Options for cheap DIY video surveillance. How to make a dummy CCTV camera with your own hands Do-it-yourself casing for a CCTV camera

Explaining the reasons why citizens of a vast country purchase and install home video surveillance systems is just a useless waste of time, everything is already on the surface. Today, even a schoolchild understands the importance of video monitoring and recording information. The main reason preventing the mass installation of video cameras is associated with the considerable cost of the equipment, so the problem is not how to make home video surveillance. Most of us would like to make the system as efficient as possible and at the same time for little money.

What you need to know to organize video surveillance at home

Installation of any video surveillance system to obtain information within households does not require special permissions or documentation of actions. But this does not mean that a video surveillance system can be made anywhere and anyhow; there are certain organizational difficulties.

Before you make video surveillance yourself, you need to consider the following features of using such systems:

• If possible, locations for CCTV cameras should be selected so that the perimeter around the house is completely covered by the shooting field. The best option would be a rokada - the location and body of each camera will fall within the field of view of the neighboring video camera, while some of the video recorders are made in a hidden format;
• Planning home video surveillance at a dacha or country house in real time only makes sense if there is a communication channel with a capacity of at least 1 Mbit/s for one camera, which is quite problematic for rural areas, so for a dacha, garage or parking lot, the principle of planning video surveillance radically different from the home version;
• When planning the layout of CCTV cameras at home, you need to take into account that the cameras should only film the home area. If the lenses of street video cameras are aimed at protected objects, for example, a bank, the entrance to a police station or a neighboring parking lot, then sooner or later you will have to explain things to law enforcement agencies.

Advice! Choosing the right location for placing home video surveillance cameras is the most difficult task; the technical part of the work, installation and installation of equipment is quite possible to do with your own hands.

You should not copy standard diagrams, which are a dime a dozen on the Internet and specialized publications. All of them have long been known to the criminal element, therefore they are extremely vulnerable. In our case, the lack of resources and equipment has to be compensated for by a professional approach and ingenuity.

The second problem is purchasing high-quality and cheap equipment for home video surveillance. The task is not easy, making the necessary purchases is quite possible, you just need to look at the maximum number of reviews about such systems and not take the recommendations of the selling companies to heart.

Double approach

Professional design of home video surveillance involves the use of two independent network segments. The first segment is built from 4-5 cameras around the perimeter, at the entrance and inside the house; it is imperative to make video surveillance with recording and periodic uploading of the archive to the cloud on the Internet. For a DVR with a hard drive, you will need to make a protected fire-resistant box, and the monitor or computer through which home CCTV cameras are controlled should be placed away from the eyes of guests and visitors.

The second segment consists of one hidden IP camera connected through a separate router channel to the cloud and, preferably, to a smartphone. It is clear that the camera needs to be pointed at the home video surveillance control system and positioned in such a way as to make it impossible to block it.

This solution allows you to make your home system as fault-tolerant as possible, despite the fact that the total cost of the video surveillance project will increase by only 20%, but it is worth it.

Building a home video surveillance system

The diagram of the simplest video surveillance complex is shown in the figure below. In fact, this is a standard solution that answers the most asked question - how to make video surveillance from a computer. Essentially, this is a home desktop computer or laptop to which USB cameras are connected. Any person more or less familiar with computer technology can make such a home surveillance system.

This system has several disadvantages:

• High energy consumption, if the system is made on the basis of a regular desktop computer, then this is at least an increase in energy consumption by 100 kW/h;
• If the cameras are connected to the USB1 connector, the cable can be extended 15-50 m, but the quality at best is 352x288. For USB2, the video camera can be installed at a maximum distance of 5 m, but the image can be taken at 704x288;
• To organize home video surveillance, you will need to purchase expensive vandal-proof outdoor cameras or think about how to make a video surveillance camera for the street at home.

Advice! As an option, you can install the IP video camera body in a metal box with safety glass, for example, from a powerful halogen lamp.

Installation in a protective case will make the camcorder resistant to impacts, bird landings and winter weather. If you correctly orient the lens relative to the protective glass, the loss of image quality will not exceed 10%. This is a small loss, given the fact that the video camera can operate successfully at air temperatures from -16 o C to +45 o C.

Home video surveillance will work even longer if you provide a rain shelter and a heating system for the equipment. To avoid being “shot” from a slingshot or crossbow, the body is often covered with a sheet of cast polycarbonate, and “horns” made of an aluminum profile are installed in the upper part above the lens. A simple device protects against attempts to throw a rag over the lens using a fishing rod or put a garbage bag on it.

The cameras are connected to the router, but you can only view the image from them remotely one at a time or look for a way to connect a cheap Internet channel with a bandwidth of up to 400 MB.

Typical version of a video surveillance system at home

You can make video surveillance of the first segment as effective as possible by simply including a separate DVR in the scheme. An approximate plan for constructing the equipment is shown in the diagram.

The equipment set will include:

• Four CMOS video cameras of the HiWatch DS-T101 model with a coverage range of up to 50 m during the day and 20 m at night. Today this is one of the best options for inexpensive home video surveillance systems in terms of price-quality ratio. Cost -1350 rub.;
• DVR model HiWatch DS-H104G. A hybrid option designed to work with high-quality video images of 720 lines. Works with four analogue video cameras and saves images to an additional hard drive. Cost 4000 rub.;
• Cable with BNC connectors, for RUB 1,600;
• A video monitor, any old one, with the ability to work in multi-screen mode, preferably with a diagonal of at least 22 inches to “squeeze in” four pictures, the price has not been determined.

For your information! As a result, you can make a home video surveillance system for a minimum of 8-10 thousand rubles. Buying a ready-made kit, without installation, will cost at least 35-40 thousand.

The system can be connected to a home router or you can make an independent connection through a separate modem and a closed channel; in principle, this does not affect the quality, but will require additional rental costs.

The model listed is optimal for making a reliable and effective video surveillance system. Despite its Chinese origin, the T101 camera turned out to be of very decent quality; it’s not for nothing that the manufacturer was able to provide a 2-year warranty on the product. HiWatch T101 demonstrates a good resolution of 1.3 megapixels, with a viewing angle from 97° to 30°, an increased viewing area and the ability to produce a color image. This is enough to do home surveillance of the entrance and problem areas of a house with an area of ​​80-100 m2 and, even more so, to do video surveillance in the apartment.

