Ideas for a 200yd digital spotting scope?

monkey · Jul 29, 2013

My friend is trying to come up with a way to view targets for his 200 yard range without having to use an optical spotting scope. He doesn't have any power nearby. I came up with a couple ideas, but wasn't sure if there was anything already out on the market:

* Digital Telescope with USB output to a webcam

* Place a cheap camera with video output near the target and run power and video cable 200 yard back to an LCD monitor. All powered by a jump starter/battery pack. Not sure how many minutes or hours you could get off of that though.

BigSteve57 · Jul 29, 2013

Someone else had the same idea.
Have a look at this:

http://bullseyecamera.com/media/PDFWHReviewBullseyeCamera.pdf

Pinecone · Jul 29, 2013

WIreless camera, battery powered.

Look at the first person video RC model airplane stuff.

photoracer · Jul 30, 2013

That is similar to the system being used on the 1000y range at Peacemaker. Theirs is some Swedish system I believe, not sure of the brand myself.

chevellenut71 · Jul 30, 2013

I made one, the only problem was My cheap ass didn't get a good camera. I used a wireless camera/wireless router / inverter / and some batteries.. oh and lap top....worked good still have the set up.. but the picture was a little blurry, could have been the sun though didn't have a chance to put a sun screen on it yet.. anyway it's not hard to do. and you should be able to take it out to 300 yards.. Batteries lasted for a couple of hours or more..(never ran out)

and you don't need a laptop you could use your smartphone....I'm getting old so it was nice looking at a 17 inch screen..

SOMDSHOOT · Jul 30, 2013

A buddy of mine bought this rig last year. It works excellent and both units are battery powered.
RF-Link Digital Wireless Security/Baby Monitor

MikeTF · Jul 30, 2013

Two cell phones. One down range. One at the bench. Skype. Just don't shoot the c cell phone down range. A tablet can be used, just set up a hotspot if your tablet is WiFi only.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

chevellenut71 · Jul 30, 2013

SOMDSHOOT said:
A buddy of mine bought this rig last year. It works excellent and both units are battery powered.
RF-Link Digital Wireless Security/Baby Monitor

That will only work out too 100 yards give or take..

monkey · Jul 31, 2013

I forwarded my friend the bulleyes camera and he said he take a look into that. Cell phone quality is poor and baby monitor cameras don't have the range. I'm surprised nobody has added an LCD screen to a telescope. Hmm, maybe I should patent that idea...

SOMDSHOOT · Jul 31, 2013

chevellenut71 said:
That will only work out too 100 yards give or take..

450 feet equals 150 yards. I'm willing to place my bets that it will make it the additional 16.6667 yards without a commercial break.

He sighted his .300 WinMag in at the minimal required 300 yards for his Colorado Elk hunt a few years ago.

BigSteve57 · Jul 31, 2013

monkey said:
I forwarded my friend the bulleyes camera and he said he take a look into that. Cell phone quality is poor and baby monitor cameras don't have the range. I'm surprised nobody has added an LCD screen to a telescope. Hmm, maybe I should patent that idea...

Zeiss has come close:

http://sportsoptics.zeiss.com/nature/en_us/spotting-scopes/victory-photoscope-spotting-scope.html

chevellenut71 · Jul 31, 2013

BigSteve57 said:
Zeiss has come close:

http://sportsoptics.zeiss.com/nature/en_us/spotting-scopes/victory-photoscope-spotting-scope.html

If you want spend 5 to 7 grand on it!!!! I"m POOR :sad20:

BigSteve57 · Jul 31, 2013

chevellenut71 said:
If you want spend 5 to 7 grand on it!!!! I"m POOR

Yep I'd buy a lot of things before I'd get something like that.

BenL · Jul 31, 2013

BigSteve57 said:
Someone else had the same idea.
Have a look at this:

http://bullseyecamera.com/media/PDFWHReviewBullseyeCamera.pdf

That's actually pretty nifty for the money. :thumbsup:

krucam · May 6, 2016

HoCoAR said:
Digital Target Monitor (Video Spotting Scope)
https://www.kickstarter.com/project...rget-monitor-video-spotting-scope/description

Still looking at the features of this monitoring system but cannot find anything about recording or output jacks.

Looking for DVR like features with a one button 10 second rewind (or double tap for 20 seconds), 8 hours of movie storage, pause/continue recording button, audio input from the line or other way to include current stats. Thinking telescope and laptop.

That looks sweet, and a fantastic price point...

OrbitalEllipses · May 6, 2016

Is there a problem with using a spotting scope with a smartphone mounted to the eyepiece?

Melnic · May 6, 2016

Pinecone said:
WIreless camera, battery powered.

Look at the first person video RC model airplane stuff.

This is a good idea cause there is lots of it out there.

For a non remote system, my dad routinely runs his little video camera on high zoom on a tripod out to 100 yards. I know one of my cameras I have is good enough to zoom in and see the moons of Jupiter on a clear day if I can get the brightness set up in manual correctly. You want a camera with a good lens (mine had a Carl Zies lens). I bet it would not be too bad out to 200 yards. You can run the video output to a bigger low power portable monitor.
There are lots of 7" and 8" video panels out there on Amazon. You'll need to be in the shade or add a shade box.

ToolAA · Jul 30, 2016

I stumbled across this thread while trying to find a decent spotting scope without totally breaking the bank. Sorry to hijack this thread but it seems like the best place to continue the discussion.

I'm interested to find out if these wireless target cameras really work well. It seems like target cam for $500 may provide better target viewing than a similarly priced scope.

If anyone has used one of these I would love to get some feedback.

Also I Realized that I had about 1/2 of the parts to try to make my own wireless cam. I already had an old router and cheap wireless security cam. A quick test was barely viewable at 10ft away. The built in lens on the ipCam had a very wide field of view.

I picked up a telephoto security cam lens for $12 and replaced the stock lens.

Here is a few photos using the Foscam iPhone app.

Camera was 11' from the target on the ground. Also this camera is 4 yrs old it only has 0.3 MP. 640x480 resolution. So Im going to order a newer HD wireless cam, portable battery and directional antenna and try to give this idea a real test at the range.

I'm taking back the optical scope tomorrow and using the money grab some of the parts to put this to a real test.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

THier · Jul 30, 2016

How about a go pro?

ToolAA · Jul 30, 2016

THier said:
How about a go pro?

My son has one and I tried it. The image is clear but the lens has such a wide angle you can't see the small details. Also even though the GoPro has WiFi it connects directly to your phone at short distances. You cannot extend it's range.

I did start laying out my design to convert an ammo case. I also did order an HD cam from amazon which should arrive tomorrow.

I should have a working test setup fir a range trip next Saturday. If the test at 200yds works well I would like to connect with someone who has access to a private shooting area 500+ yds.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Ideas for a 200yd digital spotting scope?

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