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Author Topic: Alternative Camera to replace NightWatch Wireless Low-Light B/W Video Camera  (Read 84461 times)

tjdavj

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As a side note to this thread, has anyone tried just removing the IR filter then viewing the video? It seems like that way you could get full color video if you have enough light, and still be able to view the IR spectrum when light levels drop.
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KDR

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TTA sorry for the no link to that cam. (thanks for adding it) However I did post earlier in the thread the link to their main page. The cam does a good job in total darkness. I will get some pics and post them back to this thread.

Since there are no additional posts I will add my pic onto this one.



The camera is about 16 feet from the door. There is no outside light coming in on the porch, only the IR from the camera. The walls are painted white.
« Last Edit: November 11, 2006, 08:06:39 PM by KDR »
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tjdavj

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KDR,

That's pretty darn impressive. It even looks like it has more detail [better imaging] than the X10 cameras.

Thanks for the post.
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HA Dave

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That's pretty darn impressive. It even looks like it has more detail [better imaging] than the X10 cameras.
Yep thats about what I would expect from my CM-612W also. And yes... they do have a clear image. Though mine always looks a little faded.... if thats the correct term.
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TakeTheActive

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TTA sorry for the no link to that cam. (thanks for adding it) However I did post earlier in the thread the link to their main page.

No need to apologize! :)  [I used your earlier LINK to FIND this LINK! ;) ]

The "overzealous" Community Organizer from a few weeks back would have just edited your original post and added the LINK because (from his point of view):

  • It would be useful to the content of the thread.
  • Other members would appreciate the "shortcut".
  • You were probably too busy at the time and *WOULD* have added it yourself.
  • My status allows me to.

but the current, confused, gun-shy Community Organizer, after being warned by Sysadmin x10javier that he's the subject of more complaint PMs than anyone and if the current situation continues, will be banned from the forums, no longer knows which direction is right. :(

Yeah, I know that I could PM everyone first and ask permission. But then I'd have to wait possibly hours / days for a reply and then re-find the post and re-do my previous efforts. There are a handful of folks here, though, that told me, paraphrasing, "Go ahead! Whatever you think will make it better is fine with me. Thanks in advance." and I sometimes edit theirs or teach them formatting commands.

Most, if not all, of the new ideas I've implemented here have "withered on the vine" without my constant attention / nudging the past few weeks. What does that say about them? Were they good ideas, or just me FORCING other folks to do something that they really didn't want to do?

Not one of my 50 "Unhelpfuls" was ever preceeded by a courtesy PM explaining to me WHAT I did wrong and giving me the opportunity to correct it. Nor have I received a follow-up PM from the public request I made for them ~2 weeks ago here - at the bottom. IMO, I've been pretty "Low-Key" the past 2 weeks (from my previous "self") and I *STILL* got a new DING a few days ago. How does the same person that received 73 "Helpfuls" since 2006-06-23 also manage to earn the distinction of having the 2nd highest "Unhelpful" count? [I haven't had my count reset TWICE. ;D ] Are my actions here THAT ANNOYING to SO MANY people? Or it is just a spiteful few that won't let go...

All of my constant RAH-RAH-RAH, SIS-BOOM-BAH attempts to generate what I like to call "Community Spirit", How It Should Be..., has only 'infected' a handful of the 6000+ Members here. And while I do enjoy the 'give-and-take' kidding around, huge, bold colors, and the resulting, in me at least, laughter with these guys, there's still the overwhelming majority of 'Sterile' Members, who only login to either ask a question (many, IMO, as a shortcut to actually looking it up themselves :-[ ) or reply to a question (sometimes with only a 'quick-n-dirty' reply that only leads to more questions and more 'quick-n-dirty' replies :( ).

Is an impersonal / unemotional ALL-VOLUNTEER 'Customer Help Desk' truely all that the majority of the members want this forum to be?

I didn't want to make this "Soapbox Spiel" of mine a new, separate thread. Yet, I did want to "say it", with the knowledge that my target audience (the "Cheers Gang ") would see it and possibly comment with their suggestions (maybe in another existing thread, or in a new one?).

