gadgetbest

I have been thinking a lot about the advantages of building one's system from scratch. Not only does it allow to save some money, but also makes one much more free to choose between different options. I am a newbie, so my question may be somewhat naive. I would like to know if wireless DVRs are usually compatible with wireless cameras bought with a different set. When I search for different cameras I usually find that they sell wireless DVR + camera together. If I buy one of those, can it be used with a different camera? How do you do in order to allow your DVR to communicate with your wireless camera and not your neighbours? Do they use a password or something like that? I would be interested in a wireless DVR with motion detector and the possibility of recording with a secure digital card. It should have video-out as well, so that I could send the signal through a long-range wireless antenna if I so desired. The key here is modular design and the possibility of building your own system from scratch little by little, adding to it other pieces in the future, without being compelled to buy them all in one sitting.

I need a a camera that can be set up in a place where people who is not supposed to be there gets there while one is out. Using AC as a power source would be a big hassle, so it's essential that this camera can be maintained by batteries and that these last for a long time (weeks). To solve the battery problem a solution is that the camera only shoots when it detects some movement. The concept would be the same as the one used in Bird Watching Cameras, with a slight difference: it would be best if this camera could send the pictures taken wirelessly to another device, placed in a nearby place and powered by AC current (here the AC power source would not be a problem). This way, the one trespassing the place where the motion detecting cam would be placed could not avoid identification by destroying the cam, because it would have already sent the snapshots taken to the "control center" wirelessly. So, it needs to have these features: 1) Activated by motion 2) Long battery life 3) Wireless transmission to another device However, it doesn't matter to me a lot that it can record video. If it only takes snapshots it would be enough. Thanks in advance.

Thank you very much for your replies. I will quote each of them and I will answer. Maybe the sealed lead acid battery idea isn't so bad. After all, even if the intruder gets angry when he/she sees the camera and begins hitting the battery, I don't think it will burst into flames or anything like that (am I right?). That said, how much energy do most wireless CMOS cams spend as a general rule? Less than 200 mAh? If that were the case, would I have to get a 30 Ah battery if I want to be able to recharge once a week? As far as how to connect it to the battery and how to charge the battery, I have no idea, do these kind of batteries come with a plugin or do you have to do the connection from scratch? On the other hand, the "motion detecting" mechanism doesn't seem to be related to battery life, because it isn't implemented at the camera level but at the receptor level, is that correct? That looks like an awesome equipment but it's way to expensive. I was thinking that, for the time being, I could buy a normal wireless spy cam + receiver that records when it detects movement in a SD card. These kind of receptors, if I am not mistaken, come with a Video OUT connection, which I could use in the future to connect one long distance emitter, that could be useful, for instance, to watch the camera from somewhere else (at work, for instance) located a few miles away. These devices don't seem very expensive: the 3W one is around 400 bucks and it theoretically can reach up to 7 miles, that is probably without obstacles in between, but with some obstacles what could it get? 2 miles maybe? In any case, these can be connected to any wireless cam + receptor set with video out, right? I am speaking about the trc12g section in vfmstore (I cannot paste the link). Perhaps a couple of walls or something like that. I think that the 20-50 range would be perfectly suitable. In any case, most wireless cameras seem to offer 100 ft or more, don't they?

I guess it's close enough to allow a short range wireless device to connect properly. It's probably less than 20 meters. With low resolution it would be enough. Just enough to be able to recognize a person you see often. That would probably be more hassle than leading the 12V cable to the spot where the camera is going to be recording. In any case, the lead-acid battery seems to be a pretty useful device with many applications: how can I calculate, given the specs of a lead-acid battery and given the specs of a device, how much it's going to last? And how long does it take for one of these batteries to get charged?

Thanks a lot for your reply, you have explained things very clearly. The solution I am seeking seems to be pretty hard to find from what you say... And those ones like the "bird watching cameras" don't seem to need an acid battery in order to remain powered; from what the specifications say, one can get by with AA batteries for several months. I don't know what motion detecting mechanism they use in order to make the batteries last that much. You can see their specs if you look in google, I am not allowed to paste URLs here because I have just registered and my post count is too low. The problem storing to memory is that the camera would probably be easily visible and hence vandalized, making the vandalizer anonymous. If storing somewhere else, where the vandalizer didn't have access, he could vandalize the camera but I would at least be able identify him or her, which is the main aim. A solution would be a wireless AC camera, that could be vandalized without getting the pictures taken destroyed (because they got stored somewhere else), but getting AC current might be quite a hassle, not to mention that if the vandalizer saw the cable, he/she might infer that he/she has been wirelessly recorded and might feel tempted to follow the cable trying to find where the control center is. How much would an acid battery last if I connected it to one of those 12V wireless cameras? That might be an option if it lasted 1-2 weeks, but it has the downside of making the whole setup much more easily spottable, increasing the probability of being destroyed. On the other hand, I have serious concerns thinking about how, when he/she spotted the whole setup, might react furiously hitting the battery or something that put the whole thing into fire. A hypothetical solution would be a camera like the "bird watching" one, powered by AA batteries that last long (I still don't know how they can last so long), but that only enabled the wireless function, after having taken X pictures into its internal memory, to dump them to the control center. Thus, the wireless transfer would only be briefly activated from time to time, which should not put too much "strain" on the batteries.