DIY CCTV Questions, Zero Budget

LeperousDust

LeperousDust

LeperousDust

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Joined
4 Nov 2003
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Edinburgh
So i've been tasked to find quick CCTV solution for this week. Basically I need a quick and cheap (and most likely dirty) CCTV solution here, need opinions and maybe guidance.

Budget is zero (isn't it always? i hate being the one tasked to find things with no money!).

Firstly I fell across an Asian site something2000, but then realised delivery will probably take a month or two, which i'm obviously unwilling to wait! No offence but OcUK is a little out of their budget and far too high speced as well!

So I found the same seemingly cheap items on an auction site delivered from the UK -hurrah!, these:

MINI 1CH VIDEO RECORDER TF CARD S-DVR:
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Mini Video Color Spy 6LED Infrared CCTV Security Camera:
I0337-4.jpg


Now the camera doesn't come with a PSU itself annoyingly but the DVR does, and apparently that auction says it runs on 9v DC which excludes me from buying a cheap DC splitter to use with the DVR, but crucially other websites i've seen this exact Asian little camera and other auctions seem to imply it's 12v DC, so it's probably within working range you'd guess if i buy the splitter, or just dubious information on one auction (but which one?).


Anyway's, if i buy those and a cheapish 8Gb MicroSD card (£5.99) all those should plug together co-operate and capture motion detected CCTV under florescent light (I do not expect to rely on the "infra red" ;))?

Image quality would be good enough to identify people etc i guess? I'm not missing any glaring problems am i?

Total it comes to is under £40 which i feel is probably the limit of cheapness in this circumstance? But passable short term?

Any advice input or better things i should be looking at? I'd never really considered CCTV at all until this person asked me to quickly put something together by the end of the week (the joy)...

Cheers on any input, i know it's most likely beyond **** but trust me it's better than what they're trying to use now (i can't go into specifics) ;).
 
There was a thread a while ago about lots of people on here buying really small cameras (which they could attach to bikes, cars etc...). I can't find it now, but I'm sure someone might be able to point you to that thread and I'm sure that would work.

I remember everyone being impressed with the size of it and the quality.

It might work for you
 
There are £40 IP cameras on ebay. Link to your pc/router and you can control from your phone. They are also IR so work in the dark too.

If my garage had power it would have one!
 
It has to be independent from a computer, where it will sit just isn't in any way close enough, and i'd rather not get started with computer software on top of. I want this to pretty much work and i'll leave it for the time being :p
 
You wont get naff all for that money. Honestly you're wasting your time as the footage wont be worth anything. Phone up some local companies and ask if they have any old stock they wouldnt mind shifting.

Honestly can't be done at this budget level without old kit or using something that wasn't designed for CCTV.
 
Might keep an eye on this.

Been thinking about putting one on the garage looking up the drive-way. Got some old comps in the attack was thinking I could use (old p3 and p4). Just now idea how to go around doing it!
 
lewism said:
You wont get naff all for that money. Honestly you're wasting your time as the footage wont be worth anything. Phone up some local companies and ask if they have any old stock they wouldnt mind shifting.

Honestly can't be done at this budget level without old kit or using something that wasn't designed for CCTV.
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Whilst I do agree, you must agree, if i bought that, i'd be recording shoddy cif (good enough to identify someone) to flash card as motion is detected, no? It's really a one week solution tbh, it's not meant to be a permanent fixture and it's only doing one real job.

Am i really going to get NOTHING usable from it?
 
LeperousDust said:
Whilst I do agree, you must agree, if i bought that, i'd be recording shoddy cif (good enough to identify someone) to flash card as motion is detected, no? It's really a one week solution tbh, it's not meant to be a permanent fixture and it's only doing one real job.

Am i really going to get NOTHING usable from it?
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Try youtubing that model - you should get something...
 
My brother gave me a CCTV camera absolutely ages ago, it appears to have a smaller version of a cat5 connection (doesnt work in cat5 though ;))

He said he used to just plug it into his video player and then switched channel on the tv and it worked. I was wondering, what would I need on my PC to achieve the same?

Been thinking about setting it up for a while but last night saw some people looking into a car on my street so took my dog out and they legged it.. then found out it was my neighbours kids, they walked back about 10minutes later while I was checking things over but made me remember the camera.
 
LeperousDust said:
Whilst I do agree, you must agree, if i bought that, i'd be recording shoddy cif (good enough to identify someone) to flash card as motion is detected, no? It's really a one week solution tbh, it's not meant to be a permanent fixture and it's only doing one real job.

Am i really going to get NOTHING usable from it?
Click to expand...

you will probably get enought to identify something but not someone. to be used as identification the image has to take up 120% of a camera but this wont. at most all you'll see is an outline of somebody moving. but hey if it shuts your boss up atleast you can go and say i told you so.

powersupply will be 12vdc looking about 200-300ma for that camera. can pick them up for a fiver.
 
How big is the area you are trying to cover with the camera? The resolution is passable if the face is within a couple of feet of the camera, but anything more will become a blurred mess, especially if the face is moving more than a snail's pace.
It records at 380 lines; try and split a picture of a person in a room into 380 lines and see how good the quality is :rolleyes:.
 
Can't you get those small hidden IP cams that plug into external hard drives? seems like the cheapest option
 
So i guess worst case scenario is they don't like the 380lines and i tell them i told you so. Then buying a VGA camera would make things (marginally) better?
 
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