Security Camera

[Jorddyn]

So, some douchebag (I'm assuming) teenagers have decided hahahah funny to vandalize my neighborhood. At first it was a mailbox here and there, but has progressed to windows (house, garage, car) being busted out, random spray paint, broken lights, etc.

I'm on a corner, and two of the others on my corner have been hit, as has the only right-next-door neighbor that I have, so I'm figuring I'm coming up on the list.

Anyone have any experience with security cameras? I know it won't stop anyone from vandalizing my house - I just want them caught. Would likely have to have night vision as the street is kind of dark, and would prefer either motion activated or some sort of loop.

[Jorddyn]

Side note - it's fricking January in Iowa, and you're wandering outside looking for shit to break? You seriously are a pathetic waste of a life.

[waywardgs]

Get a security camera with a gun attached to it.

Then remove the camera and replace it with a scope.

[4a6c1]

Oh well hmm. This is something a friend of a friend told me he does. When you move into a bad area like that spend at least a day sitting on your front lawn with a barbeque grill, a lawn chair and every weapon you own on a blanket in front of you. Then just take them apart and clean them and load them and strike up conversations with any passersby.

I know, it's a redneck move. But hey it might work. Or they might create a new deed restriction just for you that outlines rules about arsenals in front yards at barbeques. And then the ice cream man refuses to drive down your street and you start getting volunteered to solve petty arguments everywhere and your peasants send you baskets of fruit and sometimes a chicken for your table. THE POSSIBILITIES ARE ENDLESS. AND CHICKENS ARE AWESOME.

All I know about cameras are that they break all the damn time and new ones are expensive and you have to change out the tape which becomes a chore.

[Paradii]

You could do it on the relative cheap and buy some trail cameras used for locating game. Bushnell sells a few cheaper decent ones that can be activated by motion or on a time delay.

I have about twenty of them for research purposes. They are about 6x4 inches, 2-3 inches deep.

They are also fun to set up at in the main room at house parties in order to get some candid party shots.

[Delias]

You could do it on the relative cheap and buy some trail cameras used for locating game. Bushnell sells a few cheaper decent ones that can be activated by motion or on a time delay.

I have about twenty of them for research purposes. They are about 6x4 inches, 2-3 inches deep.

They are also fun to set up at in the main room at house parties in order to get some candid party shots.

Bury a bunch of shotgun rounds poised over a nail just underneath the grass.

[Latrinsorm]

Before you buy one, I think you should check to see if it's legal. It would probably be pretty annoying to put time and money into it and then have it all be for naught.

[Paradii]

what would be illegal about putting a camera on your property?

[Archigeek]

You could do it on the relative cheap and buy some trail cameras used for locating game. Bushnell sells a few cheaper decent ones that can be activated by motion or on a time delay.

I have about twenty of them for research purposes. They are about 6x4 inches, 2-3 inches deep.

They are also fun to set up at in the main room at house parties in order to get some candid party shots.

Not a bad idea, those things are great. Video would be nice too though. I noticed that Costco was running a special where you get half a dozen cameras and a split screen monitor, etc. I think it's all digital these days, so no tape changes? Not sure though, and those probably aren't that cheap.

I would refrain from boobie traps for obvious reasons.

[Stanley Burrell]

Preemptive action: Break all your windows, slash your car's tires and spray paint "TOO LATE, BITCHES." On the side of your house.

That'll show'm.

Also, Jorddyn-lady-gal, invite me over and get me intoxicated, but just ... remind me I'm siding with you and not the vandals.

[Warriorbird]

As a former purveyor of such things, you can get unmonitored motion activated ones pretty cheaply. Just make sure they work with low light.

[Delias]

I would refrain from boobie traps for obvious reasons.

This is just ridiculous. I mean, you are so wrong I don't even know where to begin.

You know what you should do? Just go out in the front yard one day and start shooting holes in the ground, cursing bugs bunny. That will tell your neighborhood you're not to be fucked with.

[Parkbandit]

I put in a security camera system in my house about 5 years back. I'm sure in the past 5 years it's become cheaper and easier to install.. but it literally took me 4-5 hours total time.. and that was including going into the attic, drilling holes through cement and running all the lines. I think a 4 camera system back then, with a monitor and multiplexer cost me about $800.

You can do it much cheaper today and much easier... remote wireless cameras that will connect to your computer.

You can go with small cameras to catch them.. or bigger cameras to prevent them.

[AnticorRifling]

You can go with small cameras to catch them.. or bigger cameras to prevent them.

Actually since you're dealing with vandals this isn't a bad idea but one change up. Get the small ones that function and get the fake, cheap, non functioning large ones to deter. If they smash them you're out 20 bucks.

[Parkbandit]

Actually since you're dealing with vandals this isn't a bad idea but one change up. Get the small ones that function. Get the fake, cheap, non functioning large ones to deter. If they smash them you're out 20 bucks.

Yea.. but you won't catch them that way.

Get a working camera, then if they smash it, you can give the police the video and get them arrested.

I like my plan better...

[AnticorRifling]

Yea.. but you won't catch them that way.

Get a working camera, then if they smash it, you can give the police the video and get them arrested.

I like my plan better...

You're retarded. I'm saying you get both, so they focus on, and smash the big ones. HUR DERP

[Parkbandit]

You're retarded. I'm saying you get both, so they focus on, and smash the big ones. HUR DERP

I'll fucking kill you.

/dd 313 g

[Delias]

I'll fucking kill you.

/dd 313 g

Backtraced.

[crb]

Security cameras are relatively cheap now. I've got my house wired up, the hardest thing was running the wired.

Get CCTV (wired) cameras, wireless ones aren't worth the trouble.