First of all, the home video surveillance system must be made noise-resistant. If you plan to install video surveillance equipment in an ordinary wooden house, then you will need to lay out metal corrugations or cable channels that will not be cut by intruders, chewed by mice, or accidentally damaged during home repairs. In an apartment, the coaxial cable can be hidden in grooved niches in the walls under the baseboard.

Nuances of planning the coverage area of ​​a CCTV camera

Before choosing a particular camera, it's a good idea to know about its practical capabilities. The range and coverage area of ​​a home video surveillance system largely depends on the viewing angle of the lens. As a rule, two shooting options are used - wide-angle and narrow-angle.

In the diagram above, you can see and draw a conclusion about how a home video camera will “see” the same landscape. With a large opening angle, the video surveillance system will capture a huge width, but with a short shooting range. The optimal sharpness and depth of the image is within 90-45 o, this is enough to clearly see the picture at a distance of 6-7 m. To monitor home entrance doors or gates, 2-3 m is enough, so for such a video surveillance camera it would be optimal 90-120 o.

Second segment home video surveillance system

To organize home video recording of one fixed object - a computer, the entrance to a house, a safe or an alarm remote control, it is not necessary to purchase expensive specialized equipment; the issue can be solved by installing a suitable web camera. One option is Hikvision DS-2CD2412F-IW. Thanks to the built-in network interface, it can be directly connected to the router using an Ethernet cable.

After installing the appropriate software, the image can be saved on the card and subsequently transferred to storage on the Internet cloud. There is no humming hard drive or rustling of the optical adjustment mechanism, which allows you to make your home video surveillance system completely hidden. Even if an attacker wants to damage it, he is unlikely to be able to do so, and the video files will still end up in cloud storage.

After registering an account in the storage, usually in such services it becomes possible to view saved video files in your personal account. It is clear that this can be done from almost anywhere where there is Internet, using a smartphone or tablet.

Often you need to quickly make home video surveillance using improvised means. The easiest way to solve the problem is with a camera on a smartphone, especially since in modern models the level of optics and matrices allows you to shoot at home at a fairly high resolution.

Before you make a video surveillance camera from your phone, you will need to complete a simple procedure for installing special software:

• Download and install the IP Webcam application on your smartphone;
• We register an account in a cloud service, for example, Ivideon, and connect the account to the installed application;
• In the video settings, set the bitrate parameters to -1200 Kbps and resolution to 1280x720.

The result is a miniature home video surveillance system that, using a phone server application, will send a video stream in a secure format to the service cloud. As a bonus, you can configure the receipt of push notifications for specific markers. For example, when a picture changes or a sound signal occurs at a video surveillance location.

How to make a video surveillance archive

If a home video surveillance system uses 4 high-resolution analog cameras, then the DVR will produce at least 10 GB of information per week. The most reliable versions of 500 GB discs will be full in a week or two; making copies is also not an option; there is no point in storing such a number of DVD discs. Dumping such a volume into the Internet cloud is quite problematic, especially since you will have to pay for storing large volumes.

You will need to make a personal archive of home video footage. Typically, video files are viewed in accelerated mode and mercilessly cut empty frames where there is no movement or events. So, from 100 GB you can make 1 GB in a couple of hours. As a result, instead of 1 TB of monthly information, you can make 10 GB, for a year 120 GB, which can easily fit on a backup disk.

Conclusion

Competently building a home video surveillance system will require a lot of patience. As the first months of observations are filmed, it will gradually become clear what the shortcomings of the video camera system are and how to make them work more efficiently. Therefore, before installing the equipment and cable in a permanent manner, you can work for the first month according to a temporary scheme, for example, on wireless structures.

Despite the complexity of the design of modern cameras, the camera has only two required elements: a light-tight body with means of controlled light transmission and a photosensitive medium.

The main difference between a pinhole camera and conventional cameras is the use of a tiny hole instead of a lens.

Back in the 10th century, the Arab mathematician and scientist Alhazen discovered that light, passing through a tiny hole in the wall of a dark room, is projected onto the opposite surface. Before the advent of photosensitive media, artists used this optical effect. Projecting an image onto a wall opposite the light source made it possible to quickly and easily reproduce paintings with photographic accuracy.

The simplest devices for transmitting an image to the opposite surface are pinhole cameras. They helped not only artists, but also astronomers. The first documented use of this optical effect during the observation of a solar eclipse dates back to 1544.

A pinhole camera uses the optical effect achieved by a pinhole camera. A hole is made in the front of the camera body, through which the image is projected onto the film.

What do you need to make a camera with your own hands?

• A large piece of foam board 5 mm thick. It can be found in art stores and framing workshops.
• A piece of thin metal 2 × 2 cm (can be cut from a tin can).
• Three spools of 35 mm film (can be pulled out from exposed and expired films).
• Ballpoint pen of cylindrical shape.
• Black acrylic paint.
• Universal glue for creativity.
• A sharp knife for cutting foam board.
• Ruler.
• Thin needle. It is better to take a needle for airbrushes or intradermal injections. The diameter of the resulting hole should not be more than 0.4 mm.
• Fine-grit sandpaper.
• Flashlight.

How to make a pinhole camera?

Components of a pinhole camera

Assemble the outer shell

The camera body will consist of two parts: the outer shell and the hole side. Start by assembling the outer shell. Cut out the necessary elements from the foam board: the back surface, the top, the bottom, two side parts and the slot for the rewind head.

Outer shell details

Secure the cut parts with glue. The outer shell is ready.

Outer shell

Assemble the rewind head

To do this, you will need to connect the ballpoint pen tube to part of the film spool. Remember that the rewind control should not be glued. It is fixed only when the outer shell and the side with the hole are connected.

Rewind head made from a reel and a ballpoint pen

Assemble the side with the hole

Cut out a front with a hole in the center, a top with two holes, a bottom, two sides, two spacers, a take-up spool spacer, and two film blockers.

Camera front parts

Connect all the resulting parts using glue. The side with the hole is ready.

Front part of the camera

Install the take-up reel

Glue two film spools together by passing one of them through the hole in the top of the housing on the right side. Please note that the connecting parts of the coils must be sanded so that the gap between the discs is 11 mm. Do not overdo it with glue; the spool should rotate.

Take-up reel made from two reels of waste films

Make a hole in a piece of metal

Use an airbrush or intradermal injection needle for this. If you only have sewing needles, choose the thinnest one and make a hole with its tip. Place something underneath the metal and use a hammer to make a hole. Many people recommend another method: place the needle in the eraser of a pencil and screw it into the metal.

