After all the X10 pop up adds I keep getting I finally took a look at their stuff and now I am thinking that these cameras could be useful for monitoring the kids when they are playing in the yard or around the house.

Does anybody here use these?  

They make both wired and wireless varieties and I assume the wired versions would be better so long as I can get the wires to a monitor/VCR.  

In particular I think it would be handy to monitor the kids while they are in the basement or back yard but obviously a hidden camera could be used to monitor a babby sitter or anyone else that would come into the house.

I am not resolved if this is worth the money and/or if it is just another toy.  My kids are 2 and 5 so it would be great to be able to keep an eye on them especially if they didn't know it...  Heck, that might just be fun making them think I am psychic!... on the other hand I hate to think I am becoming paranoid?

Any oppinions or experiences?

See the following for some really cool stuff...

[url]http://www.x10.com/[/url]
[url]http://www.smarthome.com/[/url]

quarterbore those are alot more expensive then others.
try www.supercircuits.com
I used to install cctv it is simple and not very expensive.  If you have any questions shoot me an e-mail.
john

also if you are the least bit mechannically inclined don't pay for the already concealed cameras get a chip cam and put it in something of your own.john

I was dumb enough to buy one of the X10 cameras a couple of years ago.  It's pretty f*cking useless.  Don't bother.

Thanks this info helps

I checked out the site. Very nice. Now im getting a camera to watch the kids while im in the garage.

If you're good with electronics and like to "roll your own," Supercircuits has some interesting stuff.

I once mounted a small single-board CCD in a co-worker's bedroom TV set. He was convinced that his wife was cheating on him while he was at work.  There was plenty of room inside the TV and his wife didn't notice the little hole near the bottom of the cabinet or the extra video cable running out the back.  But it took less than a week to get his friend on tape banging his wife.

If you need a Plug&Play package, the X10 hardware is reasonably priced and works fairly well.  A friend of mine caught the neighborhood delinquents breaking into his garage and turned them in to the police.  The family threatened him, but he decided to press charges and get a restraining order anyway.  Just as soon as the little shits got out of Juvenile Hall, the vandalism started.  But he could never catch them and the cops wouldn't do anything without evidence.

I set up one of those wireless X10 cameras in the back of his detached garage, with the receiver in the house, feeding his PC running [url=www.gotchanow.com]Gotcha![/url] software.
What it does is look for movement in the frame and start saving stills to disk.

The very next day his property was vandalized, and he just printed out the images and took them to the cops, and they arrested the kids and the parents!!!  (They were in the background watching their kids hurling paint bombs.)  The guy also took the family to court and won several $5,000 judgements against them.  (One for each act.)

So if you're a little creative, you can easily put together an effective surveillance system for less than $100.

Watch from work!!  [url]http://www.xambu.com[/url]


Nuckles.   [smash]