1/4" Sharp CCD 380 Line Color CCTV Mini Surveillance Camera

This color camera is small enough that you can hide it anywhere! The CM320 features a 1/4-inch Sharp CCD image sensor with a 380 TV line resolution! Simply connect the CM320 Mini Surveillance Camera to a video monitor and plug it into a power outlet!

Features/Specifications:
-Black color
-Mini-sized
-1/4-inch Sharp CCD image sensor
-Resolution: 380 TV line
-TV System: NTSC
-Video out: 1.0 Vp-p. 75 Ohm
-S/N Ratio: > 48 dB
-White Balance: > 0.45
-Electronic Shutter: 1/50 (1/60) – 1/100,000 sec.
-Auto backlight compensation
-15-inch length camera with BNC and power connectors (approximate size)

Unit Dimensions: 1.75 x 1.5 x 1.25-inches (H x W x D, approximate)

Price: $18.99

The camera comes in what I would call a generic looking box.

The camera itself is wrapped in bubble wrap for protection inside of the box.

Included in the box is the camera, power supply and a brief instruction sheet. The power cord on the cable is nice and long, but the cables from the camera are short. This is normal though as you would usually use a combination video and power cable to hook the camera to your system.

The camera comes with a lens cover for protection.

The lens is adjustable, you just turn it to focus it manually. There is a stand attached to the camera that you can use for mounting it wherever you need to.

Two wires come out of the back of the camera, one for video via BNC and one for power.

Ideally you’d install this camera somewhere secret, like inside of something where it can’t be seen by people passing by. I didn’t as well it does take a bit of work, and I wasn’t quite ready to run wires around my house. I just hooked it up to my existing security system so I could get the review done.

It wasn’t hidden so my kids, especially my 6 yr old had to ham it up a bit.

Colors look good on both videos and stills.

It’s a fixed focus lens so you have to figure out what you want to focus on exactly when you install it and where you install it is going to be the key. There’s really not a zoom on it, just focus, which works fine as it’s not meant for far distance viewing uses.

For the price of $18.99 I think this little camera is worth it, especially if you’re looking to build a security system on the cheap. It’s got plenty of uses and a decent picture for the price.

Review of 1/4" Sharp CCD 380 Line Color CCTV Mini Surveillance Camera is a post from: DIY Guides

Related posts:

1. Review of 1/4" Sharp CCD 420 Line Color CCTV Infrared Night Vision Waterproof Surveillance Camera
2. Review of 1/4" Sony CCD 420 Line Color CCTV Infrared Night Vision Waterproof Surveillance Camera
3. Review of LYD Mini Pinhole Wired Security Camera

AirLink101 SkyIPCam AIC250 Remote Network Color Camera

Keep an eye on your environment with this AirLink101 SkyIPCam 250 Remote Network Color Video Camera and have peace of mind wherever you are!

The AIC250 is capable of still image capture, video recording and e-mail notices making it a great security addition to your home or business.

This AirLink101 SkyIPCam 250 Remote Network Video Camera features a 10/100 Fast Ethernet connection and enables you to view full motion video over the Internet. Plus, it supports web configuration with password protection for added flexibility and security.

The SkyIPCam AIC250 works great with your normal DSL or Cable modem DHCP Network, by signing up with any free Dynamic DNS service on the web! Plus, it comes with IPViewPro Software so you can view up to 16 cameras at a time for complete area monitoring!

General Features:
Connection: 10/100 Fast Ethernet LAN
Camera Sensor: 1/3-color CMOS
Camera Resolution: 640 x 480
Focal Length: 6.0 mm
Aperture: 1.8
S/N Ratio: 57 dBm
Video Format: Image Compression: MotionJPEG
Resolution: 10 fps @ 640 x 480 (VGA), 25 fps @ 320 x 240 (CIF), 30 fps @ 160 x 112 (QCIF)
Capable of still image captures, video recording, and e-mail notices
Web browser viewing on any computer
Intruder detection
Use up to 16 cameras for complete area monitoring (only one camera is included)

Camera Dimensions: 1.5 x 2.6 x 5.3-inches (H x W x D, approximate)

Price: $34.99

The AirLink101 comes packaged well, inside you’ll find everything wrapped individually and in compartments.

When you unpack everything you’ll find the camera, Ethernet cable, power supply, software/drive disc, user manual and a small box with the mount inside.

The mount is metal and comes with screws and anchors for installation.  The mount just screws into the camera.

The camera is oddly shaped, at least in comparison to other cameras I’ve seen. There are holes for the mount on the top and bottom of the camera providing more options for mounting it. The camera seems nicely made, yes it’s plastic, but most everything is these days. It’s an indoor camera only.

Here’s the camera on the mount to give you an idea of how it works:

The mount can swivel all around and up and down on a ball in the socket allowing you to get the perfect viewing angle.

On the front of the camera is the lens of course, it does have a manually adjustable focus. The black ring around the lens turns to focus. To the left is a microphone and to the right are two LED indicators for power and network link or activity.

On the back of the AirLink101 you’ll find the reset button, power and Ethernet connections.

The first things you’ll need to get up and running is install the software.  On the disk you’ll find the user manual, IPViewPro and the Wizard. You only need to install the wizard to get the camera up and running, if you want the security features then you’ll need to install IPViewPro.

The Wizard offers basic functionality for connecting the camera to your computer and network. For the most part you’ll just need to use the default settings, and of course change the admin password for security reasons.

From the Wizard you can open up the web browser or Web Config. On the screen you’ll see a sample image with options to view video through ActiveX or Java and you have the option for Administration as well.

On the admin menu you’ll see menu choices across the top for Management, Configuration, Tools, Help and Home. Under the Management menu it’s really just telling you the settings of the camera.

Under the Configuration options you can change settings like id and password, and network settings.

The main thing to change I think is the video settings, at default it’s only set at 320×240 resolution. Personally I like things set as high as possible, especially for security purposes.

Under Tools you can enable FTP server access, email and do things like reset the camera and upgrade the firmware.

Lastly, back at the main menu you can see the live view with options for zooming, uploading or emailing video.

That was all just though the web browser, now let’s take a look at the security software.

When you first open IPViewPro you won’t see anything because the camera is not connected to the software. The interface has options below the main screen to adjust the views, this is really only if you have more than one camera. Under that you’ll find more buttons for recording, playing and accessing the settings.

You’ll need to go into the configuration settings and find your camera. The settings will also allow you to change some of the same thing you could via the web interface. In the settings though you can configure the motion detection as well, a must if you’re using it as a security camera.