So, KDR, you can edit your post, add the LINK and I can delete my post. Or, I can do it for you. Or, we can leave everything as-is... 8)

P.S. to KDR *AND* the rest of the camera users:

I tried a wireless X10 Color Camera "years ago", and was very disappointed by the narrow field of view, inability to see ANYTHING at night (with 3 150 watt floodlights), and the CRITICAL alignment needs of the Transmitter/Receiver pair. But, darn it, youse guys are getting me interested again! :D  A WIRED camera (with 100' of cable so that I can put it under the eave over the garage door at one end of the front of the house and see the front porch, some of the driveway, some of the yard *FROM* the basement when the doorbell rings), with AHP/iWitness (is that the right module?) is tempting me. :-\ ::) ;D
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Puck

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...there's still the overwhelming majority of 'Sterile' Members

To ALL (Non-Paid By X-10) Members...
Lighten Up!!!!
;D :D ;) :)

TakeTheActive: Please feel FREE to edit any of my posts as you see fit to enhance my post, this Board and/or the Community spirit. Any time that you have, you always left a note in the post stating what you did; to me that's called respect.  ;)



[NOTE: I appologize for any mis-interpretation that my post here may have caused. It was not intended to be directed at KDR, or anyone else... it was intended to show my support in making this board feel more relaxed, fun and like a community.]



« Last Edit: November 13, 2006, 09:47:22 AM by Puck »
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KDR

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TTA... I think you are doing a great job and I for one don't want to see the board become a X10 help desk clone. The one bad ding for altering my post may have been a bit quick on my part and I will chalk it up to not knowing you as well as I do now... the wife burnt dinner, the dog bit me, the car had a flat, I stepped in something (whats that smell?) and just an all around bad day that day. As for the above posts we can leave them as is. Maybe someone will read it and because of it add a link to their post someday. ::)

The Astak cam, CM-612W is worth giving a try. Walmart here in my area (Cleveland, Ohio) carries them for $58.95. I think you can also view other cams they carry on there web site. You may want to get a Ninja mount for it so you can pan and tilt to increase your viewing area. I use it with iWitness and have its power supply plugged into an appliance module set to the house code as my other cams are in the same unit group 1-4.  The only thing that doesn't seem to work right with it is when I switch cams, the one you switch to turns on and the other 3 in the group turn off. The appliance module doesn't respond to the off. It responds to the On just not the Off (plugged into the same outlets as the other cams power supply's). I haven't had time to play with it to see why it acts this way yet(noise when on? may try a filter). The X10 cams and Ninja's all have coded power supply's.

"issues tta a good ding"
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tjdavj

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Quote
I tried a wireless X10 Color Camera "years ago", and was very disappointed by the narrow field of view, inability to see ANYTHING at night (with 3 150 watt floodlights), and the CRITICAL alignment needs of the Transmitter/Receiver pair. But, darn it, youse guys are getting me interested again! Cheesy  A WIRED camera (with 100' of cable so that I can put it under the eave over the garage door at one end of the front of the house and see the front porch, some of the driveway, some of the yard *FROM* the basement when the doorbell rings), with AHP/iWitness (is that the right module?) is tempting me

I have or had many of the original X10 cameras over the years, and basically came to the same conclusion you did, poor image quality and non-existent low-light capabilities.
My opinion changed when I ordered the Sentinel package about a month ago. Although  I was very impressed with the image quality and operation, I found a specific issue with this package and returned it.
See my post:http://www.x10community.com/forums/index.php?topic=10700.0

I did some more research and found that the camera in the "Vanguard" package and in the "Video Calling" package were the same. Since I didn't need the Vanguard software [I had originally purchased AHP, iWitness, SmartMacros, and MyHouse when I purchased the "Sentinel" system], I ordered the Video Calling system and am very pleased with the results. There are some issues with the system, but the basic functionality is there. It has Excellent image quality, the optical zoom is very good and it does offer usable low light capabilities. If you want to check it out I will create a temp account so you can check out the camera.(you will be able to view the cam as it sweeps, but the controls are disabled). I know it is expensive in contrast to the other cams, but if you want a cam that offers maximum versatility, it can't be beat.

