Security camera for outside of home.

**EvilRick** · May 10th, 2004, 06:51 PM

I'd like to get some real world experience of some people that use a security camera outside their homes.

I'm wanting to set one up at two corners of our house so we can see along the one side and into our backyard.

I'd like to get it so that on any TV in the house we can flip to a channel and see what's on either one of them.

Cyclone2 · May 10th, 2004, 10:17 PM

Cheap bump for ya

I've recently been in a couple of apts that offer that for their tenants, to see who is in the front lobby- pretty kool

The one guy said he would turn it on at 2 am to watch the drunks stagger in :0

**EvilRick** · May 10th, 2004, 10:20 PM

I wanna use it mainly to surveil the small humans that play around the house.

SecurityMan · May 14th, 2004, 03:16 PM

Hello EvilRick,

I am a systems integrator and installer for home automation, A/V distribution, and Security systems.

There are a couple of things you should ask yourself before going through with finding an installer and putting in a system.

1. Are you watching your kids during daylight hours only, or would you like to watch them during the evening and after the sun has gone down?

If you plan on being able to see them during the darker hours of the day, you will most likely need to invest in some Infra-red or low-light camras unless the area you are watching is going to be well lit. When looking at cameras for low-light environments you will want to pay attention to it's "lux" value. Lux refers to the lowest amount of light available to see a picture. A Camera with 0.0 lux will be able to see in complete darkness, and a camera with a lux of 1.0 or higher will usually be a black screen when very little light is available. Most of the low lux cameras have a distance restriction on them, so you are going to want to keep your cameras as close to the action as possible for the best viewablity.

2. Are you going to want to see all cameras at once or just one at a time?

Kids tend to scatter all over your yard when they play, so seeing one camera at a time may not be the best solution. I recommend purchasing a "multiplexer." A multiplexer will allow you to plug in multiple cameras and send them to one output. This way you can divide cameras around your screen so they may all be seen at once, or watch one at a time in full screen allowing the multiplexer to flip to the next camera after a couple seconds.

3. Would you like to be able to record?

You say you want to use the cameras to keep an eye on your kids without leaving the house. What about as a security solution? You can have a nice camera set-up installed, but you may find you want to be able to record to see things that happen when you aren't watching. The time-lapse VCR is becoming an outdated solution for this. DVRs (Digital Video Recorders) are the new way to go. Most DVRs now offer viewing from any remote location connected to the internet, CD/DVD burning of video, digital zooming, alarm triggers that can trigger your alarm system, motion-activated recording, and simple integration into an existing computer network and/or TV network.

Hope this gives you a little more insight.

-Steve Clark
AV/IT Integrator

I do appreciate the info, but our FAQ does not allow you to post your website/e-mail for advertising.

EvilRick

Richard Cranium · May 14th, 2004, 04:21 PM

http://www.x10.com/home/offer.cgi?DS...twatch7559.htm

DVNT1 · May 14th, 2004, 04:49 PM

Good insight SecurityMan.

Btw, those interested can still find your site via your profile.

Gutter Ball · May 14th, 2004, 08:56 PM

Good info! My one friend has 2 IP cameras (D-Links I believe) and they're pretty good. My other co-worker and I have a bunch of web cams set up to take pictures if there's motion. He did it first and I copied

Cheap security for the house, but if you're monitoring kids, IP cameras would work well.

SecurityMan · May 15th, 2004, 05:27 PM

I have only limited experience with IP cameras. They connect directly to your router and act as a mini-server for real-time viewing. Do the cameras you bought come with recording software? If so, does the camera have to be onscreen to record, or can it be run in the background.
I install larger systems that require a dedicated server to handle recording in the field, but I would like to try something like this for my home. Mostly to watch over my equipment when I am away. If they offer good recording I would feel more comfortable running another service on my file server, rather than build another computer just to cover 2-3 locations.

jmebonner · May 15th, 2004, 05:34 PM

ER, I have a couple of these. install couldn't be much easier. Has prety decent sound pickup o boot. I just bought it to play with, figured for $30 I couldn't go wrong. Ended up getting another one since it worked so well.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...unction=Search

Xylon2 · May 30th, 2004, 01:03 AM

Hey people,
I've had some local highschool kids vandalizing my car at night in the past few months with eggs, paintballs, etc and I'd like to capture them on film. I'm wondering what the best and cheapest way to do that is, and what is common in this sort of case. It always happens around 11-1 on friday nights, I've tried to stake the car out looking to bash heads but haven't had luck. So thanks for the advice.
-Steve Ireland