Once you get the camera connected you’ll see the live view. Once connected you’ll see the status off to the left with buttons beneath for zooming, recording and taking snapshots.

Here are three samples, the first two are 320×240 resolution and the last is 640×480.

You can see the quality isn’t the best at all, they’re very grainy. I guess it’s expected for such a low priced camera. You can go into the setting and adjust brightness, contrast and saturation to make things look a little better but not much honestly.

Installation was quick and easy, I had no problems there. The camera even shows up if I go to My Network on my computer so you can access it that way as well.

If you wanted you could setup your own DNS sever and access the camera or cameras while you’re away so you can see what’s going on when you’re not there.

For the price it isn’t bad I think, it’s a decent basic IP camera.

Review of AirLink101 SkyIPCam AIC250 Remote Network Color Camera is a post from: DIY Guides

Related posts:

1. Review of Infrared Motion Night Vision IP Color Camera w/Pan & Tilt Control
2. Review of 1/4" Sharp CCD 380 Line Color CCTV Mini Surveillance Camera
3. Review of 1/4" Sony CCD 420 Line Color CCTV Infrared Night Vision Waterproof Surveillance Camera

Don’t forget to stop over at Geeks for a nice selection of wired and wireless surveillance cameras.

1/4" Sony CCD 420 Line Color CCTV Infrared Night Vision Waterproof Surveillance Camera

This CM705CH Surveillance Camera is the perfect addition to your video surveillance system!

With thirty (30) LEDs, the CM705CH offers an infrared distance of up to 20 meters (65.6-feet) and is ideal for day or night video surveillance. This water-proof color camera is equipped with a 1/4-inch Sony CCD image sensor with 420 TV lines of resolution and a 3.6 mm lens. Simply mount the CM705CH on a wall or ceiling, attach a monitor and connect the power adapter (monitor not included)!

General Features:
-1/4-inch Sony CCD image sensor
-Thirty (30) Infrared Night Vision LEDs
-Infrared Distance: 20 m / 65.6-feet
-Built-in A/D converter
-Resolution: 420 TV lines
-TV System: NTSC
-Lens: 3.6 mm
-Water-proof

Unit Dimensions: 7 x 3.25 x 5-inches (H x W x D, approximate)

Price: $36.99

If you recall the review I posted a few days ago then I’m sure this box looks familiar, or at least very similar. It’s a different camera altogether that’s inside though.

Once you get things unpacked you’ll see the camera, user guide, power supply and BNC to RCA adapter. What’s missing is mounting hardware with this camera.

This particular camera comes with a nice sturdy mount, I like the design of it. The mount can swivel all around and up and down as well. It has three holes to attach it to your desired mounting surface.  Over the main camera is a fixed shroud to keep out the sun and rain. The fixed is nice, but I much prefer a movable one so you can adjust it if need be.

This particular camera has 30 infrared LEDs in it to illuminate the night. There’s also a sensor there to detect when the infrared LEDs are needed. The sensor is placed oddly, it’s off center. On every camera I’ve used the sensor is located at the bottom, directly in the center basically so you know which way the camera should be oriented.

Installation is easy, I had to provide my own screws of course. I already had lines run for it, but chances are you’ll need to run power and video lines to set up your camera.

I figured for a review it would be good to compare it to the last camera, I mounted it in the same place so I could get a good comparison.

Here’s one taken in the daytime. Color is decent actually, and it’s fairly clear.

A security camera has to work well in both day and night, so let’s see how well it works. Here’s one of the pictures from the Sharp camera review:

Then here’s one from the Sony, the LEDs in this one seem a lot brighter and they cover more distance as well.

Here’s a picture taken with my regular camera with no flash to show you just how well the infrared LEDs work:

I think the LEDs work very well. Originally I was going to put the Sony camera on the back of the my house, but seeing as how well these LEDs work I’m thinking of just leaving it right there on the side of the house for the better coverage.

So what have we learned? Well I learned that you don’t necessarily have to pay hundreds of dollars for a security camera.

One thing I really can’t test is longevity so I’m not sure just how well this will hold up in the long run. Maybe I’ll let you know with an update if something happens. For the price though I’d be happy if it lasted a year or two I think.

Review of 1/4" Sony CCD 420 Line Color CCTV Infrared Night Vision Waterproof Surveillance Camera is a post from: DIY Guides

Related posts:

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2. Review of Infrared Motion Night Vision IP Color Camera w/Pan & Tilt Control
3. Review of 1/4" Sharp CCD 380 Line Color CCTV Mini Surveillance Camera

1/4" Sharp CCD 420 Line Color CCTV Infrared Night Vision Waterproof Surveillance Camera

The CM708CK is the perfect addition to your surveillance system. It features 36 IR Night Vision LEDs with an IR distance of up to 98-feet. This waterproof surveillance camera is equipped with a 1/4-inch Sharp CCD image sensor with 420 TV Line resolution.

It’s easy to setup home or business surveillance. Simply mount the CM708CK on a wall or ceiling, attach a monitor and connect the power adapter (monitor not included).

General Features:
-1/4-inch Sharp CCD image sensor
-TV System: NTSC
-420 TV Line resolution
-Thirty (36) Night Vision LEDs
-IR Distance: approximately 98-feet (30 meters)
-Auto White Balance
-Scanning frequency: 15.734 kHz (H), (V): 50 Hz
-Auto gain control
-Electronic shutter: 1/50 ( 1/60 ) ~ 1/100,000 sec.
-S/N Ratio: > 40 dB
-Equipped with indoor/outdoor sunshade
-Lead-free RoHS compliance

Unit Dimensions: 2.6 x 2.9 x 4.9-inches (H x W x D, approximate)

Price: $37.99

As you can see from above this camera is what one would call inexpensive, but that doesn’t mean it’s bad.

The box it comes in is rather generic as one would expect.

Inside you’ll find the camera, mount, screws, hex wrench, AC adapter, BNC to RCA adapter and user manual. The camera has a power and video wire with a BNC connection coming from it.

The mounting stand is the most unique I’ve ever seen, it’s very different and offers a bit of limited range of motion. It’s metal and it feels solidly made. There are three mounting holes in it, and a rubber base that rests against the camera and holds it in place. There are two hex screws on the mounting bar for adjustments, that’s what the included hex wrench is for.

The camera is small but it feels heavy for its size. There’s cover on top of it that can be removed if you want, but I’d advise against it as it helps keep the rain from the lens and also acts as a shade from the sun. The cover also slides back and forth so you can adjust it to where you need it.

