FarmerCharlie

I have noticed irregular video glitches on all three of my cameras. The glitch shown is on Camera1, in which it appears that there are two bird houses. That camera happens to be a Sony TRV900. The glitch usually appears as shown, almost like the two fields are being displayed out of alignment. Sometimes the glitch just appears as a small bump in the vertical signal. The other two cameras, which also show the same glitch on occasion, are CCTV cameras that use 12 power supplies. The glitches tend to occur on only one of the cameras at a time. I am simultaneously recording from the cameras directly to Diamond VC500 USB capture cards using MediaEncoder, and I do not see the glitches there. This makes me think it is something with the NV3000 card itself rather than the cables. Any ideas on what might be the problem. It wouldn't matter so much except that the glitches trigger the motion detection, which causes a lot of false positives. Thanks, Charles

My apologies if this is too long-winded or posted in the wrong section. This is my first real post to this forum. My current project is to design an improved camera for the interior of purple martin gourds or bird houses in general. I did a forum search on "ir led camera" and found a lot of useful information, but most of the posts there dealt more with longer distance monitoring. So far I have setup a gourd using a Clover OC950 camera that has six IR LED lights. The light was way too intense and glaring, so I put several layers of Nexcare adhesive tape over the LEDs to reduce the intensity. That works pretty well--until the tape falls off. In theory the camera does color during the day and B&W at night. In practice, I don't think enough light ever gets into the gourd for the camera to use color mode. I want a camera with a little better resolution and adjustable IR LED illumination more appropriate for distances of just a few inches. My first test is using a Visiontech VC32HB with various IR LED light sources, including a handy Ramsey IR Illuminator kit and some Radio Shack IR LEDs. Now I'm ready to move to the next stage. Attached is an image of my first prototype. Here are some questions on which I could use some advice: 1. Is the Visiontech VC32HB a reasonable one to use for this, or would you recommend something different? As indicated above, the camera probably does not really need color, but the higher the resolution the better. 2. The camera does need interchangeable lenses, so I can switch to wider angle when needed. 3. What LEDs would be a good choice for this, and what sources would you recommend for small quantities? 4. What would be best to use to reduce glare (instead of the adhesive tape I am using with the OC950)? 5. Heat is a consideration. I will probably want to mount any resistors or other heat producing circuitry on the outside of gourd. Any advice you folks would be willing to provide would be appreciated. I also have some questions on the surveillance system I am using, but I'll save those for another post. Thanks, Charles

I have been noticing a lot of false alarms that appear to be caused by glitches on some of the cameras. The glitches look a little like brief loss of sync or some other glitch that appears as motion to the motion detection software in the DVR card. The card is an Avermedia NV3000. I have two cameras that use the inexpensive 12 volt power supplies that came with the cameras plus one Sony TRV900 camera (Camera 1) that has it's own power supply plus battery. The alarms seem to be mostly on the cameras on the inexpensive power supplies. The three attached images illustrate one example. Frame 2 shows a vertical jump on camera 2. Are these types of glitches typical? Would I likely see improvement if I used a better multichannel power supply for the cameras. Or would a UPS likely help? I am not getting power glitches sufficient to cause the computer to recycle. Thanks, Charles

I debated long and hard back in 1999 or so between the TRV900 and the CanonXL1. Finally went on portability rather than interchangeable lenses. That was probably the best decision then, but I sure wish I could put a Canon telephoto on it and eliminate the Sony digital zoom. I'll test your suggestions. I have plenty of time between now and the time the martins return next year. I'm still streaming to the Internet at http://www.purplemartin.tv/charles_branch_combined/ but it's pretty dull now that my birds have left for winter vacation in Rio.

