Home security camera system discussion

[Keith B]

Carried over from http://www.texasshooting.com/TexasCHL_F ... 33&start=0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Keith I would be interested in that system for the same reasons you were.
Is the clarity of the image good enough to ID facial features?
I need to cover about 50' of driveway. Is the Airlink capable of doing this?
What are the system requirements for the computer?
Thanks

Yes, it is good enough to see facial features in good light. Of course nighttime is a little difficult, but when the motion light comes on if there are in the light, you can see what they look like. My camera is this one http://www.airlink101.com/products/aicn500w.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I would recommend looking at the field of view on any camera though. Mine doesn't cover all of my driveway width like I would like it to. Some of the pan/tilt/zoom cameras have a wide angel view that might help, but the one I have does cover my car in the driveway. The only thing I had to do was cover the infrared LED's for the night vision portion. There is no way to disable them in the camera and they reflect off of the glass in the window. A couple of pieces of electrical tape took care of it!

EDITED TO ADD: As for the PC, it works fine on a system with 1.5GB RAM, and a 3.8Ghz P4 processor. However, it does use about 20%-30% of the windows resources if you have the resolution and FPS set pretty high (like 25-30FPS,) so if you can run it on a stand-alone PC it would be better so as not to slow down your other tasks.

[TexasComputerDude]

I was thinking about using an older computer with a dvr card for our office security system but I've still got a lot of research left to do.

I like that wireless network camera but I bet it was at least 199$

You get what you pay for with security systems and its not worth it just to see a pixelated blob move across the screen. That means we are going to have to spend a bit of money lol.

[Keith B]

I was thinking about using an older computer with a dvr card for our office security system but I've still got a lot of research left to do.

I like that wireless network camera but I bet it was at least 199$

You get what you pay for with security systems and its not worth it just to see a pixelated blob move across the screen. That means we are going to have to spend a bit of money lol.

Nope, camera was $79 on sale and software was $29 for the single camera version. Multiple camera version is $49 and lifetime support and upgrades.

The camera does a good job for the price. Here is a capture from this morning with my daughter getting in her car. This is with a dirty window (hence the spot and a little blurry) and with the sun coming up in the face of the camera (glare/reflection off of glass)

[gemini]

KB, so you've got it inside looking out a 2nd story window (guessing from pic)?
Are these units suitable for mounting on the exterior? ie. weatherproof? I looked at
the site and just got temp operating range. Also, did you order your set up from
the site or a local retailer? Some of the local thieves have used my daughters car as
a parts depot over the last 2 years. I installed a driveway sentry alarm but I'd like to
get them on disc. Cats, dogs and coon's set off the drive alarm and I end up turning
it off.

[Keith B]

KB, so you've got it inside looking out a 2nd story window (guessing from pic)?
Are these units suitable for mounting on the exterior? ie. weatherproof? I looked at
the site and just got temp operating range. Also, did you order your set up from
the site or a local retailer? Some of the local thieves have used my daughters car as
a parts depot over the last 2 years. I installed a driveway sentry alarm but I'd like to
get them on disc. Cats, dogs and coon's set off the drive alarm and I end up turning
it off.

Yes, it is in the second floor window of the office. This camera is NOT weatherproof, but you could probably mount it in some sort of enclosed box with a Plexiglas window as long as it didn't sweat and kept water off of the unit. The camera came from Fry's. They have various brands/makes/models to choose from. I would recommend reading some of the reviews before purchase though. You might get a better camera that way. I am sure there are better cameras, but for this purpose, it does fine and the price was right.

One note, at night, the motion sensing lights have to come on or car lights going down the alley have to trigger the software to start recording. The light sensitivity is just not enough in the dark alley. I do have video of cats in the driveway when they tripped the motion lights.

[rl168]

KB, are you able to view live video over the internet using your camera?

[LaserTex]

Sorry for the post. I didn't full read the off-topic. Again, sorry.

Doug

[CHLSteve]

Shameless plug... my company sets up and installs these systems for businesses and office buildings all over Houston. We are currently doing the stores for a large retail establishment that everyone here would easily recognize, so if you've got something really worth protecting give me a jingle!

These systems aren't cheap ($3500-7000 installed) but with that you get remote viewing over the internet (both live and history playback), weatherproof cameras, motion sensitive capture and a whole slew of other features. Probably overkill for most homeowners, unless you have a big home that needs to be protected, and the consumer grade off the shelf type products just won't cut it.

Anyway, I will tell everyone that without good lighting, it is almost useless trying to identify someone--especially at night. The night vision does a good job, but it's not something I would rely on for identifying potential bad guys.

[Keith B]

KB, are you able to view live video over the internet using your camera?

Sorry for the delayed response. Yes, the Blue Iris software has a web server and multiple method of viewing (ActiveX, jpeg push, etc.) as well as a cell phone viewable page. You can also set up event alerting to email or page you with camera activity. Pretty good stuff for the price!

[rl168]

Did you get both the camera and the blue iris software from the link you posted above?

How easy was it to setup?

[KD5NRH]

One note, at night, the motion sensing lights have to come on or car lights going down the alley have to trigger the software to start recording. The light sensitivity is just not enough in the dark alley.

It should be easy enough to find or make a weatherproof and energy efficient LED IR illuminator so that you can even turn off the motion lights and record more stealthily if you want to.

[Tireshred]

I recently set up 2 systems, one wireless from Linksys which was returned inside a week, it would hang up and the quality was poor. The other is still going strong, it uses household wiring to send the signal to your computer and can be viewed remotely from a smart/pc phone or any internet computer. The field of vision can be adjusted for which areas set off the motion and also adjust sensitivity, it can be expanded up to 6 cameras, and has the best software I've seen. The only downside is it becomes addicting to watch your house if you sit at a computer all day, like me. Attached is a snapshot of my 2 cameras, one outdoor and one indoor looking out front, they look grainy and that's from my inability to copy and paste properly, the actual video is decent.

http://www.wilife.com/

[Keith B]

Did you get both the camera and the blue iris software from the link you posted above?

How easy was it to setup?

Camera came from Fry's and the Blue Iris is downloaded. Software has a 30 day evaluation period, but puts a big fat bar over the video. LOL

Overall, the setup was pretty easy. You may need to do a little tweaking with the light levels and motion detection, but it is not hard to do.

[kirock7]

Several months ago I started in-depth research on setting up a home surveillance system that would allow me to record at 30FPS and would also allow me to watch my house from anywhere online.
After about $800 and two solid days climbing around in my insulation filled attic... I had it working.
This is using four cameras (three are infrared for night vision) and a Geovision PCI card. It uses up about a terabyte in three to four days, but it's worth it to have solid butter-smooth video at all times (hard drive space is so cheap it doesn't really matter, although I only store four days worth of video). The picture below is from the Multiview part of the Geovision program. Works like a champ!
With my three dogs, alarm and new surveillance system I feel at least a little better about leaving the house unattended. Plus my neighbor behind me is on constant vigil for BG's... and he carries a mean looking Mossberg!

[Tireshred]

Nice system kirock7. I have a 2 1/2 story and running the cables was just not possible on the inside of the walls, so this system was the next best thing. I saw in the other thread about how people automatically suspect you installed cameras for cop watching or something illegal, I get the same treatment. I just tell them to call police and tell them your truck was broken into, they'll send someone to fill out a report, no fingerprints, no other effort. But tell them you have video, they get real interested real fast. I also have a great watchdog and the best alarm system I could find. And I have agreements with my neighbors, lethal force is permitted for protection of property, and we keep each other informed as to contractors and other non resident activity.