Starter Q: where to learn from?

Sysmod

Are there places to begin reading reviews on setting up a CCTV system?

I'm wondering about putting a camera up near our gate, 50 metres from the house. We could probably run a power line there. Questions that occur to me are:

1) Are there cameras powered by solar panels or do they need mains power?

2) If the camera has Wifi to transmit back to the house is that sufficient to link into a house wifi router or would a pair of transponders be needed?

3) If we get one with an IP address, does it use the network all the time or only when accessed to view it? What kind of speed does it need? All we have where we live is miserable Eircom "broadband" with a measured speed of 0.5Mbps

4) If I put it up on a tree, it may move in the wind. Apart from finding a bigger tree :-) can they compensate for motion, like photo camera stabilisers? A mast sounds expensive and too visible.

5) as a starter learning device, how about a cheap camera from CCity/OpenLogic or the like, put inside a house window, to see how this kind of technology works in practice?

6) What resolution is needed to be able to capture car registration plates?

TIA

KoolKid

Sysmod wrote: »

1) Are there cameras powered by solar panels or do they need mains power?

Generally they are mains or low voltage 12 vdc or 24vac

Sysmod wrote: »

2) If the camera has Wifi to transmit back to the house is that sufficient to link into a house wifi router or would a pair of transponders be needed?

You can get WiFi IP cameras that would connect wirelessly to your network .
They would be powered locally by some form of power supply.

Sysmod wrote: »

3) If we get one with an IP address, does it use the network all the time or only when accessed to view it? What kind of speed does it need? All we have where we live is miserable Eircom "broadband" with a measured speed of 0.5Mbps

If your viewing it on a local network your speed would be much better than that. That upload speed would not be great for remote viewing.

Sysmod wrote: »

4) If I put it up on a tree, it may move in the wind. Apart from finding a bigger tree :-) can they compensate for motion, like photo camera stabilisers? A mast sounds expensive and too visible.

Where ever you put a camera its going to move in the wind.

Sysmod wrote: »

5) as a starter learning device, how about a cheap camera from CCity/OpenLogic or the like, put inside a house window, to see how this kind of technology works in practice?

It will work yes. You will have issues with light & reflection, though.

Sysmod wrote: »

6) What resolution is needed to be able to capture car registration plates?

Reg plate recognition is a very specialist & expensive product.It relies on a lot more than resolution.

Sysmod

When asking about bandwidth I had been thinking of viewing it remotely over the internet, but as you say local net should be OK.

I had thought reg plate was commodified now, with cameras around 400 euro, but what I was really thinking of was simply being able to read the number myself off the picture, assuming the car is, say, 10-20 metres away. How many pixels or TV lines would you need for that?

Any suggestions for further information sources, before I start talking to suppliers?

TVM

KoolKid

Sysmod wrote: »

I had thought reg plate was commodified now, with cameras around 400 euro, but what I was really thinking of was simply being able to read the number myself off the picture, assuming the car is, say, 10-20 metres away. How many pixels or TV lines would you need for that?

It still really depends on the application. If something is 10-20 meters away & directly facing the camera & stationary or slow moving then a fairly standard camera between 500-600 tvl with a 8-15mm lens will have no problem in decent light. After that, as I said, its fairly specialist and a lot of other factors come into play.

Sysmod

I see what you mean, factors like speed & light etc.

TVM

KoolKid

Speed light angle distance reflection .........

altor

Sysmod wrote: »

Are there places to begin reading reviews on setting up a CCTV system?

I'm wondering about putting a camera up near our gate, 50 metres from the house. We could probably run a power line there. Questions that occur to me are:

1) Are there cameras powered by solar panels or do they need mains power?

2) If the camera has Wifi to transmit back to the house is that sufficient to link into a house wifi router or would a pair of transponders be needed?

3) If we get one with an IP address, does it use the network all the time or only when accessed to view it? What kind of speed does it need? All we have where we live is miserable Eircom "broadband" with a measured speed of 0.5Mbps

4) If I put it up on a tree, it may move in the wind. Apart from finding a bigger tree :-) can they compensate for motion, like photo camera stabilisers? A mast sounds expensive and too visible.

5) as a starter learning device, how about a cheap camera from CCity/OpenLogic or the like, put inside a house window, to see how this kind of technology works in practice?

6) What resolution is needed to be able to capture car registration plates?

TIA

If you are running a power line to this point then just use a wired camera.
For number plates you would use a NPR camera. Expensive but designed for the job.