Spent $150 on a fancy crane camera system that mostly just shows me pigeons

I got this wireless camera kit last month to help with blind lifts on a site in Tacoma. The idea was to mount one on the hook block and see everything on a tablet in the cab. After a week of fiddling with the signal (it kept cutting out near the building), the main thing I've seen clearly is a pair of pigeons building a nest on a steel beam I lifted last Tuesday. It's kind of funny, but for the price I was hoping for less bird watching and more actual work help. Has anyone had better luck with a specific setup that actually holds up on a busy site?

3 comments

3 Comments

simonh743d ago

That steel beam interference is a killer. @kim693 is spot on about shielded cable, we had to run one for a 200 foot lift last fall. The trick is getting a camera with a decent low light mode too, so you can actually see into a shadowy corner.

kim69310d ago

My buddy had the same issue with a cheap wireless setup on his jobsite. He ended up running a hardwired camera with a shielded cable and it finally worked right. The signal just can't fight through all that steel and interference.

averywilliams10d ago

Yeah I used to think wireless was the way to go for everything. Tried to save time on a setup last year and it was a total headache. @kim693 is right, once you get into a space with metal and machines, the signal just falls apart. Running a proper cable might take more effort up front, but it actually works when you need it to. Learned that lesson the hard way.