My Equipment:
My computer is a Dell 8200 Windows XP Pro, 768 RDram, 80 gig hard drive, 2.0 Pentium, GeForce Ti video card. My internet connection is Charter Communications Cable modem, speed is supposed to be 3MB download 256kbs upload, I get half of that. 10MB Web Space is free for Charter customers with High Speed Modem package.
The first camera with the close up view of the nest is a cheap wireless pinhole camera that is small enough to fit inside of a golf ball. It's outstanding except for the fact that it doesn't do well in low light situations. I paid $29.99 for it on Ebay.
Second camera with the side view on the nest is an old analog camcorder that I had that takes the small tapes that you have to put in an adapter to play in a standard VCR. It's not worth $20.00.
The third camera is my driveway cam and it is a Wisecomm infrared low light camera. I don't have it on the nest because it is wide angle and distorts the image if it is too close. Purchased at Sam's Club for $39.99.
Since my GeForce video card won't accept incoming video transfer I have a Dazzle Digital Video Creator purchased at Radio Shack that converts my RCA plugs of the Camcorder to USB and that is Camera one. $69.00 a few years ago, cheaper now?
Camera two runs through a Hauppauge WinTV-GO TV Tuner PCI Video Capture Card 4 PC. You can hook your cable into it and watch TV right on your computer. It also accepts an RCA plug. Paid $17.95 on Ebay.
My third way of getting video into my PC is the best, I have a Canon ZR45 Mini-DV camcorder that is digital, it accepts RCA plugs that old analog cameras have, but the difference is that it converts the analog image to digital and transfers it to my PC through a firewire port (Firewire Card $7.95 on Ebay). Not only is the size of the picture twice as big, it is twice as sharp as the original analog picture. So I can run any camera that I have through that Mini DV camera and it has better picture quality. I guess I could just hook up the digital camera to view the nest but I wouldn't put that little beauty out in the weather :)
