Connecting single 'cctv' cam to laptop!

francis69

Hi, Obvious newbie so please be gentle! I have found the need to have dug out a single 'Elro' infra red/night vision cam that came accompanied with 18 metres of cale and a 'EasyCAP' USB connection. I still have all required & recall when purchased few years ago (when I also had a desktop/tower system) that this item worked and I could view what camera saw on the desktop monitor.

I now find the need of having to set this up again, after getting rid of desktop, and since using laptop. I have connected all the USB (with red/white/yellow) connections to the camera and connection to camera to plug. The camera works as able to see the infra red lights. However, once connected the USB 'Easycap' to laptop it says drivers missing? I was under impression this was a plug and play unit (and as far as I understand-the 'driver' info is contained within USB).

But, when I plug USB into laptop, it says drivers missing. OK, I am no computer expert, but I followed online directions of going into 'device manager' and going throug motions of updating drivers etc., when I get the message that 'no drivers could be found' or similar! I know this camera works as I have seen the proof on old desktop, but for some reason windows 10 laptop is not! I have also searched and downloaded 3 - 4 'drivers' for USB 2.0 video capture units but these tend to want access to all drivers and programmes and scan and check then I make online enquiries whether these are safe and end up uninstalling them.

I am therefore throwing myself upon the mercy of this forum to ask for help. (I should also say that, yes, I have looked at wifi cameras-as opposed to wired which this system is as it comes with 18 metre of cable-but for what I am after some are little out of pocket range) The reason why I need camera with infra red/night vision is need to find out who is allowing their dog to foul outside our home without the owner picking up dogs mess-I am hoping to place camera around window frame (interior) looking out as we always keep small window open.

All help, advice & assistance is greatly appreciated.

I

DavidG1

Sometimes manufacturers drop support for dated hardware, however on googling "easycap windows 10", I  eventually found this link  that says how to get the drivers working

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                EasyCAP drivers for Windows 8, 8.1 and 10                                                                                                        Update: I’ve moved EasyCAP driver file hosting to Google Drive as Google Cloud billing hit $100 AUD per month, EasyCAP driver downloads were 638 Gigibytes for the month of November! All links…                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                visser.io                                                                               
I give no guarantees but follow the instructions and good luck!

francis69

Hi, Many thanks for the webpage and its contents. I did come across this but only spent a few minutes reading. After your post, spent upto 2 hours trying each of the links/downloads, each of which, those marked for win 10 and some not, didn't change my problems. After restarting after each download laptop still saying driver problem etc. It maybe that, whatever 'plug and play'software is contained on this particular usb 2.0 video capture unit is obselete. It is just the fact that I know it works from back when it was linked to desktop/tower system (admittedly, the cd I still have that came with this, could be the missing link as desktop did have a cd player) I just thought that for those, back then, who didn't have computers with cd rom, must have been able to download all required for unit to work, or, if all contained in 'plug and play' unit, then why is it not working on my laptop?

However, many thanks for taking time for your reply & if there are any further ideas or maybe resolutions, would be very grateful.

Finally, if it is a case of having to bite bullet & discard above unit & look at other versions of recording what is needed as described in 1st post, any advice on what I should be looking at, that doesn't cost the earth. Only after a single small camera that operates via mains/battery recording onto sd card or to make more of a meal of it via wifi direct to laptop.

DavidG1

In the long run it is going to be simpler to get a compatible CCTV camera.
Currys are doing a cheap interior WiFi camera that records to an SD card
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                NEOS SmartCam Full HD 1080p WiFi Security Camera                                                                                                        Storage: free cloud back-up / memory card; Works with Amazon Alexa; Viewing angle: 110º; Motion & sound detection; 2-way audio                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                www.currys.co.uk

EndlessWaves

Plug & Play is an old term that got left behind by the changing face of computing. It means the hardware will configure itself automatically but it never included software. Your device has actually satisfied the requirements to be Plug & Play because it's fully compatible with your computer to the point where it's picked up by device manager and only needs the software to run.

