Expert Advice on this Security Camera SVP.

[WJT]

I am looking for a wireless security camera to leave at our house in France to view through the internet when in the UK. I would like to find one that doesn't need to use electricity because we turn it off when we leave.

This one looks interesting but it is hard to tell if it needs electrics. It appears it comes with an adaptor, so I assume it works off of a battery and just needs plugging into the phone line to access through the internet. If anyone can offer any advise or suggest another camera, I would be most appreciative. Thank you in advance.

http://www.networkwebcams.com/product_info.php?cPath=76&products_id=617

[Pierre ZFP]

Ummm don't they all use electricity then or are you thinking of a complex set of mirrors?  (my Mum has this idea that if it isn't plugged into the mains then it isn't electrical)

In any case, how are you going to link it to your PC/Router if there's no electricity?

[WJT]

Pierre, I thought that it may run on batteries, therefore not need electrics. To connect to the internet, I thought it would just need to be connected to the phone line that doesn't need electrics. But I can't tell if it runs on batteries or mains. It does say that it has a power adaptor included and it also says "Power requirements DC 5V" which I assume is a battery.

 

[Pierre ZFP]

Well in your case its a non-starter.  A 5 volt battery would probably only last a few hours, a day at most.  I suspect its 5v because it really wants to run off USB.  Anyway, these things don't just plug into a phone line.  They connect to a router/PC and then send a picture to your website or email you every few minutes.  There's no way to do this without the router/PC being powered up.  Why do you turn the electricity off?

[WJT]

Oh dear, I thought it sounded too good to be true. [:(]

Our electrics are very dodgy, to say the least. We have had most of the downstairs re-wired recently but we still wouldn't trust them. I think we would feel uncomfortable leaving them on in any case when leaving the property empty for three months or so at a time.

Thank you for the reply.

[AnOther]

THIS may be the nearest you'll get to a stand alone camera which needs nothing more than power and a phone line but I don't even want to think about the price [:-))]

Edit: I suspect that on top of the purchase price there may be an ongoing subscription.

[WJT]

Ernie, after looking at your link, I did a search on Ebay and the one below appears to be similar and it is very cheap. But even though you don't have to connect it to the computer and just plug it straight  into the telephone line, it still appears you must plug it into the mains as well. [:(]

Even though it's not any use to me, I think it's amazing what's available nowadays and at these sorts of prices.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/CCTV-Internet-Network-Web-Cam-Security-IP-Camera_W0QQitemZ150193895946QQihZ005QQcategoryZ48632QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[AnOther]

Excellent price but not quite the same. The ebay one has a modem bundled with it so that's 2 things to plug into power.

Note I deliberately don't say "mains" because you can of course run anything from a battery if you have one of sufficient capacity to last for the required time. Even with the small drain of these devices you're talking a BIG battery when you're talking about 3 months !

To put that into some sort of perspective, assuming a device requiring 12 v at 1 amp that's 12 ampere hours, times 90 days (or 2160 hours), that's nearly 26000 ampere hours. The biggest 12 volt battery you could possibly get will be in the low to mid hundreds of ampere hours and will be horrendously expensive to buy.

[AnOther]

Can I just dispel an misconceptions I think you may be under................

Without going into deep technical detail there is no voltage on a telephone line unless it is ringing therefore no power to operate a device.

You simply will not get anything which works off the phone line and nothing else - period.

 

[WJT]

Ernie, you are right the one I posted from Ebay doesn't look as professional so there must be a big difference. After your comments, you have me thinking (very dangerous), if I understood these things better, it does sound possible. If I bought one that had a motion detector, then it would only use the battery when there was an incident. There are also all sorts of solar charges for batteries on the same sites that have these for sale, for example Maplins have them shown on the same page. Therefore one with a battery that didn't come on until it detected movement with a back up solar charger.

Unfortunately, I wouldn't know how to use it or set it up, so it looks like I will just have to leave it. [:$][:(]

Edit: I have just seen your last post and I was aware that the phone line wouldn't power it but thought it could be used for the internet along with the battery for the power.

[sid]

I'm not sure that the message is getting through; a motion detector has to be powered in order for it to detect motion! So, it would have to be plugged into the mains or into this yet-to-be-invented high-power small-sized low-cost battery.

Unless you can leave the mains on the project is a non-starter.

Sid

[WJT]

No, I don't think it is getting through. [:$]  If say for instance it is a 9V battery like some appear to have and the only time it is used is when it detects movement, I don't understand how it could run out so quickly. Unless you are saying, even when not in use, it will use a lot of the battery power not just when movement is detected, therefore just useless.

[AnOther]

No no no, even when it's sitting there waiting for something to move it's still switched on and consuming power 24/7

[WJT]

OK, finally, it got through!  It's definitely a no go. [:(]

Thanks for the advice.

