CCTV against vandalism

shown73

Now that my old Volvo has been vandalised for a second time, I have been trying to investigate the possibility of rigging up some kind of simple, preferably not expensive, CCTV system, to catch the perp. I know who it is, but can't prove it, and I have to work, so can't sit up all night.
There seems to be a number of not too expensive systems on Ebay, but I have no idea how good they are, just don't have any experience. Police agree that it's a good idea, but what to use? I guess that some kind of recording would have to be made, but nothing would record the whole night, so would have to be triggered somehow. Car is in front of the house, so no great range requirement, and I'm going to rig up a security light, even though it's a public thoroughfare, and I suppose it will be going off every few minutes, but I can't let this b

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d keep getting away with it.
Luckily, most petty criminals are pretty stupid, and this one is no exeption, but I'm trying hard to keep myself, and family, on the right side, and not resort to revenge or anything like that, I'd like to have him properly slapped down, and video evidence could probably help.
So, if anyone has an idea where to look, I would be very grateful, and perhaps it could be useful to others as well, if it's reasonably simple, reasonably cheap, and reasonably effective. Cheers....

shown73

I noticed today that Woolies has a couple of systems, either one camera or two, with a tichy monitor, heavily reduced. Even so, the two camera system is £60. Very cheap, you might say, but rather expensive if they are poor performers, and not up to the job. With two cameras, it should be possible to cover the front and back of the house, which would be great, and there is even a take-off for a video recorder, but do they work, in this price range, or are they just a waste of money. Anyone tried such a thing???

kat21

You need a camera with pir detection, range may be important due to trade off in quality resolution is most important. Look for a camera that will detect motion and will work in the dark. Thats where you need to becarefull it has to be a pir detection camera with infa red leds. Not sure about privacy here as your pointing out onto the road? Try looking at argos to get some ideas. You could try looking at some webcams that work in the security sector remember it must have infa red detection.
and a pir for movement switching
kat21

chuckles1066

shown73 wrote:

Now that my old Volvo has been vandalised for a second time, I have been trying to investigate the possibility of rigging up some kind of simple, preferably not expensive, CCTV system, to catch the perp. I know who it is, but can't prove it, and I have to work, so can't sit up all night.
There seems to be a number of not too expensive systems on Ebay, but I have no idea how good they are, just don't have any experience. Police agree that it's a good idea, but what to use? I guess that some kind of recording would have to be made, but nothing would record the whole night, so would have to be triggered somehow. Car is in front of the house, so no great range requirement, and I'm going to rig up a security light, even though it's a public thoroughfare, and I suppose it will be going off every few minutes, but I can't let this b

---

d keep getting away with it.
Luckily, most petty criminals are pretty stupid, and this one is no exeption, but I'm trying hard to keep myself, and family, on the right side, and not resort to revenge or anything like that, I'd like to have him properly slapped down, and video evidence could probably help.
So, if anyone has an idea where to look, I would be very grateful, and perhaps it could be useful to others as well, if it's reasonably simple, reasonably cheap, and reasonably effective. Cheers....

As a sad reflection on today's society, when you say the car is "in front" of your house, do you mean on a public highway?

If so, you will have to overcome Data Protection Act issues.

If the area you are filming is your own property, you're a lot safer; I have two 0 lux IR cameras hooked upto a GeoVision 800 capture card in my pc.

I can record 24/7, only between certain times or only on motion detect.

I can have the software send me an email with a jpg attachment if it encounters any movement while I'm at work.

Alternatively, I can have it ring me with a pre-recorded message.

Or send me a text message.

And all footage captured gets uploaded to my personal webspace so even if the intruder makes off with my pc, I still have the evidence.

Best investment I ever made.........