It sounds like the camera outputs an analogue video signal over composite video (yellow connector), plus stereo audio (red and white connectors). That's a common analogue video format so it shouldn't be any issue finding hardware which works with it, although it won't be as cheap as it was when it was more mainstream.

If you want to get the current version working then you could either example the device properties in device manager and see if you can find more specific information (A name, Vendor ID (VID) and Product ID (PID) would be a good start). Or you can ask around and find someone who has a computer with a DVD or Blu-ray drive to copy the contents of the CD onto a USB stick or other device your laptop can read from.

You can buy external disc drives for a tenner if nobody you know still has one, but as there's no guarantee it's Windows 10 compatible I'd ask around first.

francis69

Hi Again, and many thanks to both. Totally understand what you say regarding 'plug and play' & grateful for the information.

As a naive beginner, looking at the Neos smart cam, I take it that as it also has sdcard capacity, can I confirm that following set up will work (if I have got the idea correct!)-

I set up camera in required position, either by using magnetic pad or even blue tack if needed, and plug this into nearest plug socket with sdcard inserted. Or does this camera have internal battery that needs charging via its own 3 metre usb cable-or does this mean I need to power the camera by using a plug with usb socket-such as mobile phone charging?
Then, following morning I remove sdcard to view recorded contents by using sdcard adapter inserted into usb socket on laptop? (Reason why I ask this is due to not being au fait with download of app to view contents from there. I have never used 'the cloud' and would prefer not having to. Yep, I am an older tech user & prefer to have something 'tangible' in all circumstanes if possible.)

I would be willing to follow step by step instructions in order to view camera recordings on mobile phone, but thought this requires camera to be connected to wifi-again I mention this as router for broadband is at front of flat in lounge and camera will be situated in bedroom/kitchen window (whilst open) & wifi signal may not be strong enough, or am I wrong?

So, above is my understanding of how this would work, and again, hope I will be corrected and advised in any futher posts. Very thankful for the help you are giving to this neanderthal!

DavidG1

Here is a link to the NEOS website and a setup video. I would suggest you pop into currys and ask them about the detailed setup or contact NEOS support, to satisfy yourself it will do what you want. You do need a smartphone to perform the initial setup though.
                                                                                                                                                                                                        SmartCam                                                                                                        The Neos SmartCam is a 1080p full HD smart home camera that comes with free Cloud Storage, 2-Way audio, Night Vision and Auto-arming included as standard.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                shop.neos.co.uk

francis69

Hi DavidG, Just a last post to Thank You so much for your putting up with me & all the help you have given & your patience. I obtained Neos camera together with 32gb class 10 sdvard (as advised by product), downloaded app & successfully launched. Spent 1st couple of hours 'playing' with camera & amazed at its night vision. Once I am able to position camera for perfect capture so it is covering part of lawn required etc., I have no doubt within a couple of weeks will have the culprit (or as it happens confirmation of irresponsible dog owner who is not picking up after their dog has fouled. Am glad that once camera is unplugged from 1 socket to another do not have to go through set up each time and have quite enjoyed viewing events on phone (set up really was pretty simple).

Also purchased sdcard as mentioned above which records whether or not connected to internet. Incidentally, my fear of internet signal reach was unfounded as it connected straight away whne plugged back in, in desired room. Also pleased that, I thought infra red/night vision would not allow viewing/recording through double glazing, again this has proven to be unfounded as it covers much, much further that the 9 metres cover it says on packaging! So, back to sdcard and again, amazed at quality of video on the tiny 32g card.

All in all, a perfect solution (I hope & can't see why it wont be) to current problem. Also hand to have when we go away as able to view camera content on phone away from hom, Probably teaching you to suck eggs now!

Again and yes, finally, many, many thanks and extemely grateful for your walking me through this resolution (no pun intended). Cannot guarantee I will remember, but if I do, will return to let you know 'if all worked out' & a stop to fouling has occured!

DavidG1

lets hope the camera does its job
David