I found some info on building using a wireless IP camera connected to the internet by a mobile hotspot to make a wireless trail camera with live feed. The link to the article is below. The one thing i'm wondering is how much data will it use monthly. If it doesn't use much, the plan could be as cheap as $20 a month, but if it is constantly using data it could get pricey.

Anyone have any experience making one of these or any thoughts on how much data it will use?

http://www.ehow.com/how_5772777_build-camera-live-video-stream.html

Priced out on Amazon everything would cost about $350 including the solar panel and deep cycle battery. I know cellular cameras are available from bushnell and such, but it would be cool to have live video feed from an IP camera.

why DIY ?
shipped to your door (several under $100 ) -
http://www.dx.com/s/gsm+camera

plug in your SIM card and go . . .

I agree, not worth it to DYI any more....

You can buy a name-brand Covert Code Black for that and pay $15 a month for 5000 pics (more or less if you like) delivered to your phone. Can do videos too. They take care of the cell plan, SIM cards, etc. Seems like I was getting pictures about an hour after I signed up.

Bandwidth on the cell plan would eat you up $-wise I imagine...

Charlie

Have you actually purchased one from this site? Seems to good to be true...

The advantage that I see in the DIY is being able to sit at work and pull up a live video feed from my desktop. You can also get a camera that you can pan, tilt and zoom. You can set it to send you alerts, take stills, or record video, when it detects motion too. It'll do everything the coverts, bushnells, etc will do and then some. Its going to cost you about the same or a little less as the coverts and bushnells, but in my estimate for the DIY I did include a deep cycle battery, and a 20W solar panel.

There is nothing complicated to a DIY one like this and doesn't require any advanced computer or electrical knowledge. Pretty much plug and play. The only hurdle i see is what I said in the original post and that is figuring out the data usage. If it uses all 10 gb on a 20$ plan in the first few days then it won't be worth it. Unlimited plans are $60+ per month and at that price its not worth it to me.

How are those camera's?

I'll stick with my Spartan HCO Blackout that I got from Verizon. It cost $419 and only $5 a month as an add on to my existing Verizon plan. And I get great pictures sent to me in just seconds. And they have an add on for $3 a month so you can remotely change all the settings. And I can grant access to the picture to others or have the pictures emailed or text and it does not eat up my data limits.

Dame corn thief during the day-