Help for a noob! How to connect a box camera to a pc

[peterj 0]

Hi - sorry if I am stupid, but I am waiting delivery of a box camera and I want to be able to access the auto zoom lens from my Winxp pc (if possible).

This is the type of camera I am getting: 15-CB25NV

I have a Hauppage 150 pvr card that will take the video out.

Is there some software that I install and some h/w (serial input??) that I can use?

Or am I going to need to buy a stand alone camera controller that is designed for a PTZ setup?

 

If the latter is the case, could I buy something like this?

(ebay # 250255065214)

 

Puhleease help me someone!

Pete

[scorpion 0]

I am not really sure what you have.

 

You will not be able to control the camera's auto zoom feature (15-CB25NV ).

 

You will need a different camera if you plan on zooming in, and out.

 

If you are keeping the 15-CB25NV then you will set the zoom lens to where you want to see, and that is the end of that. You can always get back on a ladder, and readjust the camera to a different view.

 

If you buy a camera that zooms in, and out then look for a camera that has Pelco D protocol.

 

In regards to the conroller you need to ask the EBAY owner of that controller the question if it will work with your camera. If they do not know the answer then you need to buy a controller from where you bought the camera as they should be able to give you all of the information that you need to make it work. If they do not have the answers then you really need to reconsider what you need, and where you are going to buy it.

 

There are a lot of pros, and cons to buying on EBAY. This is for those that have electronic experience, and they have the knowledge to bypass storefront CCTV shops so that they can save a large percentage on their cost. If you need to save money then you willl need to take yourself through an education process. One to get the right equipment, and the other is to save you the heartbreak of being sold something that you did not want, or need, or even worse getting "ripped off".

 

How much experience do you have with the Hauppage 150 pvr card for CCTV purposes??

 

How else can I assist you?

[peterj 0]

Thanks for your reply.

I will have to look at the camera & lens to figure out how to hook it up.

If the lens is 12v, then it should be a matter of connecting 12v + & - to the right connections to get it to work.

I will have to try & find more info myself - I will be googling like crazy over the next few days!

As far as the 150 card, I've used it for a few years now and have used it to create compliant mpeg2 files from an older camcorder and vcr, then created svcd's and dvd's sucessfully. If you play around with bitrates, you can get about 2hrs. of vhs quality onto a dvd. The nice thing about the card, is that it creates mgegs on the fly. The quality is as good as the source (which is not great to start with).

I had also hooked up a cheap IR board cam to the card and, in conjunction with windows' Task Scheduler' was able to record 8 hours of security video at 320x240 (a 'runtime' command line option for the pvr150). That way the video files were reasonably small.

After recording, I ran them in Videoredo (a GREAT mgeg editor).

By using hotkeys, I could scan the whole recording in a few minutes to 'watch' for when the motion detector light would come on, thereby observing intruders entering the 'zone'. Typically the paperboy or a racoon).

Now I want a better camera!

[peterj 0]

Does anyone think this ebay item (160248314729) can be used for controlling the zoom lens?

Pretty cheap solution maybe?

[scorpion 0]

If you cannot answer your own question then this product is not for you.

 

We do not use this kind of a product so you are going down a new path.

 

Get out your machette, and start hacking away!

 

I would recommend buying the correct items, and do it in a normal fashion.

[peterj 0]

Well, finally got things going here - decided to not bother with an auto zoom lens just yet.

 

I was able to convert the Ultra Day/Night camera to wireless sucessfully.

I used the transmitter from a cheap 'spy' camera and soldered it to the video out etc. on the box camera and voila! A decent camera with wireless abilities. It is SO much better than the spy camera.

 

If anyone has thought about doing this, it's pretty cool.

 

I have set up a squirrel feeder in the back yard and have the camera on it and recording onto the PC hd via the Hauppage capture card.

It's about 5 gigs of space per 8 hr's at 320x240.

 

Haven't got any squirrels yet (must be camera shy), but the kids are excited!

 

I would like to get the video feed so that it's accessible via the web.

I have installed Apache (successfully, I believe, since I can get the index page up), but gotten no further than that.

 

If anyone can point to a good tutorial on how to get my video on the web, I would really appreciate it.

I've ben googling, but can't seem to find the exact info.

 

Once again, getting out of my depth, but getting there!

 

Cheers.

Pete