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New to Home Automation -- Need external security camera solution / recommendations

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    New to Home Automation -- Need external security camera solution / recommendations

    Greetings All!

    I'm very new to Home Automation. I learned about it a few months ago, but I didn't look into it much then, as I was in the process of buying an older home (115 years old).

    Now that the purchase is complete and we've had a few weeks to settle in, I'm ready to get started.

    And it looks like I NEED to get started!

    The neighborhood we moved into, like a lot of those with older homes, has a higher crime rate (mostly property crimes) and a higher percentage of rental properties in the area.

    Our garage window got broken out / garage was broken into early one morning this week.

    Fortunately, the thieves only made off with about $100 worth of items.

    However, they actually cut a 5' tall chain link fence running along the back of our property to get at the side of the garage.

    This area is VERY dark. So, obviously, I need to get a motion light in there. (Another possible solution would be to pay the electric company about $13 a month to install, power, and maintain a sodium area light on an electrical pole nearby.)

    I have a couple of friends at work who are "into" Home Automation a bit, but they all work the night-shift and I'm on days, so I think I still need to post here occasionally to get some info.

    This morning, one such coworker gave me a few "hand-me-downs":

    1) An X10 2 Way Computer Interface, which I understand is the core unit I'll need to interface Homeseer with any X10 equipment I'll get. (Oh yeah, by the way, I fully intend to download the Homeseer trial and then pay for it within 30 days soon... probably will do the download/install tomorrow.)

    2) 4 X10 Powerhouse Transceiver Modules (two are smaller units than the others.... TM751's vs. RR501's).

    3) 1 RF Wireless Remote Receiver

    4) 1 X10 EagleEye Motion Sensor (Outdoor)


    I mention these things not to say I plan to necessarily USE them in what I'm about to describe. Rather, I just list them in case anybody has any other slightly-related recommendations about using that stuff.

    My real purpose in posting is to find out what you experts here would recommend if this was your garage and you were thinking of putting up a motion-detector/ floodlight / camera combination ?

    What hardware would you recommend?

    The garage is a detached garage about 30 feet away from the main house.

    I was thinking I might want to place the camera AT A DISTANCE from the actual motion detector / floodlight... because there's a really nice "perch" on the back of the house... on a sun-porch on the second floor... where I could mount the camera.

    The garage has electrical wiring internally, but there are no electrical fixtures on the side of the garage that I need to put a floodlight on.

    Thanks !

    -= Dave =-

    #2
    Save your money and don't buy the X10 Flood Cam. I have one and it isn't worth anything. I', going to take it down and trow it away when I get around to it.

    Go Hardwire and save yourself alot of trouble. Also make sure the Cam has LED's in them. That way they can see at night. Buy better stuff at the begining and save hassle later then with X10 stuff. My wireless Floodcam (x10) barely sent the signal through 2 walls and 20 feet.

    My suggestion would be get a standard flood light with motion and a Hardwire cam that has LEDs mounted where you stated away from it. And some sort of pc capture device (web cam plugin).

    For all the other stuff you mention (hand-me-downs) I'm sure you'll find a good use for the stuff wih your future projects.

    Welcome to Home Automation Vill

    Comment


      #3
      Thanks for the feedback!

      Regarding the camera... I'm a bit concerned about range. What few camera-ads list the range all seem to be in the 20-30 foot range.

      Does anybody have any recommendations for a hard-wired camera with better range than that? One that can "see well" during both day and night?

      Thanks!

      Comment


        #4
        I suspect the 20-30 foot range they are referring to is actually the length of the cable that they provide. Any hardwired camera should be able to drive well over 1000 feet of 75 ohm cable.

        Or, if your talking about a night camera, the 20-30 feet may be the range of the IR light. If so, you won't get much better without putting external IR floods around.

        I have never seen a good CMOS based night camera. They just don't have the sensitivity. I've seen CCD cameras that work great at night, even without IR light, but they are not cheap.

        Comment


          #5
          supercircuits.com has a ga-zillion cams.

          I have one of their low-LUX cams - .0000x something or other. Works fine with streetlights at night. It and the others are CCD with Sony's new CCD sensor. Also - you'll need one with a good lens with auto-iris - little cable from lens to cam. Without auto-iris, the cam cannot cope with the dynamic range of bright sun to dim light at night.

          But first! decide if you want a cam with an internal web server - a network cam - runs PC-less, versus an analog cam needing a server PC.

          Comment


            #6
            Here's a really good camera that will reach out at night to about 75-100 ft.

            http://www.automatedoutlet.com/custo...&cat=27&page=1
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              #7
              Showing my ignorance here.... CMOS ? CCD ??

              Comment


                #8
                DRaasch,
                A non scientific way to remember is CMOS = "Can't make out squat" CCD means good picture. The best CMOS camera made has poorer picture quality than the bottom of the line CCD camera.

                http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/C/CMOS.html
                http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/C/CCD.html
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                  #9
                  quote:<HR>Originally posted by Dave:

                  Showing my ignorance here.... CMOS ? CCD ?? <HR>
                  And here's the long answer:
                  http://board.homeseer.com/showthread...56856#poststop
                  Another Dave asked the same question.
                  Last edited by ; November 8, 2004, 02:00 AM.

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