Home Security CCTV

bluesnake

A camera will not deter, unless it is easily seen, or made public.

With bad, cheap lighting on a decent camera you will still get nothing. LED lighting does not really flood large room areas, but are a bight source, but they rarely cover distance. I've used a 6 led webcam and it work up to about 20cm. A 56 led cctv cam covers about 8m but will only recognise the persons features around 5m

If the person wears a hoodie or cap then you may also not be able to recognise him due to angles

With motion monitoring, you will pick up light changes like clouds, rain, snow, stuff being blow around the gardem, foxes, cats, litter, trees moving.

a friend uses a cheap rape alarm with a string. His problem is dampness, and has not got to grips with covering it with a plastic bag yet, so buys a new one every 6 months.

Perhaps you should invest in a little razor wire too, or reverse a carpet gripper rod.

neilwoods

bluesnake wrote: »

A camera will not deter, unless it is easily seen, or made public.

With bad, cheap lighting on a decent camera you will still get nothing. LED lighting does not really flood large room areas, but are a bight source, but they rarely cover distance. I've used a 6 led webcam and it work up to about 20cm. A 56 led cctv cam covers about 8m but will only recognise the persons features around 5m

If the person wears a hoodie or cap then you may also not be able to recognise him due to angles

With motion monitoring, you will pick up light changes like clouds, rain, snow, stuff being blow around the gardem, foxes, cats, litter, trees moving.

a friend uses a cheap rape alarm with a string. His problem is dampness, and has not got to grips with covering it with a plastic bag yet, so buys a new one every 6 months.

Perhaps you should invest in a little razor wire too, or reverse a carpet gripper rod.

56 led infrared will cover a lot further than 8m, as for recognition, that will be down to fov (lens) & sensor in camera.

As for being triggered by everything, that is why correct placement of camera essential and using the hood light. Also setting the right sensitivity for each camera. Plus you can tell each camera to ignore certain areas, like trees or busy roadway.

Any system will be limited if they wear hoodie or cap.

bluesnake

neilwoods wrote: »

56 led infrared will cover a lot further than 8m, as for recognition, that will be down to fov (lens) & sensor in camera.

As for being triggered by everything, that is why correct placement of camera essential and using the hood light. Also setting the right sensitivity for each camera. Plus you can tell each camera to ignore certain areas, like trees or busy roadway.

Any system will be limited if they wear hoodie or cap.

Mine ebay special with its sony sensor covers about 8m. At about 10m there is a difference in noise against a wooden fence, but you cant make out a definite shape, just grey splodge. Think in my case it is more of a sensor issue. Also would be better if I had white walls than open dirt.

The thing is a lot of councils and public offices have spent lots to get CCTV installed by professionals, and beside speeding cameras, most do not catch anything and the arrest rate is still abysmal. Met police reported 1 solvable case for every 1000 cameras. I am of the opinion that people do expect too much, without realising the limitations of the system, especially in low light.

I would doubt there is any spontaneity in stealing someone's pet from their home, but is a camera system is still better than nothing.

mttylad

I would spend the money on increasing the security around the home, fixing the gate - the fence etc. Before buyinng CCTV to attempts to catch them after they have been.

And buy the best quality cameras you can afford, the rest is standard stuff. Hide the DVR also, dont have it in the living room with the DVD player etc - otherwise when you get broken into - that gets nicked too.

I had mine in the boiler cupboard behind a false door so you could not tell it was there.

neilwoods

bluesnake wrote: »

Mine ebay special with its sony sensor covers about 8m. At about 10m there is a difference in noise against a wooden fence, but you cant make out a definite shape, just grey splodge. Think in my case it is more of a sensor issue. Also would be better if I had white walls than open dirt.

The thing is a lot of councils and public offices have spent lots to get CCTV installed by professionals, and beside speeding cameras, most do not catch anything and the arrest rate is still abysmal. Met police reported 1 solvable case for every 1000 cameras. I am of the opinion that people do expect too much, without realising the limitations of the system, especially in low light.

I would doubt there is any spontaneity in stealing someone's pet from their home, but is a camera system is still better than nothing.

Then that is down to your ebay special camera, buy cheap get cheap.

Cant even begin to compare street cams to home cctv, for the street cam to capture anything, they have to pointing in the direction of the incident at exact moment, chances of that happening are extremely slim. 99% of home cctv are fixed camera's, pointed at the exact are they want to cover.

If you have a decent camera, will be very surprised as to what it can see with just a street light on.

neilwoods

mttylad wrote: »

And buy the best quality cameras you can afford, the rest is standard stuff. Hide the DVR also, dont have it in the living room with the DVD player etc - otherwise when you get broken into - that gets nicked too.

Yes get best quality you can, but dont forget the DVR, no point having full HD camera if the DVR only records at 720x480. The DVR has 2 resolutions, the viewing resolution & record resolution.

Also hiding the DVR is also another good point, if you hook it upto your broadband, then you can access all functions from any PC or Tablet. So it can be hidden in the loft, basement, cupboard, or in a special steel box you can buy for them.

xxxdarlingxxx

Wow, thank you all so much for your great advice and suggestions. My garden is pretty secure with a locked gate but does border some woodland, I will look into some spikes for the top of the fence. Iam not so worried about the cctv in the dark as the fog is never out alone in the dark, just during the day while I am in the house. I am going to get cctv signs and will hide the dvr box as well, great tips.

Thank you do much, will let you know what I get.
xdx

neilwoods

Dont need to put sign's up, no legal requirement. But wherever you buy from, do speak to them, so they know exactly what you want, the measurement of the back garden, from house to wall, and how the cameras will go, same for the front. Also if a camera is required for side of house.

As for the spikes may want to speak to someone about them, as stupid as it sounds, apparently we have a duty of care to visitors (even scum people who want to break in). So speak to the police again, they should know.

bigmondy

EDIT:


Just posted a thread in techie on this - perhaps it is a better home for it.


https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4792982


Never the less this is a good thread with useful information - I would like to keep the debate going in the new thread if there is no objection by ADMIN.

Any specific manufacturers - combinations that the experts would recommend - type of DVR, those that can be linked wirelesly, any that might be web based and the best cameras that suit.

I myself have an end terrace that is adjacent to woodland and is poorly lit apart from one street light out front and a good bit behind the property.

An idiots guide for a 3 camera set-up would be most appreciated.

Thanks.

grumpycrab

PC Pro (issue 228) had a good article on writing Python scripts for motion detection using a USB camera. Its quite easy to simulate a "USB camera" with a cheap CCTV and capture device.