A friend suggested.I'm not so sure that there's a requirement that the video/audio be digital, is there? A regular camcorder can usually be used as a camera, and the output fed into a VHS recorder with a T-160 tape at ELP you can get 8 hours. Surely you can change a tape every 8 hours? Also, it's not important that you catch EVERY instance, just enough cases to prove your point. To be accepted in court, most video needs to be sworn to by a human witness, that is, you will need to be present for some of the recorded instances so that you can swear that you saw/heard it, and that the videotape is a representative record of what you saw, hasn't been altered, etc. As a bonus, a lot of camcorders can record in very low light levels, and with an IR filter, can record heat images in total darkness. And the zoom is usually pretty good, too.
http://www.securityideas.com/
On Fri, 01 Oct 2004 11:40:02 -0700, Rick Stevens
<rstevens@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Paul wrote:
Hi,
I need recommendations on equipment suitable to capture such action at a
distance of 200 feet. Audio only at night would suffice as long as we
can show video and audio of similar events during broad day light. The
audio is the part that concerns me. I may have to have the equipment
outdoors to get good audio.
Video camera with a date on while recording. Recording into PC with some form of date stamp and pgp signature, encode to some format of your choice.
Failing that, a couple of webcams (you can get them with pretty decent
lens now) pointing at the neighbours house which are sound/light
triggered.
D-Link's larger webcams use standard C-mount lenses, meaning that they're capable of accepting any standard video lens including telephoto. Barring that, get a video card such as the Hauppage or AverMedia and use a standard video camera with the appropriate lens.
You'd probably want a gun- or parabolic-style mic, as these are highly directional and quite sensitive. Visit your local electronic store and find one that will work with your sound card or video card.
For recording software, you could try VLC, MPlayer or any other free PVR software that works with Linux and handles V4L. A google search should reveal a bunch of them. Many webcams now come with surveillance software, although it's usually Windows-based. Depending on the package, it might run under Wine. If you have VMware, all the better.
The parabolic mike might be needed, might not. But it could be recorded on one stereo track of the VCR while the camcorder's audio is recorded on the other track.
The only other thing I can think of that might be handy is a dB meter, so you can take a reading of the noise level.
-- Fritz Whittington This email does not contain private or confidential material as it may be snooped on by interested government parties for unknown and undisclosed purposes - Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, 2000
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