DIY Security: What did you do today?

[Holger Danske]

I put a wireless (wifi) camera in the barn.It is a fixed mount Foscam color with IR LEDS. I had to order a better antenna since the little pencil sized antenna that came with it could not get a signal 200 feet from the house. We will use this to check on the goat when they get ready to kid. The setup works great and Im thinking of getting a couple more for the house. Here is what I ordered

camera http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

camera mount http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

high gain antenna http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The camera can run POE, but I have it set up with the included power cord in wifi mode. Out of the box you plug the camera into the router and program all the setting including wireless. Next you can unplug it from the router and mount it where you want wirelessly. Camera access is via browser or an app. Also, if you want to access tbe camera while away from home then you need to open a port on your modem and configure the camera with the port. I set the camera with a fixed IP address which is used at home when we are behind the modem. I setvthe wife up with the free android foscam viewer and made two camera entries on for home and one for away from home. The away from home entry uses the IP from my provider plus the port I assigned the camera.

i spent about a half day fiddling with this to get it working, but really like it.

[Irving]

Couple of quick pictures of the fence I finally got up. I like it because you can't just waltz into the backyard now without opening the gate. Wife and kid like it because now they can get a dog. Not enough of a project to warrant its own thread. However, a la Sharpienads, I did repurpose some wood out of my attic for the archway thing on top. I had to have my neighbor plane it for me. I'd take closer pictures of the top arch, but one piece broke off while installing, and I used a router without a guard around the edge. So it looks like I used a router without a guard...
Neighbor's fence was already there. I just built it to look pretty much the same as his.

One side of house. That bush is gone now.




Other side of the house. Plan to fence in the rest of the backyard along that old chain link fence at some point. That grape vine scaffolding is gone now as well.




Gate on first side. Have an idea for a more discrete way to open the gate from the outside, just need to find the time to do it. Also thinking about switching to a self-centering latch already.






Because the fence sticks out past the house, the light shines onto the back side of the gate, leaving me able to see the silhouette of anyone coming down the side of the house.

[rbeau30]

Nice Project Irving!

Because Comcast is stupid (on the order of "we have to rewire your cable to add some wireless devices to your already existing Xfinity Home system.") I am taking home surveillance into my own hands.

I ordered a Night Owl DVR system:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1


Will be here tomorrow. Thank you Amazon Prime!

More posts to come!

[Colorado_Outback]

Nice Project Irving!

Because Comcast is stupid (on the order of "we have to rewire your cable to add some wireless devices to your already existing Xfinity Home system.") I am taking home surveillance into my own hands.

I ordered a Night Owl DVR system:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1


Will be here tomorrow. Thank you Amazon Prime!

More posts to come!

X2

I have been interested in getting a similar setup, looking forward to your findings. Thats a decent price point as well.

[rbeau30]

X2

I have been interested in getting a similar setup, looking forward to your findings. Thats a decent price point as well.

I'll post how easy the setup is. I have to run the wiring through the chase from basement to attic. Half of my house has vaulted ceilings, so that will be interesting to see how I am going to fish the wires to where I want cameras.

[Colorado_Outback]

I'll post how easy the setup is. I have to run the wiring through the chase from basement to attic. Half of my house has vaulted ceilings, so that will be interesting to see how I am going to fish the wires to where I want cameras.

Mine will be interesting as well, going to do 2 cameras on the house and the other 2 on my detached garage. I saw Amazon has 100ft cable extensions so that should work for me.

[rbeau30]

Mine will be interesting as well, going to do 2 cameras on the house and the other 2 on my detached garage. I saw Amazon has 100ft cable extensions so that should work for me.

I just got this in:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It will be the first camera I hook up (for the basement), as I am wanting another one for the first floor and I didn't want to get two if they end up being junk. It is about 6 inchestall which is bigger than I expected.

I have been looking at DVR systems for a while, and looking at online videos, This system seems to be easier to navigate as far as menus and things or at least the menu's look like the make sense in my brain anyways. Also swapping HD's to a bigger one seems very straight forward as well.

[meatman]

Nice Project Irving!

Because Comcast is stupid (on the order of "we have to rewire your cable to add some wireless devices to your already existing Xfinity Home system.") I am taking home surveillance into my own hands.

I ordered a Night Owl DVR system:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1



Will be here tomorrow. Thank you Amazon Prime!

More posts to come!

I have that system. It works pretty well. I can get a pretty clear picture from my smartphone and any computer in the house.

NightOwl has really good customer service. I forgot the master password and I had to send the DVR back because there was no way to do a hard reset. I sent mine out and they returned a new one to me all within a week's time.

[rbeau30]

I have that system. It works pretty well. I can get a pretty clear picture from my smartphone and any computer in the house.

NightOwl has really good customer service. I forgot the master password and I had to send the DVR back because there was no way to do a hard reset. I sent mine out and they returned a new one to me all within a week's time.

Thank you that is putting my mind at ease a bit more. It seems like all these systems have mixed reviews, and Night owl seemed to have the least mixed reviews for the type of scalability I needed.

[Irving]

I ordered a Night Owl DVR system:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Can you read the back panel of the DVR and report the power usage for this system please? It will either be near where you plug in the power, or on the power cable itself. It should say something like Input: 120v/ac : 12v/??A