Raspberry Pi security camera

D

deblen

Full time elf
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Mar 20, 2011
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153
Hi,


I have been thinking of the potential to use a Raspberry Pi as a security camera, that is hidden within my display.


Last year I was hit by vandals, I did have cameras on the front of the house, but too far away to be able to see the culprits.


By having the Pi, a closer picture maybe obtained, even if one was to use several Pi,s.


With the wealth of knowledge of the forum, what would be a way of setting the hardware and software to use.


Storage, Wi Fi, possible streaming, record in low vision., maybe motion activated.


Any thoughts welcome
 
Hi,


Thanks for the quick replies, will get me started in what I should start with.


Deblen. :)
 
for the cost of the pi's an the cost of external micro camera's,
I would just use external micro camera's.. ($25-$40 ones)
I've thought of mounting one up the megatree pole (since my megatree is in the middle of the yard)
 
smartalec said:
for the cost of the pi's an the cost of external micro camera's,
I would just use external micro camera's.. ($25-$40 ones)
I've thought of mounting one up the megatree pole (since my megatree is in the middle of the yard)
Click to expand...


Hi Alec,
What did you mean by a micro camera ? Do you have a link to one - cause I may look at doing the same ..
 
gerry said:
smartalec said:
for the cost of the pi's an the cost of external micro camera's,
I would just use external micro camera's.. ($25-$40 ones)
I've thought of mounting one up the megatree pole (since my megatree is in the middle of the yard)
Click to expand...
Hi Alec,
What did you mean by a micro camera ? Do you have a link to one - cause I may look at doing the same ..
Click to expand...

like this Gerry
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Brand-New-Mini-CCTV-SPY-Wired-Camera-Micro-Monochrome-Color-CMOS-CAM-/390694301560?hash=item5af731ef78
$%28KGrHqV,!oEFJwT5slJQBSeSzf,n7!~~60_12.JPG

there's many different types, some better than others.. but there easy to hide
 
Thanks Alec,


I must have a mental block , because even after reading the description of the item twice, I dont understand how to use this . I am guessing that if mounted on the mega tree in the yard, I would connect the power from my 12V PSU to this - correct ? And then what happens ie does it record continuously and if so what else would I need to store what is being recorded and how ?
 
gerry said:
Thanks Alec,


I must have a mental block , because even after reading the description of the item twice, I dont understand how to use this . I am guessing that if mounted on the mega tree in the yard, I would connect the power from my 12V PSU to this - correct ? And then what happens ie does it record continuously and if so what else would I need to store what is being recorded and how ?
Click to expand...

you apply 12v power, then the white plug is audio, yellow plug is video picture.. they would plug into a tv set or your DVR CCTV recorder (to record it)
 
I wouldn't touch 1 of those specific cameras with a 10ft barge pole.
Effective pixels: PAL 628*582 compared with http://au.element14.com/raspberry-pi/rpi-camera-board/raspberry-pi-camera-board-5mp/dp/2302279 which has a still picture resolution of 2592 x 1944 .
If you are monitoring your yard actively to see what people are up to then a low resolution camera is okay. If you're wanting to be able to recognise faces, cars, numberplates then you want decent resolution. Low light ability or IR illumination is important too. The ebay 1 linked specifies "Lowest illuminance: 0.2-3 LUX". A 15 to 1 range in the lowest illumination doesn't speak volumes for quality control imho. 0.2 Lux is hardly suitable for darkness as well. 3 Lux certainly isn't. A camera in the 0.01 to 0.1 Lux range is usable in low light but IR illumination is often the cheap trade off to give artificial illumination.


smartalec said:
gerry said:
smartalec said:
for the cost of the pi's an the cost of external micro camera's,
I would just use external micro camera's.. ($25-$40 ones)
I've thought of mounting one up the megatree pole (since my megatree is in the middle of the yard)
Click to expand...
Hi Alec,
What did you mean by a micro camera ? Do you have a link to one - cause I may look at doing the same ..
Click to expand...

like this Gerry
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Brand-New-Mini-CCTV-SPY-Wired-Camera-Micro-Monochrome-Color-CMOS-CAM-/390694301560?hash=item5af731ef78
$%28KGrHqV,!oEFJwT5slJQBSeSzf,n7!~~60_12.JPG

there's many different types, some better than others.. but there easy to hide
Click to expand...
 
I agree with AHH - the picture quality is really crap, i have one.


I would just get some (more) 3megapixel Hikvision IP cameras from Aliexpress for around $100 each. Huge thread on whirlpool forums about them.
 
I was getting my geek on at 3 in the morning cos these meds I'm on keep me awake. If anyone is interested in trying the pi security thing, I found a nice little tutorial. Once I'm back on my feet and a little more financial (no, this setup isn't expensive, I'm just broke..... Again!) I plan to look into it. For the cost of a pi, camera module & possibly a pan & tilt module at some stage, it's got me interested. I've already got a pi so I can just buy the camera module to experiment with.


Pi camera tut
 
I remember seeing someone had an infrared version of the pi camera (ir filter removed) which would make it ideal for nighttime (after show is over). I'm not at home, but I think it was one of the usual sources....I can check later...
 
dgirard said:
I remember seeing someone had an infrared version of the pi camera (ir filter removed) which would make it ideal for nighttime (after show is over). I'm not at home, but I think it was one of the usual sources....I can check later...
Click to expand...


Were you referring to this one ?
https://www.adafruit.com/products/1567

[font=verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif][/size]It says though that you have supply infra red light...[SIZE=78%][/font]

[font=verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif][/SIZE]Would the one that Sean linked to above not be suitable to see anything that occurred in the night after the show was over ? My house is on a road where there is a fair amount of light in the night due to street lights ..(I think).[size=78%][/font]
 
gerry said:
dgirard said:
I remember seeing someone had an infrared version of the pi camera (ir filter removed) which would make it ideal for nighttime (after show is over). I'm not at home, but I think it was one of the usual sources....I can check later...
Click to expand...


Were you referring to this one ?
https://www.adafruit.com/products/1567

It says though that you have supply infra red light...[SIZE=78%]

[/SIZE]Would the one that Sean linked to above not be suitable to see anything that occurred in the night after the show was over ? My house is on a road where there is a fair amount of light in the night due to street lights ..(I think).
Click to expand...
[SIZE=78%]
Hi Gerry, I was reading up on the different cameras and getting confused. I think the standard camera that Sean pointed out is okay for basic video work and will work okay of a night.
Here's another source (in AUD by the looks of it).[/SIZE]
 
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