Bytemart

We had the following enquiry from a customer about a solution for monitoring his driveway whilst he was away on business:

“I would like to purchase a home security camera. Ideally the camera would have night vision, be wireless and have motion activated recording.

Can you please recommend me a system which is easy to install and reasonably affordable?”

“One thing I would say is that if you are looking for something to point outside at night, then the glass will pretty much render the infra-red useless as it reflects back on the lens and flares out.

If you are looking for something to monitor the outdoors, then I would go for the weatherproof camera (http://www.bytemart.co.uk/acatalog/weatherproof-network-cameras.html). Although this is wired, it can feed a video signal (TV) and also a network (so you can record onto PC). If your pc isn’t nearby, then a cheap wireless access point can be put by the window or area where the camera cable comes in, and then it turns it into a wireless unit. This is preferable as it means the signal isn’t interfered by outside atmospherics.

The range on the infra red with these is far superior (around 25-30 metres), and the construction is robust and weatherproof (metal housing), and of course it would be visible to any intruders.

Once you’ve setup the PC to record the images, you can also ask it to email any movements to a designated email account as a snapshot image, which would be peace of mind for you when you’re away too I’m sure, as well as record the movements as an AVI on the PC for viewing later. A sign on the gate saying you are recording round the clock will help too!

Hope that helps - let me know if you’d like any other information.”

After installing the Grand Multi Guard PCI card into your computer and restarting, XP should have detected the new hardware and prompted you for the drivers.

When this prompt appears, do not auto detect drivers, choose from another location.

• Insert the Grandtec CD and browse to D:\English\BT878 (assuming D: is your CD drive)
• Click on the BTPCIAV.INF file and continue.

This should install the drivers for the BT878 card.

Note: You may need to go to

• Control Panel -> System -> Hardware (tab) -> Device Manager
• Find the BT878 card (may have a green question mark)
• Right Click -> Uninstall
• Then Right Click on your computer name, (right at the top of the list) and choose ’scan for hardware changes’
• This should invoke the driver wizard again.

Lets hope this is of some help.

We received the following question from a potential buyer about the movement detection available on the Model 2 cameras that come with the WalkGuard Software -

“It mentions about an alarm that will sound when movement is detected…can you tell me where the alarm is heard? as this will be used for surveillance of a second home I would like to be notified when movement is picked up…I don?t mind having the camera on and connected 24/7 if the alarm can be heard from where I would be viewing. “

We replied……

“The WalkGuard software that the camera is supplied with allows you to set both email notification of any movement, and also an alarm sound that will sound on the PC that is monitoring the remote camera.”