I was perusing the ‘net today looking for news of interest. I happened on to the Microsoft PressPass site and I saw an article about a new 720p HD Widescreen webcam. Being the normal latest electronic gadget nerd (like the rest of you), I paused, took a look, and thought a moment about a WGS article. Then stopped. This is a Windows Home Server website. Not a webcam gadget site. Certainly not a MS gadget website.
Then the light bulb popped, lit up, turned on, went off. Whatever.
One of the areas of interest that WGS has discussed over time is surveillance webcams. They are not cheap. And while they peaked my interest occasionally, I have never done anything with them. After all, I live in Iowa. What would I need a surveillance camera for? Of course, the thought process went further and I wondered what stuff I might have in my “junk” boxes, piles, drawers, and other locations that I could make use of to create my own remote surveillance webcam?
The light bulb popped, lit up, turned on, went off… brighter! The components needed:
- Remote wireless device, check: a Silex SX-2000WG Hi-Speed USB 802-11g Wireless Device Server
- Webcam, check: A Microsoft LifeCam VX-5000 webcam
- Webcam software with a motion detection option: time for a Google or Bing!
Of course, the question remained: could I get all this setup, working, and for cheaper than the consumer solutions? Let’s see.
The Players
The Silex SX-2000WG Hi-Speed USB 802-11g Wireless Device Server
I obtained this device originally for an idea I had for use with Crystalfontz LCD displays. Once I had completed this article, the device has been sitting on a shelf. Time to resurrect this “wireless USB extender” and install it; documented as follows.
In order to install the device, one must setup the Silex server wired. So, plug the power cord into the SX-2000WG, get a Ethernet cable, connect the SX-2000WG to your router or switch, and install the software.
I went to the Silex website, downloaded the latest drivers/interface software, and copied it over to my WHS. I then installed the driver as shown below.
Choose the Wired install.
Click on Yes.
And do the normal stuff.
Setup the wireless stuff
At this point, I exited since the interface software I had downloaded earlier was a more current version than the one noted above. Just go through the required screens.
Yes, I want to connect automatically.
If all is successful, you will get the following when you execute the interface software.
It is now time to “pull the plug” and go wireless. You may have to play with the system a bit to get the Virtual Link software to recognize the wireless setup. You *should* be able to simply unplug power and plug back in the Silex device. And perhaps restart the computer. This is the part that is not quite plug-‘n-play. But it does work.
The Microsoft LifeCam VX-5000 webcam
Simply plug the webcam into the Silex USB port and let Windows find the device. I then I went to the Microsoft website and downloaded the latest installation software for the VX-5000. And went through the install process. Guess what? It did not work. The clue:
Leave it to Microsoft to not support their own OS’s and HW. The result:
At least, as I indicated previously, WHS did recognize the webcam:
The webcam software with a motion detection option
It was now time to Bing (my current default search engine) some software candidates. There were several I took a look at along the way. Among them were:
There are many other webcam programs in the wild to choose from. Which one works for you depends upon the feature set you are looking for. The one I played with the most was Webcam Surveyor, simply because it turned out to be the easiest to set up the motion detection options. At least for me.
The initial install was quite simple and painless.
The result was instant webcam recognition. You can even see… the following picture … on the my WS monitor, which has a RDC session on screen, which is showing… the following webcam shot. To infinity, or to the limitation of pixel resolution.
It was now time to setup up the software, locate the webcam in an appropriate location and scope out the action. I set up the camera in the hallway and spent a LOT of time getting the camera and motion parameters setup. Webcams are kind of neat (I guess), but they are definitely not the easiest items to setup, from a video quality perspective. And that goes for any program I used with the VX-5000. It is possible that the VX-5000 is not a great webcam, but I think this problem is going to be endemic to most webcams. Unless you are willing to spend lots of bucks, webcams are at the low-end of the video-quality spectrum. And I am looking at cheap for this setup, so…
Actually, that new Microsoft 720p HD Widescreen webcam that I mentioned at the beginning is starting so sound more interesting.
I was originally going to upload a video of our Lab, Zoey, playing fetch. The problem is that most videos get rather large quite quickly. So no Zoey today. I think she really wanted to become a movie star, but she will have to wait for another day!
Anyway, back to settings. I was mostly interested in motion capture, so the 2 setup screens that were most pertinent to that are as follows.
The trickiest part of setting up a webcam is to find a Motion sensitivity setting that records movement that you want to detect, and not the movement of a clock pendulum, a leaf moving, and other mundane motion that would cause the camera to record 24/7.
And you most definitely do not want the default video storage location to be on your WHS C: drive:
Once you have webcam location, video, and motion detections settings to you liking, you are done. Hopefully, you will never need it to “capture” anyone in the act, but it is now in place if needed. This particular program (and others mentioned above) can be set to broadcast a video stream over the net, and/or send out email and FTP alerts. Depending upon your needs, you may find another program that would suit your needs better.
Of course, it would be nice to have WHS console-specific software solution.
Costs and more
In the end, if you are looking for a inexpensive alternative to the consumer packages on the market, what I discussed above is one such remote webcam solution. How inexpensive?
Wireless USB Server: Silex SX-2000WG, $121 from TECHeGO
Webcam: VX-5000 ~$30
Software: free to ~$30
Depending upon your home layout, and your ingenuity, it might be possible to setup the system to use a USB hub attached to the Silex device and attach multiple webcams to the Silex device. I do know that you can use a USB hub with the SX-2000WG. I do not know how bandwidth limiting multiple webcams might be. And I do not know how limiting the software might be in controlling multiple webcams. It would be fun to try out, but I do not think my wife would “allow” me to buy a couple more webcams. She simply has a different set of priorities than my having more stuff in my computer junk drawer arsenal. I really do not understand her priorities!
How does this compare to solutions that WGS has discussed in other articles? Cheap, by comparison. How easy or hard to setup the above to what you need, compared to more expensive consumer solutions? hmmm. Maybe I can get Logitech and D-Link to send me something to review and compare to my “cheap” solution.
Of course, there is always something to be said of coming up with your own personalized solution, which some would consider “priceless”.