Sand the edges of the hole with sandpaper. Glue the resulting plate to the front side of the camera from the inside between the spacers. The hole in the foam board must be completely covered with metal.

Fabricate and install the shutter

Cut two curved gaskets, a ring and a valve from foam board. The valve and gaskets can be cut from a circle that matches the size of the ring.

Shutter parts

Glue the gaskets and ring to the body. Once the glue has dried, try inserting the shutter. If it is too tight, sand the edges.

Camera shutter

Finish the pinhole chamber

Go into a dark room and use a flashlight to check if there are any cracks where light can pass through. Use black paint to fill gaps.

Film is a fairly sensitive medium that is easily scratched even in . If you want to avoid defects in the frame, then stick strips of soft cloth on those parts of the camera that come into contact with the film.

Pinhole camera assembled and ready to use

Now take out a roll of film and get ready to take pictures with your first pinhole.

How to refill the film?

To load the film, place the pinhole with the hole down, with the bottom facing you. Insert the film so that the protruding part of the spool fits between the spacers and the flat side of the cassette is on top. Pull the film to the take-up spool and secure with . Don't forget the tape when you wind the film back into the cassette.

Film fixed in a camera

Check if everything works by winding the take-up reel a couple of turns. The rewind head must rotate. Connect the front panel to the outer shell of the camera. Pinhole is ready for shooting.

How do you rewind the film?

The pinhole lacks a frame counter and a lock that allows you to rewind a frame based on its size. You will have to count the limit of remaining pictures manually, and rewind by eye. Rewinding a frame is approximately equal to one and a half turns of the take-up reel. For convenience, you can put a mark on it.

How to determine exposure?

Anyone familiar with photography knows that the size of the aperture directly affects the shutter speed of the photo. The smaller the hole, the longer the shutter speed. When dealing with a pinhole, you should prepare for a long wait: the exposure time will be much longer than usual. The exposure time is also affected by the sensitivity of the film.

Be prepared to spend the first film measuring the ideal exposure time. You will need a light meter (you can use the light meter built into another camera or an app on your smartphone), film (ISO 200 or ISO 100), a visual landscape to experiment with, and patience.

You can install one of these applications:

• PinholeMeter. Light meter designed to work with a pinhole. Select the film speed and aperture value and point the camera at what you want to photograph. The application will calculate the amount of time required to create a high-quality photo.

• LightMeter. A simple and convenient exposure meter. It won’t calculate the shutter speed for a pinhole, but it will help to make analogies.

If you followed the instructions and managed to maintain all the dimensions (the distance from the front wall to the film and the diameter of the hole itself), then the aperture value of your pinhole camera will be f/75–f/80. Knowing this, you can use a pinhole calculator to calculate the exposure time. Use the light meter and the table provided on the website to find matches.

If the calculated exposure time turns out to be incorrect, then double-check all the original data and recalculate the aperture value. Aperture value ( F stop) is the distance from the hole to the film ( Focal Length), divided by the hole diameter ( Pinhole Diameter). The unit of measurement for all values ​​is millimeters.

How to get clear footage?

The exposure time, calculated in minutes, suggests that the camera will have to be placed on a hard surface or attached to a tripod. Remember that camera shake when the shutter opens. Therefore, close the hole with your hand until the camera is fixed on the selected surface.

Someone periodically rummages through your things, but you don’t know how to catch this person? Whether it's a friend, family member, colleague or blood enemy, to obtain evidence and identify the culprit, you can use a hidden camera to stop the intrusion into your personal space.

Steps

Place the camera in a piece of furniture

Buy an inexpensive webcam. You can find a suitable model for a price of several hundred rubles. Do an online search for the phrase “inexpensive webcam.”

Disassemble the camera body. Inside you will find a board with optics attached to it. This will make the camera much smaller and easier to hide.

Select a location to install the hidden camera. Let your imagination run wild! The camera will not be so noticeable if you place it inside some ordinary object. It must be something that is usually present in your room or office. If an object appears in a room that should not be there, it may arouse suspicion.

• For example, find an old electric pencil sharpener that no one uses. You can take out its internal parts and place the camera eye into the pencil hole. Simply unscrew the sharpener body, remove the motor from it, remove the wires and power cord. Don't forget to unplug the sharpener first!
• Try using a cardboard shoe box or tissue box. Cut a small hole in the side of the box through which the camera can “peek” out. It should not be too large so as not to arouse anyone's suspicion!
• Consider mounting the camera on a bag or gift box. Again, make a small hole on the side of the bag. It will be less noticeable if the surface of the bag has a 3D texture or pattern. On a black or dark bag the camera will be even less noticeable.
• Consider placing a hidden camera among the leaves of a houseplant or in a secluded corner of a bookshelf where no one is likely to look. Make sure the camera is pointed in the direction you want to shoot.

1. Place the camera inside an object that disguises it. Point the camera eye into the hole prepared for it. Make sure the camera is well hidden in the item and is not conspicuous.

   • If you expect the camera item to move around, consider supergluing the camera securely to it. Apply glue to the outer ring of the camera optics to adhere it to the hole. Do not apply glue too close to the lenses themselves, as this will cause the lenses to form a coating from the drying glue fumes, which will be very difficult to remove, so the quality of the photo may become blurred.

2. Secure fishing weights inside the item with tape or glue to prevent it from appearing unusually light. This is especially important when installing the camera inside equipment (sharpeners, watches and similar weighty objects).

   • If you don't have fishing weights, any heavy enough piece of metal will do. Be careful with metal objects that have sharp, jagged edges.

3. Pass the USB cable (the cable for connecting the camera to the computer) through the back of the object masking the camera. If the wire is not very long, you will have to place this item close to the computer.

   • Cover the USB cable with something. Carelessly laid out papers or an abandoned jacket are suitable for this, but everything should look natural. If it is clearly visible that a pencil sharpener is connected to your computer, then an attacker will probably suspect something is wrong.

4. If you hide a camera inside a device, consider creating a sign for it that says "out of order" so that no one would think of using it. If someone tries to turn on this device, they will most likely detect your camera.

   Point the camera at the desired location. Think of yourself as a filmmaker setting the scene: think about what you want to prove with the footage and how you might capture the suspect's face.