The camera has 36 infrared or night vision LEDs around the lens and a sensor that detects when to turn them on and off.

The bottom is rather plain, the only thing there is a mounting hole that fits with the included mounting hardware.

We have an ‘L’ shaped yard at my home, and it’s a mess. Over the winter two trees actually fell and left quite a mess for me, and next door we have an empty house, which isn’t surprising I’m sure with the current housing situation. My kids also like to play in the yard, so they added to the mess as well. The side yard is fenced in but I like to be able to keep an eye on the kids and dogs when they’re back there, so that’s the main reason I wanted a camera on the side of the house. As I said it’s ‘L’ shaped so I can’t see in the back, but I’ve got another camera for that area.

The camera doesn’t come with cabling so I had to provide my own, I ran it where it needed to go and mounted the camera up nice and high so it can’t be tampered with.

Here’s a screen capture, the picture isn’t perfectly clear but it’s good enough I think. The colors aren’t bad, especially considering the price.

It has the night vision LEDs so here’s a shot at night. At night it goes to black and white like any camera will. It’s not as bright as it could be I’m sure, I’ve got the camera mounted up rather high.

To give you an idea of how well the LEDs work, here’s a picture I took with my regular camera a few minutes later after the above screen capture was taken.

I’d say the LEDs work very well in illuminating dark areas, not bad at all.

This camera from Geeks works well for the cost of it I think. It’s not the greatest at nigh time yes, but it could be the distance I’m using it from. The LEDs should work very well at close range I think, over a door to monitor it would be the perfect place.

In a few days I’ll have another review for you of a second inexpensive camera from Geeks.

Review of 1/4" Sharp CCD 420 Line Color CCTV Infrared Night Vision Waterproof Surveillance Camera is a post from: DIY Guides

Related posts:

1. Review of 1/4" Sony CCD 420 Line Color CCTV Infrared Night Vision Waterproof Surveillance Camera
2. Review of 1/4" Sharp CCD 380 Line Color CCTV Mini Surveillance Camera
3. Review of Infrared Motion Night Vision IP Color Camera w/Pan & Tilt Control

Since this is two separate things we’re going to be doing this review a little bit different from others.

PI Manufacturing sent the kit in two boxes to me, one has the DVR and the other has the four cameras.

The first box we’ll look at is the DVR, but let’s take a look at the specs before that:

4 Channel DVR H.264 with Remote Viewing (Computer or Mobile Phone Support) and Audio Recording, BNC/VGA Outputs, 500GB HDD included

Part #: DVR-MP-4S-500G
Price: $185.00

4 Channel DVR H.264 with Remote Viewing (Computer or Mobile Phone Support) and Audio Recording, BNC/VGA Outputs, 500GB HDD included
Introducing PI Manufacturing’s newest line of H.264 DVR standalone surveillance systems. Our DVR features the latest H.264 compression technology, allowing higher quality pictures while taking up less storage space. Our H.264 compression uses main profile compression technology, which saves 20% or more recording size than traditional H.264 baseline profile codec. A 500GB SATA hard drive is included in our DVR that will allow recording for up to 2 months. 2 USB ports are provided to plug in a mouse and an optional USB flash drive for quick and easy backup. This particular DVR supports 4 channels, allowing up to 4 cameras to be recorded real-time, with support for motion detection, alarm controls, PTZ support, and voice recording.

Remote Viewing via Computer or Mobile Phone
View remotely at home, in the office, or in a hotel using your desktop, laptop, iPhone, Blackberry, Android, or Windows Mobile Phone.

DVR Features:
* Record more than 3 weeks of continuous video at 704×480 resolution using four channels at HQ quality
* Supports internet viewing on PC and mobile phones
* BNC and VGA display output
* 4 channel real-time display at 120fps/NTSC
* Triple stream, recording at D1 and viewing at CIF remotely
* H.264 main profile compression technology, which saves 20% or more recording size than traditional H.264 baseline profile codec
* Watermark and scrambling examination to verify recorded files
* CMS (Central Management System) supports unlimited DVR/cameras with PTZ controls
* DIDO/PTZ/RS-485 support
* Intelligent 3G/GPRS mobile surveillance: Windows Mobile, iPhone, Blackberry, Android, and Symbian
* GUI with 32 bit true color
* USB backup
* Smaller size allows user to work efficiently and save space
* 500GB hard drive included; record up to 2 months
* Remote control included

There’s more info on the PI MFG site, just hit the link above to go there and read it if you wish to.

Upon opening the box you’ll find the DVR packaged nicely along with another accessory box, CD and a paper about network settings.

In the smaller box you’ll find the power supply, remote, batteries and a quick start/reference sheet.

The DVR can be controlled with the front panel, remote control or even a USB mouse. The remote has basic controls on it, sort of like you would find on most other multi-media style remotes. On the bottom of the remote are specialized controls for pan tilt and zoom, changing views, picture in picture and several other things.

The DVR is a small, black box basically with controls on the front of it.

On the left side of the front panel is a set of LEDS, then eight buttons with various functions. On the right side is what looks like a directional pad that can be used for navigation and for function control, father to the right are two USB ports, one of the them is covered though. I found out that on this particular model the covered USB port is non-functional but it is powered, at least the one I have is.

On the back panel of the DVR is where you’ll find the connections as you might expect.

On the left side of the back panel you’ll find a VGA port to hook up a monitor and below that is the power connection. Then you’ll see six BNC connectors, four are for cameras and the other two are labeled Main and Spot. Next to those you’ll see standard RCA style jacks for audio in and out. Over towards the left side you’ll find a switch for NTSC/PAL, a USB port, an Ethernet jack and connections for alarm sensors.

On the bottom of the DVR you’ll find four rubber feet and a fan port.

Opening up the cover voids the warranty, so don’t do this, but I did for you and here’s what it looks like. The hard drive sits on rails across the motherboard. It’s a Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 slim hard drive, but standard height drives can fit. I also noticed on the motherboard are two SATA headers and an extra power connection.

When the unit is powered on the first thing you’ll notice is the very loud fan, annoying loud actually. The LEDs light up for power, network and recording during normal operation.

Ok, so that was the DVR, let’s take a look at the cameras they sent along to me. First up is the specifications:

Dome Camera Kit, Set of 4 (Dome Cameras – 420 TVL, Video/Power Cables, Power Adapters) (Width: 3.5in)

Part #: CAMERA-KIT-1
Price: $139.0

Dome Camera Kit, Set of 4 (Dome Cameras – 420 TVL, Video/Power Cables, Power Adapters) (Width: 3.5in)
The CAMERA-KIT-1 is designed for customers that want a complete camera system for their home or office. Our camera package includes 4 high quality 420TVL dome cameras (PSIF-603AP), 4 100 feet video/power cables, and 4 12VDC power adapters.

