CCTV Camera for home security (car vandalised!)

MadMarcUK

Hello, I hope someone may be able to offer me some advice.
Last night someone stabbed 3 of my tyres with a knife or something and today I had to fork out to replace all the tyres (£132)!!!!

I was thinking about buying a home CCTV security camera and hooking it up to my PC and film my car each night storing the video on my hard disk, and if anything had happened to it I could find out who it was (car has been vandalised 5 times in last 6 months)

The camera would need to probably have night vision and the car is parked outside my flat and is approx 20 metres away from my front window and it is fairly lowly lit.

Does anyone have advice on a camera to buy and software to use,, and just any general comments or ideas? I saw night vision cameras in Maplin for around £100. But by the fact it cost me over £130 just for one little incident i dont mind investing in the security of my car.

Thanks to you all in advance.

jamescmac88

Hi,

I have a similar problem. House next to me is a council house and the neighbours are a bunch of reprobates... Come into my garden at night, trash the place, and put a brick through my window the other night...

I've just order a camera off eBay with built-in LED's to light up when it's dark. I installed similar ones at work, which have a perfect picture at night, though they were a bit more pricey. This one was £20 including postage. I'll PM you when it arrives and let you know if it's any good.

Just a word of warning though - I was at the police about installing a camera, and you have to ensure the camera only views your property - i.e., if my camera looked over say a metre of my neighbours garden, they then bricked my windows again, the video could be thrown out in court as I would be infringing their right to privacy or some mumbo jumbo...

I'll be infringing his right to walk soon...

Rant over

jamescmac88

loaner wrote: »

you'll probably need something zoomable at that distance, and the leds probably won't be much use at that range, is a halogen floodlight a possibility

in the meantime, if you have a webcam, you could try MJPEG Surveillance

http://www.brooksyounce.com/

You'd be surprised at the LED's. The LED's on the camera's at work we installed (in a theme park, so security's a must have) give good visibility for a decent 10-15m. Enough to make out someone's face anyway.

I've no idea if the infra-red cameras that are around are any good :cool: I'd imagine it would just be a green and black picture, able to make out outlines etc?

flashy

MadMarcUK wrote: »

Hello, I hope someone may be able to offer me some advice.
Last night someone stabbed 3 of my tyres with a knife or something and today I had to fork out to replace all the tyres (£132)!!!!

I was thinking about buying a home CCTV security camera and hooking it up to my PC and film my car each night storing the video on my hard disk, and if anything had happened to it I could find out who it was (car has been vandalised 5 times in last 6 months)

The camera would need to probably have night vision and the car is parked outside my flat and is approx 20 metres away from my front window and it is fairly lowly lit.

Does anyone have advice on a camera to buy and software to use,, and just any general comments or ideas? I saw night vision cameras in Maplin for around £100. But by the fact it cost me over £130 just for one little incident i dont mind investing in the security of my car.

Thanks to you all in advance.

Hello MadMarcUK. Sorry to hear some little scrotes have done damage to your pride and joy.

I have fitted CCTV systems professionally, namely IP Based camera systems.

You have PM, i have recommended you some software to use for recording.

WIth regards to the setup, you would be best to go for a non-wireless system, the cheap systems you buy from Ebay are not up to the job, especially when it coems to night vision.

You would require the following:

Minimum of 80GB Hard Disk Space for Recording (this will record around 14 days on an IP Camera continously)

Windows 2000/XP/Server 2003.

A Network Hub/Switch

Network Cabling and Power to the Camera.

You would be best to set the recording schedule to 24/7, either using motion detection or not, up to you.

A Decent, IP Camera which will give you full night vision is mega bucks, (£1000 per camera) also vandalproof. I would recommend you opt for a mid budget model, and put some outside lighting in the area to aid the InfraRed camera, not facing the camera, possible above it to light up the car.

