Security Cameras can help

[Kevin C]

I have three IP cameras. One on the front door, one on the back and one inside my garage. If you live near people, eventually someone will probably try and take something that does not belong to them.

I'm not sure why this guy left... It could have been that he woke up the dog or he saw the blinking light of the camera. Fifteen minutes later he broke into the neighbors garage... and got caught in the act.

 

[Garage5.9]

awesome

 

[darkk]

Whatever it was, you're just lucky he left and you didn't have to deal with the BS. That's part of the reason we always have a Rottie as a pet. We need guys like this as temporary playthings for the dog. hahaha... It's scary when people invade your private space. Glad things turned out ok for you and yours...

 

[cnyeco1]

What brand and model camera are these?

Kinda looks like he looks right into the camera and runs.

We just bought a house and are going with camera system. Nothing beats a barking dog though.

 

[kesslerbmw]

Also curious what brand you're using and how you like them... I could use 2 or 3 of these.

 

[w1im]

Its a good thing most of these guys are morons.

Anyone with any sense who saw that they were caught on camera wouldn't try stealing anything else in the area.

 

[ptschram]

That is why we have not one but two dogs. One is a Border Collie-they bark at themselves sometimes!

It can be really annoying to have a constantly barking dog, but you know damn well nobody is gonna try to break in.

 

[gatewaysysop]

That is why we have not one but two dogs. One is a Border Collie-they bark at themselves sometimes!

It can be really annoying to have a constantly barking dog, but you know damn well nobody is gonna try to break in.

This has grown to be my philosophy as well. I used to abhor the barking dogs in the neighborhood, but it occurs to me that this serves as a free security and theft deterrence system. Two sets of dogs start yapping the second I walk out my front door. Got some others that go ape when I'm rustling around in my back yard.

Go inside and close the doors, behind the double paned glass windows, I can't hear a damn thing.

 

[Bmacd95b]

Also curious what brand you're using and how you like them... I could use 2 or 3 of these.

Me three...interested in the brand of the camera. That was a nice video.

 

[Need4racin]

"helloooo..... jose here to cut the lawn"

 

[wnstwolf]

Looks like he had a DOT type safety vest on? Was he in "costume" or something or an actual worker out on the prowl for some added pocket cash?

 

[GarageEnvy]

My area has been experiencing a rash of home invasion robberies. I work out of the house so I'm home most of the day. Also, my next door neighbor is a sheriff and parks his truck on the street. I've always thought these two factors would stop even the dumbest of thieves. About a month ago I saw two hands come over my rear fence (I have a neighbor to the rear who is also home all day) and then a kid (18+/-) dressed in black come over the fence. I confronted him and my 90+ pound lab almost had an early meal before he got over the fence but I'm seriously looking into cameras now too.

Then last week one of my friends who lives near me had her security camera catch home invasion robbers dressed as a sheriff. Story below

http://abclocal.go.com/kfsn/story?section=news/local&id=8678730

That camera probably saved that criminals life. The husband is a bad-*** but the wife is the one to fear.

 

[ImportTuner]

Pretty good resolution on the camera ..

 

[monkonmonk]

So, Kevin C, how about a little camera info???

Thanks in advance.

 

[bd8134]

I use these around my house, http://www.logitech.com/en-us/video-security-systems?overview
There is a busted video link in there. Better than a Panasonic I had, simple thin 1 wire install, sends email alerts, can view on iphone, sound, playback, built in mini SD card, etc.
I am sure there are more expensive units, better quality but Logitech stuff is pretty slick and works for me.

 

[ddawg16]

I have the Lorex wireless system.....here is the video that it recorded of our bottle thief this past Jan....

Kevin....camera info would be great...I want to add more cameras.

 

[dartsportsteve]

That's awesome. Here's one more request for more information on the system...

 

[Angelfire]

I started to do research into cameras and decided that at this time, it's just too expensive to get what I want. Many cameras do ok in broad, bright daylight but what about at night? As well, many of the kits out there have cameras whose resolution is so poor, you could never make out who it was anyway. I'll keep researching and hoping prices on some of the better cameras come down. I do plan to go PoE and mount the DVR/hard-drive in a secure location. Seems the thieves know if there are cameras, to grab the recorder to eliminate the evidence! Here's a thread to another site that has a ton of information:

http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_6_46/3...Table_of_Contents_in_OP____Updated_7_Apr.html


Enjoy!

