Security Camera

[DennisArrow]

Do you need an alarm to be triggered means as I ask this: Let's say you are away from home and something triggers movement in the camera, do you want to be awakened by this at 3 am?????.............Yes, they will also set off an alarm at the home

You can easily get an extra transmit and receive antenna that boosts range. On one of our sites we have to go 900 feet from the entry gate to the receiver at the house..........God bless.....Dennis

 

[ArmyPair2]

All my camera's can be set up to use this system but my only drawback is we cannot get ATT service out in the sticks where we live. If we did have ATT I would only set up two cam's for what I need. I know they used to also offer a small solar panel to use instead of batteries for the cam. Read the FAQ and Camera Compatibility will give you more info if your interested.


https://www.moultriegamemanagement.com/Home/HowItWorks

 

[sherpa]

ArmyPair2.
Thanks for posting.
That is some good information about the Moultrie system.
I never knew that was available.
Looks like the plan is $40-50 per month.
Sherpa

 

[sherpa]

I have decided against a game camera altogether, they have terrible reliance reviews.

I want cameras that run off 110 power.
I am thinking two syatems, one for the garage and one for the house since they are 300 feet apart.
I can go wireless or not.
I kinda like the DVR backup.
I want sensor activation.

I forgot to mention, I do not have any internet, cell service or smart phone service.

What's next, any more suggestions or do's or dont's?
Thanks for the input,
sherpa

 

[Country Geek]

I suggest you build a system with IP Cameras. Foscam is a good vendor. Then Blue Iris (or similar software) running on a PC as the DVR.

You don't need an internet connection to set up a local wifi network that the cameras and the Blue Iris machine run on. The cameras have a built-in web server, you put them on the wifi network, point the machine running Blue Iris to them and it does all the DVRing. It has motion detection built into the software, which you can adjust including masking off parts of the picture (like a flag blowing in the wind) that you don't want to trigger recording.

with a distance of 300 feet it might be tough to use one BI machine for both of them over a wifi network... you might to run a CAT 6 cable, or could use two servers, any cheap computer can be the server.

You're right to not want to use game cameras. they have their purposes but this is not it. Maybe it's just the models I have, but they would never catch a car or person walking by because there is a several second delay between first detection of motion, and start of recording. I guess that's minimize false alarms filing up the SD card.

 

[mark02tj]

Country Geek - you seem to be pretty knowledgeable on this subject, so I want to ask a question or two... I've been following this and other similar threads as I get ready to purchase a couple of IP cameras. I'm looking at the Foscams since their name seems to come up over and over. With an internet connection, can the BlueIris software also be set up to send a text/email when it detects motion and starts recording? I want something that will alert me if I'm out of town.

Can some of the Foscam cameras detect motion a couple of hundred feet away? I'd like to mount one on the shed that sits off to the side of my house. I can point the camera straight up the driveway and I think that the camera would be fairly inconspicuous mounted on the shed. I will probably go with a 2 or three outdoor cameras altogether.

Should I stick with Foscam/BlueIris for indoor monitoring as well? Or should I just put in a DropCam for when I'm out of town and unplug it when I'm home? If I use Foscam/BlueIris for an indoor camera, can it be on some sort of timer or switch so I'm not getting notified every time I walk through the living room?

For what it's worth, I have already invested in an outdoor wifi antenna/access point to give me coverage around the property. My thought was I would be able to use outdoor wireless cameras mounted on my shed and my detached garage. Right now I have this temporarily mounted in the ceiling of my basement but my cell phone shows that it's picking up the wireless signal in the garage approximately 150' away. I'm hoping that before the snow starts flying that I have time to move it outside to it's intended location. That should give me a strong signal to both my garage and shed. It also gives me a great signal in my living room since my wireless router is located in my basement home office.

Hopefully all of this isn't considered a hijack - I think that the questions are germane to the OP's questions.

 

[Country Geek]

Can some of the Foscam cameras detect motion a couple of hundred feet away? I'd like to mount one on the shed that sits off to the side of my house. I can point the camera straight up the driveway and I think that the camera would be fairly inconspicuous mounted on the shed. I will probably go with a 2 or three outdoor cameras altogether.

No they cannot. Their lenses and resolution are not that precise.

There are two levels of motion detection. The cameras themselves can detect motion and email you screenshots. No Blue Iris or other monitoring software needed for that function. But they can't do it hundreds of feet away and you wouldn't want them to anyway. With the kind of sensitivity needed to detect motion hundreds of feet away, you'd get an alert for every breeze that moved the leaves in in the trees.

Then there is the Blue Iris detection. You can have the monitoring software detect the motion and record whenever there is motion. It also has a matching mobile phone app that can get alerts, though I haven't successfully made that work yet. This is a little better because not only can you adjust the sensitivity in several ways (size of moving object, color contrast) but you can also "mask off" parts of the picture where you don't want motion to cause a trigger (to avoid the fluttering leaves, tree shadows moving on a windy day, or a flapping flag triggering constant alarms).

Or you can do both types of detection... they are independently controlled. You can have the camera email you screen shots while the monitoring software makes recordings back home.

But that said, these inexpensive cameras aren't going to give you sensitivity or even a good enough picture to see and detect motion hundreds of feet away. More like 50 feet or so is about as far as you want them to be pointed for good picture and monitoring. To get the kind of range and sensitivity you're talking about, you'd need to step up to a whole other price point (like $1000+).

Should I stick with Foscam/BlueIris for indoor monitoring as well? Or should I just put in a DropCam for when I'm out of town and unplug it when I'm home? If I use Foscam/BlueIris for an indoor camera, can it be on some sort of timer or switch so I'm not getting notified every time I walk through the living room?

Yes Blue Iris supports monitoring schedules. I don't know what DropCam is.

 

[aczlan]

But that said, these inexpensive cameras aren't going to give you sensitivity or even a good enough picture to see and detect motion hundreds of feet away. More like 50 feet or so is about as far as you want them to be pointed for good picture and monitoring. To get the kind of range and sensitivity you're talking about, you'd need to step up to a whole other price point (like $1000+).

You can get a 5MP GeoVision box camera for $580ish (a GV-BX5300-6V) and a outdoor rated case for another $100ish (for a ip66 or ip67 one, less for a "weatherproof" one)...
That can record to an onboard SD card or to any Windows computer across the network.

Aaron Z

 

[sherpa]

Country Geek,
Thanks for the information. I did visit the Foscam Site. I want to make sure I understand fully. To build my own system, all I need is this old laptop, Blue Iris Software and a IP camera?
sherpa

 

[Country Geek]

Country Geek,
Thanks for the information. I did visit the Foscam Site. I want to make sure I understand fully. To build my own system, all I need is this old laptop, Blue Iris Software and a IP camera?
sherpa

Yes, assuming the IP camera and the laptop are on a common network.

Another advantage of a laptop is it has a battery so stays up during short power outages. The rest of the network won't but you avoid messy unplanned reboots.

Be sure to run BlueIris as a service so it always starts when the laptop starts. Turn off automatic reboots for windows updates, as well.