CCTV Advice

GrubbyGirl_2

Yesterday my front garden wall was demolished by a learner driver (in a proper driving school car) doing a 3 point turn.  Fortunately the instructor was honest and didn't drive away.  However this is the second time in 2 years it has happened as my street is quiet and is used a lot by driving instructors.  The first driver did drive away but fortunately the neighbour witnessed it and got the cars registration.

I have a Ring floodlight cam but that only covers the drive and as this all happened in the road it caught nothing though I do have 2 stills as it records stills every 30 seconds but they are not of a quality to see the registration.

I am looking for a good resolution CCTV system that will just record the front of my house.  I'm not looking for anything that requires a subscription (not that impressed with Ring anyway) I would like something that just continually records and can be accessed locally just so I can be sure I can get a record of this happens again.  The last repair cost £3,600 this one is going to be more as it's more extensive.  Does anyone have any suggestions?

baser999

Many years ago there was a ‘quiet’ residential road nearby where driving schools would practice three-point turns, parking, hill starts, everything. Learners in the street all day long. Eventually they asked the test centre to speak to the driving schools and they slowly went elsewhere. Is that a possibility at your location?

Typhoon2000

Have a look a at a Hikvision set with a NVR. A turret camera with what what ever resolution and features you require can be paired to a basic NVR and still allow you add more camera later if you need it. it records continually. And you can also access it remotely if you want to.

victor2

GrubbyGirl_2 said:

Yesterday my front garden wall was demolished by a learner driver (in a proper driving school car) doing a 3 point turn.  Fortunately the instructor was honest and didn't drive away.  However this is the second time in 2 years it has happened as my street is quiet and is used a lot by driving instructors.  The first driver did drive away but fortunately the neighbour witnessed it and got the cars registration.

I have a Ring floodlight cam but that only covers the drive and as this all happened in the road it caught nothing though I do have 2 stills as it records stills every 30 seconds but they are not of a quality to see the registration.

I am looking for a good resolution CCTV system that will just record the front of my house.  I'm not looking for anything that requires a subscription (not that impressed with Ring anyway) I would like something that just continually records and can be accessed locally just so I can be sure I can get a record of this happens again.  The last repair cost £3,600 this one is going to be more as it's more extensive.  Does anyone have any suggestions?

I have one of these...
virtavo Wireless Security Camera Outdoor, 1080P WiFi CCTV For Home Security, With Rechargeable Battery, Colorful Night Vision, Remote Access, PIR Motion Detection, 2-Way Audio, Alexa, SD/Cloud https://amzn.eu/d/1ah5076
I'm not that impressed if I'm honest, but it doesn't require power or the optional cloud storage and will store captured video onto an SD car, which you have to buy separately. You need a phone app and the camera connected to WiFi to view the videos, but it will capture them without a WiFi connection once set up.
A fully charged battery will probably last 1 or 2 weeks, rather than the months they suggest, but the video quality is good, even at night (in black & white).
You can see the files on the SD card if you connect it to a PC, but I haven't yet found a way to actually view them on a Windows PC!
It's over sensitive if anything, and the optional detection zone is pretty useless IME.
If you get it at a discounted price, you get what you pay for. 

GrubbyGirl_2

baser999 said:

Many years ago there was a ‘quiet’ residential road nearby where driving schools would practice three-point turns, parking, hill starts, everything. Learners in the street all day long. Eventually they asked the test centre to speak to the driving schools and they slowly went elsewhere. Is that a possibility at your location?

To be honest I don’t know, but worth a try. 

GrubbyGirl_2

victor2 said:

GrubbyGirl_2 said:

Yesterday my front garden wall was demolished by a learner driver (in a proper driving school car) doing a 3 point turn.  Fortunately the instructor was honest and didn't drive away.  However this is the second time in 2 years it has happened as my street is quiet and is used a lot by driving instructors.  The first driver did drive away but fortunately the neighbour witnessed it and got the cars registration.

I have a Ring floodlight cam but that only covers the drive and as this all happened in the road it caught nothing though I do have 2 stills as it records stills every 30 seconds but they are not of a quality to see the registration.

I am looking for a good resolution CCTV system that will just record the front of my house.  I'm not looking for anything that requires a subscription (not that impressed with Ring anyway) I would like something that just continually records and can be accessed locally just so I can be sure I can get a record of this happens again.  The last repair cost £3,600 this one is going to be more as it's more extensive.  Does anyone have any suggestions?

I have one of these...
virtavo Wireless Security Camera Outdoor, 1080P WiFi CCTV For Home Security, With Rechargeable Battery, Colorful Night Vision, Remote Access, PIR Motion Detection, 2-Way Audio, Alexa, SD/Cloud https://amzn.eu/d/1ah5076
I'm not that impressed if I'm honest, but it doesn't require power or the optional cloud storage and will store captured video onto an SD car, which you have to buy separately. You need a phone app and the camera connected to WiFi to view the videos, but it will capture them without a WiFi connection once set up.
A fully charged battery will probably last 1 or 2 weeks, rather than the months they suggest, but the video quality is good, even at night (in black & white).
You can see the files on the SD card if you connect it to a PC, but I haven't yet found a way to actually view them on a Windows PC!
It's over sensitive if anything, and the optional detection zone is pretty useless IME.
If you get it at a discounted price, you get what you pay for. 

I don’t mind paying good money for a properly installed system but the 2 places I’ve tried locally want a subscription. 

GrubbyGirl_2

This is the damage. It’s actually much worse than it looks as the wall to the left for a good 2 metres is leaning and the pillar is cracked at the base and to the right it’s cracked to the pillar. I reckon 2/3 of the wall will need rebuilding. 

Typhoon2000

A proper system would use a NVR ( Networked video recorder) which stores everything on it hard disc. With one 8megapixel camera a 2gig HD will give you 20 days or so or recoding before overwriting. No subscription. You have the option of remote access if you want and have broadband. A higher resolution camera  such as 5MP or more will allow you to zoom in to number plates and faces from a distance.

ThisIsWeird

I'd have thought that, for your needs, all that's required is a camera that uses an SD card. No cloud, no subscription.
Most, if not all, will also allow real time viewing over WiFi on a phone App, and also playback, but you usually need to remove the card to download a specific recording. But this isn't an issue, surely? You just let it run, and it loops/overrides every couple of weeks, and you only need to get hold of the recording when summat actually happens.
Would you be able to run a low voltage - say 12V - to it easily?
If the image captures a 'public' area, you should put a sign up.