[AnOther]

Maybe you could set up a trip wire to trigger it into action....................[;-)]

[Pierre ZFP]

Hey the Mars landers have been working for 1,400 days now when their expected life was only 90 days so maybe there is a way to do it.  I like the idea of solar cells for powering the batteries on motion detectors!!  I smell Business Opportunity!!

[tracteurtom]

or you could put up a sign telling the intruder to switch on the web cam and all its ancillary stuff and then detail how to log on to your account etc. The notice could also ask the intruder to switch everything off when finished to save the precious battery life (and of course the Planet)  ??   It just a suggestion [:D]

[Pierre ZFP]

Question for WJT  (the OP)

Having had a think about this, I'm not sure what you want to achieve with a webcam.  Is it:

1) to have re-assurance that the house has not burnt down or roof blown off - if so a motion detector is not much use but you might want external cameras

2) to nab a possible burglar, which is where the motion sensor comes in but I'm sure you don't want to monitor it 24/7

3) Occasional peek to check everything is OK and maybe what the weather is like  which would need say a PC set to Wake-Up-On-Lan so you could operate it remotely and have a look through several cameras.  I think this is the way I will go as I can knock together a low spec PC from spare parts laying about.

Unfortunately all the above require some standby current, more than a battery can provide long term as Ernie said above.  If you are not happy with all your electrics, would it be possible to have say just one socket from the tableau that is fine and power up from that? All other fuses being removed?

[WJT]

OMG, I just spent ages writing a long response and hit the sumit button and it came up as an error! [:'(] I will have to make this shorter. [:(]

Pierre, that is very interesting, I will ask our electrician/plumber about that, along with all of the other things (problems) I need to talk to him about.

The reason I would like to do this is for security against intruders or damage to the property. It would also be nice to have an occasional look in as you mentioned, but that is not so important or necessary.

Thank you for your suggestion and I will let you know what he says. Good luck with setting yours up.

[Punch]

I do quite a bit of remote access CCTV systems in France. If anyone wants to take a look at  a simple system log into http://192.168.1.108  This is the login for a digital video recorder .

Login name = france

password = france

On your first visit to access the system you need to allow unsigned Active X on your PC - This is to allow you access to the client software to control the cameras. You must have IE version 6 or higher.

Click on the no1 for camera number one which is a remote pan tilt and zoom system . When you have the image up on screen right click it to get the PTZ controls. You can then have a "live" look around . Please be patient if the system does not respond - this usually means too many people have (or are trying to) use the system at any one time.

You need power for any type of system . If anyone requires any further info please PM me. Please leave the PTZ camera back on the bird table when you have finished! System will be disabled later this evening for privacy purposes.

Website will be open soon

 

Paul.

 

 

 

[nomoss]

[quote user="ErnieY"]

Can I just dispel an misconceptions I think you may be under................

Without going into deep technical detail there is no voltage on a telephone line unless it is ringing therefore no power to operate a device.

 

[/quote]

Hi Ernie. Your telephone line may be different, of course, but mine and others I have checked have 50 volts dc between the 2 wires. An ac signal is superimposed on this for the "ring" to occur.

Incidentally, this signal passes through a "ring detect" circuit before it operates the "bell".  The ring detect circuit is in the "master box" on all (or most) UK systems, but is in the telephone in many other countries including France.

This is why UK phones and other telephone line equipment, such as fax machines, don't detect calls when connected to a French telephone line. They can be made to work by connecting a UK master box to the line, into which they can then be plugged. 

 

[tracteurtom]

I seem to recall that someone was fined for "stealing" electric from BT years and years ago, in fact I think it turned out to be a Court Case.  and, I think, he was using the phone line to charge batteries - there you go !!  It wasnt the OP was it hahaha!

[Pierre ZFP]

Could be an expensive way of recharging batteries if it lands you a bill like this

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7141935.stm

BTW was the person fined for stealing electricity,  charged?  [:D]

[WJT]

Oh dear, it looks like I have been caught out.  I was trying very hard to hide my abilities and knowledge of harvesting electricity from the telephone line by asking stupid questions. Oh well, on to bigger inventions such as trip wires and buckets filled with bricks. [I]

Punch, I haven't been able to access your site. Yesterday, I did access a site used as a demo for a camera, it is amazing and I am very envious.[:)]

[Punch]

[quote user="WJT"]

Punch, I haven't been able to access your site. Yesterday, I did access a site used as a demo for a camera, it is amazing and I am very envious.[:)]

[/quote]

Ok if you let me know what happens when you click the link I'll try to help you out. You should be getting a purple login screen if you have allowed Active X . I will be adding some night vision cameras soon so will be interesting to see what comes and goes in the night !