RE: Adding CCTV

["Paul Gordon" <paul@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hmm you raise some good points, and I know lots of people want to try
to el=
iminate the PC component, but if you were already considering Homeseer,
the=
n you'd need a PC anyway right? (unless you're considering their dedicated
=
hardware controllers, but AFAIK, they're pretty expensive). I run Homeseer
=
& GeoVision on the same PC; it is a dedicated server (Windows server
2003),=
and it doesn't get used for "working on". It *is* however, also
my domain =
controller, main fileserver, and my mail server (Exchange 2003). I also
run=
the HA config stuff on there like Comfigurator, CBUS Toolkit, etc. so it i=
s a complete "building management server". It does all this
pretty much fla=
wlessly, and without maxing out the hardware.

Comfort can of course do the motion detection function via PIR's - albeit
i=
n a somewhat more primitive way, - unless you can spend a lot of time &
eff=
ort selecting specific PIR's, experimenting with positioning, changing
and/=
or masking lenses, doing walk tests, etc. it's pretty hard to get a PIR to
=
only "see" a very specific area. Also, I have found that PIR's
are pretty s=
ensitive to temperature, - even though I have used external PIR's in some
p=
laces, that according to their specs are rated down to something like -6C,
=
I still find their sensitivity varies in the extreme cold (perhaps it just
=
seems that way because everybody wears thick hats & coats & thus
don't pres=
ent such a strong thermal image?) The CCTV doesn't have the same issues,
an=
d the GV motion detection seems to keep on working just as well no matter
w=
hat the temperature. The upshot is that using simple PIR's to trigger the
C=
CTV recording *could* be less reliable, and may result in missed
recordings=
... This may be important... (it after all the Raison D'=EAtre of
installin=
g the camera in the first place).

Just my =A30.02

Paul G.