Also checkout my numerous posts regarding my adventures with the PTZ camera.

Side note: Regarding the main subject of your previous post, I would be willing to discuss in in a different thread, as I think it is an important issue for everyone that participates in the forum.
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TakeTheActive

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:o :o :o NO! NO!! NO!!! :o :o :o :-[

[The perils of text communication. :(]

My post was in NO WAY directed towards KDR - I was just "borrowing some space" in his thread. ;)


...there's still the overwhelming majority of 'Sterile' Members

To ALL (Non-Paid By X-10) Members...
Lighten Up!!!!
;D :D ;) :)

TTA... I think you are doing a great job and I for one don't want to see the board become a X10 help desk clone. The one bad ding for altering my post may have been a bit quick on my part and I will chalk it up to not knowing you as well as I do now...::)

I never named anyone (besides my #1 Fan who, IMHO, gave me the MAJORITY of my 50 "Unhelpfuls" >:( ) - as far as I'm concerned, it's history and you're one of the "Gang ". That system is here-to-stay, so let's just fuhgeddaboudit. 8)

Now, let's get past the "TTA is doing a great job..." hooey ::) and come up with some SUGGESTIONS on getting more folks 'infected' with "Community Spirit", How It Should Be...! :)
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HA Dave

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What a bummer we can't all just play together like kids do! God knows, this home automation is damn serious business!

I am with Puck.... let's just lighten up. (except I don't know how to make it scroll)

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KDR

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Dave... You have the Astak cam, do you also have some X10's running with it? If so are you feeding them all into one video input or a switch? If all feed one video input how do you handle the power ON/OFF switching on your Astak?

Scroll for Dave ----> "let's just lighten up"
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TakeTheActive

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I am with Puck.... let's just Lighten Up!!!!. (except I don't know how to make it scroll)

:( Youse guys are completely missin' da pernt... :(
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HA Dave

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Dave... You have the Astak cam, do you also have some X10's running with it? If so are you feeding them all into one video input or a switch? If all feed one video input how do you handle the power ON/OFF switching on your Astak?

Scroll for Dave ----> "let's just lighten up"

I have several cams... 2 are IR cams, one of which is the Astak. In the set-up with the Astak I have four cams in a hub at one location. There I have used a four device- auto detecting- video modulator. It outputs the video and sound to video ports and well as (TV) channel 3 or 4. It is made by RCA and I picked mine up at Walmart.

Currently I send (or RE-send) camera images via a video sender which (like the NON-X10 cameras) is on and appliance module. The hub is in the basement, and the sender works better (for me) through floors than walls. However... I am thinking of tying the system into my cable.

I use the X10 floodlight which actives:
  • The camera (of choice)
  • The video sender
  • A light inside
  • A chime inside
  • A device I mod-ed to create a RF to start the VCR commander

I could (and may) use a eagle or active eye motion sensor to trigger the cam module (appliance), the video sender (appliance module) as well as the VCR commander.
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Puck

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[I use the X10 floodlight which actives:
  • The camera (of choice)
  • The video sender
  • A light inside
  • A chime inside
  • A device I mod-ed to create a RF to start the VCR commander

Dave, do you use AHP? Your list sounds like a Macro, but I'm not sure what software/hardware you are using. Because when you select to turn ON a VCR Command in AHP, the CM15A does send an RF signal to it.
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HA Dave

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Dave, do you use AHP? Your list sounds like a Macro, but I'm not sure what software/hardware you are using. Because when you select to turn ON a VCR Command in AHP, the CM15A does send an RF signal to it.

Actually no. I have two X10 floodlights (a great UNDER-rated item). The floodlight activates up to four different codes when motion is detected. Plus it can activate four codes of dusk to dawn.

I had purchased active home (no pro) when I was setting up my home theater and wasn't impressed. I found a work-around with a higher end remote control that sends IR X10. I hadn't thought of even trying AHP till I read about Bills voice control

Now I am ready to jump at AHP.


« Last Edit: October 16, 2009, 01:34:11 AM by -Bill- (of wgjohns.com) »
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