Re: Adding CCTV

["Ben McCormack" <yahoogroup@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Paul - I was going to run homeseer on a fanless mini-itx server that
would =
have cost=20
around =A3200 but you are right at the end of the day why not make this
ser=
ver bigger and=20
run homeseer and geovision.

The other option would be IP cameras. From what I can see the professional
=
choice seems=20
to be analogue cameras feed back to a DVR of some type.

Good points on the motion detection.

Ben=20

--- In ukha_d@xxxxxxx, "Paul Gordon" <paul@...> wrote:
>
> Hmm you raise some good points, and I know lots of people want to try
to =
eliminate the=20
PC component, but if you were already considering Homeseer, then you'd
need=
a PC=20
anyway right? (unless you're considering their dedicated hardware
controlle=
rs, but AFAIK,=20
they're pretty expensive). I run Homeseer & GeoVision on the same PC;
it is=
a dedicated=20
server (Windows server 2003), and it doesn't get used for "working
on". It =
*is* however,=20
also my domain controller, main fileserver, and my mail server (Exchange
20=
03). I also run=20
the HA config stuff on there like Comfigurator, CBUS Toolkit, etc. so it
is=
a complete=20
"building management server". It does all this pretty much
flawlessly, and =
without maxing=20
out the hardware.
>=20
> Comfort can of course do the motion detection function via PIR's -
albeit=
in a somewhat=20
more primitive way, - unless you can spend a lot of time & effort
selecting=
specific PIR's,=20
experimenting with positioning, changing and/or masking lenses, doing walk
=
tests, etc.=20
it's pretty hard to get a PIR to only "see" a very specific area.
Also, I h=
ave found that PIR's=20
are pretty sensitive to temperature, - even though I have used external
PIR=
's in some=20
places, that according to their specs are rated down to something like
-6C,=
I still find their=20
sensitivity varies in the extreme cold (perhaps it just seems that way
beca=
use everybody=20
wears thick hats & coats & thus don't present such a strong thermal
image?)=
The CCTV=20
doesn't have the same issues, and the GV motion detection seems to keep on
=
working just=20
as well no matter what the temperature. The upshot is that using simple
PIR=
's to trigger=20
the CCTV recording *could* be less reliable, and may result in missed
recor=
dings... This=20
may be important... (it after all the Raison D'=EAtre of installing the
cam=
era in the first=20
place).
>=20
> Just my =A30.02
>=20
> Paul G.
>=20
>=20
>=20
> > -----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
> >=20
> > Sounds like Geovision could be the way to go.
> >=20
> > 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.
> >=20
> > I do have some concerns on Geovision
> >=20
> > 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.
> >=20
> >=20
> > Paul - My choices are partially down to you!
> >=20
> > Ben
> >=20
> >=20
> > On 5 Feb 2009, at  10:48, Paul Gordon wrote:
> >=20
> > > 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
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >=20
> >=20
> >=20
> > ------------------------------------
> >=20
> > Yahoo! Groups Links
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> >
>




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