Siren marine vs Starlink with Blink cameras

[Peregrine1983]

Hi all,

I want to monitor my bilge and battery levels remotely while my boat is on her mooring. A camera would be really nice too. The mooring is in New York with cell phone service.

We have Starlink aboard. I don't normally run it constantly to save power, but I could, if I needed to.

I'm wondering if I should look into a system like Siren marine ($1000+ with sensors) or if I should consider just using the Starlink maybe with some Blink cameras. I figure I'd mount an outdoor blink camera with infrared in my bilge to see water level.

Curious what is working for you all here.

Thanks in advance!

[Jerry Woodward]

I have Arlo wifi cams on my boat, probably the same as Blink. I also have a cellular modem hooked up to my router. I have Google Fi on my phone and they give you an extra data sim card, whch I have in my cellular modem. The cameras don't use much power or data unless they are triggered by motion or sound, or you log in and view them live. I may pay an extra $10.00 for data on top of my monthly Google Fi cellular bill. This is a lot less than Starlink. Of course I also pay a monthly subscription for the Arlo cams, $14.00 I think.

So far, I just monitor motion and the cams will record a brief recording and send me a push message on my cell. I have thought about using them for a bilge sensor. I think the way to do it would be to put a bilge alarm that makes a loud noise in the event of water contact. Then you can set a sound detection on the cameras.