Surveillance equipment

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au_prospector

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Dont really know where to post this question. . .

I would like to know if some can recommend a video camera set up to monitor the outside of my home. I am looking for a set of cameras with the following criteria.

Must have at least 4 cameras, 6 is best.
Must be wireless (battery operated okay as long as the batteries last a month or so)
Must be weather proof.
Motion sensor is best with a range of at least 50 feet.
DVR recorder with capacity for at least a week of monitoring.
MUST be able to have night vision and see clearly with detail to make a positive ID on someone at night.
Smaller cameras are better as not to be too noticeable.
Must be able to print a photo still from the video recorder for purpose of law enforcement and neighbor ID.

My problem...
I was a kid once too and I admit I did my fair share of "knock and run", but not like this.
What is happening to me is multiple door poundings two or three times in a night between the hours 1am and 4am about once per week. I know these are kids, both teenage boys and girls, I just dont know who yet. I want to be able to print a photo and ask around to find out who it is. Then I want to be able to show these photos to the parents and get it stopped.
 
Although I can not offer up any recommendations on the type of cameras you specifically requested (I have really terrible internet service at my location, so wifi cameras were out for us), I do have two other suggestions for you.

In lieu of wifi cameras, we found that game and trail cameras work perfectly for this.
• Motion activated
• Night vision
• Still shots
• Wireless (need batteries)

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_st/...4816656011&qid=1468537362&sort=price-asc-rank

I also recommend a wireless driveway sensor strategically placed at or near the walk way to the door. At the very least it will help you get the drop on them.
 
Oh okay, I have thought of trail cameras. I am worried the flash will alert the trespasser they have been spotted and they either destroy or take the camera.
Is it an IR flash that is undetectable? I have never used one.
 
IR, but they do make flash, too. IR won't be seen at night as far as I know. Take the SD card out, and print away.

You can also place the camera up high and out of reach.
 
My trail cam does not work well for this. Delay time before it comes on is too long, time between pictures is too long. The best way to get a clear picture of something is to set it to take a 10 second video.
Several square inches of red LED's light up on mine. Anyone in front of it in the dark knows there's a camera. That might be enough to discourage them. The camera has to be locked down.
Amazon has lots of surveillance camera setups for sale. Even saw one at Costco a while back.
 
I just looked on Amazon and found a wireless set up for our house when breakins were happening all around us. I bought a Defender system, but the part where you set it up so you can see the feed on your phone is so convoluted we never did get it to work.
 
The Arlo cameras are good--720p is nothing to sneeze at, but, that performance is downgrades severely in night vision mode (just the nature of the physics of if). So, while the daylight video is good, but you probably will not get mugshot quality video out of it.

The trail cameras will likely be your best bet if all you want is to nab neighborhood kids.

If you are looking for a package to let you have situational awareness around your house, then a system like the Arlo would be a good start.

This is something which wants careful planning. You really need wires, because batteries always go dead when needed most. So, that means a/c adapters. Wifi solves the problem of getting data from the cameras, which saves having to string coax. but, you may have to get a range extender to give enough additional bandwidth (and dynamic addresses).
 
I've only seem cameras like this that need a power source. In many cases, ones with wired, wifi, and bluetooth connectivity and almost 360-degree rotation with reasonably good night vision & movement detection for under $50 a pop...but they need a power source. So I can't help you with the camera point.

However, on the processing DVR end, I would highly recommend replacing whatever default DVR storage medium with one that is considered to have a more robust and reliable operating range. For example, an enterprise-grade HDD such as the Western Digital RE or Seagate Constellation, or a eMLC solid state drive, such as an Intel DC or Samsung SM. While there are certain advantages to a spinning disk drive and certain advantage to the zero physical movement solid state drive, in most cases a spinning disk drive is favorable for surveillance when you want to store longer durations of video due to the larger available sizes at lower prices, and solid state drives favorable for shorter-term durations or if you need to record multiple cameras at once in a very high definition, given faster write speeds. Either of the two types in their enterprise form carry advantages over the products marketed for home users, as they tend to be more reliable, have a longer service life, have greater error correction capability, (sometimes) wider operating temps, greater power-loss protection, and so forth. If the camera comes with a micoSD or SD port for direct recording, I would advise using a MLC-based SD card and not a TLC one...but this is limited because SD cards only get so big, plus it is ideal to have the recordings somewhere other than inside the cam!

