CCTV / PC based recording setup...

[Mr Whippy]

I'm after a setup to watch the drive and cars.

I have a PC with broadband at home, so can be on all day to record a signal or pictures to a secure location, but main problem right now is watching the drive and the mysterios feint dinks my car keeps getting, so recording to just my PC is good enough.


I expect a webcam will do the job, but on a night, I expect I need a good one to still be clear enough to see whats going on properly.
Luckily, there is an orange street light opposite the drive so decent light is cast to see in the night.


Has anyone got any tips of how to set this up? I'd like to just run a camera to the front upstairs windows and leave it looking out, and just record to my PC compressed (so it doesn't fill my HDD in 2 hours)...

Anyone have this kinda setup, or can recommend something to me. Budget for camera is £75-100 tops!

http://habitek.co.uk/catalog/item621.htm

This kinda thing looks good, but don't wanna be ripped off if I can get the same kinda thing twice as cheap as seperates.
Also, are they gonna be battery powered, or have small power adaptors with them.

Not fussed about HDD space usage as I have a good 30-40 gig of space free. Do these kinda things record good quality, or good enough to see whats going on from 5m away at the most?

Any help or ideas would be much appreciated!

Thanks

Dave

[scared but happy]

I have camera front and back and needed something to keep track of it all and ordered this:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/4-channel-Digital-Video-Recording-DVR-Card_W0QQitemZ5805134532QQcategoryZ60839QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
They are quite good and allow quality level and time to record etc also bonus of 4 cameras and yes one the PC it shows one in each corner! the data is recorded for each camera.
Or use a timelapse recorder as is amazing how fast you can eat away 20gb.
I find it best to use B/W cameras as you are identifing persons/shapes not colours.
I suggest you try a camera outside at night before buying it as even some of these so-called lolux cameras outside are useless and all you will see is the glow from the street light.
Remember you are gathering very low light so a pinhole one normally is no good either that or use an infrared flood light.

[aldi]

On the software front, I've used something called 'gotcha' in the past which detects motion, and only records when somethings moving. Obviousley you mask off certain areas to avoid recoring all the time. It worked very well for me.

I'd check into weather you need a sign or not as well.

[rsvmilly]

You should look into IP cameras. I've used Axis Communications cameras before.

They can be set to start recording on movement and to save to any FTP location. They can email pictures or movies to wherever and they also include a web server to allow remote viewing of the live image. If you have broadband then this means a live webcam.

www.axis.com/products/video/camera/index.htm

[Mr Whippy]

www.axis.com/corporate/press/news/internet_magazine.pdf

That looks pretty cool. OK, well over budget, but it's gonna be good by the sounds of the review.

Just wondering if I can actually record what it's doing or not, and if it'd be motion sensitive. Can't be watching TV all day at work...

Might have to get to Maplins and take a look there, cos all these websites are so vague and crappy about their products it's unreal!

Dave

[size13]

I was looking at the Axis 205, but opted for the dlink dcs-900 as it half the price from Insight.

www.dlink.com/products/?pid=270

Should be due today, so I'll post a report when it's working.

[mcflurry]

Friend of mine used an old tivo as the recording storage... With a large HDD it lasts a week before recording over itself

[Mr Whippy]

Hmmm, that DLink one looks ok, but it only works in 2.5 lumens+ light.
Maybe not optimal for pointing out of a window too being an indoor unit? Will get refracted light or get funny image on bright days etc?!


http://habitek.co.uk/catalog/item118.htm

http://habitek.co.uk/catalog/item619.htm

Those two seem a good match. £80 B&W camera that will work in 0.1 lumen light so good even on a night with street lighting, and is also good for outdoor use.

Then the video capture card and software for £40.

Hmmmmm

Dave

[size13]

Grafham Water Sailing Club use 2x Axis 205's for their webcams.

Take a look www.grafham.org/webcams.htm
These are mounted behind glass

>> Edited by size13 on Tuesday 6th September 16:34

[rsvmilly]

I used a 211 to record the progress of a building site. It took pictures at regular intervals. We then ran the images together as a movie.

The quality of the image was fairly good; 640x480.

The camera was very versatile. Motion sensing, time elapse, movie capture and live webcam.