Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)My neighborhood has had some nighttime vandalism, so I wanted to install a security camera. However, the neighborhood association forbids "architectural modifications", and you can't just slap a camera on the front of your home. This camera, with its compact size, seemed like the solution. I removed its base, leaving just a two-inch-long cylinder, and set it on a ledge outside a window with a putty cradle to hold it in place. I taped (should caulk) shut the little screw holes left by removal of the base. The cord from the power adapter is narrow and flexible, and the window shut over it easily. The camera is inconspicuous and has made it through many rains with no problem. See the customer image captioned, "Windowsill installation".
The camera's daylight picture is acceptable. You even have the option of running it off a 9V battery. I have detected no interference from my wireless router or cordless phones.
Now for the bad news. The camera's maximum infrared range is nine feet, so it is not designed for watching your yard at night. You can compensate for this with some strong lighting attached to a motion detector. However, at night the camera's infrared LEDs reflect off the camera's front window as a white, fuzzy halo that blurs the top of the picture. (Poor design, IMO.) Swann should have included a switch to optionally turn the LEDs off.
All in all, considering it as a learning experience, it was not a bad starter camera. However, I think that my next camera will simply be a long-range indoor camera looking through a window, aided by a motion-activated floodlight.
2/19/07 update: After a year of operation night vision remains poor, although it is somewhat improved by a motion-activated floodlight that I installed. I also attached a motion-sensing DVR, and it operates normally with this camera because I have put the receiver right up against the window next to the camera, so the picture is very stable. (Again, see the customer image captioned, "Windowsill installation".)
12/30/10 update: The transmission from the camera to the receiver is the weak link, as pointed out by the first comment on this review. It gradually deteriorated over the years; it became very sensitive to the position of the receiver, then even the window blind, and now it no longer records reliably. I wonder if the camera itself, or its antenna, deterioriated because of sitting in the weather. I liked this setup while it lasted because it gave better pictures than my WiLife setup.
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Swann Night Hawk 2.4 GHz Wireless Outdoor Security System
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