Home Surveillance (Cameras, etc) Questions

Mods, if this is in the wrong forum, I apologize. Please feel free to move it. Thank you.

I'm looking for some information on home surveillance, particularly cameras. We are having a security problem and we live in the country and need to step up our watchfulness. I'm hoping someone here can assist me in where to look or provide some actual experience or information on what I should look for, tips, tricks or other issues that I should be careful or knowledgeable of.

Our plan is to get several (3-4) real cameras to mount right on the house, a couple of fake ones (for mounting further away from the house), some flood lights and signs. One problem I can think of is that the ones mounted further than 100 feet away from the house (and electricity source) might look suspicious, unless there are wireless cameras available (which I haven't yet found).

Ideally, the camera would produce a digital movie that is stored and playable on a PC. Is there anything like that?

So, tell me what you know! And thank you very much for your help! My whole family appreciates it!

[edit on 7-10-2007 by Benevolent Heretic]

I looked up wireless cameras and found a few sites and stores, one of them being HomeSecurityStore.com and they had a bunch of wireless outdoor cameras here. That might be what you're looking for. But if you just search "wireless security cameras" you can get a bunch of stores that sell them.

Thanks! We're looking at this right now... Any thoughts?

Cameras

I use NEXXTECH WIRELESS WEATHERPROOF COLOUR CMOS INFRARED CAMERAS.
www.thesourcecc.com...


I have them on the front and back doors, plus one that shows the street in front of the building.
The night vision is really good for the doors, but over any distance it doesn't work. you can run four cameras off the one base station, and they plug into any TV, VCR, or computer with RCA audio and video inputs.

The picture is very clear, and in colour, plus they pick up sound really well.

About $100.00 for 1 camera and the receiver, and $70.00 for each additional camera.

My neighbour also has a receiver because we have common space and can see from each others cameras.

And hey, I can spot a fake camera pretty easily.

There is one major consideration when using "wireless" cameras, as was mentioned of sharing camera views with a neighboor with an additional receiver; so can anyone else with a receiver. The transmission specs are readily available and can be used by anyone.
There have been criminal incidents in the past where people using wireless cameras inside of their houses, enabled burglars to be aware of anyone home and what was available for theft.
Outside cameras are somewhat different; however, a person intent on entering your premises, armed with a receiver, would know exactly where to go to avoid the coverage. Wired cameras do not suffer from this problem, but are more of a pain to install and maintain.

Excellent point! Thank you! Good information. Thank you all.

I know a fair bit about cameras and security systems.

Now the only wireless cameras I would ever recommend are if you have children and need to watch them, in like nanny cameras and such. Wireless should never be used to monitor your home.

Wired cameras are the way to go. Now when you get wired cameras, yes they are a pain to install, but if you don't care about wires, they can be tacked to walls and such.

Now I would suggest to get in touch with a security expert, and ask him for an estimate. Now you can take the knoweledge you have learned from him/her and use it to set up your own security system.

Oh btw I love when people use wireless cameras for home security, I always carry with me a wireless radio A/V receiver. so I can see if any cameras are in use in the area. Because I am a bit paranoid, and I have good reason.

Hope this information helps.

Originally posted by Harvestfreak

Now the only wireless cameras I would ever recommend are if you have children and need to watch them, in like nanny cameras and such. Wireless should never be used to monitor your home.

Wireless should never be used inside your home at all, not even a nanny cam. Even a 2 station audio only baby monitor can give snoops access to your conversations if they have simple equipment.
So as stated, you can be watched and/or listened to by others.

The wireless camera's we use are to monitor exterior areas only so that we can see who is approaching or parking near the building.

We chose wireless for the exterior for the ease of installation, and the fact that more than one of us had access to the imagery without running a lot of wires. They view areas anyone could see if they were on the street, so being monitored by someone else was not a consideration.
It comes down to location, location, location.

Just the fact that there is always someone in the home, it made sense to go wireless in the areas we put them. We can also keep a tape of anything they pick up while we're sleeping or don't have a screen on in the room we're in.

A simple paper clip poked through a tiny hole on the back of the camera I posted will also disable the audio feature if you choose.

As Harvestfreak stated, call in a security expert for a free estimate, ask lots of questions, and then use their knowledge to do it yourself.


Edit: The cameras we use have a very limited range, so you would almost need to be sitting within a hundred feet of our building to be able to see anything, and we would likely see you first.

[edit on 8/10/2007 by anxietydisorder]

reply to post by Benevolent Heretic


Hey BH, I don't know if you're still watching this thread, but I'd be willing to sit on your patio with a 30-06. Just keep me supplied with cool lemonade.