Many of the budget DIY systems that come with storage mediums use ones of lower quality and often utilize file systems that are dated in a sense that better modern equivalents exist. For example, NTFS is arguably superior to ExFAT and FAT32 in terms of reliability.
 
Ive been interested doing this too.


Whats wrong with just leaving the porch light on so you don't have to worry about night vision clarity issues and flashes going off?


Use an LED bulb and you're barely using (wasting) electricity. I think a 75 watt equivalent uses around 14-15 watts.
 
Your 75 watt bulb would give you a few feet of usable video. IR is capable of hundreds of ft. I started in the security business in 1997 and hold every license available. I read comments here from time to time that makes me think either I don't know what im doing or the person posting doesn't. Wonder which one it is? Lol
 
How about some signs stating that your premises are under video surveillance?
That might be enough to make the problem stop, and also not escalate to something worse.

If that doesn't work then escalate to a robotically controlled paintball cannon. (Only kidding!)
 
fallout mike said:
Your 75 watt bulb would give you a few feet of usable video. IR is capable of hundreds of ft. I started in the security business in 1997 and hold every license available. I read comments here from time to time that makes me think either I don't know what im doing or the person posting doesn't. Wonder which one it is? Lol
Click to expand...

Well you'll have no argument from me on that.

I don't know squat about this stuff. That's why I asked.

Maybe that's all he needs in this scenario .....?

What's the most affordable solution/suggestion?

That's what he's asking.
 
Most bang for the buck on the market today is 2mp cameras over coax HDCVI cameras. Full 1080p Hi-def picture quality. Can't tell what I pay from my supplier but I charge customers $1650 installed for a 4 camera system w/ a 8 channel DVR with a 1 TB HD. About a month of record time or so. Doesn't cost much extra to swap a camera out for 1 with a 3-12 vari-focal lense with a 260ft IR range so you can adjust the zoom and see longer distances like your driveway , barn out back and such. That price would be for a average sized house with a attic or crawlspace. Having to run conduit or 5,000 sq ft house would be more labor involved. Most companies charge more than that for 420TVL cameras where you may not know who it was if it was your brother. Lol. I used to be the technical manager for a large security company with several hundred employees. They charged $3600 for the crap system I referenced. They werent keeping up with the times in video surveillance bc they made their most $ on security systems. We had a $100,000 a week equipment bill. Anyway, just giving y'all a price range to look for so you don't overpay. I'm always more than happy to answer pm's from any members looking to do these type things themselves and would assist you in any way I can without being there. Heck, if you are close to me I would even come help you.
 
If they are ' hundreds of ft' away they aren't a problem - the porchlight is a good idea. I believe that the lights come in a small range of colors... might be a particular color that's best for your cam.
 
So if your barn is 200 ft away and your friendly local BG wants to help himself to whatever you have then you don't want to see it? Or you have a long driveway and they pull into it and walk up to maintain the quiet you would not want a vehicle description to give to the police? Makes sense.
 
Do you have motion lights for the entrances now? Maybe just having a light turn on when they come up the walkway would be enough to scare them away. At least the first time anyway...
 
Just keep realistic expectations if buying Wally World or harbor freight cameras. Harbour freight for instance offers a whooping 550 TVL of resolution. This is like the grainy video clips you see on the tv news of robberies and such in convenience stores.
 
There are a lot of stores that sell that sort of equipment . I`d do a search for just that type of store in your area. Give them a visit and get the low down on what type of "stuff" would meet your requirements.

To me that`s the smart thing to do....J s/n.
 
fallout mike said:
So if your barn is 200 ft away and your friendly local BG wants to help himself to whatever you have then you don't want to see it? Or you have a long driveway and they pull into it and walk up to maintain the quiet you would not want a vehicle description to give to the police? Makes sense.
Click to expand...

Its not that Mike.

The OP has a problem with kids/teens playing ding dong ditch'm at 2AM and wants to be able to gets pic's so he can figure out who it is.



For me, that would be similar to what I would be looking for. For example, there is a problem with people stealing delivered packages off of the front porch AKA Porch Pirates.

Some of these porch pirates have been busted because the resident had a good pic to give to police and/or got it on the news

If I could have good resolution to 25ft at night with a porch light and just a little more distance during the day, Id be happy. For under $400 and be wireless would be even better!


Unless I'm understanding wrong, that's what the OP is looking for.
 
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