   • If you just want someone to stay away from your room, say a pesky sibling, point the camera at the door so you can capture the person entering the room.
   • If you want to stop certain unwanted behavior from other people, such as getting a sibling to stop taking your clothes without permission or stopping a co-worker from stealing office supplies from your desk, aim the camera to capture the events that interest you.
   • If you want to film a range of criminal activities indoors, position the camera further away so that the image captured covers a wide enough area of ​​the room. Consider installing two cameras at once, just hide them in different objects.

   Use your phone as a hidden camera

   1. Buy a smartphone. Any old model of Android phone, iPhone or iPod with network access will do - anything on which you can install the application and connect to the Internet.

      • Remember that the phone itself will be a hidden camera housing. Therefore, you will not be able to use it for any other purpose while shooting. It's best to use a phone that you won't need on a regular basis; You can purchase an old phone from a friend or from a used phone store.
      • You must have a charger for your phone. Taking continuous video shots is a power-intensive process, so you'll have to keep your phone plugged into power.

   2. Remember the network address (URL) provided by the video recording application. You will need it when connecting your phone to your computer.

      Connect your phone to your computer. Make sure both devices are connected to the same wireless network. You can remotely monitor what is happening on your computer and record a video stream from your phone. Use any video player with the ability to display streaming video for this purpose, for example, VLC or Windows Media Player.

      • If you're using VLC, click Open Streaming Video in the Media menu and enter the URL provided by the video app installed on your phone. After entering the URL, you will be able to connect to your phone camera.
      • Free programs like VLC and Windows Media Player are great for watching webcam video streams on your computer, but they won't provide high-quality recording. If you want to get serious about organizing video surveillance, consider using more expensive software to work with streaming video from webcams.

   3. Place the camera in the desired location. The phone will need to be charged, so plan your location accordingly. Point your phone's camera at the area of ​​the room you want to capture, being careful not to drop the phone.

      • It will be quite enough to casually lean the phone against a wall or a stack of books, especially if it lies on its side.
      • You can hide your phone in a piece of furniture. To do this, refer to the information contained in the section “Place the camera in a piece of furniture.”
      • Turn off sound and vibration on your phone, especially if your phone is not set to receive calls and messages. A loud call at the wrong time can completely ruin your plans.

   4. Secure your network connection. Consider installing a secure, password-protected wireless network. If you connect the camera to an unsecured or public network, then anyone logged into this network will be able to connect to it and see the scene being filmed.

      • Ask your Internet service provider about secure network options. If you use wireless Internet, you should be able to set a password for the network connection through the router.

   5. Watch the video stream through your computer. If you need to leave the house, you can connect to a public wi-fi network in a cafe, restaurant or library.

   Take a Shoot

   Familiarize yourself with the laws regarding video recording. If video recording is made inside your own home or in a public place, then it is usually considered legally acceptable. Every citizen has the right to the protection of privacy, therefore the installation of video devices in office premises, restrooms and fitting rooms violates the rights of citizens and is not recognized as legal, even if it is carried out to prevent theft of personal property.

   1. Download a webcam video recording program. Enter the search query “free webcam video recording program” and install the found program on your computer.

      • You can use Windows Movie Maker or iVideo if you already have them installed on your computer. Look at the list of programs in the Start menu (the button in the lower left corner of the Windows desktop) to see what programs are installed on your system.

   2. Connect the USB cable to your computer. When you leave the room or just to start recording video, launch the appropriate program and click the “Record” button in it.

      • Cover the USB cord with something so that it does not give an obvious indication of the location of the hidden webcam. Books, papers, and even an abandoned jacket are quite suitable for this.

   3. If you already have a computer webcam, consider using it for video recording purposes. This will be quite cunning on your part only if your video camera is usually always located near the computer.

      • Keep in mind that while this method is straightforward, an attacker will be more wary if they notice a camera facing in their direction, even if they are unaware that it is filming.
      • Don't forget to turn off, hide, or disable the LED that indicates the webcam is operating. The presence of a “recording light” will inform the attacker that he is being watched.

   4. Remember to turn off your computer monitor screen. If it is turned on, the attacker will immediately see the image sent from the video camera to the screen, which will reveal information about the ongoing video surveillance. To catch the intruder, you must maintain stealth mode.

      • If you have a desktop computer, you can turn off the monitor and leave only the system unit running.
      • If you are using a laptop, you can enable the screen to sleep while the recording program is running. You can also try covering the laptop a little before the screen turns off, but not until it closes completely. It will appear to be turned off, but will still continue to work.

   5. Continue video surveillance until you receive the necessary recordings. Leave the camera on when you think the event you're interested in is most likely to happen. If you cannot confidently determine the appropriate time for this, then leave the camera running as often as possible.

      • If over time you still haven’t managed to capture anything, reconsider the situation. Was the violation of your personal space an isolated incident? Could an attacker find a way to trick your video camera?

   Use footage evidence

   1. Use a program with video editing functions to trim a specific moment of the crime. Your computer may already have a program pre-installed with these features (Windows Movie Maker or iVideo); otherwise, you will need to download a free video editing program from the Internet.

      • Make sure that the prepared video file proves your case. Whether it's witnessing your brother stealing your things or a co-worker stealing office supplies from your desk, the video should start a few seconds before the specific event and end a few seconds after it ends.
      • Save the trimmed evidence video as a separate file, but do not delete the original. Sometimes additional evidence can be obtained even at a moment when you do not expect it at all. You may find something else interesting as you watch the rest of the video.
      • There is no need to immediately report the installation of a hidden camera. It may still be useful to you in case the person does not stop his actions even after talking with you. If he decides to continue his inappropriate behavior, then you should not show him the evidence you have.
      • If an attacker knows that you have installed a hidden camera and finds out its location, he will probably find a way to avoid being captured on video. Therefore, do not reveal your trump card to him.

   2. Forgive the attacker, but do not forget what happened. Some people don't immediately learn from their mistakes after being caught red-handed the first time. You should be well aware of the kind of person you are dealing with; even if you catch him in the act, it may not stop him.

      • Consider turning on the camera at a time when you think the attacker will return to shady dealings. It never hurts to play it safe.
      • If the problem continues, report it to an authorized person. If it's about a brother or sister, tell your parents. If a co-worker is the source of the problem, notify higher-ups. If it is a criminal offense, contact the police.
   • If your camera's LED turns on while recording, turn it off.
   • If the camera is equipped with a microphone, make a small hole in the object hiding the camera to capture sound and cover it with a “out of order” sign.
   • If you have a Macintosh, download Macam from . This is a great program as it will allow you to create both videos and photos. However, remember that many webcams are not compatible with Macintosh computers.

