Surveillance Computer

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Supreme [H]ardness
2FA
Joined
Jun 12, 2001
Messages
4,199
I live in a crappy part of town and somebody keeps messing with my moms car :mad: So she asked me to set up a home Surveillance system can I do it cheaply with an extra computer I have (I know I can use VHS but I don;t want to) So I know I need a camera and a capture card but what else? is there software that can dectect movement and only record when someone moves?

Computer Specs
PIII 800MHZ
256MB RAM
40GB HDD
DVD-Rom/CD-RW
NIC
Net-gear WLAN G card
Onboard Video/Sound

No Capture card at the moment I don't need one wth a tuner just a composite input
and no camera at the moment either but I will be gettig one of those wireless ones from ebay
 
if you need to mount the Webcam outside, what is weather like over there? Rainy, snowy, 24 hour daylight/darkness?

Cheap webcams might not fair so well out in the elements or in the darkness of night fall.
 
Actually I was going to mount the camera in the window as I can see the car through the window, so It will be insode the house
 
You would be better off borrowing someone's digital video camera. THey are muuuuuch better at filming at night that a webcam. I'd be surprised if you can get any webcam to film at night with reasonable clarity.
 
yeah webcam resolution sucks, I aimed mine across the street while chatting and everyone asked, "who's standing on the side of the road"?...

no one was, it was a flag on a flag pole...

best bet is the VCR and an old vhs camera...KISS rule always applies.
 
this is what I used to use,

camera2.jpg


camera3.jpg


This setup was given to me so when it stopped working, I wasn't out anything.

Best thing is an outdoor low light camera, about $125 and a timelapse VCR , about $150-200. Sams Club sells a Sylvania setup for about $400 or so with 4 cameras, monitor, and timelapse VCR, but the cameras aren't that good for night time use unless you have a motion activated flood light, which I would recommend getting.

I was actually helping someone with some survielence video this past weekend and this is what the Sylvania unit looks like, (it's the Top VCR)
tl-vcr.jpg


and an image from the system with some smudging done to the image,
cam.jpg
 
Would a High pressure Sodium Light work? The Car is parked under a street light,and infront of my living room wondow so the camera can stay inside I only need 1 camera
 
Try it an see. That's really the answer we can give you. There's alot variables to consider. Shadows, existing light conditions, ambient light, hell, even the color of the car might make a difference!
 
I'll tell you what I'd do. Sit inside the window with a BB gun. Shoot em in the ass and call it a day.
 
For a thief, I would use a good old shotgun or a high caliber pistol.

Animals do not live by societies rules
Neither do Thieves
Therefore Thieves = animals
Therefore, they should be exterminated like the animals they are.
 
A webcam won't capture anything in low light that's more than a foot or two away.

Get an actual survalence setup as was recommended above, or camp the site with a shotty. ;)
 
Heres my off topic suggestion, go to the pound get the biggest dog you can find, feed it very little(to get it mean and hungery) and put it in the trunk of the car. I will assume that your moms car has a remote trunk opener... now you see what I am getting at.


PS. I do not condone the abuse of animals I got a dog of mine own(evn tho it is worthless and likes to hop the garden fence and ruin the garden and then get stuck and cry) I would never hurt him in any way.

Good luck
 
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