mateck8888, Thanks for the suggestions. To satisfy your fears, I am not employed by Homeland Security; but if some bad guys happen to come messing around with my purple martins in the dark of night, you can bet that I will sic the US Fish and Wildlife Service on them for messing around with protected migratory birds. And the only connection with the Stimulus is my substantial financial support of the whole spy and CCTV industry this year with my bird obsession. The cables I am using are the fairly inexpensive cables that either came with the cameras or that I ordered from SpyTown and other sources. They are not the sort of quality that I used to use in video production, but they are marketed for this type of application. Also, I am using the same cables with the Sony TRV900, which appears to have fewer alarms.. I agree that some of the false alarms are caused by ordinary noise, leaves blowing in the wind, or moths that flew up close to the IR lights that were originally mounted on the distant camera. But the ones like the images I posted with an obvious glitch seem to be the cause of many. I don't expect to eliminate all false positives with cameras of this quality with varied lighting and weather, and moths. I just want to make it practical to playback the videos at high speed to check for predators (of the 4-legged and winged type). I will need to make a Y adapter to measure the voltage under load. That sounds like a good thing to do. Do you think getting one of the fairly inexpensive multichannel regulated power supplies would be a reasonable investment? Thanks, Charles

I thought you might be interested in what the camera looked like when I took it down to clean it this morning. This was after about four days. It's a wonder the camera even still works. I'm getting a good image on the camera now. Only problem is that the birds have gone. They may come back at night for a few days. Charles

I'm sure my birds can read just fine, but I'm not sure a bird's tongue would be very good for licking. That is exactly what I plan to do next year. This year I did not have the time to find tubes with the correct threads and diameters, so I mounted the camera directly on the screw-on access cover that came with the gourd. I also want to find some sort of diffuser film to cover the LEDs. Something that would work a little better than the NexCare adhesive tape, which kept coming off in this humid environment.

I laughed out loud when I went back and re-read this. When I said I was doing both, by "intruders" I was thinking of intruders of the 4-legged and winged type--like raccoons and owls. You were thinking of a different type of intruder altogether. That's the type of miscommunication I have with my wife almost every day.

I'm just having a ball. I retired a few months ago as the I.T. director at my school. In my prior life I was a mechanical engineer, and then a physiology professor for almost 30 years. It's great to finally have the time to indulge in all my various obsessions. This year it has been cameras and surveillance systems. Next year? No telling.

OK. Now if I haven't already done so, I'm going to really show my ignorance. I purchased several lenses for my Clover OC950. They have small screw-on threads and range from the standard 3.6 mm to 2.1 mm. Other than being able to more easily hide a camera, what is the difference between the types of lenses I have and pinhole lenses? Are pinhole lenses available in wide-angle, and are they interchangeable? One problem I have noticed is that the lenses I am using tend to fog up or get crud on them as the birds start growing and touching them. Would a pinhole lens be less susceptible to these problems? I tried to Google a description of the different types of lenses, but came up short on my first attempt. Thanks Charles

Actually, I am doing both. I have two cameras outside looking at the gourds plus the one camera inside watching the birds. They are all connected to an AverMedia NV3000, and I am streaming two of them to the Internet. I need to look into that. I have been concerned that the IR light shining out of the gourd at night might attract nighttime predators. That is one reason I would like to reduce the illumination from what the Clover OC950 uses. But I just finished monitoring a nest for the whole 26 days from hatching until fledging, and all the babies made it. Some purple martin "landlords" occasionally suffer the destruction of an entire colony in a single night by just one owl. Interesting. I need to try to find that. I wish I had chatted with you before I started this venture. I might have saved both time and money. I am attaching a typical capture from the AverMedia NV3000 card. If you are interested, you can also check the streaming at http://www.purplemartin.tv/charles_branch_combined/default.htm Normally I stream the nest camera all the time. During the day I also stream a zoomed exterior view from my living room using a Sony TRV900. At night I switch to a distant exterior view using a cheap day.night all-weather camera and an infrared light source. The lens on the nest camera fogged up two nights ago during a severe rain storm, and I haven't lowered it to clean it for fear of prompting the babies to jump before they can fly. Three of the babies fledged today. If the last two fledge tomorrow, then I plan to lower the rack and clean the lens. Usually the parents bring the babies back to the nest at night for a few days. Then they all gather up and fly to Rio for the winter. The season is about over for me. But you could watch similar cameras from some other people at the purplemartin.tv site. Thanks again for your help. Charles

