Frequently Asked Questions

Below are a selection of frequently asked questions with answers. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us if you have any questions about our products though.

Purchasing

Every farm has different requirements, be it for the type or number of cameras, budget or level of ‘farm-proofing’ required. For that reason it’s difficult to give a one size fits all price. We prefer to find out as much as we can about your farm and what you need the system to do and then give you an accurate no obligation quote. That way we know that you are getting the livestock camera or security system most suited to your particular farm. Please contact us on 01382 217 377 and a member of our team will assist you.

Unlike other companies we don’t charge any ongoing fees for usage of the app or footage recording as we feel this should be covered in the initial purchase price.

If you are using the 4g models due to network access requirements you will need to purchase a sim card at an additional cost, we suggest at least 1gb of data per month. Call us for more information.

Cameras that people use on farms for livestock monitoring or security purposes vary significantly in price, technical specification and build quality. When comparing prices its important to ask yourself the following questions:

  1. Are the cameras the same specification?
  2. Do the components have the same build quality
    Are you buying a fully configured, farm proofed kit?
  3. Does the company you are buying from have experience of installing on farms – do they understand what a farmer needs to see and how a farm works?
  4. Does the company look like it will have a good level of aftercare and service – will they still be around in a few years time when I may start to get problems? Will it offer the same level of aftercare support?
  5. Are there any ongoing costs?
  6. Is there any warranty?

Cameras that people use on farms for livestock monitoring or security purposes vary significantly in price, technical specification and build quality. When comparing prices its important to ask yourself the following questions:

  1. Are the cameras the same specification?
  2. Do the components have the same build quality
    Are you buying a fully configured, farm proofed kit?
  3. Does the company you are buying from have experience of installing on farms – do they understand what a farmer needs to see and how a farm works?
  4. Does the company look like it will have a good level of aftercare and service – will they still be around in a few years time when I may start to get problems? Will it offer the same level of aftercare support?
  5. Are there any ongoing costs?
  6. Is there any warranty?

We offer a 3 year warranty on all major components of the kit (Cameras, Network Video Recorders Etc. We also include a 12 month full support package so, for any problems however small (new phone, router etc) we will be able to help you. After the twelve months we offer either; pay as you go support OR a paid monthly support package.

You are also covered by our Customer Promise: If you are not happy with the camera’s performance at any point during the first 3 months, give us a chance to put things right and if you are still not happy, simply send back the main components and we will give you a full refund.

In most cases you will need less cameras than you would think. We would suggest putting yourself in a position where you would like the camera to be, if you can see everything you need to see by swivelling your head around then the camera is much better than your eyes and you will almost certainly only require one camera. If you are still unsure just call us and we can advise.

YES – we focus on looking after our customers to the best of ability. For simple problems we offer lifetime advice. In the first twelve months we offer a full system warranty – meaning any problem however small we’ll help you with free of charge.

After the first year we then offer both a pay as you go support package or a low cost monthly maintenance plan.

Finally our cameras are all covered by a fantastic 3 year warranty.

If you are a business and are recording images you will probably need to register with the Information Commissioner’s office. It’s relatively straightforward and we have found that the help line is very helpful. More information can be found on the website www.ico.org.uk. There is also a code of practice which is very useful which can be found here:

Technical Features

Our static security cameras have onboard video analytics that can be used to detect and alert you of any visitors to the farm. This is about 80% effective, you will get some false alarms and it will miss the occasional activation, but our customers often find this added feature very useful. For more accurate alerts detection systems can be integrated into our cameras, this would require our installation service and is not really suitable for a self installed system.

If the farm camera system you have chosen uses a Wi-Fi link you will be supplied with two antennas: a transmitter and receiver. One of these is mounted on the farm house and the other on the buildings in which the calving camera or security cameras are fitted. As long as the two antennas can see each other with a clear line of sight (no obstructions in the way) then a range of up to 10KM is achievable. Note over shorter distances small obstacles such as trees should not pose a major issue. If you don’t have a clear line of sight – just call us as there are nearly always ways we can get the system up and running for you.

Our systems are a hybrid. All the cameras are hardwired within the shed but then use a single dedicated wireless bridge to transmit images from ALL of the cameras back to the farm house. If the house or office is close enough and easily accessible for cabling we often try to fully hardwire the system.

In our experience “truly wireless” systems aren’t yet up to the task, and in the past we have replaced several wireless systems our customers have bought elsewhere. We know our wireless bridge solution is robust and will do the job.