   Warnings

   • When disclosing information about the evidence you have, tell your sibling and parents that you left a regular video camera on in the room. Don't reveal your secret weapon.
   • Keep in mind that it is generally illegal to film people without their consent in places where they have a reasonable expectation of privacy, such as bathrooms or their private quarters.

Home video surveillance is a great home service when you need it. Keep track of what children do without parents; how hard workers work in the absence of management; find out how an elderly relative feels on the other side of town; to protect your home from the risk of theft or the pranks of neighborhood mischief-makers - there are many pressing examples of using a couple of “electronic eyes.” The article will give you an idea of ​​how to make video surveillance at home or in the country – with your own hands.

How to make video surveillance at home

Among the components of self-design of the system:

• cameras– “eyes” (sometimes “ears”);
• video recorder (DVR)– the “heart” of observation;
• HDD– to view what happened yesterday (or a couple of weeks ago);
• data and power cables- "nervous system";
• computer, or smartphone, or TV to configure everything - the “think tank” of the platform.

How justified is it to entrust this task not to a specialist with sky-high prices, but to yourself?

The task of building video surveillance is comparable to installing lighting in a garden gazebo. In the simplest case, you need a light bulb with a socket and wires. A little more difficult is to add a switch instead of a socket-plug connection. The addition of a floor lamp and a small calculation of lighting angles - all such “bells and whistles” are subject to even the least experienced hands, both in the analogy with a lamp and with newfangled cameras.

The essence of a video surveillance system is a construction kit, which consists of individual high-tech, but completely finished components, which in the worst case scenario will have to be opened and closed with a screwdriver (sometimes no tools are needed). In addition, fun during the installation process is almost guaranteed (that's a big word for screwing cameras to fences and walls, plus laying cables). Not friendly with electricity? But in the cameras and the recorder there are only 12 simple volts.

The difficulties are different: after self-assembly of video surveillance, you will have to fend off friends and colleagues for a long time with their requests to do the same for them. No more squabbles with your mother-in-law in the absence of your wife - with the omnipresent electronic eye this is fraught. And now we feed the cat strictly on schedule!

Warm-up: Five-minute introduction to video surveillance

A computer webcam can be a model of an “adult” system. How to make a video surveillance camera from a web camera? Buy a USB extension cable (if you’re lucky, this is plus 70-80 cm to the existing webcam cord), place the camera in a convenient place, install any motion detection and alarm program on your computer (WebcamXP, Ivideon, iSpy)… Done!

The capabilities of the simplest system described are sufficient for monitoring inside one room. True, you will have to come to terms with the need to constantly keep the PC turned on, the inability to extend the distance between the web camera and the PC, and the unreliability of the tracking utility for working 24/7. And it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to come up with something with night lighting.

Self-planning video surveillance

Before purchasing equipment and starting installation, it would be great to sketch out a plan of the protected area by hand and answer a few questions:

1. Where in the house will the video recorder be located? This device (also known as DVR) is a mini-computer that records the signal from cameras and broadcasts it to a TV, smartphone, thousands of kilometers away via the Internet. The place should be dry, at room temperature, and as hidden as possible from easy access by intruders. Cameras are more difficult to damage than this fragile center of the entire platform.
2. What territory will the cameras monitor, from what height and what is the width of the horizontal angle? And how many cameras do you need? A protractor with a ruler are the main assistants in answering this question. The selection of specific models is beyond the scope of the article, but there are general recommendations: the smaller the height of the cameras compared to the object of observation (a person’s face, a car license plate), the better. A narrow horizontal viewing angle (up to 60-90 degrees) is preferable to using wide-angle (up to 140-150 degrees) lenses. The maximum number of cameras depends on the class of the DVR, but usually it is from 4 to 16 channels (one camera can be connected to any recorder). Camera form factors are varied - miniature for stealth, mounted to the ceiling or wall, with an electric motor for rotation and/or movement of the lens.
3. What is the distance from the cameras to the DVR? It is imperative to take into account the additional distance - taking into account the beautiful laying of cables with wires along the walls.
4. How will you remotely access the DVR via the Internet? The ideal option is a wired (not mobile!) provider that offers access via ADSL or fiber optic at a speed of at least 1 megabit/sec, preferably with a static IP address. It’s even better if the house already has a router with a wired Internet connection and a free LAN socket.
5. Do you need to watch the “picture” on your home TV? If so, what is the length of the HDMI cable from TV to DVR? At a distance of up to 15-20 meters, a cheap wireless computer “mouse” will be of great help to control the recorder on the TV screen.
6. What are the weather conditions when installing cameras outdoors? Not every cell can cope with extreme heat and severe frosts.

Planning additional accessories for home video surveillance:

• boxes for neat cable routing;
• a powerful lamp with a motion detection sensor - useful for additional lighting in addition to infrared illumination (parking lot, area around the house);
• Wi-Fi adapter for wireless broadcasting from the DVR to the router (the good old LAN cable, also known as twisted pair, will work more reliably, cheaper and faster);
• uninterruptible power supply (minimizes the risk of loss of control during a power outage, protects the delicate electrical subsystem).

Selection and purchase of “designer” parts for video surveillance

DVR, aka video recorder

The average model of a DVR (the center of the entire system) is capable of:

• receive and broadcast video (+audio) from 4 to 16 cameras of different models and types;
• record video to a hard drive (you need to buy it separately);
• copy files to a MicroSD card and flash drive, work with a “mouse”: the more USB ports, the better;
• connect to a computer, router and, therefore, the Internet via LAN (more reliable) or Wi-Fi (slower, not all adapters are suitable);
• broadcast video to a TV or monitor (HDMI, VGA);
• “talk” to the user in Russian with minor translation blots in the menu;
• send alarm signals via e-mail, FTP, SMS and voice communication via a SIM card;
• control the movement of cameras, if they support such a function;
• understand the commands of a program installed on a computer or smartphone;
• take up 1.5-2 times less space than a household DVD player.

The cost of good models is constantly decreasing. It’s hardly worth purchasing a model that costs less than $100, but spending more than $400-500 on a DVR for a video surveillance system is most often a waste. You need to pay attention to support for high resolution (FullHD or higher for confident visual face recognition), the presence of a high-speed gigabit LAN, and the number of ports and connectors.