The CAMERA-KIT-1 dome cameras features a high quality 1/3" Sony CCD with a 3.6mm lens, perfect for the home or office. It also features a 23pcs IR LED, allowing the camera to capture images even during the night. All accessories, including wiring, components, and adapters are included, making installation fast and easy.

CAMERA-KIT-1 Package Includes:
* 4 x Dome Cameras (PSIF-603AP)
* 4 x 100ft Video + Power Cables
* 4 x DC12V 500mA Power Adapters

CAMERA-KIT-1 Dome Camera Features:
* CCD: 1/3" Sony Color
* TVL: 420TVL
* IR LED: 23 IR LEDs
* IR Distance: 66 feet
* 3.6mm lens
* Overall dimensions: 2.25 x 3.5 x 2.25 in (L x W x H)
* Dimension of the arch: 2.3 inches

Same here, if you wish to read more about the cameras, just hit the link above to visit the site.

The cameras were padded fairly well for shipping.

Upon unpacking everything I found four small white boxes that contained the power supplies, four sets of wall mounts, four cameras, user guide and four sets of 100foot power and video combination cables.

The cameras are dome style and have 23 infrared LEDs around the lens and a sensor is there to detect day and night. The infrared LEDs are supposed to illuminate up to 66 feet.

To give you an idea of how the LEDs work here’s a screen shot taken in the dark. It’s about 7pm, it’s dark out, cars have their lights on but yet it looks very bright on my porch.

Coming out of the camera you’ll find a split cable with power and video connections on it.

On the bottom of the camera you’ll see the mounts and spaces to run the wire through.

The camera is actually three parts. You can mount the base and then clip the housing to it, it screws and locks into place.

Setup is easy, well as easy as drilling holes and running wires can be I guess.  It’s time consuming for sure and it’s quite a bit of work so you’d better plan ahead as to where you want the cameras to go. The cables included are 100 foot so you can put the cameras pretty far away from the DVR unit.

The included cameras are indoor cameras, but I put one outside as you saw earlier. It’s on my porch under the roof and inset above the door, so it’s very much out of the way of the weather. It’s been below freezing here several times now since I got it hooked up and the cold didn’t seem to bother the camera at all.

The DVR can be used with a regular monitor via the VGA port, or you can view it over your home network or even on your mobile phone. For my uses I hooked it up to a 17” LCD and I monitor it on my network as well on my main computer while I’m working. I got the app for my Android phone and it works but my router doesn’t quite like port forwarding. I can DMZ it to make it work fine, but you can only DMZ one device and I already have my NAS box set that way. So until I find a better solution I won’t be able to access it while I’m away.It all depends on your router and how your network is setup as to what will work for you, and maybe how much work it will take to get it working for you.

I did find that using a mouse is much easier than using the remote control or the panel controls, mouse it is all the way for me.

One thing I do like very much is the network view is exactly the same as the main view is, as long as you login with admin permissions you can do everything remotely you can do on the DVR itself.

To get the view from the DVR on your network you’ll need to install and run the DVR Remote software. Here’s the view with three cameras up and running, I just can’t figure out where I want to put the last one, but it is a good example of what it looks like when a camera is not working. At the bottom corner of the interface is s small control panel for changing the quality and taking snapshots or going to full screen.

The camera picture quality isn’t bad, but the colors are a bit off. You’ll need to go in and adjust them to get them correct.

Right clicking anywhere on the main screen will make the quick menu pop up that has drop downs for more controls for some of them.

One of the options is zoom for the cameras, this does work but it’s digital so it’s rather pixellated. You can zoom up to 16x, here’s my car fully zoomed in. There’s a small box in the top right corner that you use to move the zoom around the frame.

The first drop down choice is for the main menu, which looks nice actually. I’m not going to list the options as you can see them just fine.

The first choice is Record for Record Setup. Here you can change the position of the on-screen display and set up quality and frame rates.

The choice is for Event Setup. here you can set up the sensors and mark the motion detection area.

The next option is for Schedule. here you can set when you want to record and when not, fairly straight forward.

Next choice is camera setup. You can adjust the setting like brightness, contrast, Hue, Sharpness and name the camera.

Then next up is network settings, again fairly straight forward here, not much to explain.

The next option for Diagnostic just tells you the status of the system really.

Under the Utilities option you’ll find several choices for Initializing hard drives and USB drives, along with upgrading, resetting and copying and downloading the setup.

The next choice is for system. Here you can name the DVR, set date and time and more.

The next choice is to adjust pan tilt and zoom if you have cameras capable of it.

The last option is for account, here you can create an icon for the DVR and setup your account to access the DVR and their permissions along with changing the admin password.

So that’s it for now with all of that.

The DVR does beep loudly when you make selections with the remote or control panel, that can be annoying. I didn’t find anyway to turn it off, but I may have missed it.

I mentioned the fan is loud, but it bears mentioning again as it’s very loud. I was originally going to set the DVR up in my little office but the fan was just to loud for comfort for me. I like quiet. I’m sure I could swap out the fan for a quieter one, but again opening the case voids the warranty.

The total price on this setup is $324 then of course there’s shipping to add to it.

The DVR is nice I think, it’s simple to set up and use, and has advanced features like PTZ controls and sensor access. The ability to access it from multiple points is a nice bonus as well. it would be nice though if it were wireless instead of only ethernet enabled. Then again four cameras can use a lot of bandwidth possibly. I’m running a gigabit network in my home so the connection is nice and fast. I also have 25/25 FIOS so access while I’m away is decent.

The cameras aren’t bad for being inexpensive, yes they’re not outdoor cameras, but with care you can use them outside as I do.  I’m really impressed with the LEDs in these little cameras, they’re very bright and work very well. They come on even in low light situations like just having a single lamp on in the room, even though there is light the camera makes it brighter still for you.

if you’re looking for a fairly decent, easy to setup security system then you can’t go wrong here really. This setup from PI Manufacturing is not bad I think.

Review of PI Manufacturing Security Surveillance System is a post from: DIY Guides

Related posts:

1. Review of 1/4" Sony CCD 420 Line Color CCTV Infrared Night Vision Waterproof Surveillance Camera
2. Review of 1/4" Sharp CCD 420 Line Color CCTV Infrared Night Vision Waterproof Surveillance Camera
3. Review of 1/4" Sharp CCD 380 Line Color CCTV Mini Surveillance Camera

Logitech Alert 750i Master System

Complete video security. Set it up yourself, count on it when you need it.

