Home security - Camera's

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Krudonix

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Hey all

After several break in's and a brief encounter with a burglar last night, I've decided to setup a small camera system outside my house.

Being doing some research on camera prices and they are hellishly expensive ;(

So dont suppose any1 can advise me what might be the best solution to go for, I dont need anything top notch just want to be able detect motion and need to see figures walking around the garden, I'm not interested in seeing what colour his shoe laces are ;)

I'm up to all sorts of hours, so would be awesome to be able to see if there is any movement out there and to get a basic idea if its 1 or 2 guys or an entire gang.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanx
 
I have also gotten a lot of quotes. The cheapest so far was to buy the stuff from Matrix Computers and do it myself. If you buy the computer system it is upgradeable and you can add more cameras or a bigger hard drive later. let me know if you want me to fax you the quote.
 
Im not worried about the computer system, got plenty spare box's ;)

Just not sure on what kind of camera's to get.

And yeah, not sure about a Moat, but i'm considering getting a pet python to patrol the garden, but I dont think my cats will like that too much.
 
I'm willing to spend up to R3,000 per camera and would like 3 of them..

but knowing my luck, the damn camera's are gonna get stolen/damaged
 
Krudonix said:
I'm willing to spend up to R3,000 per camera and would like 3 of them..

but knowing my luck, the damn camera's are gonna get stolen/damaged
Click to expand...

You do get "Vandal Proof" Cameras, not sure what that means though.
 
Yeah, the gadget shop has some nice toys ;) I really like the portable wireless camera's .. Will definitely think about it.

thanks a lot to everyone for their responses.
 
Krudonix said:
Yeah, the gadget shop has some nice toys ;) I really like the portable wireless camera's .. Will definitely think about it.

thanks a lot to everyone for their responses.
Click to expand...

If you end up taking it, drop me a message please - I was thinking of setting this thing up later in year once I've moved and would be nice to know how it performs...
 
I bought an IR camera on ebay for R350, not too bad quality (For that price) and a 4xVideo + 1xAudio input to USB adaptor. Installing it is as simple as attaching the camera to an outside wall and plugging in some cables. The Video input USB adaptor set me back R150 more or less. Add the cable & power supply for the camera and it will cost you less than R800 all together.

The USB adaptor includes software that can record video if motion was detected and it can even send you an email when motion detected. Very basic setup but good value for the price.
 
you could also use a combination of cheap webcams and motion-sensing lights.

i have a webcam connected to my Linux box. motion detects any movement in my living room and then stores a few pictures of before and after the movement was detected.

it supports quite a wide selection of cameras and has some nifty features like time-lapse videos, built-in http server, tracking (if your camera supports it) and custom notifications (send sms/email/... when camera connection is lost or motion is detected).
 
I can look into something for you. Just remember that to see outside at night you will need a day/night camera and prefrebly some sort of infrared illumination. I have 4 cameras installed arround my house and motion switches it on a 15" monitor right next to the tv. Obviously cameras are supposed to be used pro-actively but in my case it has scared two men breaking in to my house after they saw themselves on the screen lol. Just a nasty feeling while you watch how they actually break in to the place and run away with your stuff :sick:

PM me your details (like what area you stay in)
 
Krudonix said:
Hey all

So dont suppose any1 can advise me what might be the best solution to go for, I dont need anything top notch just want to be able detect motion and need to see figures walking around the garden, I'm not interested in seeing what colour his shoe laces are ;)

I'm up to all sorts of hours, so would be awesome to be able to see if there is any movement out there and to get a basic idea if its 1 or 2 guys or an entire gang.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanx
Click to expand...
Hi Krudonix, would what you see here, here and here meet your requirements?

As you can see, everything is done from within IE (and, with these cams, it HAS to be IE (haven't tested with Firefox masquerading as IE yet)) and, respectively, they show:
- single view of the gate cam. That camera is mounted high up on a garage wall and zoomed out enough to see the side of the property on the RHS, it could be zoomed in much tighter. Lens is a basic zoom.
- the matrix view of the 4 installed cams on the property ..specifically chosen to give a sense of scale with what they're showing. Note that the street camera is a wide angle jobby, chosen for that location 'cos it's set to show outside parking.
- single view of the 'drive' cam, with a test subject (can you see what she's doing there?) :) Lens is again the basic zoom, but dialed way back to show the view down the length of the driveway, that can take four cars in a line.

These cameras are all connected via CAT5, via PoE so all they have in the housing is the camera and PoE splitter, the fiddly PSU bricks are all indoors. The gate camera has been up the longest and has, so far withstood last winter and this summer with all that heat and rain.

OK, I have night-time pics showing: early evening, full dark view, traffic and a person (check the respective camera(s) view for the detail mentioned).

Lighting notes:
  • 'street' has only the street light across the road for light
  • 'gate' has a street light across the road and a 23W CFL on the side of the gate
  • 'drive' has a piss-willy dark-activated CFL for a *large* area, and
  • 'shacks' is lit by a pretty low power CFL on the corner of the roof.
A(n important I think) factor with these cameras is the fact that I can put different lenses on 'em; from what I've seen on this thread nothing else has that capability. Oh, and that I'm using them in IP-mode is only the start of what they're capable of doing, there's this funky jumper block on the back for relays and audio that I've yet (had a reason to) use.
 
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Corex sell these

http://www.mybluejay.com/utf8_eng/index.html

Cam follows movement ie catch, follows and thus remain on moving targets.

● Support 802.11b/g Wireless Connection
● Pan/Tilt：UP/Down/Right/Left/Home/Cruise
● Dynamic IP Address：DDNS, DHCP , PPPoE-Service Name/User
ID/User password
● Auto screenshot delivery through E-mail /FTP upload
● Auto IR-LED illumination for Night vision
● Easy to install by simply connecting the camera to your local network or the Ethernet connection
● Monitor and control four cameras from PC anywhere
● Remote video surveillance from web browser(IE, Netscape, Firefox), PDA/Microsoft Smartphone, JAVA phone
● On-line viewing for multi-users simultaneously (maximum user：eight)
● Store real-time video
● Playback with adjustable speed
● Send alert with e-mail notification, window shaking, sound alarm
● Smart search recorded video streams by specific video region
● Video display on a common household television


Bluejay
BCP 401 USB R599.00
http://www.mybluejay.com/product.php?cid=8&sid=12&id=70
BCN 501 Wireless R1599
http://www.mybluejay.com/product.php?cid=8&sid=12&id=29
BCN 401 CAT R1099
http://www.mybluejay.com/product.php?cid=8&sid=12&id=70

Excl. Wholesale prices.

Illumination：0Lux (use IR-LED) / 0.5Lux (non)
 
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yeah was thinking of using webcam's, but do any of them have night vision ? can u recommend any ?
 
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