security camera

UrsusMaritimus

looking for some advice,
I want to monitor my back garden using a camera during night and day. Camera will either be inside an upstairs window or on the outer window sill looking down onto the garden.
Distance from sill to end of garden is about 10m.
I have a PC downstairs that is on most of the time, this could be left on all the time if required if a wireless system would work the best, or are dedicated PVR type recorders a better option?
Any advice on camera types and recorders? This is totally new territory for me, any help would be greatly appreciated.

bazual

Hey there,
Might be no use in your situation but I am doing something similar except I have a PC thats on upstairs all the time and have two of these cameras plugged in to it. One of the cameras is in another room and I have fed it with a powered usb extension to the PC.
I use this Zonetrigger software that controls the cameras and takes pictures of certain areas I have highlighted when movement is detected. It also has a web server included with the software so I am using this and a combination of the No-IP Dynamic DNS update client to be able to view my camera from in work and anywhere with an internet connection. The software can also email/ftp pictures if movement is detected within a certain threshold to whereever you want and can also record video.

Let me know if this helps but if your pc is downstairs and you want to record upstairs you may need a wireless camera which I have debated on getting before. This is the one I was looking at but I am not sure if it would be much good. Maybe others would have better advice.

UrsusMaritimus

Hi,
Thanks for the tips, the wifi one looks like it might do the trick, just wondering how good would the picture quality be from it?

Vote 4 Pedro

I bought this for the same sort of reason, It's a good quality picture and works well within the range you want,
It's only a "cheap" model but i'm happy enough with it.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItemVersion&item=190580016448&view=all&tid=591983039009

UrsusMaritimus

Hey Pedro,

Any chance you can post that link again as it is not working for me.

Thanks

Vote 4 Pedro

Hi UrsusMaritimus ,
It all depends what your after, The basics are :-
TVL = Television Lines
420 = Day time image would be basic to OK, Night vision Sh*te
480 = Day time image good, Night vision OK.
540 = Day time image Very good, night image also very good
600 = The best at a DIY level if the budget allows.

The number of LED's ? more LED's = better / Longer night vision image
Also look out for the Angle of view. Higher angle = wider view.

Don't forget you'll need a power supply for the camera, They are cheap enough to buy but some cameras come with them and some don't, they would be under ten to buy separately

I got the 480 TVL, 36 LED's and 65% view version and it's fine for home security use.

The ones to avoid are the cheap looking ones with the brackets that would rust in no time at all.
Where the camera it reasonable price but then they rip you off on the delivery.

Here is a few links, Not recommendations as it all depends on you, your intended use and budget etc.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/VANDAL-OUTDOOR-SHARP-420-TVL/dp/B00407O8W0/ref=sr_1_87?ie=UTF8&qid=1322472894&sr=8-87

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/WideAngle-Metal-Outdoor-CCD-CCTV-Security-Camera-/190587560584?pt=UK_CCTV&hash=item2c5fe76288#ht_3082wt_1165

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CCTV-Varifocal-4-9MM-LENS-Dome-IR-High-Resolution-480-TVL-Security-Camera-/200668402178?pt=UK_CCTV&hash=item2eb8c4d202#ht_2119wt_1165

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/540-TVL-Metal-Outdoor-Sony-CCD-Colour-Dome-CCTV-Security-Camera-UK-Seller-/280600113261?pt=UK_CCTV&hash=item415511f06d#ht_2714wt_1165

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CCTV-Security-Surveillance-Weatherproof-540-TVL-Camera-/310170055680?pt=UK_CCTV&hash=item4837937400#ht_1851wt_1398

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SONY-540TVL-HAD-15M-OUTDOOR-CCTV-SECURITY-CAMERA-GOB-/120783994107?pt=UK_CCTV&hash=item1c1f497cfb#ht_5316wt_907

UrsusMaritimus

great, thanks for the ideas.
Cheap DVR now as i have a spare hard drive and i should be sorted, thanks.

UrsusMaritimus

went full circle on the cheap idea and took the plunge on the following kit
http://www.cctvdirect.co.uk/products/Silver-Enforcer-Vandal-Dome-2-Camera-Package.html
650TVL twilight cameras appear to be good quality and get good reviews, better than taking a pot shot on Chinese e-bay ones.

Thanks for the advice on the TVL quality Pedro, greatly appreciated.

U_M

Sniipe

UrsusMaritimus wrote: »

650TVL twilight cameras appear to be good quality and get good reviews

Do those camera's have IR for night use or do you have to provide light? Also are they water proof?

I'm thinking of getting ones for my parents and came across your post.

begby

Hi Vote 4 Pedro,

For the camera's you listed what is required to record the footage?

I have a PC with a 500GB HD. Is there a cable which can run from the camera to the PC and also what software would you recommend?

Begby

Sniipe

Sniipe wrote: »

Do those camera's have IR for night use or do you have to provide light? Also are they water proof?

I'm thinking of getting ones for my parents and came across your post.

I've setup 5 of them in my friend's place 2 weeks ago, and the picture quality is good, the IR has a range of 30M, I placed 2 cameras some 30M+ from the house overlooking the yard and the house, and the image it produced was better than I expected.

Jnealon

Sniipe wrote: »

Do those camera's have IR for night use or do you have to provide light? Also are they water proof?

I'm thinking of getting ones for my parents and came across your post.

No light required as it has built in IR and yes they are waterproof

Jnealon

begby wrote: »

Hi Vote 4 Pedro,

For the camera's you listed what is required to record the footage?

I have a PC with a 500GB HD. Is there a cable which can run from the camera to the PC and also what software would you recommend?

Begby

You could get a cheap capture card and download something like Zoneminder to capture footage.
Ideally you'd have a dedicated dvr but this cheap and cheerful option will work

Vote 4 Pedro

begby wrote: »

Hi Vote 4 Pedro,

For the camera's you listed what is required to record the footage?

I have a PC with a 500GB HD. Is there a cable which can run from the camera to the PC and also what software would you recommend?

Begby

Hi Begby

as Jnealon said the capture card in the PC would do the job but a dedicated dvr
would be the better job. It's mainly down to budget..

The cables are very cheap, depending on the length of run from camera to recorder, eg. I got a 15mtr. run for €10.

begby

Thank you Jnealon and Vote 4 Pedro,

Just a few more question, would I be able to store 5 - 7 day's worth of footage on my PC using a capture card and also are there any capture cards that you would recommend?

Begby

Vote 4 Pedro

you should be able to do but I'm not up to much with PC's so hopefully Jnealon might be able to help on this as the other advise was good.

Jnealon

5-7 days shouldn't be a problem. It all depends of what frame rate and resolution you record at