carrier82

The vacuum robots are quite autonomous as they can reach the recharging base on their own and continue work. This is close to what I'm talking about, but putting an armed guard robot in the house kind of freaks me out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12A3jAjCghE

Now that vacuum robots are becoming quite sophicticated, for example the Neato Robotics cleaners which use SLAM (simultaneous localization and mapping) technology to map and clean the apartment using laser range finders, I wonder when moving robot cameras will be available for everyone. The technology is here already, and semi-intelligent moving camera guards would be the next step from PTZ cameras...

You might try any NVR with external video servers as well, most video servers have I/O ports. Some recording software may be able to react to emails sent by the existing system as well, at least one open source video monitoring software for linux can...

No. My process is reported here http://www.openipcam.com/forum/index.php/topic,385.0.html and the project about to come to an end without success. Don't say it's impossible, but perhaps beyond my capabilities.

Try to hack into the file system somehow. Perhaps telnet or ftp (or even serial connection via rs232 or jtag pins on circuit board) might work. When you are familiar with the structure, that might give you clues on how to access. I have a similar problem with an ip cam that only supports activex. I guess there is no easy way unless there is some kind of hidden cgi-bin directory for these functions. Other option is to wtite client code of your own Lesson learned at least for me: stay away of activex/ie only stuff. If manufacturer mentions only access via IE, there might not be any alternatives to that. God i hate activex!

Zoneminder can be configured to react to almost anything almost any way you want. Needs some knowledge of linux, scripting etc though. But i recently configured it to start recording on motion detected by my acti acm1231 camera (as well as pir motion detectors attached to my axis 2400 video servers and vivotek cam) and that wasn't overwhelming to do, but to some it might be.

Hello world! I got an IQeye series 4 (1,3 Mpix) camera fairly cheap and was planning to put it outdoors in a weatherproof enclosure. The camera does not seem to have auto-iris feature, which might cause problems (glare, sensor wear) in sunlight? Is it a strict no-no, or could some safeguards be implemented to extend the outdoor lifespan of the camera? Location is quite up north and sun tends to shine quite low most of the year. Pointing the camera north is not a valid option in my plan.

buellwinkle, that's a good and cheap to try idea. Ordered a couple of UV filters off ebay, we'll see the results in a few years

Soundy said this in another thread: Main thing I can see is that the cheaper one is a video iris type, which most cameras don't support. With video iris, the camera mainly just provides power to the lens, and the lens itself controls the iris. Video iris used to be a lot more common, but not so much these days. I was wondering, could i install a video drive lens to the iqeye camera and provide the voltage to the lens myself? Or do these kind of lenses require some kind of interaction with the camera?

Are we still talking about megapixel wifi cameras?

I chose to set up a dedicated Linux box for recording. The reason is that the Zoneminder software is so versatile. I have a bunch of different make chinese/better quality cameras, almost none of them onvif compliant. If I have some way to get pictures or stream from the camera, eg via ftp, via http or via rtsp, the software is capable of processing it. Afaik this kind of wide array of supported ip cameras is not possible with embedded systems.

Thanks, Blake CCTV. Is the iris set wide open on those Areconts?

Err... No, I would expect at least five years life from a camera

On a second thought, I just had an idea for a good location opposite the garage where I can point the camera to not have direct exposure to the sun , hopefully it'll suffice. Any success stories on fixed iris and outdoor environment?

Hello everyone I've become interested in CCTV applications now that the family property in the countryside has been robbed a couple of times by local teenagers. I did install an outdoor Foscam model to watch the yard, but a lightning broke the 3G router and didn't get any pictures of the kids during their last hit. Now i'm planning seriously to catch these guys and install a comprehensive CCTV system to the premises. So far i've acquired the following hardware to watch the three buildings. Installation isn't made yet, though. NVR (for motion based recording + off site storage via ftp or email) Zoneminder NVR with Atom D2700, 64GB SSD, 4GB RAM Cameras Foscam FI8904W VGA wifi, outdoor 2 pcs Zavio F1105 720p wifi, indoor Chinese IP camera, D1, outdoor Acti ACM1231 1,3MP, outdoor JVC TK analogue + outdoor housing 2 pcs cheap chinese analogue 360TVL outdoor Other two Axis video servers for analogue-digital conversion and alarm input a couple of outdoor PIR sensors for motion based recording a couple of network switches Any thoughts welcome! Of course everything needs to be cheap

Yes, i suppose better makes like Axis offer the frame rate they promise, but they do cost money. With cheap ones, the reliability and frame rate can be an issue.

Thank you very much for your input, tomcctv & mike_va. I do not have the original PS-D Axis power supply for these units so I feed DC power by the alternate I/O terminal block power feed on pins 1&2. According to 2400 manual, the unit requires 6-30V DC, min 7W. The power supplies I use exceed this requirement and I have tried a couple. Setting the resolution to CIF seems to have solved this problem, but what's intriguing is that I've set resolution to CIF on the web interface, but i'm still able to receive 4CIF feed from the unit by using correct path (/axis-cgi/mjpg/video.cgi?camera=2&resolution=704x576) and it has worked fine for hours now.

Hi and thanks for reading. I got two Axis 2400 video encoders, but one of them seems to be a bit broken. Both have latest firmware (2.34) It works for a while, but then it stops broadcasting video. I have tried to switch input but no difference. The web interface works fine, though. Just no image. I was wondering if there is some component that breaks and creates these kind of symptoms or some other kind of fix. Any suggestions for a fix would be welcome as I'm on a tight budget

Never done any update, got these with this firmware but i did do a factory reset. Running CIF has now been trouble free for some hours, the problems were quite immediate with 4CIF. Perhaps some kind of heat related problem, I guess 4CIF takes much more processing power and generates more heat. But just a guess. If the previous owner didn't reset to factory prior updating, would it create these symptoms? Any remedy?

I have two Zavio 1MP wireless cameras. The manufacturer states 10 fps, but really it's 3-8 fps which seems to be dependant of wifi signal strength, (not sure of this). A firmware update made the streams more fluent, used to be 1-3 fps. But still one has better fps than the other, same make, model and firmware version. I might try to avoid using these in strategic points, though. An Acti wired camera with 1.3MP works better (but it is a way more expensive camera than these Zavios). But yes, they work just like wired cameras once they are set up to use wifi. One VGA (Foscam) wifi camera i've had in use for a couple of months works fine for a distance of ~30 meters, a wall and a window in between.