IP Cameras save the day!

Saturday, March 23rd was the Battlefields Council Kub Kar races here in Brantford.

We wanted to put some kind of video up showing the Kars coming down the track and crossing the finish line, as there was hundreds of parents and family in attendance.

I contacted 4XEM, and they provided some IP cams to use for the day!

The cameras were great, and they allowed us to do what no other race in our Council area has done in the past!

I want to personally thank Ken Lupton from 4XEM for coming through on this request.

Their website is http://www.4xem.com , and they sell a LOT of IP camera models.

New IP Camera Review - AVTECH AVN801

Hey readers!

I have a new product to write about. This time it is the AVTECH AVN801 IP CAMERA.

While I do my review of it, this will be a living document, similar to my previous review of the AVN80X.

The AVN801 is a more budget friendly version of the AVN80X series of cameras, with a few less functions than the ANV80X that I had previously reviewed. It could be considered the little brother of the AVN80X. The AVN80X as you may recall, has a Micro SD slot, White LED for night viewing, and a Speaker for two way communications.

The AVN801 has the following list of features:

PUSH Video calls with 5 second event recording: Receive a pop up and the video on your mobile device, allowing you to see what tripped the alert.

Digital PTZ: The camera lens is stationary, but the software allows you to Pan, Tilt, and Zoom on it's field of view.
10MB RAM DISK: This RAM DISK is used for storing of video events before they are sent to your device.

Human detection

Microphone: You can HEAR what is going on, not just see it

External Alarm I/O connections: Push Video IP cameras support all kinds of N.O. / N.C. type alarm sensors; for example, active infrared sensor, smoke detector, magnetic contacts and so forth to extend the flexibility of IP surveillance.

User selectable event record duration

Multi Platform - iPad and Android software releases, looks particularly great on tablets
H.264 compression

So you might think, this doesn’t have a lot of features, but you have to keep in mind this is for the more budget friendly installations, that may not need a lot of advanced features.

Let’s start with the unboxing of the camera when I received it:

Here you can see the packaging is well designed, and keeps the product inside secure and safe.

Opening the box, first thing I see is the instructions for the Quick setup using my iPhone. Using the instructions took less than 2 minutes before I was up and running.

The AVN801 is a bit smaller than the AVN80X because it is made out of plastic, so it is lighter.

This is the rear side of the AVN801, you can clearly see the Ethernet port and the Alarm I/O connector.

Now that we have it unpacked, lets take a look at some screens within the Webgui.

Below is the main screen you see, after going through the wizard that we have covered before on this blog, so I have skipped it. As you can see, it is relatively similar to the other camera models we have reviewed, but it has been enhanced just a little bit.

Below are the media types you can use to see the video, H.264, MPEG-4, Motion JPEG, Quicktime, and VLC.

 Here are the resolutions you can select to view, going all the way up to 1280x720.

The Backups screen as shown below, is where you would be able to view any alarms that are stored in the Camera's RAM DISK.  This is using RAM, so it is wiped out upon a reboot.

Here is an image showing all the configurable options for the camera. Quite a selection.

Conclusion

The AVTech AVN801 is a fantastic value if the AVN80X is out of your price range. It provides very good image quality,coming in at  720p HD image resolution, motion detection, audio with built-in microphone and of course the push video notifications.

If you need a WiFi connection, you are best to wait for the AVTech AVN812, which is a WiFi model coming soon. The AVN801 and AVN80X require hard wired Ethernet connections, or the use of a wireless bridge.

For estimated list price under the $200 USD mark, this camera is definitely one you should evaluate, if not purchase for your security needs.

BzzAgent .. what is this?

I have been reading online for a long time about this company called BzzAgent. I kind of always ignored it, because I figured it was just another waste of time social marketing attempt, or some kind of "do this for points to earn some reward".

Well, I had a bit of spare time this morning, so I did some digging. It actually seems like a totally legit company, and today they are offering Kindle e-readers.

Due to me working in IT, it isn't easy for me to carry around books when I travel, since I have to carry my laptop, several cables, clothing, etc.

I bought a couple of full sized tablets, both Android based, and now an HP Touchpad. They do the job, but are rather bulky to carry with me if I already have a full sized laptop.

So, I am going to try and get in on this Kindle campaign. Of course, the final decision lies with BzzAgent. If I get it, of course it will be all over this blog, as well as on the several forums I visit, and my co-workers/friends/neighbours will all  be seeing it first hand.

Let's see what happens!

Time to die, old laptop friend

So I have this really old Compaq Armada M700 laptop here. It has served really well over the years.

But let's face it, a P3 laptop has reached it's time to retire.

So, I am going to put it out of it's misery, and drive over it.

New laptop

So I just got a new laptop two days ago. I love it. I don't care about anything else, this system rocks my games.

Lenovo W520. And it is AWESOME!