Peace of mind in a box
You get everything needed to help protect what’s important—smart cameras, powerful software, and free viewing online, on your mobile or on Google TV systems including Logitech Revue.

No new wires. No hassles.
Setup is simple, using your existing electrical outlets and wiring to connect your camera to your network and transmit video.

Stay aware on the go
Your system automatically records video when motion is detected and can send e-mail alerts by computer or mobile phone.

Complete digital video security system
You get everything you need to help protect what’s important to you: a smart camera, powerful PC software, and free viewing of live video from Internet-connected computers, anywhere in the world.

Simple 3-step setup
Just install the Logitech Alert software, connect to your network, and plug in your cameras.

HomePlug networking technology
Uses your existing outlets and electrical wiring to connect to your network and transmit video without new wires or networking hassles.

Commander software
You can easily configure your video security system, watch live video, store video on your PC and review recorded video.

Free viewing over the Web
Log in to our secure site and watch live camera feeds from an Internet-connected computer, anywhere in the world.

Free Mobile Viewer apps
iPhone, Android and BlackBerry users can use our free apps to watch live video from their cameras right on their mobile devices.

Free viewing on Google TV systems
From the next room or from across town, you can use the Google Chrome browser on your Google TV system, including Logitech Revue, to see what’s happening at your house.

Motion-triggered recording
The smart camera automatically records video when it detects motion.

Motion zones
For more precise motion detection, and to reduce false alarms, you can specify up to 16 motion-detection zones within the frame—such as doors and windows.

Motion-triggered alerts
If there is motion on your property, you can know about it in an instant. That’s because cameras can be set up to send notifications to your e-mail address and mobile phone.

HD video and wide-angle lens
High-quality video (960 x 720 @15fps) makes it easier to recognize people and other objects, so you can see more, more clearly.

Built-in microphone
You camera not only records video, but you can enable audio recording as well, using the built-in microphone.

Versatile mounting
Place your camera almost anywhere using the included desktop stand, wall mount or suction cup—attached to a window, pointed inside or out.

PC-free recording with microSD
Record up to a week of video on the included 2 GB card—even when your PC is turned off. Upgrade to a larger card for months of recording time.

Automatic PC backup
All video is backed up to your PC when it is connected to your network.

Easy expansion
No need to limit your security coverage to a single camera. Our system is designed to be easily expandable. Mix and match up to six cameras—indoors and out.

Remote management
Purchase optional premium services to manage your system remotely from Internet-connected computers.

Mobile management
Get Logitech Alert Mobile Commander for your iPhone, BlackBerry or Android device.

Price: 299.99

Ok, video unboxing first thing:

Logitech 750i

As you saw in the video it comes in a pretty standard looking Logitech ‘green’ box.

Inside you’ll find quite a bit:

The camera can be held in place with a desk stand, suction cup mount or wall/ceiling mount. Included in the kit is a microSD to SD card adapter, the microSD card comes pre-installed in the camera.

The 750i Alert System uses your own power lines for the internet or ethernet connection to your network. The system has been around for a while and I’ve had some experience with it, it works fairly well. The kit includes two power adapters and two cables to be used with them. One goes to your router or switch and the other goes to the camera. I like powerline, they’re innovative and creative but you can only use them directly with an outlet, no power strips or surge protectors of any kind can be used.

The camera itself is about average size I guess, or comparable to other IP cameras I own. It has two mounting holes on it, one on the front and one on the back. The camera also has a microphone built into it.

On the base is a little door that open to reveal the ethernet port and the microSD slot. There’s also an LED there as well.

Installation took about 15 minutes total, that’s with the hardware and software installation. The software tests to make sure the computer and network is up and running and then you can tell the software about your system, and it will search for cameras.

The next thing you’ll need to do is set up the storage, you can allocate as much as you think you need.

Then you can set up your web viewer, but you’ll need to create an account if you don’t already have one.

This is a nice idea of course but it’s very limited to only viewing on the web, which I guess is fine. The mobile application is the same way, you can only view and nothing else. You can subscribe to the service and get full access, but it costs money of course, $79.99 per year to be exact. Is it worth it? Maybe, but personally I don’t think so unless you’re away from home often I would think.

The included camera supposedly has pan-tilt-zoom features but when I first turned it on it wasn’t quite working correctly.

I exited out and restarted the program and everything was working as it should, you’ll notice now at the bottom right corner everything is activated. On the main display is the Live View on the left side and then control on the right for changing views, accessing the history, and accessing settings, then below that is the pan-tilt-zoom controls along with audio.

The view you see below is zoomed in, and the camera has a wide angle lens. When zoomed in, the viewer lets you still see what the camera would see were it zoomed out to normal view. This is nice actually I think.

Here’s one of those views zoomed in. It’s a bit pixelated when zoomed, but when zoomed out it’s very clear.

Low light coverage is ok, but like most cameras it needs a lot of light to get a good picture.

If you hover over the live view screen a menu icon will pop up and you can press it to see your menu options for Toggle Full View, Camera Settings, Motion Detection Settings, Print Current Frame, Save Current Frame, Change Camera Order and Remove Camera.

The choices are pretty self-explanatory and some are repeated again in the Settings.

Under Motion Detection you can set areas of detection or full screen detection.

You can have the program send emails to you if something happens and you can set up other security features.

In the history view  you can see recorded video from dates and times.

I have an Android phone so I grabbed the Logitech Alert Android app for remote viewing.

The viewer does let you pause the stream, and it looks exactly like it does on your computer.

You can only view with the app though, to get more features you’ll have to pay sadly.

The Logitech Alert 750i is really a full fledged security system that has features of a professional system but at a lower cost. You can get more cameras from Logitech to expand your system to really get good coverage and make sure your property and families are protected. They have both indoor and outdoor cameras. Picture quality is very good with the included camera and the pan-tilt-zoom feature is very useful.

Review of Logitech Alert 750i Master System is a post from: DIY Guides

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2. Review of Infrared Motion Night Vision IP Color Camera w/Pan & Tilt Control
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Mini Pinhole Wired Security Camera

Product ID: CM203CA
SKU: CM203CA

Technical Details:
* MINI camera
* easy installation
* High clear picture
* Camera:1.4×1.2×1.6inch,1.6ounce
* Slim body easy for installation and suitable to fix in a concealed position.
* Square shape with needle hole lens.
* Designed for engineering with precise circuit & structure.
* Auto-PGA & Auto-backlight compensator.
* Auto electronic shutter.
* Audio monitoring with microphone in camera.

