Contact your police department and ask what resolution the video feed must be to identify someone. It would be a pain if you where to build it and then learn that you can't tell who broke in.
A.H.W
this is how small a pro mini is.

 

Thank you for your helpful, constructive advice.
For door switch, do you have something hidden in mind? Or something visible, like this: https://www.sparkfun.com/products/13247? I don't want it be visible. This is why I had the light switch in mind: I thought we could unscrew the two screws and place whatever is needed behind the faceplate, and then re-screw. I'm not stuck on the light switch... just bringing it up there as something that is out of sight.


If I understand you correctly, this will simply inform me if someone opened the door, and how many times. This isn't really a priority for me. What is a priority is to record the happenings that are done when I'm gone.

Hi,

Yes that's why the switch can also activate the camera as i added later.

The switch itself does not have to be hidden as long as it is not accessible from outside the room. IT doesnt matter if anyone sees the switch because they cant disable the system by donig anything with the switch because you have a long time delay between switch close/open detection and the count is high (24 hours of seconds means the count is 86400) and if you make the debounce time 1 full second it would take them 24 hours to reset the clock to the previous state before you yourself left the room.
However, since you say you dont need that extra measure then just have the switch activate the camera. You'd have to hide the wire to the camera though.

Yes the light switch idea is good but unfortunately it fails completely if the thief has even a small LED flashlight with them. It's up to you if you want to take that chance, especially after posting in a public forum

If you could have the camera upload to a web site you'd have the information stored on the web site so it could not be tampered with. That's a little harder to do unless you have the right equipment.

 

Contact your police department and ask what resolution the video feed must be to identify someone. It would be a pain if you where to build it and then learn that you can't tell who broke in.

AHW, thank you for a helpful reply. Won't people who have cameras do? Can't we ask them? Or, doesn't the camera's advertised resolution be enough to tell if it's sharp enough?

this is how small a pro mini is.

That size is beautiful. https://www.arduino.cc/en/Main/arduinoBoardProMini says there's 2 variations: 3.3 V (8MHz) and 5 V (16 MHz). Would you have a rough idea which I need?

Can we power this Pro Mini group with the clock's power supply?

About the camera you linked to on ebay... It lists as having IO voltage of 2.5-3V, and working 60 mw power consumption.How does such a camera connect to the Pro Mini? The ebay page says it has a viewing angle of only 25° . I'm looking for something that can see with a wide angle. Are there any?

 

That size is beautiful. https://www.arduino.cc/en/Main/arduinoBoardProMini says there's 2 variations: 3.3 V (8MHz) and 5 V (16 MHz). Would you have a rough idea which I need?
Can we power this Pro Mini group with the clock's power supply?

You will need to open the clock and check to see what voltage the power supply board is putting out. from that you will be able to tell if you need a regulator or you can hook it up directly.

How does such a camera connect to the Pro Mini?

You could use something like this

The ebay page says it has a viewing angle of only 25° . I'm looking for something that can see with a wide angle. Are there any?

I'm not a expert that camera was just one that I had previously seen to find something with a wider viewing angle you will need to pock around.

About the camera you linked to on ebay... It lists as having IO voltage of 2.5-3V, and working 60 mw power consumption.

I do not know, you will need to look for a tutorial.
A.H.W

 

You will need to open the clock and check to see what voltage the power supply board is putting out.

Would I need a multimeter for that? Or do I just have to look for a voltage figure on the board?

You could use something like this

1. Does the Pro Mini come with the pins I've circled in green in this pic?

The camera you linked to has male ends. This means I need female ends to connect to the camera, yes? Do all cameras have male ends (pins)?

The ebay item you linked two is a set of three ribbons: A male-male, male-female, and female-female. I'm trying to figure out which of the three i need.

 

Would I need a multimeter for that? Or do I just have to look for a voltage figure on the board?

You need a multimeter

1. Does the Pro Mini come with the pins I've circled in green in this pic?

Look in the product description

The camera you linked to has male ends. This means I need female ends to connect to the camera, yes? Do all cameras have male ends (pins)?

My best answer would be no.

The ebay item you linked two is a set of three ribbons: A male-male, male-female, and female-female. I'm trying to figure out which of the three i need.

Sorry my mistake if you use headers on the pro mini then you need female-female jumper wires.
A.H.W.