Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Home Security video systems

It seems like the methheads in the valley are on a burglary spree. Im thinking it might be a good idea to install some cameras so there is incontrovertible evidence of who is doing it. It seems if you go to the right church in this valley there is a higher standard of proof necessary.

Recommendations on a system? Things to look for?

Good question, I've been looking at some systems at Sams , they have some 1080p systems on display that look to be good quality.

Do you want one that notifies you when there is an alarm (expensive, and needs a contract with someone to monitor), or one that records, and shows "after the fact" pictures, or videos ?

I have this one (after the fact system to record).
And it works for what I want. I can check on my IPhone or IPad at any time...

Lorex 8 channel

You may want to look at the SimpliSafe Home Security system - This is a wireless system that requires no contract and if you want it a $15/month fee to monitor the system and to call the cops.

I went with the Nest camera (same folks that sell the Nest thermostat). No sensors on doors and windows, the camera detects motion or sounds and sends out an alert. I receive a notification on my cell phone within seconds of detection (same on my computer). The down side is a single camera, so drastically reduced coverage. Video data is stored on a cloud and that costs $100/year for a rolling 10 day storage package. They now offer outdoor camera systems. The only down side is a continuous uplink of video data, depends on your Internet provider. Supposedly, the system can be made to store the data locally.

Drove through Etna on the 12th - looking at fall colors and the cheese factory (that closed five years ago)... Went back to Alpine and then up the Gray River - the maples had all dropped their leaves. Lunch at Yankee Doodles...

Craig

I saw you as you drove past the shop, Craig. I waved but you didnt see me I guess. LOL

Probably just a local record only for after the fact. Usually there is a dog and cat in the house so motion sensing isnt going to work.

A lot of new technology out there in the last couple of years.
A guy was telling me that his security set up notified his cell phone one day while he was out fishing in a boat. He looked on his phone and seen a truck backed up to garage loading stuff. He even read the tag#. Called the cops with a description and the tag# and they had the guys before he even made it home.

SRM, I thought I saw someone waving when I went by...

I get about six to ten notifications a day (notifications are local only, that is to my iPhone or computer) - myself, the cats, moths attracted to the infrared lights that come on at night.

The system has the ability to only send out a notification to my iPhone if I was away from the house. However, I don't trust myself to remember to reset it (as I want it to alarm at night when I am at home) so I just let it send notifications and then delete them. The ten day rolling storage gives me a record if needed.

When I get a notification I can look and see what the camera is detecting as long as I have cell phone coverage. I can then decide to call the cops, OR 99.999% of the time simply delete the notification.

Send me a PM if you want to learn more about the Nest camera system.

Most of the newer, and better, systems use video motion detection(VMD), not passive infrared(PIR) to trigger an alert.

The better systems (VMD) actually use a change in the pixels of an image to trigger an alert.
The number and location of the "triggering" pixels in the image is user-defined, so you can, most often, set the location in the image and set a minimum size (# of pixels) that need to be changed before the alert is triggered.
This is done within the software and you simply outline that area you want a trigger in, or an area that you do not want a trigger in.
So, if your camera sees out of window, or the yard and the street view is in the image, you can block the part of the image containing the street and it won't trigger when a car goes by or a pedestrian walks by on the sidewalk.
You can also block out the floor in a room, up to a height taller than your pet(s) so they are not constantly triggering the system.

The best systems use a cellular link so a burglar can't chop your phone line to disable the system and they will have the capability to record onsite as well as transmit the captured video.

There is a lot more to share on these systems and some minimum camera specs you should look for.

Do you guys think there is enough interest here for a full-blown article on this subject?

Ed

I'd surely be interested in a full on article. I'm going to get a decent system in the near future and I want to know what "decent" means.

OK. I have some things to do for the rest of the day, but I will sit down this evening and start putting together the specs (and why) of systems.

Ed

THANKS!!!!

got the Samsung 10 camera system from Sam's


love the danged thing, already caught one thief with it

BTT

I got one from Amazon, a brand called Zosi.

8 cameras, 1 DVR and it has a 1tb hard drive in it.

It can store about 2 weeks worth of recording on continuous overwrite.

I use an app called Zsight to monitor the camera on my phone. Everyone in the family has the app so they can check.

Like mentioned before, I had a branch that would pop into the camera and set off the motion alter so I went into the system and told it to ignore the area where the branch was.

Night viewing is OK - I can see clearly about 40 yards out, anything more gets a bit pixelated. A guy broke into my neighbors truck a couple of months ago and I could tell him that it was a black chevy impala and it happened at 3:40am but I couldn't pick out a license plate or much of anything else because it was about 70 yards away.

Picked up the whole deal for about $225 and I bought additional wiring for another $30. None of it is wireless, there is no audio and there is no pan/zoom