Re: Cheap cctv camera cards- Question

["gearboxgraeme" <gkjones@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Yeah, I bought one that sounds very similar to this.

Mine has the BT878A chip on it and a coupler of connectors on the=20
board itself ( like ide connectors, but smaller ).

Also, has a row of jumper block in the top left corner - anyone know=20
what these are for ? )

The 4 composite video inputs are on bnc connectors and the 1 audio=20
plug is a small standard connector ( must actually plug something=20
into this to see if it works ).

software : given it has a standard bt878 chip on board (=20
fusion/brooktree 878 ) then its very easy to drive.

Linux kernel version 2.4 onwards has a module which directly supports=20
this as a video4linux device. In this case I ( and in 4 different=20
machines at my work ) use a piece of software called motion to watch=20
cameras ( http://sourceforge.net/projects/motion/
)

Windows ( only tried 2000 and XP ) needs a freely available driver (=20
do a google search, plenty about or could make one available ).=20
Iv used an excellent piece of software called supervisioncam
( http://www.supervisioncam.com/ ).

Ive also recorded video using virtualdub on these cards, better=20
results than my ati radeon 7500 all-in-wonder.


A couple of notes though - mine came off ebay from a guy in either=20
hong kong or taiwain - it arrived in a plain grey envelope, marked=20
as 'sample' ( no customs, import duty, etc - lar-de-dah-de-dah,=20
whistles away quietly )

And, the software that came with it was complete rubbish - cant even=20
remember the name as I binned it as soon as I realised that the chip=20
on board was something useful.
( hint: ignore the mftr name on a piece of hardware, read the writing=20
on the largest chip and do a google search for the drivers. It may=20
take some hunting but you can usually find better drivers than=20
supplied - in my case WDM drivers which allow other software to use=20
the card under windows ).

If you have a hunt back through the archives ( cant remember how long=20
ago, I ride a motorbike, its cold and I recently got home to another=20
power cut ) there has been a fair bit of discussion about the=20
software to use for camera stuff ( if thats what you want to do, can=20
also use a a nice cheap pc-based video recorder - but Ive only=20
dabbled with this part ).


Cheers - Graeme



--- In ukha_d@xxxxxxx, Jim Noble <yahoo-groups@b...> wrote:
> Campbell Macdonald wrote:
>=20
> > I have purchased a cheap cctv card from Ebay (Hong Kong), it is a
> > SK2000FB which has 4 camera inputs and is 25 ofr 50fps (not=20
exactly sure
> > as there is no manual and little details). Amazingly this card=20
works and
> > records all 4 channels on different streams, with movement=20
recognition
> > in each stream......not bad for =A325.00 inc postage. It was
bought=20
as a
> > play thing and as a first buy (to see if delivered). For the
sake=20
of a
> > small amount and what it can do, it seems pretty good.
> >
>=20
> If it has 1 Conexant Fusion BT878a (as most do), it's 25fps. 2 of=20
them=20
> would be required for 50fps. (All assuming you don't want to watch=20
all 4=20
> camera inputs at once).
>=20
> What frame rate do you see per channel? Do you have the auction id=20
(any=20
> more for sale on there)?
>=20
> Jim