic bug sweeping equipment is like finding a headlight housing on the ground in the woods at night using a flashlight.
      - 05 2y ago
        > highly RF reflective What do you mean, exactly? Most of what you can find in the forest is 'RF reflective' because of the water contents - the trees, the grass, the ground. What's the proposed detection method that is going to discern a reflection from a small PCB from a reflection from a large tree trunk? edit: first, the camera isn't a retroreflector so you can't just light it up from any direction and get a strong reflection. Second, the kind of equipment that would give you good directionality with a static target is some next generation beam steering radar, that stuff is so expensive you're better off walking around with a 4K camera and then processing the footage with an image detector to find possible matches with images of trail cameras.
RamboRogers 2y ago
This is dependent on the antenna. With a short 915 mhz antenna it picks up stuff 50 feet away. It auto calibrates on boot so if you’re in the woods I bet it would work really well. Just make sure you turn it on without a strong nearby signal.

etrautmann 2y ago

Don’t many of those just store data locally?

Loggias 2y ago
[dead]
kubectl_h 2y ago
Oh duh, yeah you are right. I had swapped RF and IR in my head for some reason when I was scanning the project page and thought this was somehow picking up signals based off noise from the sensor. Might be time for bed for me.
- ffujdefvjg 2y ago
  Game cams with cellular modems are getting to be pretty common, and you can equip them with solar panels. Basically just set em and forget em. It wouldn't surprise me if this is making them much more common...you can get them deep into the woods and don't have to go check on them hardly at all. https://www.forestry-suppliers.com/c/trail-game-cameras/3-30-932?page=1 https://www.forestry-suppliers.com/c/trail-game-cameras/3-30...
  - A4ET8a8uTh0 2y ago
    Sigh, it used to be at least woods offered respite from ever-present cameras. I am starting to think I should stop trying to fight the impending 'Transmetropolitan' future.
  - jamil7 2y ago
    Game cameras are truly pathetic.
    - defrost 2y ago
      Some applications are, sure. The cameras themselves are useful for catching remote area | rural thieves on mine leases, rural properties, etc. They're great for spotting and counting rare and endangered species to better direct conservation efforts.
      - ffujdefvjg 2y ago
        Quite a few people dumping their trash in the woods illegally have been caught in my area with them. They just need to outlaw private citizens putting them on public property without a permit. Big fines could be a deterrant. Maybe USFS/BLM/NPS employees need some sniffing devices. The upshot is that if it's got a cellular modem, someone's paying a bill and they can usually be found pretty easily if you have the modem. With fire seasons going the way they are west of the Rockies, I'd be a little concerned about a bunch of lion batteries scattered through the woods. Just takes one of them to blow up in late summer (say it gets crushed by a tree) and there's a good chance it'll be a multi-billion dollar problem that kills people.
        potato3732842 2y ago
        Pretty much all the C and D rate state forests, nature preserves, etc, etc, in my state were only ever having their trails maintained by the "nominally illegal but nobody actually cares" SxS and ATV riders because the dog walkers and the hunters are much less averse to going off trail and even if they weren't they aren't packing a 15lb cordless chainsaw around to clear whatever fell on the trail. Karens with game cams have done a lot to curtail this.
    - toss1 2y ago
      Agree, if you are talking about hunters (and I feel the same about fish-finders). To them: dude, if you're going to hunt or fish, don't just cheat, learn the craft. For my purposes, I've found a game camera extremely useful for finding what and when various critters are eating the garden and other plants in the yard, and to figure out what discouraging and diverting measures actually work. I also get a few pretty cool wildlife pics I'd never otherwise get.
potato3732842 2y ago
Yes but since it's the woods and not a university computer lab the only other noise source should be your personal devices so the noise from the "sleeping" camera should be pretty easily detectable even when it's simply looking for motion.
- 05 2y ago
  Not really, those are using PIR motion sensors to wake up, so you'd need to be able to capture the burst of activity when the camera actually wakes up and takes a picture. PIR circuit is very low power, so not much RF energy to detect while it's sleeping..
  - potato3732842 2y ago
    The unshielded electronics are still going to be highly RF reflective the same way that a car headlight is still reflective when not powered. Pretty much all bug sweeping works on this premise. Finding a game cam in the woods with basic bug sweeping equipment is like finding a headlight housing on the ground in the woods at night using a flashlight.
    - 05 2y ago
      > highly RF reflective What do you mean, exactly? Most of what you can find in the forest is 'RF reflective' because of the water contents - the trees, the grass, the ground. What's the proposed detection method that is going to discern a reflection from a small PCB from a reflection from a large tree trunk? edit: first, the camera isn't a retroreflector so you can't just light it up from any direction and get a strong reflection. Second, the kind of equipment that would give you good directionality with a static target is some next generation beam steering radar, that stuff is so expensive you're better off walking around with a 4K camera and then processing the footage with an image detector to find possible matches with images of trail cameras.

RamboRogers 2y ago

This is dependent on the antenna. With a short 915 mhz antenna it picks up stuff 50 feet away. It auto calibrates on boot so if you’re in the woods I bet it would work really well. Just make sure you turn it on without a strong nearby signal.