Bird box camera advice please

Thank you, Alan, for the welcome and the quick response. Those links look quite helpful, I'll go and read in more detail. My problem is that I don't really know what I need but I might be more enlightened once I have read the links on birdboxesonline. Thanks again, Daryl.

Welcome from Mitcham. I can't help with your query I'm afraid. However, you may be certain that someone on here will be able to help. I purchased a CCTV system from Maplins to view parts of the garden where I hoped my robins would nest. Unfortunately the female chose a nesting site some 100 yards away and two storeys up! I hope to be able to use it next Spring, maybe just to film the birds in my feeding area. Good luck with your camera set up.

Hi Daryl

Welcome from a rather damp Kent. I had a bird box camera set up this summer and it rather took over my life, so beware! We watched a pair of Great Tits build a nest, lay eggs and rear seven chicks, a couple of which died but the rest successfully fledged.

I have three wired system cameras so not directly comparable but the cameras themselves all seem to be more or less the same. The problem with wireless systems is that you need to put the box where there is line of sight as the signals do not always travel well through house walls - in spite of what companies tell us. You may by experimenting manage to get a nest box set up that will generate a reasonable signal. The alternative is to buy a length of cable and just connect the camera directly to the TV. You need to check the connectors. Many companies sell just the cables.

I would also persevere with the company that sold the product - it is shameful that so many companies these days ignore customers and offer poor support. Although it is a decent looking website, the company address appears to be a house (look it up in Google Maps) so may be a 'one-man' business. Parts of the website (About Us) have not been completed.

Good luck

GeoDave

Hi Monkeycheese of Mitcham! Did you find Maplins knowledgable or did you know what you wanted before you went?

Thank you GeoDave. It sounds as if maybe we should look at direct wiring for the camera - it looks as if there is not much chance of a satisfactory wireless arrangement.

As for UKWildlife Cameras, I have had no reply to my emails and their phone number goes straight to a message system which they ignore. I don't know what else to try apart from going to Trading Standards. I do feel very 'ripped off' by them even though it was a gift.

Hi Alan,    

It's this one www.ukwildlifecameras.co.uk/.../premium_multi_bird_box_camera_systems_P594.html ..... I noticed when I went to get the link that there is much more information on the page than when I last looked. Maybe I should persevere and send them another email.

The camera itself should give a nice image sadly there is no picture of that camera with the antenna on that site only a drawing and going off the drawing its very small also running it off a 9volt battery will drop the power output 12volts would be better and of course having both transmitter and receiver in line of sight to give the best results.

Jim

Thank you all so much for your replies. I'm going to look into getting a power cable and a cable to connect to the receiver and see if we can find a suitable place to run them through a wall into the house.

I might well be back with more questions later !

Well, here I am a whole year later, having moved house and finally found a bird box and camera that works. It is now fitted to a north facing house wall under the eaves about 8'- 9'off the ground (it's a bungalow).

So now my question is, is there anything I can do to entice and encourage the birds to use the box for roosting and nesting?

Should I put something in there as 'bedding' for temporary night roosting?

Would hanging a feeder of some kind next to it encourage them?

Any suggestions would be most welcome.