Anyone using Video Surveillance ??

xanaboo and x10 both alow multiple cam hookup and are not very expensive.

I have a xanbaboo i got at compusa a few years ago in front of my tank, usually turned on mon-fri 10am-5pm... mms://bentheredonethat.us/fishcam
 
Actually loads of items could be monitored on a budget do it yourself system with a little no how. Electronic flow meters and temperature guages can be gotten for under $20 each. An Input module to hook up to your computer would be under $100. Where the price would rise though is pH, alkilinity, nitrogen, calcium, and phosphate sensors.

Now once you have all this hooked up to your computer you could have the software activate your web cam on any area of your interest triggered by the values from the sensors or remotly by you.

In all reality monitoring is something that is only limited by dollars. There is no aspect of the aquarium and equipment you cannot monitor one way or another. However everyone has there preferences on what and how they want to monitor it as well as where there budget limits them.

Dennis



<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8744580#post8744580 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by invincible569
If you guys want to get fancy and add more visual... you can add a Netbotz in your room. It measures humidity, liquid, room temp, door openings, airflow, dew point, etc. It's like a controller, but the reef controllers you buy today are for the aquarium and not for the room. The cheapest one is close to $1K. We use them here at our work as it alarms us if there is a drastic change. Then we can log in and see how things look through the camera.

apcnetbotzproductfamilyfront.jpg
 
I was banned from doing a webcam as my wife irons in that room, usually just before going to work while wearing just a T-shirt and knickers...... thats just a whole different type of website...
 
I just downloaded webcamXP and it works well. The only problem I hate is that I cannot see what it looks like from the outside world. When I go to another outside connection (not my home) I can see it. Does anyone know how to get around this?
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8761384#post8761384 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by invincible569
I just downloaded webcamXP and it works well. The only problem I hate is that I cannot see what it looks like from the outside world. When I go to another outside connection (not my home) I can see it. Does anyone know how to get around this?

never mind. just figured it out. You have to type in the following and the port number at the end.

http://localhost:8080/
 
Anyone have any good suggestions for the actual cameras? Either network, or RCA/coax is fine. I'd need probably 4-5 for inside/out.
 
I have two midgets (sorry, little people) with walkie talkies
that take turns sleeping and monitoring my tank.:dance:
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8761438#post8761438 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by RokleM
Anyone have any good suggestions for the actual cameras? Either network, or RCA/coax is fine. I'd need probably 4-5 for inside/out.


Do you care on how much you spend?
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8765643#post8765643 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by saltyfishy123
Do you care on how much you spend?

I care most about the 2-3 inside for now. I'm not looking to break the bank, but not worried about investing for the correct thing to do the job right the first time either. I'd say something in the $400-500 range for the project wouldn't be out of the question.

Probably going to run ZoneMinder btw. That looks like a pretty powerful program.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8761438#post8761438 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by RokleM
Anyone have any good suggestions for the actual cameras? Either network, or RCA/coax is fine. I'd need probably 4-5 for inside/out.

IT depends on how much you want to spend and what kind of resolution and low light sensitivity you want.

Cameras come in two basic formats:

Fixed Lens and Replaceable lens. Just like Point and shoot cameras vs SLRs.

Fixed lens cameras are cheaper and may or may not have Auto Iris and a moveable zoom. Cameras without an auto iris do not adjust well to changing light conditions. Cameras with a fixed focus are not adjustable for field of view. You zoom in and out by moving the whole camera.

Auto Iris allows the camera to adjust to changing light conditions. Varifocal (manual zoom) allows you to change the field of view of the camera by zooming the lens in and out. Some cameras come with LEDs to illuminate darker scenes. These work just OK (but would be fine for inside of a stand). Cameras range in price from $30 to $200. The more expensive cameras have better night vision modes and better glass as well as higher resolution. Most do not go over 400 TV lines of resolution.

Replaceable lens cameras use CS or C mount lenses (very similar to SLR lenses). These are mostly auto Iris lenses and come in fixed and varifocal types. A typical camera costs $100-$200 and the lenses range in price from $20-$100. Camera bodies range in features and resolution but many models have 540 lines of TV resolution. The JVC TKC-920U is a great camera and runs about $175 + lens.

Network cameras are a differnet ball game.. but come in various forms (both fixed lens and replaceable). They are more expensive becuase the camera has a built in network card and firmware.

Lets be very clear about something here. Most of the cameras you guys see (web cams and $100 network cameras) are toys. The resolution is horrible etc.

The toys are usable to an extent... but anybody serious about adding 2-3 (or more) cameras to monitor their home and/or aquarium should look into quality products. A decent PTZ network camera will set you back at least $500. A serious model will set you back close to $2500.

Anyway... the next question is what to do with the video from the cameras. Analog cameras need to be plugged into a DVR card or other capture device that can store or make the video available on the network. There needs to be software in place to perform the desired tasks as well. Network cameras are a bit simpler, as they plug into the network directly and only need software to broadcast or store the video. The cheap DVR cards rely on the computers CPU to do all of the compression and motion detection. Better cards use onboard electronics to do the hard work and simply pass the cleaned up compressed data to the PC for storage or broadcast. The IP based stuff does a little of both at the low end with the high end cameras doing most of the work in-camera.

This is a HUGE scammer riddled market with thousands of players and TONS of junk and liars. In the end very few of the products are worth a hoot....

This is part of what I do for a living (I own an IT consulting company and we do a LOT of Digital Video Surveillance Systems, both analog and Ip based).
 
It really depends on exactly what you wan tto do with the camera and what kind of money you want to throw at the setup.