The cameras can be set up to be viewed from as many devices as you like but should only be controlled from one device at a time (it’s easy to see if someone else is moving the camera). The limiting factor for numbers of people viewing the cameras at one time is usually your internet speed BUT even on a slow connection most farms add about 4 or 5 devices.

You can view your calving, lambing or security cameras on just about any device that can connect to the internet. For example: iPhone, android Phones, iPad, Tablets and laptops etc. ( MacBook’s require further set up which we can assist with) viewing through some android smart TV’s is also possible and we can assist with this though we usually suggest getting used to the platform on the tablet or phone first to see if you really do want to see the cameras on a TV.

We have found over the years that site visits are rarely necessary to provide a great result, but site visits can be arranged if required.

We have done our best to ensure that our system is as adaptable and future proofed as possible if a camera stops working or a better one comes on the market our cameras will just need switched out for the newer model. In fact our systems should work with most cameras on the market that satisfy a few basic technical standards.

You can also expand the system and easily add cameras to it in the future.

You have two options for recording from your farm cameras. Onboard recording using an SD card house in the camera itself OR using a networked video recorder.

With onboard recording as an example you can expect to get 5-7 days using a 64GB SD card in a 2MP camera and 2 to 3 days off a 128GB SD card in a 6 MP camera. If longer is required we can alter settings to extend this time frame.

With a networked video recorder, it depends on how many cameras are on the system and how big the hard drive is. Typically, we aim for 2 weeks minimum with 30 days being ideal.

The camera can deliver pictures over different channels of varying quality (these channels are called streams). We will set up one stream as an High Definition stream which you use to view when you are LOCAL to the camera – i.e your phone is connected to the same router the calving or lambing camera is connected to. This stream is crystal clear when combined with one of our 25x zooms you’ll be amazed at how good it is.

We need to set the other streams up with a reduced quality so they are ideal for viewing when you are AWAY or remote from the farm. Although the image is of a reduced quality you will still be able to see everything you need to see to monitor the health and security of your livestock.

As an indication of quality on the HD image you will likely be able to read an ear tag pretty much anywhere in even the biggest sheds with a Pan Tilt Zoom Calving camera. On the SD you may well still be able to read the ear tag, but the image will be less sharp. On a small screen you might not see much of a difference but on any screen you’ll be able to see the important things – e.g.- which way up the hooves are, if there is a bag over the face, is the mother in distress etc.

The ability to see what you need from a camera depends upon choosing the correct camera.

for the position that you are planning to place. Just give us a call and we will help you make sure that the camera you choose is the right one.

Installation

Typically we supply our camera systems with a waterproof control box. This control box requires just a single 240V socket and ALL of the cameras will run off power from this point. (i.e. There is no need for sockets at each camera). Cameras can be a maximum of 100m (and in some cases 200m) from this socket, meaning that the cameras can be in a different shed to the control box. For example the control box could be mounted in a secure workshop with lambing or calving cameras in other sheds.

We have spent a lot of time designing a farm camera kit that is very easy to install. On the farm side you really only need basic DIY skills to mount the equipment and run the cable. On the house / office side the hardest bit is getting the cable into the house in a neat manner. BUT in our kits we provide everything you need to achieve a neat finish, and most of our customers manage this part easily. At worst an electrician could do this part for you in well under an hour.

As for the technical side of things – all of the cameras will be set up specifically for you and your farm – so there should be very little for you to do, however, we will be on hand throughout your install to help you out.

If at any point you run into major problems with the installation and feel unable to complete it we will do our best to get you up and running over the phone BUT if required we will send out an engineer to complete the set up. We have dispatched DIY kits all over the UK and are yet to need to send out an engineer. The installation process really is that straight forward.

If your home / office shares the broadband that the camera system plugs into then when you are at home then it really does not matter how poor your internet connection the cameras will be just fine. You only need the internet connection for when you are away from home and even then you only need the most basic internet connection speeds, it is very rare for there to be a connection that the cameras will not work on. BUT if you are worried you can do a speed test here: https://www.google.com/search?q=speedtest and call us for advice.

We have two levels of farm camera kit: BASIC and PROFESSIONAL. In both cases we include everything you need for a robust ‘farm proofed’ installation including cable clips, bird spikes and board to mount the control box on. You should not need to buy anything extra. All you need are basic DIY tools.