 

[Nowater]

"I have the Lorex wireless system.....here is the video that it recorded of our bottle thief this past Jan...." ddawg16--you don't need a camera you have a wife that is far more formidable!

 

[RedAggie03]

I use a 4-channel system from Q-See along with IR cameras. Works great and I like the iPhone app.

 

[torquepower85]

I have the Lorex wireless system.....here is the video that it recorded of our bottle thief this past Jan....

Kevin....camera info would be great...I want to add more cameras.

Dang your wife nailed him! Who steals bottles in the middle of the day?! It's like he didn't even know trespassing was illegal

 

[ddawg16]

Dang your wife nailed him! Who steals bottles in the middle of the day?! It's like he didn't even know trespassing was illegal

Actually....it happened about 8 in the morning....wife just came out of the shower...heard the rattle of the bottles...looked at the monitor (The Lorex has a LCD display that looks like a digital photo frame), saw the guy out there...the rest you see.

It was about 7 min from the time he walked up until she came out...I edited it for shortness....

Guy went to jail.....have not seen him since...

 

[Kevin C]

So, Kevin C, how about a little camera info???

Thanks in advance.

Sorry for the slow reply... Short notice family emergency, I had to get on a plane later that day...

The cameras are made by Airlink (SkyIPCam500W). I have a computer that runs 24-7 that I use for video capture. Nice since that's my main PC so its always on.

The cameras were a bit hit or miss. I got a one defective unit and the software seems to lockup about every 10 days. That and if you have four wireless cameras, you need a decent router and computer.

I also have two wireless Squeezeboxes and a wireless garage PC. I found getting a dual band router with a guest network helps by allowing me to separate the networks.

Six streaming devices on an $40 net-gear router is not a good setup. 2.4 GHZ is better for distance than the 5 GHZ, a multi band router let me balance all the devices out. The camera resolution is VGA.

One interesting thing about these cameras is that each unit is a mini server that can be accessed. IT will FTP and send E Mail and can be viewed through ports I opened up on the router.

I have had them about five years, for the money they have a lot of features. The down side is to view through a browser you need a direct X plugin. That seems to limit how you can view them.

I know there are newer better choices ( my versions are now obsolete). The resolution on these is VGA... Seems good enough but more is always better.

Kevin

 

[torquepower85]

Actually....it happened about 8 in the morning....wife just came out of the shower...heard the rattle of the bottles...looked at the monitor (The Lorex has a LCD display that looks like a digital photo frame), saw the guy out there...the rest you see.

It was about 7 min from the time he walked up until she came out...I edited it for shortness....

Guy went to jail.....have not seen him since...

Geez that's scary. Good thing you had the cameras.

 

[Kevin C]

Same guy when he checked the front door.

 

[Falcon67]

From our experience here at work, if you don't use a camera with at least 720p resolution, you are likely not going to ID anything in the video. We're testing new cameras now and 720p is about the min for seeing anything useful as far as "who was that". Also, if you plan to do "capture on motion" and the PC software does the detecting - meaning, it's not done in the camera - then you better have one kick *** PC. Stuff we've looked at (Sony, Ubiquity, others I forget) have software that ***** and will kill a good sized desktop trying to do motion detection. Better to go 5 frames or less per second and use a big azz disk. How big? Take crappy VGA 640x480 resolution, 5 frames, 24hr recording, 30 day storage = 360 Gig. That's one cheap camera. Go HD 720p, h.264 codec cuts that by storage by 1/3. So remember the camera isn't all there is to it.

 

[Kevin C]

The cameras I use have built in motion detection. I use that to trigger the video recording. For night use, a motion light works as a great aid. The PIR sensor in the security light finds people a lot better than the camera can.

When the light turns on, it always is enough to trigger the motion detect in the camera.

The camera in my video clips are 640 x 480. At work we used to use a brand called IQeye. Pricey but great resolution.

http://www.iqeye.com/products/productselector.html

My Cheepo units are OK... Way better than not having anything.

 

[e-tek]

What brand and model camera are these?

Kinda looks like he looks right into the camera and runs.

We just bought a house and are going with camera system. Nothing beats a barking dog though.

We just got rid of our dog - things couldn't be more peaceful.

 

[Kevin C]

That reminds me to fix the doorbell... My mutt seems to sleep a bit harder now that she is ten. Having a doorbell go off is a sure way to get her riled up.

Talk about bad timing... The prowler incident happened they day before I had to fly to Boston. My wife was leaving the next day. She had to stay in the house alone and was a little bit freaked out that night.

Sometimes it seems to all happen at once.