The cameras can be had for less than $100 each, and you can get cards & software that allow you to hook them up to a PC, or a special DVR like appliance. I've got a DVR with a 1 terabyte drive that is recording from 3 cameras.

I have a wholesale account with some company, I do that sometimes, because I own a retail business. They sent me this flyer the other day.

http://www.virilneus.com/qsee.jpg

The night vision works fairly well. Some of the software can also allow you to tag for movement. A program called "WebCam monitor" worked well for that, if you get a card that has the input jacks for your PC.

I've had them outdoors since 2008 here in Michigan, no maintenance, nothing, work fine. Just gotta delete old files when the hard drive gets full.

[crb]

Another thing I did... I got a wireless TV thing and take the output from the DVR in the basement and beam it up to my second floor office where I've got a small cheap flat panel mounted just above my dual monitors. I didn't want to run more wires for that (for various reasons), but it works. So I can see all the exterior views of the house anytime I'm sitting at my desk. I did this both for security, but also because sometimes I can't hear someone knocking from the office, it is too far away from the front of the house.

[Latrinsorm]

what would be illegal about putting a camera on your property?Legal in the sense of "admissible in court". Given how many other dumb rules there are for that, would you be shocked if police weren't allowed to use footage obtained this way?

[AnticorRifling]

Legal in the sense of "admissible in court". Given how many other dumb rules there are for that, would you be shocked if police weren't allowed to use footage obtained this way?

It should be good enough for probable cause and get the ball rolling at the very least.

[IorakeWarhammer]

Get a head unit for a car, and place it on the trip plate of a GIANT bear trap outside your home.

[EasternBrand]

It should be good enough for probable cause and get the ball rolling at the very least.

Nope. Fruit of the poisonous tree. Can't admit evidence if the source of the evidence is unlawful (subject to a few exceptions). But I don't see why the videotapes wouldn't be admissible in this scenario. Recordings are used all the time in liquor store holdups, for instance. And anyway, if a court won't touch it, the local news outlets could still run it. There's no justice like mob justice!

[Jorddyn]

When you move into a bad area like that spend at least a day sitting on your front lawn with a barbeque grill, a lawn chair and every weapon you own on a blanket in front of you.


What really sucks is I picked this neighborhood because it is one of the safest in Iowa City. And Iowa City itself is relatively safe to begin with.


You know what you should do? Just go out in the front yard one day and start shooting holes in the ground, cursing bugs bunny. That will tell your neighborhood you're not to be fucked with.

I'm relatively sure that it isn't kids from our neighborhood, and I rather like my neighbors, so I think I'll pass. A couple people have seen bits and pieces o suspicous stuff, and both have said they got in their car afterwards. My neighborhood is like a 4 block x 4 block square with only two roads out (leading to the same road). Though, I guess they could be supremely lazy vandals.

My bet is honestly on kids from the other side of the main road that my neighborhood fronts. It's full of spoiled little entitled bastards. Yes, I'm bitter.


I put in a security camera system in my house about 5 years back.

Well hell, if you can do it, I DEFINITELY can do it. :)

[Drisco]

Just put up a huge spotlight at nighttime. Like a massive LED bright light and they won't vandalize under it. Then put up a fake "Under Surveillance" sign with a video camera on it.

[LMingrone]

You should be able to do it for free. I took mine apart awhile ago, so you should be able to do even more cool shit now.

Any camera(s) should work, just depends on what kind of quality video you want. There's plenty of free software out there that lets you do all kinds of fun stuff.

I just liked messing around with my setup just to see what kind of secret agent stuff I could pull off. I started off with a cheap camera pointing out the window, and free software that had so many options you could practically do anything with it. All it basically did at first was play an mp3 when a car pulled into my driveway. Tweaks then followed:

1. Made it so it recorded video to a hard drive with any movement +5 minutes after movement stopped.
2. Color detection
3. Setup scripts to do various things depending on what color car pulled in, and work the same way depending on what time of day it was.
4. More coding to have it call my phone if anyone pulled in my driveway when I knew no one should be there. Remote viewing so I could view what was going on when I wasn't at home.
5. Built a ghetto, but, awesome 180 degree motion tracker with a cheap I/O setup. Now it would track any movement anywhere in front of the house.
6. Outdoor speakers, microphone near the front door.

I just used it to scare the shit out of family and friends, and harass the idiots in my neighborhood. Me at work, get a call from my computer, remote view that shit: "Hey look! It's the SO at the front door! Time to max out the volume of the speakers and blast the loudest most annoying sound ever!!" "Fucking Jehovah's Witnesses again. Time for some quiet creepy satanic sounds!".

Last thing I used it for was to try to make a remote turret for my paintball guns (for matches with friends, not shooting people at my front door). I gave up and took it all apart as it was too slow to actually hit anyone that was moving.

I'm bored, maybe I'll try this again. TO THE VAULT!


-

[Paradii]

I completely missed the part where you said you lived in Iowa. I would like to retract my advice. The vandals are actually increasing your property value by destroying it.

[TheEschaton]

Legal in the sense of "admissible in court". Given how many other dumb rules there are for that, would you be shocked if police weren't allowed to use footage obtained this way?

It'd be admissible because a private citizen isn't held to the standards of state actors, who are generally whom the freedom from harrassment type amendments are aimed it.

[Gelston]

Oh well hmm. This is something a friend of a friend told me he does. When you move into a bad area like that spend at least a day sitting on your front lawn with a barbeque grill, a lawn chair and every weapon you own on a blanket in front of you. Then just take them apart and clean them and load them and strike up conversations with any passersby.



Not really a good idea. Believe it or not, thieves love to steal guns, and people are generally not in their home 24/7.