Motorola Homesight Home Monitoring and Control System, Easy Start Kit, HMEZ1000

by Motorola

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 6 x 6 x 6 inches ; 9 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B0006G3APA
• Item model number: HMEZ1000
• Average Customer Review: 2.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: November 22, 2004

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

The Motorola HMEZ1000 Home Monitoring and Control System Easy Start Kit is a simple-to-use system that records, stores and sends sensor-triggered still images and video clips with sound. Requiring no real installation and easy to manage, the Motorola HMWL1010 captures and wirelessly transmits color still images or video with sound to the Base Station via a built-in IR (InfraRed) motion detector and microphone. This camera is suitable to both indoor and outdoor applications, especially those where running a physical wire is inconvenient or impossible. The HMEZ1000 lets you check on your baby without disturbing nap time, keep an eye on the kids during backyard play, or see who is at the front door while you are at home, at work, or practically anywhere in the world.

The Motorola HMEZ1000 base station connects to your PC via USB cable connection, and operates on a 2.4 GHz wireless signal. This unit can support up to three wired cameras (such as the HMWC1020), six wireless cameras (such as the HMWL1010), and eight wireless sensors (such as the HMTS1050 temperature sensor and the HMDS1040 door and window sensor). The HMEZ1000 runs on 12-volts DC power via an included adapter, can operate on both the NTSC and PAL TV system standards, and has an operating temperature ranging from -10 to 40 degrees Celsius.

The Motorola HMEZ1000's wireless camera utilizes a 0.33-inch color CMOS (complimentary metal-oxide semiconductor) image sensor and a 4.3-millimeter fixed lens to achieve a resolution of 360 horizontal TVL (TV lines). This color camera with integrated IR motion detection has a S/N (signal to noise) ratio of 48 dB or better, and can receive a picture down to a minimum illumination of three Lux. Operating on the NTSC signal system, the HMEZ1000's camera transmits in the 2.4 GHz frequency range and typically allows reception up to 250-feet outdoors and 60-feet indoors. This camera has an 80-degree field of view (for both motion detection and picture reception), and a focal range from two-feet to infinity. This unit features auto brightness, contrast and white-balance picture quality adjustment settings, as well as a high-speed electronic shutter ranging from 1/60 to 1/15,000 of a second. The Motorola HMEZ1000's camera runs on power supplied via its included eight-foot AC adapter.

Technical Features:

• Range: 250-feet outdoors, 60-feet indoors
• Sensitivity: minimum illumination of 3 Lux
• S/N ratio: minimum of 48 dB
• Resolution: 360 TVL
• Camera operating temperature: -10 to 40 degrees Celsius
• Dimensions: 3.25 x 4.5 x 7.3 inches (W x D x H)

The Motorola HMEZ1000 deserves serious consideration as one of the easiest and most economical monitoring solutions available, especially for parents with play areas outside the home that are in need of surveillance. The Easy Start Kit includes one wireless camera, a base station, and all the necessary power adapters, mounting hardware, and software to get you up and running with your in-home surveillance. Real-time notification is accomplished via the included software, and requires Broadband Internet service for notification via cell phone or email. Users should note that the camera's CMOS image sensor may become permanently damaged if exposed to long hours of direct sunlight or halogen light, so the camera should not be mounted or pointed directly at the sun or other bright-light sources. In order to operate, this system requires at a minimum: a Pentium II processor PC, Microsoft Windows ME or later, a CD-ROM drive, 128 MB of RAM, 45 MB of hard drive space, and a USB connection.

About Surveillance Camera Technical Features
Lux rating is the measurement used to indicate how sensitive a camera is to light, and stands for the level of light reflected off a piece of paper by a candle from one meter away. Thus a sensitivity of three Lux would mean a camera could generate an acceptable picture of a piece-of-paper-sized object that was illuminated by the equivalent of three candles from one meter away. The lower the Lux level, the better the camera's ability to work in low-light conditions. The camera's resolution should be greater than or equal to the resolution supported by the system's recorder or monitor. The S/N, or signal to noise ratio, is an important measure of a camera's quality. A poor camera, low-light conditions or poor wiring causes "noise" which consumes processing power and disk space. A camera with a wide dynamic range is ideal, especially for recording areas in which both indoor and outdoor light are present. CCD (charge-coupled device) sensors provide high-quality images that are less susceptible to noise. CMOS (complimentary metal-oxide semiconductor) sensors offer less image quality, but are usually more cost-effective and energy efficient.

