HG and IP camera motion detection email notification on RPI

[petediscrete]

Tried what you suggested Gene but still do noy have this working

I'm way out of my depth here regarding C# programming.It would probably be a very easy task for someone who was familiar with C# programming.In fact the pros are probably smiling at this one

I have managed to configure the MotionPie RPI camera in HG as a sensor.This means that it will trigger an alarm activation which in turn will email me to alert me of this fact without an image Seperately the MotionPie camera will email me the movement detection images.Belt and braces approach

I really would have liked to have HG to forward me the image but I've tried everything without success.

A big thanks to Kevin1,Bkenobi and Gene for all their help.It was much appreciated.From the details i've supplied maybe someone will work out a working solution.

[bkenobi]

I've been intrigued by security cameras for some time but have not invested any time or resources into actually using any beyond simple web cam + Blue Iris.  Can anyone recommend an inexpensive IP camera that might allow me to perform basic testing without costing too much.  I'd think something on the order of $25 USD or less might be available for an indoor model.  If I was going to spend more than that, I'd be close to that of some of the outdoor models I've considered.

My primary concern is being able to get these installed such that wire routing is possible.  I doubt wireless (WiFi) models would work well when used with more than 1-2 cameras due to bandwidth so I presume wired would be a better option.  If I need to wire the camera to a hub, it might be worth going with cheap non-IP cameras with a Unix based monitoring system (Lorex, Samsung, etc).

Either way, something cheap to play with would be a good place to start I think.

[kevin1]

I like cheap too :-)  I was using an old android phone with the ip webcam app for a while until we had to call it back into service when another phone was broken.  Then I bought a $3 webcam and currently use that with yawcam software to make it an ipcamera for HG (I have a feature request to allow windows USB cameras in HG).  I just use these in the house when we go on trips for reassurance everything is okay at home.

I'm interested in a "real" outdoor system too but wiring will be difficult at my house. The Netgear Arlo cameras are interesting, but expensive, and from what I could gather (while standing in BestBuy debating an impulse buy), they aren't too "hacker friendly".  If not aware, they are weatherproof, HD, completely wireless... battery powered and some RF to a hub.  They only record when motion detection wakes them up.

I was thinking about a cheap trail camera mounted to tree aiming at house with an EyeFi card too :-)

[petediscrete]

You mention that bandwidth with a Wifi setup may be an issue. Surely you could install a seperate AP with a repeater to solve that issue. With broadband speeds up to 150mbs in a lot of areas surely this would more than cope with your requirements. I am trying desperately trying to escape from a wired system in all cases where possible. 

[bkenobi]

WiFi has a lot of channels, but only a few can be used in the same location (3 is the maximum to my knowledge).  WiFi spec suggests that there is plenty of bandwidth, but I don't know that I believe it as I've never seen anywhere close to spec speeds on either B or G systems.  N is probably a bit better since it seems to have the capability to send/receive using different antennas which should be a dramatic improvement, but I don't have an N router.

The other choice is to get an A router which would provide a whole new network since it operates at 5GHz rather than 2.4GHz like B/G/N.  Range is not as good but throughput should be better (spec claims anyway).  But, I don't know if any cameras use A so it may not be an option.

I've read about the Arlo cameras and they seem intriguing.  But, I haven't read anything beyond testing reports which could mean they theoretically work great but are garbage in reality.

One of my original thoughts was to utilize trail cameras that were WiFi or cellular.  I bought one to put in my field so I could see what animals hang out there but didn't think a non-connected camera helped in any way since it's only useful after an event for seeing what happened after the fact.  Security trail style cameras exist but are extremely expensive.

[kevin1]

That's where I thought an EyeFi card in the trail cam would be a way to monitor it for pictures if it was within wifi range.  I haven't used an EyeFi card so I don't know the capabilities or if there are better products from other brands.

[jshan]

I've been meaning to write some code so that the basic alarm would send me some pictures from my cameras.  Then I found this thread.  So I uploaded the app I wrote:
http://www.homegenie.it/forum/index.php?topic=1530.0