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How to install a camera inside a bird boxTwo of the most frequently asked questions of site visitors are (1) 'What make of camera do you use in your bird box?' and (2) 'How do I go about fitting a camera inside a nest box?' The installation information on this web page is for a miniature board camera (model 3046LA) from Henry's CCTV Centre, but similar, pre-wired kits are also available from Maplin Electronics, RF Concepts and others. See links at the bottom of this page. Whatever you buy, make sure that your camera board has a built in microphone. Sound is almost as important as the picture!
Click on any of the pictures below for an enlarged view
The camera board used in this project is model 3046LA from Henry's in London. I also bought their 12 volt power pack and 16 metre cable kit. The camera circuit board has a plug in connector with 4 colour coded leads (pictures 1and 2 above) so it's only a matter of minutes before you can have the whole thing up and running. A multi block electrical terminal (picture 2 above) was the only additional purchase. The supplied SCART adaptor connects to a domestic television, video recorder or DVD recorder. Or ..... you can connect directly (yellow phono connector) to the 'Video In' on your computer's capture card / TV card. For audio input you will then need a converter from (e.g. Maplin Electronics, or a computer dealer etc.) This adapts the white audio phono plug to a miniature stereo jack plug for your computer's audio card. Click on any of the pictures below for an enlarged view
It would be worth plugging the whole thing together and testing it before installing the circuit board in your nest box. Focusing can be adjusted later. I made a false ceiling for the nest box allowing the lens to poke through the underside (picture 2 above). Birds have been known to attack the camera circuitry, particularly if they see their reflection in the camera's lens, so, be warned! The red ringed section in picture 3 is my own enhancement, a single, high power infra red LED (light emitting diode) with in-line resistor. The LED enables me to view the inhabitants of the box even in total darkness. By fixing the LED horizontally I avoided a 'white-out' effect that's sometimes reported with infra red cameras where the LEDs are directed at the floor. As the light is infra red it's invisible to the birds and causes them no distress. Important note:- My infra red LED uses 100ma and the camera also uses 100ma. Make sure that your transformer is rated high enough to run a camera and a high power LED without overloading it. If you're a practical person and have a basic knowledge of electronics
it's not too difficult to provide additional infra red lighting
to boost the image quality of a black and white camera under low
light conditions. These are the items I used - YH70M
high power LED from Maplin Electronics
and a 150
ohm 3 watt wire wound resistor W150R,
also from Maplins. The
150 ohm resistor is for cameras that use a 12 volt supply such
as my Henry's one. It would need to be a different value if the
camera you use has, for example a 6 volts or 9 volts supply. A
3 watt resistor is much higher rating, in
theory, than
you need, but I found that smaller ones ran incredibly hot.
If the information in the paragraph above appears daunting (or meaningless!) then Henry's has a 117A camera with 6 infra red LEDs pre-installed. It comes with a mounting bracket and produces 380 lines of resolution. Conversely, the 3046LA uses a Sony image sensor, has a higher resolution of 420 lines, but no infra red 'night vision' LEDs and you need to secure it in the roof space, preferably above a false ceiling. See pictures above. You may be quite happy without adding any additional lighting to the 3046LA, as evidenced by this e-mail I received - The image, as you suggested in your mail, was brilliant under normal daylight conditions, so as yet we have not added any LED lighting. Today was very dull and cloudy and still the image was crystal clear. Note:- the 3046LA camera will not produce images in totally dark conditions without supplementary infra red lighting. I've outlined the basic features. The decision is yours! Click on any of the pictures below for an enlarged view
Before re-fixing the roof and the bird box it's worth adjusting the focus to get as sharp a picture as possible. Try and obtain sharp focus at approximately 3 cm or so from the nest box floor. This allows for the build up of the nest and the chicks in the nest. You can make your own close focus chart - see above. The text on line 3 is only 3mm high. Run the cable from your house to the bird box and connect the 6 pin miniature DIN plug and socket (picture 3 above). If any connectors are exposed to the elements, wrap them in self amalgamating tape to prevent water ingress at a later stage (picture 4) This tape is also used by satellite installation engineers and is readily available from some DIY stores and Maplin Electronics. (Yes, them again!) Re-connect the transformer and sit back and wait for the birds to start making their preliminary inspections, possibly as early as February. It's worth keeping the power connected to the camera continually to avoid condensation problems on the circuit board and mist on the camera lens. Don't forget to turn up the sound at feeding time and make sure that you treat your ever hungry brood to some mealworms. They're a real life saver. Good luck! | The first pictures from the new camera - Bird Box Diary 2005 | Pre built systems are available from Birdcam & Box Watch Relevant links within this web site
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3rd
June 2006:- Henry's have contacted me about their 117A
camera. The 117A is a new model 'mini camera'. It has built in
infra red light emitting diodes for night time vision and there's
also a colour version 117CTA. These 'mini cameras' are much easier
to install than a 'board camera' but the resolution of the black &
white 117A is lower (380 lines compared with the 3046LA at 420
lines). See 
