Equipment for video and 2-way audio from inside of house to outside?

[jdgtown]

Hi All - I have just moved into a house out in the country and we are quickly learning there are some things we need to address.   One of those issues is video surveillance and on the same topic I was hoping to get a system that could solve a problem of visibility from the house.  The issue is the main driveway/garage/hangout area of the house has NO windows what so ever, so we can't see a lot of important activity such as when someone drives up to our house, when the kids are playing basketball or riding scooters in the driveway, etc.  It's extremely frustrating to have a total lack of visibility on an entire side of our property.  There's no logical place to put windows with the house layout either unfortunately. 
 
Anyhow, I was hoping to get some advice on some type of video system that could help provide us better visibility to that side of the house and it would be really cool if we could do 2-way communications with whoever is out there.  "Kids come in and eat dinner!" or "be nice to your brother" type of conversation would be really helpful.  I'm not sure if this is something that would be better being a standalone device or part of a security camera system.  I was thinking about doing something very simple/cheap like a dropcam, but i've heard theres a lag in 2-way as it sends it to the cloud first.  I was also looking at some of the Q-See stuff as HD has it on cyber monday sale for $500, but not sure its what I need as theres no audio. 
 
I was hoping to keep costs fairly low as possible as I'm not looking for a state of the art system, but rather a functional family system with a couple good outdoor cameras.  I'm a complete novice, so please dont hesitate to give me the straight info if I'm in left field.
 
Thanks,
JD

 

[EyeofSauron]

There are cameras that have built-in VOIP capability, and lip-syncronous audio...  Mobotix would be on the top of that list. 
 
One of their panoramic Q24 cameras would probably work for you, and used ones pop up on Ebay regularly.  Used, they can be had in the $4-500 range, and they can cover a 180-degree arc from a wall-mounted location. 
 
All you would need is a run of Cat-5 or Cat-6 cable.  The camera itself runs off of PoE. 

 

[tmbrown97]

Grandstream has some quite affordable cameras that can be POE powered, monitored by software, and also hooked to a GXV3500 plugged directly into a screen or monitor somewhere so you can have an always-on screen to watch without tying up a computer full time.
 
They don't have a one-button intercom, but do have SIP built in so you could hook them into a larger phone system or just dedicate a cheap handheld SIP phone with a direct connection.

 

[jdgtown]

Thanks for the replies.  I was wondering if it would make things a lot easier to remove the whole 2-way audio requirement and do 1-way audio.  Meaning we could hear and see the kids playing from inside, but not actually communicate back and forth.  I'll start checking out those models you guys recommended.  Being a complete novice at this makes it super difficult to get started and find what you need as there are a million and one different things/parameters/makes/models/etc and not really knowing anything about them makes it tough.  Thanks for the help, much appreciated.
 
-JD

 

[EyeofSauron]

The Q24 has a built-in microphone, and you can listen in through the web browser.
 
Note:  it uses an ActiveX control, so the audio only works through IE.

 

[signal15]

I have a Sharx Security camera that is a wireless outdoor IP bullet cam.  It's big, but it's got a mic and works well.  My last one at my last house was outside in the elements for 4+ years with zero issues.  The Y-cam is the same camera and looks like they have better software/support.  
 
The problem with all of this IP camera stuff is that the interfaces on them SUCK.  It's like it was a 5th grade coding project that went commercial.  I haven't found a single IP cam vendor that makes a decent web interface.  The nice thing about Sharx and Y-cam is that they support RTSP, so you can stream them to Quicktime/VLC/etc without having to launch a web interface.  OpenEye works over RTSP also.  I really like the hardware that OpenEye uses, but their software is horrible.  Requires ActiveX for even viewing the video in a browser, ActiveX for setting up motion detection, and I disassembled the software and found that everything is written in bash shell scripting to generate the UI.  Most of it is injectable without authentication and you can run commands as root on it.
 
My plan at my new place is to get something like a Raspberry Pi with a little matchbox sized LED projector.  I'll get mplayer or VLC installed on it to autolaunch and connect to the camera at my front door.  And then I will mount it in the sheetrock on the balcony overlooking the entry and either project on the front door itself or on the wall next to the front door.

 

[jdgtown]

I was checking out the grandstream, this one looks like the right one: GXV3610_HD.  I dont see a lot of resellers actually selling them though.  I was also wondering what your thoughts would be compared to the Y-CAM HD 1080 model as its around $300-350 and seems to do 1-way audio (with output jack also) and has browser interface that i can use with mac/ipad.  Thoughts on that one?