Product Details:
* Product Dimensions: 1.2 x 1.6 x 1.4 inches

Looking over at Amazon I found this camera selling for $13.99 plus about $5 for shipping, so it comes to under $20.

The camera comes in a nice looking little box.

Inside you’ll find the camera, documentation and a power adapter along with a second adapter cable.

This camera is interesting to me in that it uses dual power, either the AC adapter or it can use a 9 volt battery via the second power cable. How long you’ll get form the battery is uncertain though, but you never with these things, still it’s  a very interesting option to have.

This little camera can do both audio and video so you’ll find connections for video, audio and power coming from the camera.

The camera itself is very small with dimensions of 1.2 x 1.6 x 1.4 inches.

The camera feels well made, it’s nice and solid and mostly metal.

It’s not listed in the documentation but the camera can be focused manually by twisting the lens. The idea is so you can focus short or long or somewhere in between.  I’ve personally installed pinhole cameras in cash and vending machines where you want to see the face of the user, so a fixed focus is great for that type of situation where you want to make sure you have a certain focal distance clear.

The microphone is attached with a fairly short cable, but that’s fine as you’re not going to have it far from the camera.

I installed the camera using the PCI card I reviewed yesterday, so you’re already familiar with that.

Installation is very easy, just plug in a few cables and you’re set.

For testing I set it up in my dining room so here’s  few pics of my kids at dinner.

As you can see the security software does put the title, date and time on the captures but they’re only 352×240 resolution. They’re fairly grainy yes, but again it’s a very inexpensive camera. The camera does need  a lot of light to function well.

Here’s a couple close ups I took as well:

You’re not going to get nice full details with this camera but you’ll see and hear what’s going on and get a very good idea of it. This could be great for use like a hidden nanny cam to see what’s going on, or of course to monitor other areas where you don’t want the monitoring to be obvious like you would with a regular CCTV camera.

So what does $20 buy you? A half way decent camera I think, it might not be the highest resolution but for that price you can’t beat it really. Sure it’s not the greatest but for what it is and what it costs I’m happy with it and if you’re looking for an inexpensive pinhole camera then this is what you want I think.

If you need high resolution obviously you’ll need to pay more, but I could see this being used as a secondary type of camera or one where you would want a fixed focus where you know the subject will always be seen.

Review of LYD Mini Pinhole Wired Security Camera is a post from: DIY Guides

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2. Review of Swann Security OutbackCam Camera & Video Recorder
3. Review of 1/4" Sharp CCD 420 Line Color CCTV Infrared Night Vision Waterproof Surveillance Camera

So you’re going to be seeing a lot of me and my reviews over the next few days and weeks and a lot of it will be security related.  Today for review I’m taking a look at a budget security DVR card from a company called VideoSecu. This PCI card can be bought for as little as $30 plus shipping on Amazon, and I was very skeptical about it. I have experience installing camera based security systems that run into the tens of thousands of dollars with just the PCI DVR cards themselves costing over a thousand each. The card I have today features four BNC input connectors for cameras and then a composite video output as well and it comes with a nice suite a software. I’ll be honest I’m impressed, it’s not what I was expecting at all in this price range. If you’re looking to setup a security system and you’re on a very tight budget then this might be something you should seriously consider. There is of course the cost of cameras as well, but we’ll get into all of that later, for now I’m just looking at the card itself and the software that comes bundled with it.

VideoSecu 4 CH DVR Video Capture Card 30 fps

Model: DVC403

Price: $30-$60 (Depending where you search)

E Series Network Video Recorder (NVR) kit delivers superior image quality, and the most comprehensive feature set available. All through an intuitive graphical user interface. The E series NVR pentaplex functionality provides simultaneous recording, monitoring, remote streaming, archiving and reviewing.

Features:
Recording Modes
Motion Detection: Records whenever there is activity Continuous: 24 hr Recording Event: Automatically records when alarm inputs are triggered Pre-Alarm Recording Dual Mode (Continuous / Motion Detection): Allows recording by specific time

Pan-Tilt-Zoom-Sharpen & Blur
Once you’ve recorded video, you can view it in the player as most DVR’s do, however the E Series innovates with a pan/tilt/zoom feature within the recorded video, and even allows you to zoom in on an object and Sharpen or Blur it for detail. Now you can ZOOM into a suspects face and then sharpen his features for printing or dubbing.

Video Quality/Clarity
Nothing we’ve ever seen even comes close. Absolutely STUNNING video quality EVEN across the internet via the client software OR the Web Browser. Running 640×480 in it’s highest quality provides an image that simple leaps off the screen for you.

Individual Channel Controls
You can adjust each camera’s recording speed, viewing speed, quality, etc. Each camera can be set for time record, motion record or full time 24/7 record. You may also adjust up to 8 individual Audio Channel Settings for crystal clear audio, even across the net.

Record Duration and Storage
Eye DVR is designed to record thousands of hours of continuous full frame video. Recording time is only limited by the amount of Hard Drive space. When Hard Drives become full, the oldest data is automatically deleted and the new data is recorded in its place , all without any additional management time to maintain the process.

MPEG4 (Motion Pictures Expert Group) Compression
E series  uses MPEG4  compression algorithms to provide the highest quality compressed video. MJPEG technology is the most effective method available relating to image size and image quality. MPEG4  compression surpasses other compression technology like, MJPEG, MPEG2, H.263 and H.324 and Wavelet compression. Net  record an average 1-2 k image size and deliver outstanding security quality images when enlarged. Example: A Wavelet 16-24K file equals the same Quality as Net’s 2K file.

Digital Watermarking
Digital watermarking can be selected for recordings. Any recorded video exported from the original hard drive recordings are thus ensured to be unedited. This is a particularly important point when video is to be used as evidence in court.

System Control through Remote Access
NVR fully support remote access and control of all of its functions via ordinary telephone line (PSTN), ISDN, DSL and TCP/IP. Thus, providing a cost-effective solution for any security and surveillance application. Simply install the Remote Software on a any PC (with 1024×768 Display) and you can view any remote site and control any of the DVR functions or cameras at any time. All settings and configurations of the Net can be saved and restored from the remote software. .

Web Server Application
Your DVR Can Serve as a web server with a single mouse click, no additional software to install and configure. Can be used either with a static IP or a dynamic IP. You can choose various levels of user control up to and including COMPLETE control via the browser. You may also turn off the log-in requirement and simply stream to the web with no username or password required of your viewers.