Storage device (hard drive) for a video recorder at home or in the country

A practical example: a HDD with a capacity of 1 TB and a price of approximately $70 stores about 25 days of video recording from two medium-resolution cameras (720p). Less capacious disks are slightly cheaper, 2- and 4-GB ones are not too expensive. “Green” series of disks are good for recorders: the task of recording a video signal does not require high speed, but heating and power consumption are minimal.

The HDD form factor is necessarily “laptop”, 2.5 inches.

Data cables and electrical wires

The cheapest part of the video recording system - perhaps due to its low price, it is usually underestimated. Stable electricity without power surges is the key to long-term operation of all equipment. The wires have to perform the task in extreme conditions of temperature changes, rain, snow and ice. A strong base, high-quality braiding and excellent insulation will help the cameras serve without electronic diseases.

Power supplies, UPS

They are entrusted with the responsible task of converting “outlet” 220 Volts into “computer” 12. All video surveillance components vitally require high-quality and stable power. Cameras are more likely to fail due to power surges than due to weather, hooligans, or defects. Savings are inappropriate here.

A mid-range UPS is capable of providing power to a couple of cameras, a recorder, and a router for an hour and a half. You shouldn't expect more, but you can't settle for less battery life.

Important note! The electrical part of a video surveillance system places slightly more demands on its installer than cameras and DVRs. If there is the slightest doubt that wiring and connecting wires is a feasible task, then it is better to call an electrician. And it’s not so much the danger of electricity, but the risk of damaging equipment.

Cameras

With a rotary mechanism or stationary; with mounting to the ceiling or to a vertical surface; with infrared illumination or... Vandalism protection, microphone/speaker presence, focal length, interchangeable lenses, horizontal/vertical angle width.

The questions are simple, there are many answers, even from little-known manufacturers. The reliability of cameras for video surveillance systems is acceptable, as long as the power supply does not let us down. An important parameter is the video signal resolution. Resolution standards of 360*288 and below are categorically outdated. The values ​​of 640*480 pixels are close to the “museum” values. The golden mean of 720p is good. Heavyweights of the FullHD class often place increased demands on DVR, HDD network and Internet channels.

And finally, about the equipment. Chinese engineers, programmers and even translators work quite well. Their products are worth considering, especially for home video surveillance.

Network matters: router, modem, Internet

Recording video from surveillance cameras to a hard drive is half the battle. Using existing equipment, it is easy to organize broadcasting throughout the entire house (dacha, plot). Transmitting signals via the Internet? Easy, if you have a stable provider.

Picture on PC or phone

So, the signal gets from the camera into the bowels of the DVR, and recording occurs on the HDD. The DVR is capable of transmitting the current signal (or already recorded video from the drive) to other data consumers. The simplest case is through a connection via a LAN cable to a laptop or desktop PC. But a different connection scheme is more convenient - to a local network router, which already transmits the Internet throughout the house via Wi-Fi or the same network cable. Then several devices will be able to connect to one DVR at the same time: phone, laptop, computer. In the router, it is enough to set the registrar a permanent IP address (192.168.120, for example. The main thing is that the subnet matches, as is the case with conventional devices).

Access to the recorder is carried out through a specially installed program of the CMS category (Camera Management System - camera management system): there are many both paid and free products in Russian. As a rule, applications are universal, i.e. work with different DVR models. Software in this category is capable of:

• configure the registrar functions;
• control cameras (brightness, backlight, motion detection, color);
• record the broadcast signal, edit video files;
• alert the user about events (signal loss, power surge, motion detection);
• display an online image from one or more sources, or view videos recorded on the recorder.

Picture via the Internet

A wired provider that provides a static IP address (even for a fee) is the ideal for a beginning owner of a video recording system. It is enough to configure the DVR or a home computer connected to it for access from outside (the setup is similar to the work of the TeamViewer, Radmin or Remote Desktop Manager programs) - and everything is ready to receive a signal even on the other side of the planet.

Mobile operators rarely allow you to work with a static IP. Each time you connect, the provider allocates a new address from its range. In this case, you will need to connect the DVR to a cloud service - a remote service for broadcasting and managing content on powerful servers. The video signal viewing circuit in this case receives one more link than with a direct “recorder-router-client” connection. The client device (it receives a remote signal via the Internet) connects not directly to the router with the DVR, but to the “cloud” server. The server, in turn, takes a signal from the home network in which the video surveillance system is located. A cloud “intermediary” is often needed when organizing remote monitoring of a country house, countryside, and in sparsely populated areas.

To receive stable images without any significant delays, a channel of 1 Mbit/sec is sufficient, the higher the better. You should remember about the significant amount of traffic passing through the Internet channel. If the provider charges it (especially the outgoing stream), then in practice you should calculate the amount of transmitted information per 5-10 minutes of broadcast. Traffic is consumed only when the device is remotely connected to the video surveillance system. When there is no connection, no data is transmitted over the Internet.

• A demonstrative collection of cameras and spotlights hung throughout the protected area often helps against hooligans and vandals. Attackers will prefer not to get involved with a dangerous “object” if they see modern analogues of the good old “beware, evil dog!” sign.
• It makes sense to direct each camera not only to a certain sector of the territory, but also in such a way that other cameras fall into the field of its electric “vision”. If one of the cameras fails, you can quickly determine the cause of the problem.
• Covert surveillance with mini-cameras is not always justified from an ethical point of view, although this is a philosophical, not a technical issue. It should be remembered that surveillance can be carried out not only by you, but also by you. In any case, compact cameras are considered more fragile and less functional devices than their full-size counterparts.
• After successful self-assembly of the platform, many people have a desire to further upgrade the system. The author of the article once encountered a curious case: to protect a small warehouse with goods worth about 3 thousand dollars, the enthusiastic owner of the facility built a system of the same value. Technically everything was flawless and beautiful, but from the practical side of the issue it was inappropriate.

Conclusion

The goal of today's workshop is to give an idea of ​​the ease of creating a video surveillance system with your own hands. Therefore, recommendations for choosing specific models and brands of equipment are beyond the scope of this article. Separate large topics are setting up a local network, selecting optimal parameters for the recorder and preferred software, including the “cloud”.

Good luck in further studying aspects of the video system. Everything in this topic is not so complicated, but incredibly interesting!

