security cameras.............

[NSP64]

I was thinking of putting a few up outside and was wondering if anybody had some opinions (I know,opening a can of worms) or can relate good or bad experiences. I was looking at some wired ones to hook to existing VCR. Maybe one out front, one oposite corner in back. Not wanting to spend a fortune.

[stubshaft]

When and if you ever catch someone comitting a crime or trespassing on your property they MAY be worth their weight in gold. I worked on a military base and had security cams installed to watch the facility I operated out of. Every morning I would have to review the tapes which even while fast forewarding was a tedious activity. One morning I noticed a light shining for a brief moment and after careful review found that a total of three people had broken in a stolen some items. They were close enough to one of the cams to identify and they were prosecuted. A couple of months later, we had another break in but the tape quality was so poor. That the perps were never identified or prosecuted. If you do decide that you need to install cams for security then you must review them daily and not just when you think something may have happened. If you do decide to use a VHS/VCR system you have to change tapes at least once a week to insure that the quality doesn't degrade. This happened many years ago so the recording quality of digital systems has got to have improved, but a daily review is essential.

[winelover]

I'm also interested. Been contemplating a Swann 4 camera (channel) high resolution system with motion sensing and up to 55 feet of night vision. Uses a DVR with 500GB of hard drive. Can be remotely monitored via 3G smartphones. Online price is $449.99 but if you are a Costco member it's $259.00 shipped till April 3rd. Anyone have any experience with Swann?

Winelover

[cheese1566]

If you record to tapes (VHS) change tapes often! Buy new ones frequently and throw out the old ones. A tape only lasts so long and will give static/snowy/picture that will be worthless if needed.

Go digital...look on the internet for a small package deal that comes with a DVR (digital video recorder) that looks like a VCR, but uses a hard drive like a computer. No worry about changing tapes. Some can be networked in your home so you can access it form a computer, or over the internet away from home. Try newegg.com, tigerdirect.com, buy.com, and security camera direct.

[Three-Fifty-Seven]

First I'd like to say that this should be in "Off Topic" . . . just saying . . . ;)

At the school I work at, we just added another camera to our other five we had, there good for about 25 - 30 feet if you know the kid . . . $650 just for the camera!

I've thought of getting a "game camera" to try.


[smilie=s:

[Rangefinder]

The trick to cameras is all about placement. Match the camera to the area you want to monitor. There are a lot of options out there now with high resolution and IR capabilities that won't nrequire a second mortgage to pay for. Shop around.

On a side note--the biggest mistake I see made with camersa is that people always want to mount them high and cover a wide area. IE: they want to cover the garage, so they mount it high under the eves on the gable and point it down the driveway thinking they'll see them better. That's great if you want to record the driveway, but distance and angle defeat the purpose when actually trying to protect the garage. Aim at the door from a height that will not be defeated by a simple ball cap, and forget the driveway. Just an example...

[44man]

I feel bad when anyone needs cameras and such because of where they live. It should not be that way anywhere in this country.
I don't have any trouble and it might be because I have my own range and shoot a lot. I don't think anyone will dare to come here.
How about mounting fake mini guns here and there? Have a little light on them so they are always seen. :bigsmyl2:
Maybe not, someone would just steal them.

[NSP64]

I am not needing cameras. More for having extra eyes. I like to know whats going on, gives me more time to clear leather. LOL

[Uncle Grinch]

If you don't want to spend a fortune, try the psycological approach...
http://www.harborfreight.com/outdoor-dummy-security-camera-95153.html

or...

http://www.harborfreight.com/dummy-security-camera-94030.html

[Gelandangan]

Unless you are prepared to be disturbed by strangers, get covert cameras.

Otherwise, every time there is an alleged crime happens in your area, pol-ice and law-yers would come knocking and serve you warrants for the recordings.
Once or twice they are OK, but if you live in high crime area (why?) you may be stamped as a "free" surveillance system by the power that be and
the frequency of knocks became serious and annoying.

