I would like to mount a wireless camera in my backyard (we live in a rural area) to watch the typical wildlife that wonders by. I see tracks for deer, coyotes, raccoons, and others. I plan to get a camera that can see in the dark (infred Camera). Mount it in or near a tree where I've seen the track and have the recevier in my home attached to the TV and a VCR. I've found the camera I want to use. It's small, it works outdoors and it runs on a 9 volt battery. The problem I have is that I don't want to keep changing batteries. I would like to attach a small lawn tractor, ATV, or motorcycle battery (12 volt) to a voltage regulator (dropped to 9 volts) and have a solar panel battery charger attached to the battery. What I hope to accomplish is a self-contained power source for the camera mount on a pole or tri-pod that can be moved is a different spot each week.
Has anyone done something like this and can you give me some advice as to how I can made this all happen? One of my concerns is that the camera will drain the battery completely during the night and the solar panel will not charge the battery completely during the day. I plan to use a Solar Charge Controller to help control the charging of the battery. The camera is spec'ed to use 150ma.