Home Surveillance questions

[BA.]

I don't suppose anyone has some home security/home surveillance experience here??

Some jackass has been helping themselves into my folks home and I'm thinking I could catch them with some simple equipment.

I was guessing:
1. small dome or bullet camera
2. dedicated video input/capture card in an existing home PC
3. maybe dedicate a hard-drive
4. motion detector
5. Software??

I was thinking that I could use the motion detector to enable/disable the recording.

What kind of software would I use for this.....and would the motion detector be able to run for like 5-15 min before shutting off??

Would the software come with the right video capture card?

Any idea's appreciated. Thanks!

..for the Yahoo that's doing this...

[TonyL]

I use a dedicated recorder. There are some affordable ones on the market at round 100 bucks, that come with night vision cameras and a motion activated recorder. They can be programed to record for as long as you want.

[gateman]

finally, a thread I can help out with...

1. What do you plan on viewing the video from???
a. standard cctv monitor- just plug in
b. tv - will need open video input and a bnc-to-phono
adapter (radio shack)
c. computer- will need ip camera or camera with USB
port..
2. covert, bullet style or dome cameras
a. covert -hidden but poor night vision
b. bullet style- very good choices, can see in darkness.
c. dome style - good choices, easy to move around,
exact angle of camera is hidden.
3. recording and motion detection.
a. external dvr (digital video recorder) that will detect
motion and ability to select how many frames per sec
the unit will record.. ( more frames = more resoution=
more memory used.
b. Video capture card for home pc- will allow a camera
to be plugged into home pc and it will act like a dvr.
c. special all-in-one cameras that have built in memory
and motion detection. Housed in bullet style enclosure
Video is retrieved by USB cable or IP adress -
depending on camera model. Software is included and
PC is required.

Really just depends on budget, USB or IP cameras are $300-500

DVR's $700 and up, plus camera cost $150 to $350..

some camera tips
1. day/night cameras (color in day. b/w at night)
2. IR leds (allow to see in total darkness)
3. high resolution ( 420 and up)
4. do not get vari-focal lens. (means you don't
have to focus camera or make adjustments)

this is a good general overview.. PM if you need anything more
detailed or hardware advice.

[Young Gun]

camp out on the couch with a 12 guage...he aint coming back when your done with him... but seriously...screw theives....they are the scum of the earth...i hope you catch this guy and he gets locked up...

[vern]

I have been looking into getting something too. Had this truck stolen about a month ago from in front of my house.
I hate thieves.

[68sixspeed]

Cosco has some really good stuff for the $; multiple cameras, night cameras, DVR, etc. A lot of small shops are putting them in due to theifs taking steel/alum for scrap value.

http://www.costco.com/Common/Search....rch&lang=en-US

Some even allow remote access if you have an internet connection hooked up.

[SSTuner]

Did you try x10.com ?

[rjsjea]

Video is ok. Problem is you are gonna have, most often times a bad pic of a tweaker in a black hoodie. Unless he looks directly into the camera, probably will steal that too!!! Then putting a name to him, location, etc..... is difficult.

Best bet is be home when this happens........

[hdesign]

I agree, cameras are limited.

Assuming they aren't constrained by their housing situtation, buy a large breed dog with dark facial markings. It doesn't need to be a Rottie, Doberman, Akita or a Pitbull, just something with a deep bark and an alert temperment. It has been proven that darker breed dogs are more difficult to read visually...docked tail helps too. If an intruder ignores the barking but cannot see friendly tail wag or a welcoming facial expression, they'll think twice.

Plus, if you don't get one of the "blacklisted" breeds that are constantly demonized by the media, their home owner's insurance policy won't increase. (Yes, they actually do that in MA)

[Jim Nilsen]

A guy locally went to the hospital for an operation and the theives knew he was going to be gone. He decided to have someone house sit. The house sitter was a young boy who didn't have a car in the drive or any other visuals to say he was in the house. He woke up to hearing noises and the owner had told him where the pistol was at. The kid got the gun and waited a bit and then went to the hallway to only see the intruder raising a rifle at him. He shot twice and killed the 14 year old kid who broke into the house with 3 others who were there for the guns they knew the owner of the house had.

It was a sunday night and the boy who was killed had called his mom and said he was staying at a freinds. Too many things that said something was up but it turned out to be deadly. No charges where filed against the boy who killed the other one.

The point here is that all you have to do is wait with no signs that you are there and be ready. Once they get that bold that they come back you should be able to catch them.
Just don't get killed over it!!!!

you can also get RF cameras that can be fed into any old VCR you can find. Wireless makes it so the VCR can be hidden in a drawer or under something. Several cameras should do the trick, even if they steal the camera you still have the tape and they can't find it.