What's in the Box
Base station/gateway, wireless camera, 2 power adapters, AC adapter extension cable (8 feet), mounting hardware, quick start guide, and CD-ROM (Home Monitoring and Control Software, user's guide, device quick start guide).

Product Description

Home Monitoring & Control System Easy Start Kit

See all Product Description

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Unfortunately this is not your father's Motorola, April 1, 2005

By 

J (Littleton, MA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Motorola Homesight Home Monitoring and Control System, Easy Start Kit, HMEZ1000 (Electronics)

The concept is good, the execution is very cheap, and the support is non-existant.

My CDROM exibited a CRC error, after many promises of a replacement CD, I still don't have it - 4 months in waiting - a friend loaned me theirs.

The range on the transmitter is extremely poor, anything bigger than a 1 bedroom apartment and you're in trouble - as far as monitoring baby goes - FORGET IT - low light ability of the camera is nill. The noise level and artifacts increase exponentially.

There are other products in the X10 world that are an order of magnitude above this product. Let's hope that this is the first generation of the product and the quality will improve with the next rev.

I would no recommend this product - bypass and wait until next version.

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Motorola Software Cripples System, May 19, 2005

By 

KnowsTech "KnowsTech" (Scottsdale, AZ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Motorola Homesight Home Monitoring and Control System, Easy Start Kit, HMEZ1000 (Electronics)

Sounds like an advertisement - "Motorola takes the prize for creating the easiest-to-use home security system".

From my perspective,

1) The hardware (HW) seems to be pretty decent

2) The software (SW) is lacking in many of the basics; thus, the SW cripples the MOT Home Security System

If I didn't get such a huge discount [ as a Motorolan ], I would not have bought it - considering the state of the SW.

The HW was easy to set up, and so was the SW for that matter. I was really pleased with the HW. The physical profile of the HW devices is thin. I have no problems with the HW. On the other hand, I was very disappointed in the SW.

The SW is a Java app which runs on Windows. The Java issue is secondary, so I'll stay away from it. My main issue with the SW is that it does not allow for user-defined processes (i.e. NOT Motorola SW-defined processes) to be executed upon a given event. For example - the SW only allows you to perform a few actions, such as having the Motorola HW take a snapshot or sending an email. The SW will NOT allow you to run a user-defined process. Why is that important? Well, many people have existing systems (e.g. X10 modules or IR). If you wanted to "turn on" lights or alarms, you can NOT with the Motorola SW. Just imagine not being able to automate anything outside the Motorola HW. Yeah - this could have been by design - to force a purchase of Motorola products. If it was, it was short-sighted.

Conclusion - stay away from it until the SW contains a feature that will allow user-defined processes.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Promising but not a simple solution, January 23, 2006

By 

Nathan Allan "NetBloke" (Olympia, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Motorola Homesight Home Monitoring and Control System, Easy Start Kit, HMEZ1000 (Electronics)

I was so looking forward to getting this set up. Right out of the box it had errors that I couldn't get past. Motorolas online support was hopeless and after 3 days I tried their phone support (which wasnt working when I first tried it).

The phone support couldnt get the problem solved (it doesnt help that the box come swith 2 CDs that have slightly different set-ups on them!), and escalated the issue. I did get a call back within 20 minutes which was impressive, the solution (which I was in the process of trying anyway) was to try it on another computer. This time it worked. The problem however was my phone system caused interference making the pictures jumpy. Solution was to turn of the phones...oh hang on I sort of need those on to recieve calls! Well with no solution in the works, even the Motorola tech suggested that if I was not happy with the product to return it.

I really hope they do get the bugs and choppy slow software working, as this has the look and beginnings of a wonderful product.

I am just really bummed now. If you have no computer know-how don't even bother trying this product it will just make you insane.