Core i7 2720QM
16GB ram
500GB 7200rpm hdd
2GB nVidia Quadro 1000 graphics
Biometrics

AVN80X IVS IP CAMERA REVIEW

Hey readers!

Just want you to know, that this is currently a living document, in that I am still making changes/additions to it. But I like to share information with people right away, so I figured I would publish it, and simply ask you to check back time to time to see the latest goodies added! Thanks for reading! :)
Well, here is another independant review of an AVTECH IP Camera.

This time up, is the brand new, AVN80X.

This camera packs quite a punch for such a small package, let me tell you.

Some of the features are very similar to my previous review, the AVN304, but there are a lot of new features that AVTECH has added to this new one. In my opinion, AVTECH is definately a security company to keep a close eye on in the future, while purchasing and using their current lineup.

Right off the bat, some of the main features are:

Metal casing
H.264 Video
Live MOS Sensor
Uniphier DSP
Big aperture lens (F1.5 )
1.3M pixel, 720P recording (Resolution up to 1280x1024)
MicroSD Slot
PIR Human Detection Sensor
External Alarm I/O Interfaces
High Power White LED (VERY BRIGHT!!)
Digital Pan, Tilt, Zoom
Audio detection
Push Video notifications with 5 seconds of video
Adjustable lens
Broad mobile support (iPhone, iPad, Android)
Multi-platform (Windows, Mac)
EASY setup

One thing I wish that was added was integrated 802.11x Wifi, however using the Sapido RB-1602 pocket router supplied by AVTECH, I was able to put the camera wherever I wanted.

So let's jump right in, and show off some pics of this amazing little camera.

Here is everything that comes in the box. the AC Power, the mount, and the camera itself. 

The mount is very well constructed, nice heavy metal that should be reliable to hold your camera securely. 

The front of the AVN80X has the Power and Status LEDs, the Speaker and Microphone for two way audio, the White LED for night shots, and the PIR Sensor. 

The left side of the camera has a MicroSD slot, for cards up to 32GB in size. 

The rear of the camera has the hole for the mounting bracket, a 10/100Mbps Ethernet port, the Alarm I/O connectors, and the AC Power input. 

Here is some detail on the speaker, the White LED, and the PIR sensor. 

The small hole is the Microphone, the three lines are the speaker, and you can see the power and status LED in the top left corner.

This is the PIR sensor for Human detection...

Since this is an IVS camera, it includes features such as motion detection, recording, video notifications and external I/O support.

Push notifications are an important feature of this camera. When it detects an alarm condition, you will get a popup message on your iPhone, and when you open the message you get a 5 second playback of video showing what caused the alarm to trigger.

You do need a MicroSD card inserted in order to use most of the pre/post video features and the recording without external software.

The external I/O support I think is a pretty good addition to an already great camera. This lets you have add-ons such as a door sensor, external motion detector, or a smoke detector send signals to the AVN80X, so it will send you push notifications. You can use normally open or normally closed contact devices (door contacts, external PIR, beam break sensors, and a lot more).

The AVN80X includes Digital PTZ (Pan, Tilt, Zoom), which means the camera itself doesn't move, it relies on software to zoom and move around the image.

This camera also features a Digital Smart Zoom technology, which automatically zooms in on an object when detected, whic would be used for easy identification of an object.

Since the rest of the camera is basically the same as the AVN304, let's get onto the interesting changes, the GUI.

Here you can see, several new features have been added, like the ability to direclty control the power of the LED, recording features, two way audio features, and the Backup page which allows you to view your recordings.

Here is the details of the Backup page, showing recordings stored on the Micro SD card, and what caused them (Manual, Human detection, or Alarm). Clicking on one allows you to load it into the viewer on the right side, and watch the recording. You are also given the option to download any videos via this interface.

The White LED was present also in the AVN304, but for is a little bit different in the ANV80X.
It can be scheduled to turn on, or configured to turn on when it detects an alarm.

Overall, I would say AVTECH is doing great with this new model. While I wish it had Wifi, I can live with using another device to make it wireless, just because of the amazing features the AVN80X has.

On my recommendation scale, this one gets a 9.5/10 . The only reason I give it a 9.5, is because some features are fully dependant on using MS IE (The backup page doesn't show up in Firefox). I think in order to foster wide adoption of users, if should support as many browsers are possible.
For more information on AVTECH , please see http://www.avtech.com.tw
For more information on Eagleeyes , please see http://www.eagleeyescctv.com/
Direct link to information on AVN80X, http://www.eagleeyescctv.com/avn80x/
Canadian Distributor of AVTECH products: http://www.cpcamcctv.com/En/Prod_Overview.aspx?prod_id=P110824070

New review coming soon!

I just received a sample of the new AVTECH AVN80X IPCAM, which looks great. I will be doing a review on it in the next week or so.