Need auto tracking camera ptz

[pal251]

agreed; my PTZ alone was okay, but it was missing alot of awareness.. with the additional support from some wide angle fixed views in overlapping territory the PTZ is now great.. I have someone viewing the cameras most of the time; the PTZ lets me and my wife whom both work from home check on things, watch kids, etc while were at our desks, but the fixed cameras are watching the PTZs back so to speak.. when the PTZ is not being directly used its basically a fixed camera with a few sensors to help it keep an eye on a few areas out of frame that have very little normal activity...

now if I see someone walking down the street and I want a good zoomed in shot I can be prepared before they come into view because my other cameras are watching them approach the ptz, before I would be fumbling with controls to get a good image before they got too far away and left my view entirely.

For a hotel a PTZ would complement if you need to watch a room, suspicious person, vehicle, etc a little more closely than your fixed cameras can provide, otherwords go on a tour of choke points in hopes of catching good angles of patrons, maby a driveway sensor for late checkins.... all by its self its usefulness would be severely limited.. you'll get alot more milage out of a bunch of fixed cameras on a big display for the night attendant to keep an eye on things from the safety of inside.. PTZ will let em get better video evidence while waiting on the cops to check out someone poking arround in parking lot at 3am

I like the idea of a sensor but not sure how I would set it up. How far away does the sensor need to be from the target area? Right below the ptz cameras is one of the drives into the parking lot. I don't think conduit is an option to run wire either

 

[nayr]

the sensors can be as far away as you can wire them up, a beam sensor or run-over tube on parking lot entrance hooked up to one of the alarm inputs can be configured to immediately go to a specific preset.. once the sensor is triggered the camera will look at that area, which can be completely out of normal view... after a few moments of the sensor being inactive it will go back to its previous view.

In my case I have a motion sensor right near the PTZ to keep an eye on an area just out of normal view and a contact switch monitoring my big gates.. If you look in my night video in the "Black Face Dahua" thread I take the time to zoom in on the sensors towards the end of the vid.. When I get a Dahua NVR that has alot more alarm IO's I'll add a few more sensors to watch the other gate and some windows.

 

[pal251]

Gotcha. Where can I get one of the beam sensors and how likely can they be hooked up to second story?

 

[nayr]

http://home-automation.smarthome.com/search?p=Q&asug=&w=beam+sensor

is a good start; if you need to put the sensor right by the camera you will probably need a motion sensor.. beam sensors have to be put in the path and they are triggered when the light beam is broken.. kinda like the laser beam security traps you see in the movies; just real.

they also need power ran to the sensors if its not the same power that the camera runs off of... I choose my motion sensor specifically because it could run off the same 24vac source the camera uses.

*edit*
might be able to get this wireless one to work; looks like the receiver has some relay outputs you could hook to the cameras alarm inputs..
http://www.smarthome.com/dakota-alert-wrh-3000-wireless-rubber-hose-alert-3000.html

 

[pal251]

I might be better off with a fixed camera instead of a sensor because the only place where I can place the sensor is close to the building or put one in the back. Here are photos of what I am working with.

I have two PTZ mini cameras right next to each other becuse they replaced two outdoor analog cameras. I have plenty of room for more but I want all the cameras to match if they are on the same side...

 

[nayr]

yeah a fixed one at a level to get a good view of plates coming/going would be better; one at the lot entrance and another viewing the building entrance.. a PTZ would be good on that rear light pole by the van and a fixed at this images location to cover the PTZ's back.

 

[pal251]

Here is another view with same camera. Problem is in the last few thefts the bad guy parked in the other parking lot so effectively we have to buy cameras to cover both parking lots.

 

[nayr]

you cant have any blind spots or else the bad guys will figure em out and exploit them... your not getting out of having full and overlapping array of fixed cameras... all it takes is a $2 mask to ruin your camera setup; you need to have the staff able to casually monitor the entire property constantly to catch these guys in the act and put a stop to the after dark riff-raff..

how many spy/robbery movies you seen where the character simply waits for the PTZ to look the other way and sneaks past?