CCTV server in a box suggestions?

[IVB]

The PC with the grey-market Kodicomm card is now very flaky (hangs), and I'm not sure whether I have the energy to fix it or not. I can't really complain about a grey-market card, and my power bills are sick.

I'm contemplating just getting a "CCTV server in a box" type thingey, like that $950 thing that Martin is selling (but cheaper). I was hoping to spend $500-ish on something that I can:
- connect my 8 analog cameras (video only for now) to
- constantly record (on another PC via software is fine)
- connect via my PDA to view live images.

Using this calculator, i'm guessing a 250GB HD would be workable. Sure, 500GB would be ideal, but I can't afford the $950 or so on bigger stuff.

Any thoughts? I need it to be stable and usable.

 

[J_P]

We demo'd this microserver a few months ago. Works great, but only supports 4 cameras. Has a PCMCIA slot for adding a wireless card. Never heard a price on them though. They have demo cams accessible through the internet where you can actually PTZ the cameras on the live feeds.
Justin
http://www.comcam.net/products/bnc/comcam-10BNC.html

 

[jeffx]

I don't think that exists for under $1k.

For your Kodicom being flakey,
are you using an Intel CPU with Intel MB and ATI video?

When I had my Kodicom setup on an AMD PC, it was very flakey, since moving it to a 100% Intel/ATI PC, its rock solid.

 

[IVB]

For your Kodicom being flakey,
are you using an Intel CPU with Intel MB and ATI video?

No, the opposite - AMD mobo with a VIA chipset. I may be gathering up enough energy to do this, given the financial impact of the alternatives.

I may end up just swapping that out with a damn powerful Intel CPU and mobo, so I can use that machine for all DVR (SageTV/PVR150/CatsEye, and whatever CCTV DVR card I end up with). That'll allow me to transcode HDTV to the MVP as well.

Still bumming that non-PC options are so much more expensive than PCs though.

 

[jwilson56]

My new MCE PC was very unstable at first. I finally upgraded to the latest AMD drivers for X2 systems and replaced my 6800GT for a 7600GS and now its stable as it gets. I run a dual SD tuner card and a OTA HD tuner card. Just mentioned it because the AMD drivers made a huge difference. I was constantly getting the BSOD.

So if your AMD system is a X2 then by all means try the new drivers.

http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/Techni...1_13118,00.html

John

 

[CollinR]

For your Kodicom being flakey,
are you using an Intel CPU with Intel MB and ATI video?

No, the opposite - AMD mobo with a VIA chipset. I may be gathering up enough energy to do this, given the financial impact of the alternatives.

I may end up just swapping that out with a damn powerful Intel CPU and mobo, so I can use that machine for all DVR (SageTV/PVR150/CatsEye, and whatever CCTV DVR card I end up with). That'll allow me to transcode HDTV to the MVP as well.

Still bumming that non-PC options are so much more expensive than PCs though.

There are some pitfalls here!

If you want an all in one video server it can be done however you want everything to have native hardware support for the video format. This bumps the cost up some (or quite a bit really) but is worthwhile in longevity.

I actually do this with two boxes (SageTV + any DVR I am playing with at the specific time).

You can do it with modern computer hardware and software compression however you wind up with a more costly server. Instead of the old PIII 800 you have to use a dual core. This is componded if you have sage transcode video either from an HD stream down to 480i or to an MPEG4 for storage and then back to MPEG2 to stream to the MVP.

SageTV + MVPs KICKS ASS!!! Hopefully their HD client will be availbe before too long. I can't wait!!!

Do you have analog cable TV?

The easiest way to do this is with a DVR that has a DSP output or a looping quad/auto switcher. You just run that to the composite input on your TV tuner. Then create a bogus channel lineup for that source, channel 1 works well. Now you can use the Sage interface to view your cameras whenever you like. Works perfectly, works with MVPs works with placeshifter over the net.

 

[jeffx]

here is an intel dual core pc with xp mce for $299:

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/se...?sku=E400-W3507

eMachines W3507 Intel Celeron D 352 3.2GHz / 512MB DDR2 / 120GB HDD / DL DVD±RW / ATI Radeon Xpress 200 Integrated / Flash Reader / 10/100Mbps LAN / Windows XP Media Center / Refurbished Desktop PC