[wplug] Security System?

[Rob Knapp]

Hey everyone, I have some questions for any linux video/mythtv experts out there.

My wife manages a bar (Julio's Tavern in Du Bois), and we are looking at updating our security system.   Currently we have a 3 camera system that can be connected to a VCR... or in our case a series 1 TiVo.  The setup is strange though... S-Video cables come out of the wall, go into the TV and then the video splits the video into composite which is connected to the TiVO... the end result of which, if you review the footage, then the tivo records you going through the menus and watching the security footage.  Even worse, the TV's default is to flick through the 3 channels rather that capturing each feed.  This leads to gaps in the record for each feed of about 15 seconds...which is a long time.

Well, the TiVo has started acting flakey... so we are looking at either installing a new security system or taking an older 550Mhz box (currently an accounting box, we'd replace it with a newly purchased computer), upgrading the harddrive, installing linux, and using something like mythtv or motion to capture the output.  

Any one know of existing solutions that would help me?   I've rigged up something similar using 1 webcam and motion to provide a motion activated feed.  That's a nice solution since it can do a timestamp, however I'm not sure if it would be possible to have three instances running, each capturing from a different camera.

It looks like I"m going to need 3 tv cards (one for each camera), a big HD  (160GB), and some way to get the video off the computer (DVD-R or something). 

Will I need to upgrade the CPU?  (I _think_ it depends on the card I get... if the card does the MPEG on-board, I should be fine... if it offloads it to the cpu, then I'd need a bigger CPU.)  Also, we'll need some kind of ventilated enclosure so that someone couldn't just break in and walk off with the CPU.

Any pointers would be much appreciated.