Thanks for the info. My birds fledged today, so this project has now become less of an emergency; I should have time to look into it before the martins return in March. You mentioned the S88 with 14mm interchangeable screw lenses. I'll contact Mintron about them. The Clover OC950 I used has a small screw lens. I started with 3.6 mm with the eggs, and gradually went wider to 2.1 mm as the babies grew. Do you happen to know if these are the same type lenses you referred to? That is, are these lenses pretty standardized? The reason for infrared is to minimize disturbing the birds. I do know that the 6 little LEDs on the Clover (even when covered with the adhesive tape) threw a lot of illumination out the entrance. The gourd with the IR light at the top left looks like a house with the lights on. Thanks, Charles

Thanks. my preliminary testing of the prototype confirms your information. I am looking into other cameras, but there are just too many choices for one with little experience with miniature cameras. Any suggestions or a link to a good article on this would help me avoid ordering the wrong camera again. Regarding the effect on the birds, the experts seem to think that IR light for these cameras does not cause a problem. The birds certainly seem content based on my spying on them for a few weeks. I was concerned about the heat generated by the camera, so I put a thermometer in the gourd. I couldn't see any noticeable temperature rise with the camera on. The main problem with the Clover OC950 I am using is that the LEDs produce way too much illumination at these close distances. The adhesive tape I put over the LEDs keeps coming off, which gives a lot of glare. Thanks, Charles

I am having problems with sound on my NV3000. I have a microphone going into my sound card and the sound card line output going into the input of the AverMedia sound card daughter board. I know the sound is being recorded, because I can playback files using the remote access from another computer on my network. But I can not make playbacks play sound on the computer with the card installed. And the MPEG conversions I make on that computer have no sound. I also noticed during the original installation that I could not make the system play audible sounds when alarms are detected. Don't know if that is related. I could use a work-around by doing my MPEG conversions on the remote computer. But using the remote computer, if I try to select the beginning and ending of the clip, nothing happens. So, I can make MPEG conversions on the computer with the card installed, but there is no sound. And I can play recordings with sound on a remote computer, but can't make a recording. Sort of a catch22 I guess. Any ideas? Except for this, I am very pleased with the system. Charles

I had a very similar problem when I installed my NV3000 card. On one occasion I got distracted and left the computer with the "Loading Windows" screen displayed. When I came back about an hour later, the screen had changed to an error message that it could not log me on. I clicked "OK" and the computer proceeded to finish booting. I now dread having to reboot, because it usually takes about an hour to give me the login screen. But sometimes it gets to the error message in just a few seconds. Really weird! Have you tried waiting it out for an hour or so?? I have not yet resorted to reinstalling Windows, because that is just too painful a process for me. I have a PC support guy coming by to look into it. I'll let you know if he comes up with a solution. Charles

My interest in CCTV right now is in monitoring purple martins. I am using an AverMedia NV3000 with a nest camera in a gourd plus two cameras monitoring the exterior of the gourd. I have been so impressed at the sophistication of this inexpensive system compared to the complex and expensive systems I used years ago in my previous life. The system can trigger permanent video records based on motion in selected parts of any of the cameras as well as sound. I have it set to trigger on motion as the parents land on the gourd or based on motion from potential predators at the base of the pole. Attached is a sample snapshot from the system as one of the parents lands at the entrance to feed the babies. I am also streaming two of the cameras to the Internet. The person doing the rebroadcasting was not able to use the AverMedia format. Instead, he needed the format produced by Windows Media Encoder. So I also have two Diamond One-touch USB capture cards to stream the 148 kbs feeds. Finally, here is my question: Does anyone know of an inexpensive capture card that can do approximately what the AverMedia card does plus provide the separate video streams in a WME-compatible format? The card would need to produce low kbs feed because of my limited upload bandwidth. Thanks, Charles

Years ago in my previous life I used a lot of expensive analog video equipment and designed some monitoring hardware for research projects in physiology. Now that I am retired, I have lots of new hobbies, including purple martins. I was amazed at how just $117 could buy me the type of sophisticated monitoring system that I would have thought would cost thousands. My next project is to design a better nest camera system. I will probably be asking for help from some of the experts on this forum. Thanks, Charles