Need suggestion: video surveillance

[bigben2k]

I thought I'd put this to the best geeks I know

I moved into a new appartment last week, and I really want to setup a video surveillance system. I need suggestions on how to do it, and of course, cheaply!

Here are the details:

-the appartment is on the second floor. There is a window (conveniently to the computer room) from which I can setup a camera, that oversees the stairs leading up to our place.

-I have no desire to run a continuous video log. Instead, I'd be quite happy with either a few pics, or a short video clip, that would be recorded following a trigger, possibly an infrared beam (which I could also install).


Does anyone have any advice on how to do this?

[jontz]

I have installed many of these newer panasonic cameras (higher end ones, but I have installed several of these style cameras as well and they work just dandy!). Built in web server, can be viewed from anywhere in the world if you like. It has a built in PIR sensor that can start/stop recording when it sees motion. It comes with recording software that runs on your PC. If you want a wireless version, it is the BL-C30A instead of the BL-C10A. There are also much higher end systems if you want them, which have external inputs for different types of sensors, but you said "cheap" so this one ought to do the trick nicely!

http://www.shentech.com/blc10a.html

You might want to do a little price shopping, I just found a web site that gave good info so you could see some of the benefits.

If you need any more info, just ask and I will be glad to help.

Also, if you want to play around with one of the high end models via the web (this camera is live at Panasonic headquarters in CT)...

http://p.viewnetcam.com:60001/CgiSta...gle&Language=0

[bigben2k]

Thanks for the tip; that looks like a really interesting product!

I got a tip at the office here:
http://dorgem.sourceforge.net/

Am still looking at options.

[jaydee]

Ebay is your friend.

You can set your camera's to start recording on motion and sound. http://www.deskshare.com/wcm-help/index.aspx


Good luck, let us know what you end up doing.

[bigben2k]

Will do.

Given that it's the cheapest, I'm going to start with Dorgem, and take it from there, even though the Panasonic product looks a lot more promising.

[Joe]

live'n in a questionable area?

[bigben2k]

Lol! No, but I need to make sure that the ***** brother in law stays away, and I know my wife wouldn't tell me if he showed his sorry a**. Also usefull to find out who the heck I'm ignoring that knocks at my door around midnight.

[bigben2k]

I got a cheap webcam off eBay:

The camera works fine. IR range is only about 6", so "night vision" is really only a dream (those LEDs are IR LEDs). Viewing angle is limited. Eh, it was $0.99, plus $10 shipping.

The Dorgem software however, is not friendly, and I'm not convinced that the "motion detection" feature is working quite correctly. The camera is curently sitting right under my monitor, so may be picking up some intereference there; I'll re-locate and report results.

Otherwise SourceForge has plenty of other choices for the same task.

[bigben2k]

An update:

The camera above is picking up a lot of noise for some reason, which really throws off the "motion activation" part of the software. My poor PC has been recording over 10'000 images per day, and I had to install a better viewer to go through it all. (ref thumbnail viewer that comes with IrfanView).

I swapped out the USB cable for a shielded one, but it didn't make a difference.

Now moving to another place, I'll be using a CCTV PCI card, wired to a black and white / IR camera. InfraRed range can hit 250 feet (if selected carefully), and can handle low light conditions a lot better. I can find both for a total of ~$60 on eBay.

I'll report results, hopefully with pics, once installed.

I'll reassign the little USB camera for inside the room, since that's all it can really handle well.

[thezfunk]

If you can work with the linux check out....

http://www.zoneminder.com/