Home CCTV

[Paddy]

I came back from Corfu this morning to find that someone attempted to gain entry to my house whilst we were away.

The patio doors are buckled and warped, but they held.

There are security lights at the front and back of the house, but I must have turned the back one off by accident before we left.

What I would like to do is to investigate the possibility of setting up one or two cameras that would be networked or connected to the video in on my 9800AIW.

Ideally, they would be sensitive to motion, thereby capturing whenever the security light was tripped.I am not sure if video footage is better than still images.

It would then be cool to be able to stream the video content securely over the net, although this is by no means a requirement.

Has anyone done anything like this before?

Got any recommendations?

[UtwigMU]

Which part of Corfu have you been to?

[Paddy]

We stayed in Kontokali Bay

[Tjalfe]

Try looking into IP cameras, Logitech has/had one, but there are tons out there. for mounting it outdoors, you would need a weather proof camera / a weather proof enclosure of your own design.
These guys: http://www.vdomain.com/
has cameras with build in storage, so the computer does not need to be on, which would be cheaper on electricity


There is always http://www.X-10.com, but due to their excessive spamming, I would prefer not to deal with them. I cannot say how good their products are

[agallag]

http://www.linksys.com/products/product.asp?grid=33&scid=38&prid=566

[KvHagedorn]

I know someone who bought a whole system.. a 13" B&W monitor with 3 cameras.. for $200.00. The system was made by Samsung, and easy as could be to hook up. We put the output through a modulator so it coul be displayed on his main TV. You could hook it up to your computer the same way.

[Tjalfe]

Originally posted by agallag
http://www.linksys.com/products/prod...id=38&prid=566

That is the one.. for some reason I was thinking logitech

[az]

You could also use regular webcams. There is loads of software out there that can monitor multiple cams and only records when it detects motion. Would probably be the cheapest and most flexible method (though of course it all depends on your PC's stability and HD capacity.

AZ

[Paddy]

Cheers guys. I am concerned that web cam video would not be good enough. After all, if I can't get a decent picture from the camera, then there is not much point - other than acting as a visual deterrent.

[az]

I don't think TV observation cams have much better image quality - they have PAL resolution, after all. They may have better framerate and better sharpness (better lenses), and there are some that record in IR and have IR diodes around the lens for night vision. They're in b/w, of course.

Webcams are cheaper, though.

AZ

[az]

Oh, www.mobotix.de make very good (though I presume not cheap) web, security, and IP cams.

AZ

[Tjalfe]

Originally posted by az
You could also use regular webcams.
AZ

That would mean having your computer pretty close to the area you want to monitor, as USB only allows 15' of cable per spec. you can get powered USB extension cables, but still.. routing such a cable to an outdoor location would be tricky

[Fat Tone]

I'm assuming you already have a burgular alarm? If not and you don't want the expense go for a dummy bell box and dummy cameras. Visual deterents (including timed lights/radios) are the most effective.

[Paddy]

we dont have an alarm, although I'm being given a dummy box.
We had timed lights etc, but I am sure it was someone local and they just staked the place for a dew days.

The cameras would be nice to do, if they could be implemented cheaply and effectivley. It would be nice to be able to stream data on the net even for things like BBQs. But if you cant get enough resolution to ID someone, then they'd just be another gadget...

[Tjalfe]

also don't forget to plant lots of thorny bushes below the windows.. natures own barbed wire will surely deter some potential burglars