What are they stealing that they can keep coming back for more ?

[BA.]

Gateman: thanks for that overview. I may run my selection by you when I find one.

68sixspeed: I didn't know that Costco had those....I'll look closer at those 68 options in that link. There is a Costco about 35 min. from here.

SSTuner: I noticed x10.com on Google but haven't gotten there yet, I thought they only did the cameras...not the other needed pieces. I'll have to check them out closer!

Jim Nilsen: wow! that is one crazy story.

I tell ya guys, there's nothing I want more than to park my car 3 blocks away and sit in the house and wait. I have no problem bludgeoning the crap out of someone with my Louisville Slugger.

Here's the logistical problem. Mom is in Illinois. I'm in Ohio.
Mom has a bad habit of keeping money around. I believe that is what the perps are after. I'm also guessing it's someone she knows. That gives me confidence that if I get them on film that I can nab them.
My intent is to set something up.....then offer phone support afterwards...or drive back over if there's another intrusion. Double bogey: she only has DIAL-UP.

I do have a concern that the "all in one" units may get spotted and subsequently ripped off. :(

I do have an old VCR.....Hiding it may be the key just in case the camera is spotted and they took the PC too. (are criminals that smart?)

[68sixspeed]

There's always land mines!

We've wanted to have some fun and get hold of an artillery simulator. Our industrial park keeps getting any outside storage containers and sheds broken into, rig it so that thing goes off when the door is openned; won't hurt anyone but should leave them temp. deaf and with wet pants. Also, anyone within a 1/2 mile will know something happened!

[BA.]

This one looked interesting.
http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11238977&whse=BC&Ne=5000000+40 00000&eCat=BC|79|4802|4803&N=4001406%205000014&Mo= 9&No=7&Nr=P_CatalogName:BC&Ns=P_Price|1||P_SignDes c1&lang=en-US&Sp=C&hierPath=79*4802*4803*&topnav=

No love on the auto-linky..

[BA.]

this one looks interesting too:

http://www.ezwatchstore.com/shop/2-C...6391.html#none

and this one:

http://www.ezwatchstore.com/shop/2-S...6138.html#none


only .1 lux needed here! (camera only)
http://www.ezwatchstore.com/shop/Ind...n-p-16243.html

[Sparky67]

this one looks interesting too:

http://www.ezwatchstore.com/shop/2-C...6391.html#nonel

My friend had one of these setups and it was a joke. The camera was limited to about 5 feet, but it would eat up his hard disk space. Really, the best bet is to get Brinks or ADT home security system with the monitoring service. I had a system, when I lived in Florida. Never had a break-in, but I did setup off the alarm by accident one night. The police was there in about 5 minutes.

Jeff

http://www.kodakgallery.com/67rscamaro

[Tony_SS]

Why not just have Brinks install a system?

[Jim Nilsen]

Why not just have Brinks install a system?

Someone told me that the only thing that usually gets stolen from a house with the security companies is the sign they put in your yard Seems that some think the sign is all you need and why pay for it !!!!!

[Tony_SS]

Someone told me that the only thing that usually gets stolen from a house with the security companies is the sign they put in your yard Seems that some think the sign is all you need and why pay for it !!!!!

Heh.. I have Brinks and I use their stickers on a 3 out of 4 doors to get in my house. I decided not to post the yard sign though... but the Brinks man was nice enough to give me a boat load of stickers, so I gave them away to friends that could use them.

I will say, that if the security system is not properly installed, I can render a Brinks system usless in less than a minute, but I won't go into that. Just make friends with your installer, talk to him/her about the system so you can verify it's installed right.

Our system has saved or warned us on a few occasions, even once when a realtor was not supposed to show the house but decided to anyway. I got a call from the alarm company on my cell and told them to send the police over just cause I'm honary like that and wanted to teach the realtor a lesson.

[CamaroLance]

I've used a cheapo d-link dcs-900 for motion surveilance. You can put it on a home network and have it record to your hard drive. They also have a wireless version of it. It's fairly small, but it doesn't have any kind of night vision.
http://www.amazon.com/D-Link-DCS-900.../dp/B0000CEPC0

[CarlC]

That's why there should be stickers inside the windows as well. Not on all windows, but enought to catch their attention.

I too believe that all it takes is a bit of deterance, such as the signs or stickers. But, it does give me peace of mind knowing that my wife has a remote panic button she can push that calls the alarm company when I'm out of town.