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Home surveillance systems?

M

Mr Bob

Golden Member
Anyone ever setup a small home surveillance system?

I was thinking about spending a couple hundred on one, and just wanted to get some opinions. I wasn't quite sure yet if I can get away with a wired setup, as wireless look to be pretty expensive right now.

I would definitely need video capture, plus nightvision, needs to be fully connected to my PC too.
 
Trust me... Axis is the way you wanna go... go cheap you don't see peap! If that is even spelled right haha ^_^
 
"I was thinking about spending a couple hundred on one "

That doesn't mean one that costs a couple thousand will fit the bill....
 
Panning cameras are great. Out of a modest budget however the coverage is great.

The Canon VB-C50i overlooking Port Canaveral, FL here is one example. I'm there today and that's our ship to the right if you take control and pan the camera. 🙂

We're here every Tuesday until 2100 local time until December before the schedules change and often when I have permission I sweep a powerful DPSS (green) laser across the heavens toward the camera and it can be seen. I was thinking about making a post about it on its own but the ATOT effect would probably kill our RR uplink. 🙁
 
Those are fine for the given application. Remember a panning camera with zoom lens can replace many static cameras. It really depends on what you want to look at and document. It's possible for the handy DIY'r to have a multi channel HDD recording system on a shoestring budget too. 🙂
 
swann


you have several choices

PC CARD (I use this, and it works great)
http://shop1.outpost.com/product/428292...8Qts88d1TQkMQkn2YxqSvsvYLx99870tGKg1ff!-900587105!506723083&site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

Cameras:
wireless micro cam
http://shop1.outpost.com/product/474514...8Qts88d1TQkMQkn2YxqSvsvYLx99870tGKg1ff!-900587105!506723083&site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

addon for wireless micro cam kit (above)
http://shop1.outpost.com/product/442710...8Qts88d1TQkMQkn2YxqSvsvYLx99870tGKg1ff!-900587105!506723083&site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

outdoor with nightvision
http://shop1.outpost.com/product/389050...8Qts88d1TQkMQkn2YxqSvsvYLx99870tGKg1ff!-900587105!506723083&site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

micro wired (i have this one)
http://shop1.outpost.com/product/427931...8Qts88d1TQkMQkn2YxqSvsvYLx99870tGKg1ff!-900587105!506723083&site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

high resolution indoor/outdoor cam
http://shop1.outpost.com/product/499595...8Qts88d1TQkMQkn2YxqSvsvYLx99870tGKg1ff!-900587105!506723083&site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG


high res indoor cam
http://shop1.outpost.com/product/428862...8Qts88d1TQkMQkn2YxqSvsvYLx99870tGKg1ff!-900587105!506723083&site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG


those are just some of them, just search 'Swann' on frys.com
 
Originally posted by: Mr Bob
Anyone ever setup a small home surveillance system?

I was thinking about spending a couple hundred on one, and just wanted to get some opinions. I wasn't quite sure yet if I can get away with a wired setup, as wireless look to be pretty expensive right now.

I would definitely need video capture, plus nightvision, needs to be fully connected to my PC too.
Click to expand...

Any specific reason you want to turn your house into a fortress?

How about a motion sensor flood lamp?
 
"How about a motion sensor flood lamp?"
- Just to be safer.

"How about a motion sensor flood lamp?"
- Let's say someone is coming to break in, or jack your vehicle, or vandalize your house/vehicles, or there is someone who just robbed a house down the street and is driving back, a lamp won't do anything to help that. However, a surveillance system can.
 
i have not tried the outdoor cameras yet, but you do need to buy the camera kit with a reciever


http://shop1.outpost.com/product/474514...8Qts88d1TQkMQkn2YxqSvsvYLx99870tGKg1ff

This kit has the minicam and 4 camera reciever, the minicam for indoors is great. It monitors my dads storefront with a 100+ degree wide angle and can see faces clearly at 20 ft. I remind you this is an indoor camera and a mini one, so it was made for concealment and close range, the outdoor camera will have more range and clairity. With a 300GB harddrive I can record a loop of about 30 days @ 25fps (smooth video) with one camera so about 7 days with 4 cameras attached, it will automatically loop itself to record over the first day. The software is easy to use, and you can also monitor things from any remote computer connected to the internet (like at work), iits password protected and you can set the cameras to record at certain times of the day, all the time, motion, voice activated (if you buy a camerawith motion and sound) etc..... Video File format is MPEG 4 and will be continuiously saved in a folder of your choice with date and time for the recordings, usually theyre in 15 minute span recording per file (you can adjust this). Its good to have internet access to your cameras when youre away, it makes you feel a lot more secure knowing whats going on.


Total cost was about $150 for a wired camera and pc card. not too bad for security.


If youre wondering on how clear the wireless looks, we had a camera running on a 9v battery next door to us @ 50ft away and it looked even better than our micro cam. This was through a wall also. The wireless cams come with 2 power sources, a battery connector for 9v or a wall adaptor (included). pretty convienient when you dont need 100 ft of cable to run to the camera itself.
 
I've worked both as a CCTV installer and for a CCTV equipment manufacturer so I can give you a good idea of what a particular system will give you.

http://cgi.ebay.com/LEGAL-4-Camera-Outd...QQihZ007QQcategoryZ48636QQcmdZViewItem

The system you linked to is basically a Connexant MPEG2 card, this conexant chipset is used in 60%-70% of cheap recording units so most of the quality of these systems will depend on the software being used (can't comment on this).

Generally I'd say you won't get much for your budget in terms of recordings.

The main thing to be clear on is what your looking for.

do you want convictions?
how many days recording are you after?
how big is the area you want to cover?
will you be putting it in yourself?
if so how would you rate your DIY skills?

If you PM me I can give you more info.

edit: the best cheap-ish card based system i've seen is available at www.guard.lv
you can look at the software here: http://www.guard.lv/files/VClient_4_3_11_112_%5Bfull%5D.exe

very useable software!
 
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