Security Cameras

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  1. Posts : 6,618
    W7x64 Pro, SuSe 12.1/** W7 x64 Pro, XP MCE
    Thread Starter
       #41

    Britton30 said:
    Where I used to work had a security cam system which allowed us to set the motion detection to be ignored in parts of the field of view. The screen adjustment was laid out in a grid and the sections could be turned off as needed.
    That would be very good, but I haven't seen that specified in the data on any of the cameras that I have found so far. That may just be a feature in the more expensive cameras...I don't know.

    Maintenance just finished lopping off a couple of the main limbs that were blocking the view. It may still have some problem with dangling twigs, but I won't know until I get the camera. I'm hoping that getting a camera with a narrow viewing angle will not see them, but then I don't know that the motion detection is performed by the lens, or some other sensor? If the latter, it still might be a problem.
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  2. Posts : 880
    Windows 7 Professional 64bit
       #42

    seekermeister said:
    I don't know that the motion detection is performed by the lens, or some other sensor? If the latter, it still might be a problem.
    The motion sensing is not done by any sensor per se, but rather the PC software that looks for changes in the images that are sent-back by the camera.

    If you have a narrow/accurate enough field-of-vision, you won't need to concern yourself with zoning/grids, but iirc there are freeware/cheapware apps you can get for these cameras that allow you to perform darn near any magic with them, including "zone detection".
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  3. Posts : 6,618
    W7x64 Pro, SuSe 12.1/** W7 x64 Pro, XP MCE
    Thread Starter
       #43

    Thanks, I realize that I won't really know how to deal with all of this, until I actually get my hands on a camera, just trying to eliminate as many problems as possible before committing to a particular camera. I think that it may depend on the camera chosen, as to how the detection is done, because some of them appear to have a separate sensor below the camera itself. I'm about to get on the phone to talk to some of the local stores to help make a choice, because it seems that those stores that specialize in this sort of thing, don't provide much of any details online. I suppose that is to encourage customers to contact them, but I tend to doubt that I will buy locally, unless I find something too good to pass up.
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  4. Posts : 6,618
    W7x64 Pro, SuSe 12.1/** W7 x64 Pro, XP MCE
    Thread Starter
       #44

    While maintenance was here, I asked him to estimate the distance between my balcony and the parking spaces. He thought that it was 100-150 feet (I've never been too good at guessing distances). If it is that far, it would eliminate using the LEDs for night vision, so I hope that the ambient light will suffice. outside of moon light, the only other illumination is from a couple of lightpoles, but they may be more of a problem than a help, because I'm thinking that they may put light where it shouldn't be. Just for my information, if there was no artificial light at all, would moon light be enough for good imaging?
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  5. Posts : 880
    Windows 7 Professional 64bit
       #45

    seekermeister said:
    Just for my information, if there was no artificial light at all, would moon light be enough for good imaging?
    Dunno, depends on the phase I'd guess! For sure, if all you have is moonlight, it's not likely sm that your recordings will be good enough to recognize faces.
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  6. Posts : 6,618
    W7x64 Pro, SuSe 12.1/** W7 x64 Pro, XP MCE
    Thread Starter
       #46

    I just got off the phone with a local store, and he made one comment that really bother me. When I asked about temperature and humidity, he said that the camera would have to be able to withstand -40 degrees, because of the wind chill factor. I was surprised that this would effect a camera, because I always consider it to be only a human factor. I would have considered it just a ploy to make me willing to buy an expensive camera from him, but we had already established the fact that I wasn't a potential customer, and he had referred me to another online source, which I'm still checking into.

    EDIT: Another thing that he said that may be a real factor, is that a wireless camera wouldn't penetrate a wall. He wanted me to get a wired camera instead.
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  7. Posts : 880
    Windows 7 Professional 64bit
       #47

    In a sense one might say "that is utter B.S." because afaik "wind chill factor" intends to describe the effect of wind and cold on human skin! Regardless, it is fair to say that your camera is unlikely to work very well in -20F weather (I dunno where you live--I left the North Country many yrs ago!).

    Neither, however, are thieves likely to be very active at -20F either!
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  8. Posts : 6,618
    W7x64 Pro, SuSe 12.1/** W7 x64 Pro, XP MCE
    Thread Starter
       #48

    It doesn't usually get that cold here in the winter. I would tend to estimate that it wouldn't usually get below zero, although I do recall a few occassions that it got a few degrees below. However, I think that you are right about thieves not going out in those kind of temperatures. If one did, he would be a very determined fellow. I just got off the phone again with Sears customer service, and they couldn't provide me with any specific information, because their security cameras are only available online, and all that he could do was to speculate like we are. Discounting the temperature question, I still need to determine whether a wireless camera is feasible, due to the wall penetration factor? I could locate the camera above my balcony door, so that it would only have to penetrate the glass, but if I did, that elevation might be more of a problem with the view due to tree limbs.
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  9. Posts : 24,479
    Windows 7 Ultimate X64 SP1
       #49

    Right chill factor only is in relation to humans and animals, not hardware. If the chill is -40 but the temp is -10, hardware feels -10.
    The afore mentioned cams stay outside in IN where we get a few nights in the -20°F range and they've worked fine for 3 years. Sorry I don't know the name of the equipment, it is a self-contained system with 4 cams and monitor and HDD recording.
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  10. Posts : 6,618
    W7x64 Pro, SuSe 12.1/** W7 x64 Pro, XP MCE
    Thread Starter
       #50

    Britton30,

    Sorry I don't know the name of the equipment
    Wish you did, it would be nice to check it out. It definitely gets colder there than it does here. Some questions that I sent to Foscam's sales department never got a response, so I sent them a couple more a bit ago. So far they are the only ones I've found that has a camera with a very narrow angle of view as an option, but after putting it into the Cart, I found no option available to specify it.

    EDIT: The other question that I sent was about date/time stamps on the video...I found no mention of it in their specifications. In fact, I've only found one camera of a different brand that did.
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