Almost ALL of the cameras have a Sony CCD in them. It is the supporting electronics that make the difference.

For "pro" type cameras, the Sony, JVC, Bosch, Etc are all great and very similar. For your purposes a wide angle 3.5-8mm lens would likely be the ticket... Most are 24VDC and have BNC type connectors.

For "bullet" or "lipstick" cameras, the COP, Ganz, Vitek, KT&C, etc are decent cameras and come with plenty of low light color models with LED illuminators and 3.5-8 (or so) varifocal adjustments. Most are 12VDC and have RCA type connectors.

You can easily convert from BNC to RCA with an adaptor (or make up your own cables).

Axis is the industry standard for network cameras. $250 will get you entry level stuff... $2500 PTZ pro stuff.

An entry level 4 camera DVR card will run you in the neighborhood of $300 or so. You will need to run this on a dedicated machine to be happy.

Fo about $650 you can get an Axis 240Q 4 channel "video server" that you plug the ANALOG cameras into and it converts the signal to Digital IP. It can server the video on the network or send it to software in the PC. In this way you can use high quality analog cameras and turn them into netork cameras without spending $700 or so each per quality network camera.

I am an AXIS channel partner... so don't hesitate to ask if you have questions. I know the products inside and out. Many of the "other" network cams use hte Axis firmware. However there are some decent offerings by Canon, 4XEM, Panasonic Etc. I just don't know a lot about them because we use hte AXIS stuff. From all accounts the 4XEM stuff is great.

I also just signed on with a new company that rebrands network and security products (they try to say they make them). Their pricing seems decent but I have not tried the cameras. In any case, that tells me that the IP camera market is about to get blown wide open by hundreds of "Made In China" fly by night businesses. Just like the "bullet camera" market was a few years back.

As for AXIS pricing.... Froogle is a good reference. Provantage sells them BELOW my wholesale cost (as they do most products). If you are interested in the AXIS stuff, that would be the place to look. For all your other needs, digitalssinc.com is reliable and has decent pricing to end users. Another dealer that I do a lot of business with is http://www.dvrsystems.net Higher end DVR stuff and I am not sure what his retail pricing is like.
 
Fom experience I must agree here very strongly. I had put in a 4 camera system B?W into my store for which costed me well over $2,000 including additional sensors and an auto dialup system to a security company. While the cameras were motion activated the data imaging was simply stored on a VCR type recorder, at a low frames per second rate.

When I" did have a burglary the cameras were not of high enough quality to allow a positive ID of the theifs. Per the police this is very typical of video survelience systems. To upgrade to a higher resolution camera and color would have costed over $500 more per camera.

Besides this your looking transmitting the pictures rather than just storing them on a removable medea.

Yes I believe you can do it for $500.00 however on the $500 system you will not be happy and be able to see what you want to. Thjerefore you will end up making multiple future investments which oinj the long run could cost you $2,000 or more. Note there are some high resolution low light cameras out there that will cost you more the $2,000 alone if need to go that route.

Dennis



<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8768525#post8768525 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by BeanAnimal
IT depends on how much you want to spend and what kind of resolution and low light sensitivity you want.

Cameras come in two basic formats:

Fixed Lens and Replaceable lens. Just like Point and shoot cameras vs SLRs.

Fixed lens cameras are cheaper and may or may not have Auto Iris and a moveable zoom. Cameras without an auto iris do not adjust well to changing light conditions. Cameras with a fixed focus are not adjustable for field of view. You zoom in and out by moving the whole camera.

Auto Iris allows the camera to adjust to changing light conditions. Varifocal (manual zoom) allows you to change the field of view of the camera by zooming the lens in and out. Some cameras come with LEDs to illuminate darker scenes. These work just OK (but would be fine for inside of a stand). Cameras range in price from $30 to $200. The more expensive cameras have better night vision modes and better glass as well as higher resolution. Most do not go over 400 TV lines of resolution.

Replaceable lens cameras use CS or C mount lenses (very similar to SLR lenses). These are mostly auto Iris lenses and come in fixed and varifocal types. A typical camera costs $100-$200 and the lenses range in price from $20-$100. Camera bodies range in features and resolution but many models have 540 lines of TV resolution. The JVC TKC-920U is a great camera and runs about $175 + lens.

Network cameras are a differnet ball game.. but come in various forms (both fixed lens and replaceable). They are more expensive becuase the camera has a built in network card and firmware.

Lets be very clear about something here. Most of the cameras you guys see (web cams and $100 network cameras) are toys. The resolution is horrible etc.

The toys are usable to an extent... but anybody serious about adding 2-3 (or more) cameras to monitor their home and/or aquarium should look into quality products. A decent PTZ network camera will set you back at least $500. A serious model will set you back close to $2500.

Anyway... the next question is what to do with the video from the cameras. Analog cameras need to be plugged into a DVR card or other capture device that can store or make the video available on the network. There needs to be software in place to perform the desired tasks as well. Network cameras are a bit simpler, as they plug into the network directly and only need software to broadcast or store the video. The cheap DVR cards rely on the computers CPU to do all of the compression and motion detection. Better cards use onboard electronics to do the hard work and simply pass the cleaned up compressed data to the PC for storage or broadcast. The IP based stuff does a little of both at the low end with the high end cameras doing most of the work in-camera.

This is a HUGE scammer riddled market with thousands of players and TONS of junk and liars. In the end very few of the products are worth a hoot....

This is part of what I do for a living (I own an IT consulting company and we do a LOT of Digital Video Surveillance Systems, both analog and Ip based).
 
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