I am in need of an inexpensive video surveillance system. Could anyone recommend a site? Any recommendations on a brand? I need motion detection to turn it on. And the video feed could go to my computer for my viewing the next day, and then deleting it. I am only trying to protect a few hundred dollars worth of stuff, but I would like to see the little bastards in court. Thanks
Dozens of comanies online sell cheap components, but if you want a canned system you can resell later and get some of your money back, look out at Sam's club. That is, unless the little buggers steal the security system next time....
As to seeing the kids in court- chances are slim and none, especially if they don't already have records. No jail space, no Juvie space, no time for prosecutors to spend on nickel cases. Almost all get pleaded out or 'diverted'. I got robbed several times in the apartments I used to live in. The patrol cop finally told me there really wasn't any point in reporting it, much less giving them the detailed list of missing stuff. There Would Be No Followup.
-- aem sends...
Well, if they don't go to court, this is a small town, and most parents will take care of it......
Sounds like you live in a PC we must be nice to the riff-raff area. Its a proven thing that if you ignore the small crimes the riff-raff will likely grow into bigger crimes as they get older.
The motion detecting part is all in the software, it just looks at the picture and triggers on pixel changes. I have a Grantec E-guard card that is pretty good with the bundled software. It has 4 RCA (composite video) ports and just about any camera that outputs video will work. It won't talk to USB cameras tho. There amy be similar software out that there that will.
Yeah, I did a paper on the broken-window theory back in college. It has a lot of validity.
But nope, not at all PC around here. Just a small semi-rural no-budget township that is too damn proud and stubborn to merge their combined PD-FD with the real town next door, or contract with the sheriff's department for patrol coverage (like most of the other suburban townships have done.) Law enforcement is VERY Mayberry in this part of the metro area. And since the cops are almost all also the firemen, if you want to pull off a crime, just torch a barn at the other end of the township or something.
If OP can give a video CD to whatever his local law enforcement agency is, and either have them pass it on to the parents, or get their blessing to do it himself (and the parents will actually do something), that may be a viable solution. But I would keep the cops in the loop- that way when OP's house gets egged, or his tires slashed, the cops will know it isn't just a neighbor vs. neighbor domestic. They HATE those.
-- aem sends...
Yep. I got one of these for about $30.00
Right now I've got it hooked up in my bedroom to make my own clandestine home movies. Even in pitch dark I get pictures in amazing detail - evidently the gizmo has its own infared lamps which are good to at least 15 feet.
Here's a link to the supplier I use for the systems I install.
I highly recommend the Panasonic BL-C111A (ethernet cable) or BL-C131A (wireless) network security cameras. You can record motion capture and view remotely across the Internet. The biggest reason I recommend these is because they are highly reliable. I've installed around a dozen of them and none has ever failed. A premium model that costs a bit more is the Panasonic BB-HCM511A which is their business line version with better low-light sensitivity and dynamic color range.
If you have Windows Vista you can have a view from the camera on your desktop so you can always see what's happening out of the corner of your eye. Use this Sidebar Gadget:
Not the OP- but do you know where I could see a comparison between the $30 dollar and the $300 cameras?
I might try a cheapy for a wildlife cam if it is good enough--- I'd have to do some real 'rationalization before I spent $300, though.
Jim
Be sure to look at x10.com
You can TRY the HF model and, if it doesn't work to your satisfaction, return it. Of course the only comparison you could make is whether the results sufficiently meet your needs.
The problem with the Mickey Mouse junk is that it often lulls folks into thinking they have something usable just because they see video. A friends friend put one of those sams club "all this for $499" or whatever packages in his business. I politely pointed out he had wasted his money because even though he thought it "looked good" the actual image quality was poor. Some time later his shop got burglarized and trashed by riff raff. When they looked at the video and actually tried to get something usable by enlarging the images there was just nothing usable because of the low quality images.
Just as an aside. You might want to be a bit cautions with the wireless cameras. There was a story on the news on Channel 6 here in Tulsa a while back. It seems that somebody bought one for a backup camera for his car. Then while he was driving down the street he kept seeing images from other security cameras. There was even one from somebody who had one set up to watch the baby. You probably need to spring for the unit that scrambles the picture.
Bill
if your trying to protect 300 bucks of value it migfht be more economical to harden it from theft or vandalism or move it completely.
might not be worth the effort to spends gobs of money.............
or put up a couple dummy cameras and warning signs, so idiots move on to a easier target
I beleve you could have kept this a secret and no feelings would be hurt. Or was this in the interest of home security only? If so there has to be a story worth telling!
If not, I'll forget I read this.
Doubt it. If the parent's were capable of taking care of it, their little urchins wouldn't be stealing from you in the first place.
I avoid wireless when possible. That applies to cameras, and other things like computer networks.
I apologize if anyone's feelings were hurt!
I just assumed people would think keeping the camera trained on the lawnmower shed all night would be kinda dull. And there IS a security aspect. One night while I was asleep, someone snunk in and stole all my stuff! That wasn't the half of it, though - they replaced what they stole with stuff that looked exactly like the stuff they took !
Soon as I finish collecting data - and editting it - I'll post the results on a Russian web site and you can judge for yourself. (Does anyone know of an MP4 editting program that works like Photoshop? That is, one that can make selected items, er, bigger?)
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