> -----Original Message-----
> From: ukha_d@xxxxxxx [mailto:ukha_d@xxxxxxx] On Behalf
> Of Ben McCormack
> Sent: 05 February 2009 11:22
> To: UKHA Group
> Subject: Re: [ukha_d] Adding CCTV
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> Sounds like Geovision could be the way to go.
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> I have also found an Axis video server that fits the bill
> http://www.axis.com/products/cam_241qa/index.htm
>   but it is around =A3700.
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> I do have some concerns on Geovision
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> 1. It will need another dedicated PC. I was trying to be PC free and
> just a Mac server but now need Homeseer PC and Geovision.
> 2. Not sure about Geovision detecting motion. I don't want to confuse
> matters. Comfort will fill that function for me.
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> Paul - My choices are partially down to you!
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> Ben
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> On 5 Feb 2009, at  10:48, Paul Gordon wrote:
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> > Absolutely! - piece of the proverbial p*ss with comfort...
> >
> > Connect up the bell-press switch to comfort as an input, connect
up
> > the
> > contact sensor on the door to comfort as an input. I even have a
PIR
> > in
> > the porch facing the front path, so I sense approaching visitors
a
> > little before they actually reach the door - this gives a little
> extra
> > time for processing logic, and thus a more "immediate"
response...
> >
> > Comfort then knows:
> > - when someone is approaching the door, before they get there
> > (regardless of whether they rang the bell or not)
> > - when the doorbell is pressed.
> > - when the door is opened.
> > - when the door is closed.
> >
> > note that I have a PIR immediately inside *AND* outside the front
> > door,
> > so if I could be *rsed to deduce the logic & write the code,
I could
> > do
> > all kinds of clever things based on whether the door was opened
in
> > response to a caller, or because an occupant is leaving the house
> etc.
> >
> > Once that information is in comfort, you can do anything in
response
> > to
> > it that comfort can do. This includes switching CCTV cameras, and
> > there
> > used to be numerous examples of this of the Comfort web site. It
> would
> > be utter simplicity to have it power on the camera - you would
need
> to
> > take care of ensuring that whatever CCTV system you have in place
can
> > respond appropriately; - i.e. as soon as it starts receiving
video
> > from
> > that camera, it needs to start recording... It also needs to not
> > complain about "lost feed" when you power the camera
down again...
> >
> > In my case, I use comfort to do some of the things that it is
best at
> > (turn on porch lights if its dark etc.), but I also communicate
these
> > conditions immediately into Homeseer via the comfort-homeseer
plugin,
> > and do additional logic there, including sending an email to my
> > mailbox,
> > pausing any playing SONOS zones if the bell is pressed, etc. (It
> could
> > also provide TTS announcements over any/all SONOS zones if I
> > wanted...)
> >
> > I also have a CCTV camera at the front door, but that currently
is
> not
> > fully integrated into the above. It is connected to a GeoVision
> > server,
> > which has motion detection (with complete freedom to mask areas
of
> the
> > image etc.) so this automatically records when someone approaches
the
> > door, and emails me a still. (I could also have it upload the
still
> to
> > an FTP site etc.) GeoVision have some I/O modules available that
can
> > be
> > triggered by the motion detection, so I plan to fit one or two of
> > these
> > and connect its output channels to comfort inputs so it will then
be
> > able to signal comfort as soon as movement is detected by any
camera
> > (one channel per camera allows me to tell comfort exactly which
> camera
> > has seen motion). This effectively will allow me to use the
cameras
> as
> > additional comfort sensors, with *excellent* discrimination in
the
> > detection area (far easier than trying to tune a PIR to only see
> > movement in a specified area). Then the detection of movement by
a
> > camera will become a comfort trigger, and can instigate any
comfort
> > (and
> > thus additionally Homeseer) response that I want.
> >
> > Once the in-beta Homeseer Touch software is available, that would
> > include the ability to push out a customised screen display with
> > either
> > a still, or streamed live feed from the CCTV, and any log
information
> > that you want, - exactly as described in your question.
> >
> > You could also pass the info from Homeseer into xAP/xPL and use
that
> > to
> > drive any number of additional display devices around the house.
I
> > don't
> > know if there are any direct Comfort-xAP/xPL interfaces available
> (I'm
> > not aware of any), but a UCM-xAP/xPL would be a useful device I
> > think...
> >
> > BTW: Your choices are all good ones:-
> >
> > CBUS - Just works
> > Comfort - Just works
> > SONOS - Just works
> > Homeseer - If you do it *properly* it pretty much also does
"just
> > work"
> > with a fairly high degree of reliability (IME).
> >
> > HTH
> >
> > Paul G.
> >
> >
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: ukha_d@xxxxxxx [mailto:ukha_d@xxxxxxx] On
> >> Behalf
> >> Of Ben McCormack
> >> Sent: 05 February 2009 10:08
> >> To: UKHA Group
> >> Subject: [ukha_d] Adding CCTV
> >>
> >> All
> >>
> >> As you have read I have decided to go down the
cbus/comfort/sonos
> and
> >> possibly
> >> homeseer route for my HA system. Things are progressing well
but
> >> slowly.
> >>
> >> Now I had thought about CCTV in the past but was never sure
but this
> >> morning I found a
> >> site that has made me rethink http://www.bwired.nl/Doorimages.asp
> >>
> >> There is a camera at the front door that is linked to the
doorbell
> >> and
> >> also the contact
> >> sensor on the door.
> >>
> >> So it takes a picture and gives the following readout
> >>
> >> Doorbell pushed On Saturday 31 January 2009 - 19:57:42
> >> Door Opened On 19:57:53  After 11 Seconds  For 8 Seconds
> >>
> >> Now the system to do this is home written so is not an option
for
> me.
> >>
> >> Has anyone got anything similar working
> >>
> >> Action : Comfort Doorbell pressed
> >> Response : Camera turns on and records for 2 min or until
door is
> >> opened and closed.
> >>
> >> Any help or pointers appreciated.
> >>
> >> Ben
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> ------------------------------------
> >>
> >> Yahoo! Groups Links
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
> > ------------------------------------
> >
> > Yahoo! Groups Links
> >
> >
> >
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