Camera recommendation: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/147928
Don't buy one from Maplin's as it will not be able to see a thing, nor will you have any clear footage when you come to catching the little gits.

If you need a hand, PM me, depending where you live, i could come and consuly for you.

Hoope this is all of help to you. :beer:

MadMarcUK

Hello,, thank you all for your messages. To clarify more,
I live in a middle floor flat (out of 3 floors), and I have allocated parking, but it is about 40 metres to the side (still in view of my front window),, or some on road parking right out the front about 15 metres from mywindow (in clear view),, so I was thinking of rigging up a camera looking onto the side of the road and park my car there instead of my allocated space.
I can sort out a PC with plenty of hard drive space no problem, and I will be able to find software (thanks for the link above),, it was just a camera.

I wont be able to install any lighting as it would be shining onto the road. The sideroad is street lit, but dim. So a camera that works in low light levels would be ideal. I will take a photo out my front window tonite or tomoz nite and post it so you can see what I mean to see if this helps decide what camera to purchase.

Many thanks to you all again for your help adn support
(by the way, the police seemed to think a camera was a good idea as this is about 6th time in 12 months and they want to catch them, full support from them!)

Reluctant_spender

jamescmac88 wrote: »

Hi,
Just a word of warning though - I was at the police about installing a camera, and you have to ensure the camera only views your property - i.e., if my camera looked over say a metre of my neighbours garden, they then bricked my windows again, the video could be thrown out in court as I would be infringing their right to privacy or some mumbo jumbo...
I'll be infringing his right to walk soon...
Rant over

Not quite - a public authority has to consider collateral intrusion and the right to privacy but the State can also limit these if these is a justified reason hence RIPA.

As a private citizen and as long as you are not filming and capturing inside their home you should be alright.

flashy

the vivotek will do excellent in low light conditions, if you have "some" lighting, then this will help, the camera can then focus on something.

With regards to privacy, you need to watch it, but you will find many people who have CCTV, arent keeping it to their own drive, e.g. they overlook the road too. Keep it facing your property/car parking area and you will be fine.

You need to make sure the footage is time stamped (not just the avi filename) to be able to use it in court. the police support you, so you would probably have no problems in using the footage in your case mate.

Buying a CCTV camera is a bit like buying a normal camera, the more money you spend, the better the image, framerate and InfraRed.

AdamMerry

http://www.iviewcameras.co.uk/?refsource=ivadwords

These have just started selling CCTV's, don't know what the prices are like but worth checking out

bonzer

Bit of a crazy idea but could you put a wireless camera inside your car and record it in your flat? You could run the camera, transmitter and infra-red LEDs for night vision off the cigarette lighter. As it would be closer you'd get a better picture of the criminal's face and possibly you wouldn't need as expensive a camera. As the recorder is in your flat, if they steal or damage the camera you'd still have the images.

Since you've got line of sight from your flat to your car, you should be able to get the receiver into a position where you can get a good signal you would have thought.

Bonzer

MadMarcUK

Hello,, thanks for the posts guys,, there is lots of useful information.
I have taken some photos from my window and here are the photos (i panarama's them to show the perspective)
if you click on link and do "save image as" you can get the full size image.
Basically,,, on the very right is my allocated parking space (ringed in red),,, but i could park my car on the road (like where the blue clio or the white van is),, but obviously if it is busy i cannot guarantee there will be spaces.
this was taken at 10pm tonite,, so this is a good indication of the light levels (taken with normal digital camera with no flash).
Does anyone have any more comments about which CCTV camera to get or whether i need a Night mode one or anything?
Regards to you all

leosayer39

flashy wrote: »

Hello MadMarcUK. Sorry to hear some little scrotes have done damage to your pride and joy.

I have fitted CCTV systems professionally, namely IP Based camera systems.

You have PM, i have recommended you some software to use for recording.

Camera recommendation: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/147928

Wouldn't mind knowing the software that you have recommended. You can PM me if you dont want to put it on this thread

Leo