Hello dear readers of my blog. Marat Nauruzbaev is with you. Today I decided to write an article for home inexpensively and without using a static IP.

I'll show you an inexpensive video surveillance system consisting of three video cameras and a DVR, which I assembled at my home. The video archive and images from cameras can be viewed in real time via the Internet, including via a smartphone. I also set up sending a message by E-mail when motion is detected on one of the cameras (inside the house). Moreover, I organized online video surveillance via the Internet, which usually requires a static IP, which costs money to rent from your provider, and is almost impossible to rent from cellular providers (USB modem). You and I will manage without him. How? I’ll tell you about this below, don’t switch :) As always, I will tell you everything in detail, in pictures and with video from CCTV cameras.

How to make video surveillance yourself

Description of the video surveillance system configuration

So, in order to assemble a video surveillance system with your own hands at home, you first need to decide what object you will monitor, what is the distance to it and, depending on this, how many video surveillance cameras you will use.

In my example I used the following hardware:

1. DVR 8-channel NOVICAM F2+ ( 3700 rub.)- 1 PC.
2. Hard drive 750 GB ( 2000 rub.) - 1 PC.
3. Analog color dome video camera INNOVI IV-807J (2.8 mm) ( 1000 rub.) - 1 PC.
4. Color analog video camera RVi-E165 (3.6 mm) ( 1260 RUR.) - 1 PC.
5. IP camera Hikvision DS-2CD2032-I ( 3400 rub.) - 1 PC.
6. Power supply for analog video cameras DC 12V 2A ( 545 RUR.) - 1 PC.
7. Power supply for IP camera (POE injector IEEE802.3af 802.11G 48V 0.5A 24W) ( 300 rub.) - 1 PC.
8. Cables (KVK, UTP), connectors ( 500 rub.)
9. Router (router) ZyXEL Keenetic Omni ( 2000 rub.) - 1 PC.
10. USB modem ( 1000 rub.) - 1 PC.

Total: 15705 rub.

Instead of a USB modem, you can use your wired Internet, instead of a ZyXEL Keenetic Omni router (router), you can use any other and cheaper one, it’s just that this one is more tailored specifically for working with USB modems.

Keep in mind that prices are as of summer 2014, so they may vary now. I purchased the IP camera and the power supply for it in China, through an online store

Video surveillance installation

So, when you have purchased all the video surveillance components for cooking 🙂, we insert them into the DVR. I won’t show you how to do this; each recorder has its own installation procedure and it is described in its documentation. There is nothing complicated there. I’ll just show you what the DVR itself looks like. NOVICAMF2+

Model features

• Compact size (width 20 cm)
• Support SATA HDD 3.5″ up to 2 TB. It is recommended to install Seagate Green series hard drives
• Simultaneously: live video, recording, playback, network, archiving, menu
• Selectable recording quality for each channel D1 (704×576) / HD1 (704×288) / CIF (352×288)
• Record all channels in real time with D1 resolution
• Remote viewing via the Internet in real time and maximum quality (Windows 7 / Windows 8 / XP / Vista)
• Viewing from mobile devices (iPhone, iPad, Android)
• Graphical User Interface
• USB mouse and IR remote included

Now, to do this, I will briefly describe the installation of a video surveillance system step by step (in relation to an apartment, house, cottage). Please do not judge me harshly, since I am self-taught and did everything myself without anyone’s help. First, I’ll show you the general diagram of my video surveillance (pictures are clickable):

So, now, step by step:

• We install CCTV cameras in their places. I have one analog camera mounted on the ceiling inside the house. The second analog and IP camera is in the courtyard of the house

• We install the KVK cable from the location where the cameras are installed to the intended location of the DVR. We mean that analog cameras are connected via a KVK cable, IP cameras – via a UTP “twisted pair” cable. Therefore, a “UTP” cable must be attached from the installation location of the IP camera to your router. My cable is laid “in the traditional way”, so I didn’t attach it practically anywhere

• We strip the ends of the KVK cable and crimp it with connectors. We transmit the video signal from the camera and power to it via one cable. Therefore, you also need to connect power to this cable from a 12V power supply.

• We connect one end of the KVK cable along with power to the analog camera

• The end of the “UTP” cable goes into the connector of the IP camera, the other end goes into the power supply for the IP camera (POE injector), and from the power supply the cable goes into the free connector of the router

Install the DVR in a convenient and preferably hidden from prying eyes place.

• Connect our mounted KVK cable from analog cameras to it (from each cable to a separate socket).
• Connect power to the KVK cable from a 12V power supply.
• Connect a pre-crimped “UTP” cable to the RJ-45 connector of the DVR (insert its other end into a free port of the router).
• If you want to watch the picture from the cameras on your TV, then connect a composite cable to the TV (you can use an HDMI cable, but for some reason this method did not work for me)
• Connect power to the recorder from its power supply.

Well, we can say half of the work has been done. Next we need to configure everything correctly.

Setting up the DVR

In general, to make video surveillance with your own hands, you also need to set up the whole thing. There is nothing complicated here; each registrar has its own menu and settings.

If you have a recorder of a different model, then read the documentation for it. I'll tell you about the settings of the registrar NOVICAMF2+, but not all the settings, namely those that I changed so that it would work normally and see my home network and my cameras. I warn you that your settings may differ, but this is not so important, because the main thing for you is to understand how to configure it.

First of all, you need to see if your recorder “sees” analog cameras. It will not “see” the IP camera yet, since we have not yet configured the network settings of the recorder and IP camera.

Turn on the TV, set the TV settings to the input to which you connected the DVR. When the recorder and cameras are turned on, you should see a picture from the cameras on the TV screen. If there is no picture, check all connections and power supply to all devices.

To navigate through the menu, you can use the remote control that comes with the recorder. I use a wireless mouse, the adapter of which I plugged into the USB port of the recorder. It’s more convenient :)

So, we saw the picture from analog cameras, now select “ Main menu – Settings – General»

Set the current date and time.

Then go to " Main menu – Settings – Network"and assign an IP address to the registrar

In my case, I assigned the following IP addresses to devices on my local network:

• Router (router) – 192.168.1.1
• DVR – 192.168.1.13
• IP camera – 192.168.1.10
• Computer – 192.168.1.2
• Laptop — — 192.168.1.3

You assign IP addresses as you wish, just keep in mind that they all must be in the same subnet (192.168.1.xx, 192.168.0.xx, etc.)

