CCTV real or fake? good idea?

peachespeaches

We are having problems with kids outside on our wall, graffitti minor nuisance incidents etc. We are in the process of getting metal gates and railings sorted out hoping it will help. We have just started to involve the police and they are coming rround hoping to catch the trouble causers and give them a talking to, possibly an ABC. I discussed CCTV with the neighbourhood policeman and he said I might as well get a dummy one as the real thing, because even on expensive systems the pictures they get are so poor it could be anyone.

Is a 4.99 fake camera really going to fool anyone? Has anyone gone down the road of the CCTV and found it helpful? Is there an easy DIY kit that doesnt require welding or messing about with house wiring or anything?

googler

Rig up speakers and play Grand Opera, Stockhausen or Philip Glass to them of an evening.

Get an ultrasonic deterrent from B&Q, the type that's branded for deterring cats and dogs - younger folks may/will be irritated by the ultrasonics.

Get a stills camera with remote control, and take still pictures yourself. These will be better quality than CCTV, and should be of more use.

sharkie

would you be fooled with a £4.99 camera, especially if it has no cables attached?


as mentioned above you do get motion detection and camera triggering s/w that supports some cameras.

movement detection is a bit problematic as event near or far, including rain triggers recording

B'stard

Borrow Ashley Cole's air rifle...

peachespeaches

I think I am going to try a wireless cctv system, even if the pictures arent good enough for the police, at least I will be able to see if anything is happening at the touch of a button, without going outside.

vijay9

peachespeaches wrote: »

I think I am going to try a wireless cctv system, even if the pictures arent good enough for the police, at least I will be able to see if anything is happening at the touch of a button, without going outside.

Two options with wireless: - you could have the receiver connected to your TV, which means you will be unable to record anything, but as you say you can "see if anything is happening at the touch of a button, without going outside." - you could probably get a single wireless camera for around £100.

The other option is to link it to some kind of recorder (DVR) this will probably add around £100 to the cost of the camera above.

Good luck!

Fred_Bear_2

peachespeaches wrote: »

I discussed CCTV with the neighbourhood policeman and he said I might as well get a dummy one as the real thing, because even on expensive systems the pictures they get are so poor it could be anyone.

Can this really be true? We are in the 21st century after all.

I would like to install CCTV but I have found it impossible so far to get reliable information.

sharkie

I for outside, I would recommend getting IR ones for night viewing. One that can luminate at 15m is usually able to capture a sort of recognizable picture at around 7 metres.

Normal cheapo web cams just do not do it, a total waste of time.

KillerWatt

peachespeaches wrote: »

I discussed CCTV with the neighbourhood policeman and he said I might as well get a dummy one as the real thing, because even on expensive systems the pictures they get are so poor it could be anyone.

He has obviously only ever seen the £299 rubbish that the likes of Maplin sell from time to time.
If you buy the proper kit then you get proper results, but the proper kit costs proper money (as does anything in life).

Esoog

KillerWatt wrote: »

He has obviously only ever seen the £299 rubbish that the likes of Maplin sell from time to time.
If you buy the proper kit then you get proper results, but the proper kit costs proper money (as does anything in life).

Must be a lot of proper, we have all singing all dancing infra-red cameras at work...and they're rubbish. And I'm talking government (to be not so specific) here

DaftyDuck

Firstly, I don't think a fake camera will deter the youth - they'll dance around in front of it for a while, and realise there's no response after a day or two... then prolly just think it funny that they've raised a reaction.
Secondly, I'm not sure what quality other posters are getting, but, in this house, I have two Aldi cheapo CCTV cameras out front, and they can pick up numberplates in the street 30 feet away at night in the dark. I have no problem recognising faces at that distance. They are wireless and tiny, and only cost about £40. They connect direct to my TV/PVR. I think they were selling a similar device this year a couple of weeks ago, so your local one might have some left.
I think that, in this house, getting the CCTV in before we had any misbehaviour has acted as a deterrent. Whether it will work for you.... I suppose it depends on the kids, the severity of the problem, and the neighbourhood... but may be worth a go.
(I also have one of these cameras trained on the bottom of the back garden, so I can watch the wildlife at night. Easily good enough for that, and beats Springwatch - no nauseating presenters!)