Thanks,
JD

 

[EyeofSauron]

Make sure the audio is supported in your preferred browser.  If their manual doesn't mention anything about it, you might shoot them an email for clarification before you drop the coin.
 
Even Mobotix, which is one of THE most browser-agnostic manufacturers out there, requires ActiveX for audio (which drives me crazy, BTW... I dislike IE, and don't use it unless it is absolutely necessary).
 
 
Signal15:  "and I disassembled the software and found that everything is written in bash shell scripting to generate the UI.  Most of it is injectable without authentication and you can run commands as root on it."
 
You've got to be kidding...  which camera was this?

 

[pete_c]

Here I have sort of shut off IE and shifted over to FF.  I am currently using ZM and Grandstream's GSPro for the IP HD cams.
 
Grandstream GSPro only works in Wintel and does include the audio stuff.
 
The Grandstream GXV3610_HD includes the SIP stuff.  I haven't tried it yet though.  It doesn't though include the speaker / microphone settings.  I am not sure that there is a microphone in the GXV3610.  I did take it apart and didn't see one; but I wasn't looking at that.
 
My other Grandstream OS IP HD cameras do include a microphone and speaker setting.
 
Here are some FF settings.  
 
GVX3672HD - The GS camera IP board has the pins for microphone and speaker.  The current revision of OS doesn't include this.  It does include the SIP stuff.
 

 
Grandstream generic OS - includes the speaker, microphone and SIP stuff. 
 

 
I have noticed that the IP camera board is propietary to Granstream with a zif ribbon cable to the lens board.  The OS does recognize the type of camera lens board as I have tried swapping one camera lens board for another.  I have recently been testing similiar Grandstream OS boards now with POE connectivity (tiny thing). This is leading to a single pigtail connection as the older Grandstream OS has multiple cables (IE: analog video, IP, menu function button, Power, alarm inputs, alarm outputs, audio in and out). 
 
I have one GXV3610_HD mounted outside and it has done well now.  No weather affects.
 
Day view:

Night View:

 

[signal15]

Make sure the audio is supported in your preferred browser.  If their manual doesn't mention anything about it, you might shoot them an email for clarification before you drop the coin.
 
Even Mobotix, which is one of THE most browser-agnostic manufacturers out there, requires ActiveX for audio (which drives me crazy, BTW... I dislike IE, and don't use it unless it is absolutely necessary).
 
 
Signal15:  "and I disassembled the software and found that everything is written in bash shell scripting to generate the UI.  Most of it is injectable without authentication and you can run commands as root on it."
 
You've got to be kidding...  which camera was this?

 
OpenEye CM-710.  The software that's on it is actually the same software used on one of the Axis cameras, so the Axis likely has the same problems.

 

[EyeofSauron]

OpenEye CM-710.  The software that's on it is actually the same software used on one of the Axis cameras, so the Axis likely has the same problems.

 
That surprises me about Axis.  With as big an enterprise-level player as they are in the IP camera market, you'd think they'd take more care in coding their UI.

 

[signal15]

That surprises me about Axis.  With as big an enterprise-level player as they are in the IP camera market, you'd think they'd take more care in coding their UI.

 
 
They don't code their UI.  OpenEye and Axis both use a company in India called Rainbow or something like that to do it for them.  This is probably the reason that the OpenEye software has references in it to an Axis camera, the company just reused code.

 

[tmbrown97]

I sell grandstream - PM me if interested - it's my favorite of the affordable cams at the moment.  I know their cams work with the softphone apps including audio - I could test one outside IE too here in a minute.

 

[signal15]

I sell grandstream - PM me if interested - it's my favorite of the affordable cams at the moment.  I know their cams work with the softphone apps including audio - I could test one outside IE too here in a minute.

 
 
Yes, please.  Make sure you test setting motion detection zones if it has them also.  Many of those require ActiveX.
 
How's the UI on them?  Do they support RTSP streaming?

 

[ddennerline]

I purchased my first IP security camera. I chose Hikvision 2032 after doing lots of research. The IP camera is small, IP66 outdoor, takes great video, 3MP/1080P,  day/night, and doesn’t break the bank. The version I bought does not have audio, but the “Pro” versions do have audio in/out. The GUI works with both Netscape and IE.  I think the GUI is quite nice.