Hard Drive Recorder (NON PC) for Surveillance

neilwoods

Those small camera's also tend to have a set focus on them and are wide angle. So anything beyond 20 - 30 feet, you would be hard pushed to recognise anyone.

Most new DVR should only take minutes to backup, obviously it all depends on how much you are backing up as well. Even if set to continuous record, if you know the date and time of incedent, you can enter the start date and time, then end date and time, and it will just backup that particular segment.

If set to motion, just click on the particular files you want and backup. If you were to backup to VCR or DVD that you put play back on a vcr or standard dvd player , then that would mean to re-encode, so yes that will take time. I know the police where i live are happy to take usb pen drives in the original H.264 (mpeg4) format

RealGem

Thanks guys

The camera is not an issue. I have seen the quality of the one we have and to get to the side door you would HAVE to walk about a foot away from the camera. (It's hid behind a china figurine) And it has night vision. Anyone would be recognisable unless they wore a balaclava!

Yes, we might just keep the VCR. I just thought it would be cool to make DVDs to give all the neighbours, as the person I think it is, no-one else believes could do it!

neilwoods

Yeah may be cool until you end up getting arrested. What if one of the neighbours saw it and decided to take matters into there hands. It is possible you could arrested for inciting the neighbour to take the law into there hands. Or if this is person is arrested and put on trial, they could argue that by giving out the video, they won't get a fair trial. Yes crazy, but it could happen.

if you get video footage just give it to the police.

RealGem

neilwoods wrote: »

Yeah may be cool until you end up getting arrested. What if one of the neighbours saw it and decided to take matters into there hands. It is possible you could arrested for inciting the neighbour to take the law into there hands. Or if this is person is arrested and put on trial, they could argue that by giving out the video, they won't get a fair trial. Yes crazy, but it could happen.

if you get video footage just give it to the police.

Thanks I appreciate your advice, but I doubt the type of damage would be taken seriously by the police. My Dad does not even want them involved. He's scared of what would happen next.

The perp is URINATING through the letterbox!!!

He'd get a caution at best. It certainly wouldn't go to trial, not where he lives, where petty crime happens a lot.

The camera would not be facing the letterbox; it would be on the front path, so it would not be sufficient evidence according to the police, but my Dad will know who is responsible.

The plan is to make it known to the person responsible that Dad is "going to get a surveillance system" because "someone is peeing through the letterbox". This will hopefully prevent any further anti-social activity against my Dad.

thanks

neilwoods

If you think about it, could be classed as indecent exposure.

May be a odd thing to suggest. Next time your dad goes out, try spread some chilli paste or powder on the letterbox, not the flap but on the inside. May give the sicko something to think about.

RealGem

neilwoods wrote: »

If you think about it, could be classed as indecent exposure.

May be a odd thing to suggest. Next time your dad goes out, try spread some chilli paste or powder on the letterbox, not the flap but on the inside. May give the sicko something to think about.

Thanks, we thought of something similar, but it would end up all over his mail too. Also the person could be putting the fluid into a container first, especially as Dad has a draught excluder, so I would have thought that would pinch a bit!

neilwoods

One way would be to use a strip of plastic to place into letterbox, before he goes out and removes when gets back in. But yeah if using a bottle then not much good.

Need to have the camera outside then if you can, slightly to the side of the house covering the front door then, but may not catch the face.

mttylad

Try looking at something like this:
http://www.maplin.co.uk/250gb-h.264-network-cctv-dvr-with-4-ccd-cameras-and-smart-phone-access-537506