hi folks,

we're looking to set up a mac based security system and we have a bunch of existing Analog cameras (BNC connection) which attach to our current PC system. We're trying to source some PCI card which can accept 4 BNC connections for video - something along the line of these puppies.

Does anyone have any idea where I might be able to beg, borrow or steal one of these?

'k

Have you tried ebay?

I hadn't - but I just did and it returned zero results I think it's going to be a specialist type item. The manufacturer doesn't give any indication where they can be purchased but, if all else fails, I'll write and try and annoy a response from them.

Have you tried Blackmagic? They are based here in Australia.

Edit: Blackmagic are in the video production business, not video security. I don't know if they're products will be applicable.

kakman , do an ebay search for DVR in the computer section and you will turn up something like this
4 Channel Video DVR Card (BNC Connection) - eBay, Video Capture Cards, Components, Computers. (end time 11-Nov-08 19:44:05 AEDST)
which I believe is close to what you are after.
It specifies Windows but it is only analogue TV you are capturing and with the right Mac software you may be good to go.
A quick email or search of the products manufacturer may turn up the exact model for you.
It would also be good to know which Mac and OS version you intend to use this on.

Stewie

Stewie,

Cheers for that mate. For $80 seems worth a punt to see if we can make it work. We'll likely be stuffing it into an old Dual G4 MDD or an early G5 tower. As an aside the software is SecuritySpy and it seems to have been around for a while and was recommended by a couple of sys admins. If we can make it work it will be very, very neat...

/k

Please be sure to do a bit of research into whatever card you buy, especially with regards to the frame rate capability with multiple inputs. Some of the cheaper cards can manage only 25fps across all 4 inputs - so if you're feeding 4 video sources then you're down to about 6fps per source. Obviously this might not be a problem depending on your surveillance needs but worth keeping in mind.

Depending on what resolution your existing cameras are, and what quality of image you are after, you could also consider getting a USB2 or Firewire analogue digitiser and a simple 4 channel multiplexer from somewhere like Jaycar. I'm using a couple of $80 USB2 digitisers with one of my SecuritySpy systems (MDD dual G4) with the VideoGlide driver software to display images from legacy analogue cameras.

With regards to SecuritySpy itself, I can certainly recommend it as a great product to use for this purpose. It's not that resource hungry (I've got one system running 8 IP cameras from an old single-1.3 G4 XServe) and has a great range of flexible capture, storage and viewing options. We've written an iPhone application to link directly to a SecuritySpy server and view the camera images on your iPhone or you can use just about any standards-compliant browser - I even have the images from a SecuritySpy server being displayed on RTI remote controls and a Clipsal C-Bus touch screen at home.

I wrote an article a while back here on MacTalk about setting up SecuritySpy so that the live camera feeds (audio and video) were available via FrontRow or an AppleTV through the Podcasts module - I can't find it at the moment so it might have been lost or deleted along the way.

Happy to help with any setup queries you may have, otherwise Ben Bird (the developer of SecuritySpy) has always been happy to help in our discussions with him in regards to our iPhone app.

you mean like the ones i have for sale here
Although i never had a mac with expansion slots to try them out with OSX

Mate, If you have any way of checking if they work with a Mac I'm happy to talk...

It isn't as glamorous... but could use an old VCR, and a camcorder with analogue to digital conversion...

Thanks for the reply. I've just spent some quality time checking out the Jaycar web site and couldn't find what you've mentioned. I did find a 4 camera to Cat 5 converter but I'm not sure how extensible it would be with more than 4 cameras. The advantage (of Ethernet) would be the ability to use any Mac rather than having to go a tower with PCI card. Do you know the brand/model of the USB Digitisers you're using?

Yeah, it looks pretty nifty from the quick play I've had with it.

'k

For the cost of a Mac specific 4xBNC input card you'd probably be able to replace your analogue cameras with 4x USB cameras and a generic 4x USB card (USB cams don't always work through a hub)

Longer runs might require some sort of extender or balun system, but shorter ones will work with a long USB extension cable.

Understood. Our situation is a fairly large factory and the 10 cameras are already installed and cabled back to the MD's office. The longest run is probably 150 metres. The cameras are in good condition so I'd rather not have to replace and re-cable unless absolutely necessary. Additionally, the writer of SecuritySpy actual recommend against using more than 1 USB device at a time.

Cost of the card/cards is not a great issue - it's more the availability.

'k

I've looked into this myself, but beware, those eBay PCI DVR cards are not compatible with Macs. The SecuritySpy help pages list the PCI cards that are compatible, and I think there are only a couple. See here:

SecuritySpy Installation Manual - Analogue cameras - PCI input cards

I emailed the UK supplier of the top one about 18 months ago for a price, and it turned out to be over $1000, which was too much for me to play around with at home, although they seem like quality cards.

If you don't want to replace your cameras or wiring I suggest you look at a video server. You can plug your existing analogue cameras in and it streams the video via ethernet to your SecuritySpy server. SecuritySpy supports a variety of models:

SecuritySpy Installation Manual - Analogue cameras - Network video servers

The Axis ones are fairly highly regarded and often turn up on eBay new and second hand, although mostly in the US. I picked up a couple of DLink 4-channel video servers from eBay a while back, although I have never seen them for sale since and they are not on DLink's website. However, they have worked fine for a couple of years and have the advantage of having digital inputs and outputs for triggering or being triggered by other equipment.

Another thumbs-up for SecuritySpy from me. I keep playing with ZoneMinder on linux in the hope it will save me the cost of an SS licence, but I've not yet been able to get it to run stable long term and is rather resource hungry. I just with there was a little more configurability in the SS motion detection settings.