This next piece is a hearsay, I do not have any reference for it:
Scuttle butt says that there was a woman who got raped in front of a building that have cameras.
She allegedly tries to lure the man to face the camera so there will be a record of what has happened.
Unfortunately to that woman, that particular camera (or was it the recording equipment?) is out of order and did not record the incidence.
The woman then lost her case towards the rape preps and promptly proceed to sue the building owner for "false" security, and won the case.

[Three-Fifty-Seven]

We use Sony camera's at school and shoot them 640X480.

Here is one; the teacher is about 10' from the camera, the Kindergartner on the far left in white shirt is 25' away:
http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s220/ShawnVT/Kinder.jpg

Could you give the police a good description of anybody here? of course the color of the clothes, but those are easy to change or cover up . . .

About 25' away:
http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s220/ShawnVT/Admin.jpg

10' away:
http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s220/ShawnVT/Hall.jpg

20' away, can you read what is on the door of the van?
http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s220/ShawnVT/Car.jpg

25' away, what does it say on the side of the bus?
http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s220/ShawnVT/BusVideo.jpg

These are all with good lighting . . . imagine one taken in the dark or dusk!

Of course you either need to be watching the monitor,or have an audible alarm to know to look at the monitor . . . you would be better off with a fence and a dog . . .

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We have a Chamberlian driveway alarm like this http://www.homesecuritystore.com/p-820-rwa-300r-chamberlain-reporter-wireless-motion-alert-system.aspx
We have two of them, I added a back up alarm from Radio Shack to make it louder . . . if you are walking up the drive way . . . you can actually hear it go off! So if they are smart, they will know we know, and just go to easier pickin's, plus we got a fake camera pointed at the front door that is visible from the street . . .

Of course we also have:
http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s220/ShawnVT/LapDog.jpg
Who can hear when the mail is delivered at the other end of our driveway, with the windows and doors closed!

And a few of these:
http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s220/ShawnVT/Guns/Ruger%20Alaskan/OhYeah3.jpg

BTW Pictures 2,4,6 & 7 are all the same guy . . .


[smilie=s:

[white eagle]

trail cameras would be another option

[firefly1957]

Some good suggestions on placement above . My dad is having trouble with a neighbor and we caught him on a trail cam damaging property the idiot judge decided not to allow the picture in court. Now we are sure in that small county it is a friends and family thing but I think video would of helped us more. The trespasser had previously damaged that camera and thought it was broken so make sure you have them out of reach/sight. or a second hidden one watching the visible camera.

[EOD3]

Some good suggestions on placement above . My dad is having trouble with a neighbor and we caught him on a trail cam damaging property the idiot judge decided not to allow the picture in court. Now we are sure in that small county it is a friends and family thing but I think video would of helped us more. The trespasser had previously damaged that camera and thought it was broken so make sure you have them out of reach/sight. or a second hidden one watching the visible camera.

Isn't that called "baiting"? [smilie=f:

[EOD3]

123: If you put sun filters on some of those cameras, you'll get a lot better pictures. Judiciously placed sun-shades can help a lot too. :!:

[firefly1957]

EOD3 Baiting? I call it being prepared but in my case it is experience.

[pmer]

You might be better served with a couple of drive way sensors. Dakota Alert has one that chimes different sounds from multiple sensors and they catch foot traffic too.

I install cameras and seen lots of video and 123s shots aren't that bad. LE wants video more than stills and I think you could figure out must of those views with more frames. You wont get High Def news broadcast quality.

If you're set on video mount them out of reach and you should look at infra red day/night cameras . Thet have the LEDs surrounding the lense and work in the dark. Good video is spendy and you'll get what you pay for, and do some resaerch b4 you buy. It might be cool if you could switch video to your TV if a chime goes off.

[Three-Fifty-Seven]

Our camera's do 2 frames sec . . . just haven't figured out how to take the video and convert it to send it to you tube . . . so I converted to jpg per frame . . . and selected one.

A good dog or better yet, two works well!

[shooterg]

Interesting thread - we've been looking at installing something on our range to find out who the 1%ers are that trash the place/ignore rules/etc. without having to go to full time RSO's. What little I've looked at, seems prices are much lower nowadays. I like the idea of being able to watch remotely too.