Set the mode to " two analog cameras, twoIP cameras»

Now we need to “see” the IP camera. Let's go to " Main menu – Settings –CPU - Digital channels" Press the button " Add»

We set the channel, protocol, IP address, port, username, password of the IP camera. Click " OK"(before this you must assign an IP address to the IP camera, see section)

Here, in principle, we have configured the main functions of the registrar. The recorder became “visible” in our local network, and the recorder itself began to “see” our IP camera. The DVR should initially be able to see analog cameras without any settings.

Now let's configure the security function on the recorder. I set up my camera, which is installed indoors at home, so that if it detects any movement in its visibility zone, it sends a message to me by email (e-mail), and mail reception is configured on my smartphone. Naturally, I turn off the motion detection function when I’m at home, but it’s better to turn off the entire camera, which is what I started doing later.

To configure this function, go to “ Main menu – Alarm – Motion detection" Set the channel (camera) and check the box: “ Allowed" And " Email" I have motion detection enabled only on the second (home) camera. On street cameras, in my case, there is no point in enabling this function, since there is “perpetual motion” :)

Let's also go to " Main menu – Alarm – Blocked movement"and enable the function of sending a message to Emai when the camera is closed for all cameras

And also if the signal is lost for all cameras in “ Main menu – Alarm – Pot.alarm»

Now we need to configure which Email to send messages to. These and other settings can now be made on a computer, it’s more convenient on it :) for this we need to install the software from Novicam, which can be downloaded from their official website. The program is called NOVIcam CMS. We install it, launch it and add our device (DVR) to it. I won’t describe how to install and add a device here, I think you’ll figure it out yourself, there’s nothing complicated about it. If you have any questions, ask them in the comments, I will try to answer.

So, after launch NOVIcam CMS and adding our recorder to it, we will be able to control the recorder from a computer, as long as it is on the same network as the recorder. Let's go to " System – Remote – Services»

Click on " Email»

Enter our mailbox settings

That's probably all the basic settings of the DVR NOVICAMF2+, which need to be configured for the tasks that we set for ourselves at the beginning of the article.

The remaining settings of the recorder are at your discretion.

SettingsIP-cameras

Now let's configure the IP camera HikvisionDS-2CD2032-I. As a rule, any IP camera has its own factory fixed IP address. To “see” this camera on a computer or DVR, it needs to be assigned an IP address of your network. That is, if your router has an IP address like: 192.168.0.xx, then we assign an address from the same subnet to the IP camera.

IP address registered on the camera HikvisionDS-2CD2032-I default: 192.0.0.64, port number: 8000. Default username: admin, password: 12345 . These settings need to be changed accordingly. This is done by the program SADP, which comes with the camera.

Loading SADP. The program automatically finds all IP cameras on the network. In this case, we have one camera, change the IP address to the one we need and click “ Save»

That's it, the IP address of our IP camera has been changed. Now the camera is “visible” on our home network.

We go to the browser, enter the IP address that we assigned to it into the address bar. We enter the username and password for the camera, and voila! We see the picture from the camera

Now all the camera settings are available to us through the browser and we can configure it as we want (change video resolution, frame rate, network settings, picture brightness and contrast, etc.). I left mostly all camera settings at default.

Connecting to the Novi Cloud cloud service

You've almost completed your DIY video surveillance, but how can you now view the image from the camera far from home, for example at work or in another city altogether? How can we organize video surveillance online via the Internet? As a rule, to view video from cameras over the Internet, a static IP address is required. It can be rented from your provider for a certain subscription fee. If you have a USB modem, then renting a static IP address will cost you a tidy sum, and with some operators renting a static IP is not possible at all. But we will go the other way and use the cloud service from Novicam – NoviCloud. It allows you to connect to your cameras or DVRs through their service, without using a static IP address.

To connect to NoviCloud you need to enable access to it on the DVR. To do this, go to “ System – Remote – Services»

Click " Cloud»

and put a tick in “ Available»

Now we need to register in the cloud service. Opening the site cloud.novicam.ru in the browser Internet Explorer version 9 or higher (in Internet Explorer settings you need to allow " ElementsActiveX and connection modules"). Click " Registration»

Come up with a username and password, enter your Email, click “ Registration»

Now on the main page of the service we enter our credentials and click “ To come in»

Now we need to add our DVR to the list of devices. Select from the menu “ Device management" and press the button " +Add device»

Enter the serial number in the fields Cloud ID, a custom device name, login and password for your account on the recorder. Click " Save»

If you entered everything correctly, your DVR will appear in the list of devices

Go to the menu at “ My devices", select our DVR on the left, click " OK»

And voila! A video broadcast from cameras connected to your recorder will open.

Smartphone access

What kind of online video surveillance via the Internet without access from a smartphone? Now I will show you how you can watch images from your cameras from your smartphone. I’ll show you using an Android smartphone as an example. For iPhone, installing and configuring the software will be similar, I think.

First you need to install the free program " Novicloud" from the shop GooglePlay. To do this, from your smartphone, go to Google Play Market and enter the name of the application in the search bar - “ novicloud”

Click the “ Install” and wait for the download to finish

After installation, the application icon will appear on the desktop. Let's launch it

In chapter " Personal Area» enter our username and password that we registered in the cloud service NoviCloud(see section:)

In chapter " Device list» click « Add»

We enter the data of our registrar - a custom name, Cloud ID, login and password (set in the registrar settings) and the number of used registrar channels

A new device will be added. Click on a line from the list of devices

Voila! The video broadcast window will open. Clicking on " + » opens other channels (cameras) that you select

Now we can view the image from our cameras anywhere in the world, having only a smartphone with an Internet connection.

Conclusion

Well, I showed you by my own example. how to make video surveillance with your own hands for the home inexpensively, as well as organizing video surveillance online via the Internet without using a static IP. Moreover, this system also partially performs the function of a security alarm.

Now you know the general principles of organizing video surveillance and you can organize video surveillance yourself, in your home, office, or country house. If you have any questions, feel free to ask them in the comments, don’t be shy :) I’ll try to answer everything. And also boldly, it will be interesting.

Well, at the end of the article, for example, there is a video from my cameras:

Video from dome camera RVi E165

Video from INNOVI IV outdoor camera

Video from the highest quality camera (IP camera) Hikvision DS-2CD2032-I (day)

(to see actual video quality, select 1080p HD quality in settings)

Hikvision DS-2CD2032-I (night)