Designing a letterbox

[Matty F]

This is not really a letterbox, but I want it to look like one. Here's the existing letterbox:

you look carefully at the bottom right you will see a dark hole with a reflection in it. That is the lens of a video camera. There's another one on the other side. They work extremely well in catching taggers, vandals, firebugs and thieves, and hit-and-run drivers.

But there are a number of problems. There's not really much room in the letterbox now and I wish to install a much larger camera that's about 5" long and 3" diameter. Also, heavy rain does get on the lenses. The letterbox is tatty and I'll make a new one.

Even though nobody has noticed the holes in the side, I'd rather have a big slot that goes around maybe three sides of the box and have the cameras pointing through the side slots and have a rain shield above them.

One problem is that if the cameras are level with the main letter slot they will be in the way.

I'd like to think of some excuse for having holes or slots in the side. Currently I'm thinking of having a simple box with a flat roof a couple of inches above it. There would then be a slot all the way around. I can have a partition on each side of the actual letter slot so it's obvious where the letters are to go. And a support in each corner to hold the roof up.

Unless anyone has any better brilliant ideas, as I know someone will!

[Jules Richardson]

I don't, but for some reason I'm reminded of the radio-controlled bins with the cameras inside in the film Malcolm...

on, you know you want to :-)

[Matty F]

Don't be silly, of course I am not stting here watching the CCTV!

are there speakers in the robots instead of the drivers just talking to each other?

[Andy Dingley]

I think it should look more like this:

[John Stumbles]

And where were the Penguins hiding?

[John Stumbles]

And where was the PCO hiding?

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

I've been thinking about this for my own place. How about some hanging baskets/flowerpots/bird boxes, etc? Nothing to interest scrotes, but easily capable of concealing a camera, especially if there's some foliage on top, spilling over the sides (astroturf :))

[Jules Richardson]

That crossed my mind after posting yesterday, too - something creative could be done with a bird-box which resulted in it still looking like a bird box, but with good visibility for the cameras. I'm wondering it if isn't harder to conceal the lens the higher up off the ground it is, though (i.e. more prone to light reflecting off it and making it visible)

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

Easily taken care of with a diy lens hood and the camera recessed enough.

[Matty F]

I used to have a camera in a camelia tree. To hide the glare of the red LEDs I put some fake red camelia flowers on the tree. People still saw the camera sometimes, and the tree moved around in the wind and leaves grew over the lens. I have now discovered how useless the IR LEDs are, so I will disconnect them and just have a 10mm hole for the lens.

The lens is best at head height or slightly lower, looking upwards, to see under their hats.

[Nick Odell]

Definitely go lower than head height, looking up. In fact I've wondered if a conspicuous camera up high to _make_ them look away in the direction of the hidden camera would work?

Where I used to live we all used to suffer from vandalism from kids who would also throw their crips packets and beer cans - and works and condoms - into front gardens as they passed down the road. So one day, when I was fighting the losing battle of keeping the garden tidy, whilst I was weeding I carved out a small trench from an airbrick in the house towards an old weatherworn beer can under the hedge which I somehow must have overlooked when cleaning up. You'd be amazed at what good pictures you can get from a beercan under a hedge.

Nick