Simultaneous (Multiplexing) Operations
NVR ‘s can perform several simultaneous operations: Live Local Viewing, Live Remote Viewing, Recording, Local Playback, Remote Playback, Local System Configuration, Remote Location Configuration and Saves (copies) video to removable storage devices.

PTZ (Pan/Tilt/Zoom) Controls
Controlling PTZ camera is as easy as clicking a mouse. This PTZ feature allows you to pan/tilt and zoom for a closer look. Even if the operator is at a remote site, the operator of the remote location manipulate the PTZ controls of any camera. Each Camera can be a different Manufacturers P/T/Z.

Spot Monitor output
Each Card has a composite OUT to a standard CCTV or TV Monitor. Additionally, you can control WHICH cameras you want to spin to the composite, at what intervals, etc. This function is fully addressable.

Password Protection
Passwords restrict the operators access to the programmable features of the NVR ‘s and allow program termination to be controlled only by authorized personnel.

Searching Recorded Data
NVR’s break recording data into charts so users can effectively see where recording has occurred on each camera at what time , Smart search is also supported allowing users to zone of an area inside of camera and only playback data that was detected in the selected area saving users hours of time looking for incidents.

The VideoSecu DVR card is a budget card so there’s no fancy packaging at all, just a plain white box and inside is the card and a mini-CD with the drivers and software on it. The user manuals are on the disk as well, so there’s no printed manual included.

The card is the PCI variety and it feature four BNC connectors and a composite video out connection.

On the end of the cad you’ll see two connections PC Reset and Reset Switch, the card can reset the PC if needed. There’s another connector on the top edge, but it’s just labeled JP4. The user manual is no help really, it’s very very comprehensive in regards to the software but there’s no pictures of the card in the manual to tell you what things really are.

Towards the PCI bracket you’ll find a digital i/o header, a set of jumpers for the cameras and another set of pins which are labeled J7 and again I have no idea what they are for. The jumpers enable you to use up to four cards in your system at the same time, you set the jumpers for which cameras the card is monitoring like 1-4 or 13-16 and so on, it’s sort of an identifier basically.

Honestly in a basic security system won’t need the extra connections,  so I don’t think it’s that much of a problem really that we don’t know what they are. Plug the card in and hook up the cameras and you’re set really, and that’s what the card is being used for by me and most people will do the same I think.

For a DVR computer system you really don’t need an uber-powerful computer, it’s just recoding video essentially, but you do need storage space. I installed the card in my AMD Socket 754 based system on a micro-ATX board in a very small and cramped case. Yes it’s a SKT754 system, so it’s old by PC standards but it’s just right for a job like this.

Here it is in my system:

My motherboard only has four slots, two PCI, one PCIE and one mini-PCIE slot and all are filled now. Behind the DVR card is an 802.11N wireless network card if you’re curious.

Installation for the most part is easy, pop the card in and install the drivers and software. It does take time though, a few hours really to complete the installation because I used a 750gb hard drive and the software converts it to the DFS file system. It will take longer or shorter depending on the size of your hard drive and how much space you allocate to the security system.

If you look on Amazon you can get this card and software for $30 plus shipping, about $40 basically. If you go to the VideoSecu site it’s $60 plus shipping,  but it is the same thing. As I said earlier, I’ve got quite a bit of experience installing video security systems that cost tens of thousands of dollars, for example just a good DVR card can cost over $1000 and that’s just the card and software. Knowing that I wasn’t expecting much from this software and card honestly but I was pleasantly surprised once I started using it.

The screen capture I used wouldn’t capture the live video for whatever reason, but the two black screens you see are live video feeds from two different cameras. Don’t worry though I’ll have a sample for you towards the end here, but these blank video screens are good actually because tomorrow I’ll be posting a review of a pinhole security camera that is on channel two of this card. So the black screens won’t give anything away.

If you read the plethora of features listed above then you’d know this card/software can do a lot of things. When you turn on the software you’ll have to enter a password, there is none at very first boot, you’ll have to set one of course.

The main screen shows four channels which can be changed to single view, full screen or all four full screen via the buttons on the bottom beneath the monitors. There’s a power button in the bottom left corner that will exit and minimize the system, but it’s password protected as well. Most anything you do requires a password, this a actually a great feature as no one can then change any of your settings. To the right of the power button you’ll see oval buttons numbered 1-4, these are the cameras, they’re grayed out if not in use and the colored green one is the active one at the time. To the left of the monitors you’ll find a lot more buttons for controls, at the top are Setup and Network, then below that are sliders for adjusting Brightness, Contrast, Saturation and Hue and then reset defaults. Below those sliders are the PTZ or Pan Tilt Zoom controls if you’re using a PTZ camera. The camera I’m using is not PTZ enabled but it is a professional grade rather high end Sony that I have mounted outside, it’s a vandal dome style that cost about $500 when I got it several years ago. So no PTZ for me, but I plan to get one eventually as they are very useful and fun honestly. At the very bottom on the left side are three more buttons labeled Control, Status and Search these are the actual control panels of the DVR system which you’ll learn more about shortly.

Before we go on I wanted to touch on the Settings, there are six pages of them to be exact. The tabs are System, Device, Event, Schedule, Network and User. You can click on them to see a larger view. The first page is all about the system of course, time management, fonts, tv-out etc. The next page is about the cameras, the next is events and where you can set motion detection. You can fully configure up to six areas for detection.  The next is called schedule, here you can set the camera for when you want them to record, ever day or only certain days or certain hours. The network setting is up next, kind of self-explanatory. The last page is Users, here you can add users and set passwords and set permissions.

The other tab on the main page is Network, not much here really just who logs on and you can set buffering and switching.

The next main page would be called Status the cameras are here again with their live view. Here you’ll see ‘lights’ for Recording, Sensors, Motion Detections and Alarm. Below that is the Hard drive storage status, and then a list of events.

Under the listing of event you can click the button for Event Search and here you can search events and see what’s going on or what went on and when it happened. The last tab is Status of HDD Disk, but for some reason it couldn’t read mine, not a big deal though to me at at least.

The page is just called Search, here you can view the videos at any time or date. It synchronizes them as well so let’s say at 2pm on Wednesday you can see what was going on with all of the cameras at the same time. There’s a little Calendar and you can pick the date you want to view. Below the calendar you’ll find six buttons for Blur, Sharp, Normal, Save, Print and Backup. The first three are for viewing and then there’s slider below to Zoom, Adjust Brightness and Contrast. Then there’s the play, pause etc controls there as well.

When you click the Save button you’ll be given choices for AVI, BMP (Watermarked), JPEG and Save in JPEG with Time Period. The interesting thing is that when you save the video it’s actually it’s own built-in video player. Then you can choose whether to save the entire things or only a certain time frame. On the saved videos you’ll see the titles and the time as well. You’ll also see a sample picture from my camera which needs adjusted a bit, I need to move it to the left a little, and I should have moved the recycle bin and buckets of rock salt out of the frame, but oh well.

You can remotely login from your home network or even if you’re away. You do have to use Internet Explorer as I couldn’t get it to work correctly with FireFox. I monitor it over my home network, I’ve got four monitors and I let it share the screen with my email so I can see what’s going on outside.  The remote view let’s you take Snapshots and you can search along with PTZ features if your camera can do it. I found a small bug though, you can’t login remotely with Admin access if the Admin is logged into the main program, it just doesn’t let you. Not a big deal though as you can see what’s going on and still take snapshots without admin access. In the top right corner of the live view you’ll see two small icon, one red one that looks like a little guy running indicates motion detection, while the blue one that looks like film indicates video.

I like all of it really, but there is one complaint and that is there’s no times at all shown on any of the live views, but it is there when you save it.  It could be that I was just accustomed to seeing the time there on my old system as well.

In my time with this software I’ve come to like it, it’s simple to use and it seems to work very well. I haven’t had any crashing or locking up or anything like that, it just works fine. I’m impressed truly, I was not expecting much of anything at this price point really. I was honestly expecting  a buggy piece of junk that I was going to do nothing but complain about and probably throw away, but no I’m going to continue using it, until the next one comes along anyway!

The card might be inexpensive but you have to remember it’s PC based so you’ll need a computer to run it with enough storage for your needs, so there’s plenty of things to factor in.

For the price this could be the base of a fairly decent home security system, but you have to remember the card and videos are only as good as the cameras used with it. On that note be sure to stop back tomorrow to see my review of a $13 video camera that I used with this system. You’ll probably be just as surprised as I was with it.

Review of VideoSecu 4 CH DVR Video Capture Card 30 fps is a post from: DIY Guides

Related posts:

1. Review of Swann Security OutbackCam Camera & Video Recorder
2. How to Have Home Wireless Video Streaming
3. Review of Warpia Wireless USB PC to TV Audio / Video Display Adapter – SWP100A

What you need to do:

1. A phone jack
   
2. An electrical wall outlet
   
3. Telephone
   
4. Monitoring of the system is done by yourself
   

Home Security Alarm System

Method:

1. Normally, a wireless home security system requires you to use only a phone jack and an electrical socket where you will use them to plug in the system control panel before hooking them up onto your telephone. You can pre-programmed into its computerized system with up to four phone numbers in case there is any emergency. The system does not need alarm monitoring by a home security company and you do not need to pay any monthly services fee..
   
2. Whenever the alarm system is triggered, you will be able to hear a very loud siren sound and the lights in the house will be flashing on and off while the four emergency phone numbers will be immediately dialed enabling all those people that selected the numbers will be aware of any incident happening to your house.
   
3. Apart from that, a wireless system is easy to be installed and you do not need any assistance from professional installer. When you have already placed the system, it will monitor your house doors, windows and detects any movement throughout your house. Once the system is tripped, it will automatically send signals to several of its functions through radio waves.
   
4. Whenever the alarm is tripped, your wireless system would be able to call you and you would also be able to listen to any noise that goes on within the house. By doing this, you could determine whether you should contact the police department or not. The system also comes with a remote control button that enables the house owner to control the house lights by turning it on and off, dimming it or brightening the lights and apart from that you can also choose which lights that you want to use thus saving on your electricity bills.
   
5. Normally, the wireless home security system uses a control panel that you can plug into your phone line and a wall outlet. However, there are also some wireless home security systems that use battery. The system’s control panel will monitor all information received through the remotes.
   
6. Besides that, you can also add on more options on your existing wireless home security systems such as a burglar alarm system without the usage of less wires and making any mess out of your house walls.
   

Image Credit:

Flickr CC

Additional Reading:

Home Security That’s Easy-To-Install And Easy-To-Use: Practical Tips For Cheap Home Security Monitoring, Home Burglar Alarms And Do It Yourself Home … From Break-Ins And Any Undesirable Attacks

Ultimate Guide to Home Security

How Does a Wireless Home Security Alarm System Work? is a post from: DIY Guides

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2. Designing a Wireless Home Security Alarm System
3. How Does a Home Security System Door Sensor Work?

• Electricity always flows through the path of least resistance such as from a concentration of higher electrical potential into an area with a lower electrical power.
• They must be physically connected via direct contact or conductive wire for a current to flow between the two areas. Non-conductive materials such as air over a long distance will not make the electricity flow easily through. The risks of getting electric shocks become higher when providing a contact which electricity can flow between the ground and you.
• The quality of matter that shows the degree to which electrical flow slows or stops is the electrical resistance or impedance.
• Silver and copper, which are conductive materials, have a low electrical resistance because their atomic structures allow electrons to carry electromagnetic charges.
• Air, which is a highly resistive matter has no free or few electrons which conduct electricity. This is the reason why most of the electrical wires are protected by a rubber outer jacket.
• The rate of electricity flows through a circuit and by extension the amount of energy available at a given time determined by the amperage or current.
• One amp is similar to 1 volt pushed through 1 ohm of resistance, so having a high electrical resistance is important for your safety.
• It is crucial to engage in safety practices while dealing with electrical works. Never work with electricity which is still running on through a circuit. Disconnect the powers or turn off the breakers when possible especially when you are repairing.
• Also be careful when dealing with disconnected devices because they contain components that hold an electrical charge or capacitors. Connect yourself to ground with an anti-static wrist strap and place the devices grounded via a wall outlet to equalize the electrical potential of yours and the device’s electrical potential.
• Work with your right hand and keep your left hand behind your back if possible. This will lower the risk of the current that will pass through your heart. You should minimize the potential area that can come into contact with current.
• By now, you must have learnt all about electricity, at least the important parts of electricity. This is to help you to understand electricity, its purpose and how to use it better.

Image Credit:

Flickr CC

Additional Reading:

Electrical Safety Handbook 3E

Ugly’s Guide to Electrical Safety and NFPA 70e (Ugly’s Electrical Safety and NFPA 70E)

Fundamentals of Electrical Safety is a post from: DIY Guides

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