Re: video surveillance

[backspace <sawireless2000@xxxxxxxxx>]

On Dec 17, 9:52 am, inva...@xxxxxxxxxxxx (Beachcomber) wrote:
> On Sun, 16 Dec 2007 22:56:18 GMT, Matt Ion <soundy...@xxxxxxxxx>
> wrote:
>
>
>
> >FrankLee wrote:
> >> Does anybody know of a good home video surveillance system?
>
> >> I have a neighbor who has been periodically vandalizing our property
> >> over the past 3 years. I want to set up a hidden camera system to
> >> record him. The police said they can't do anything unless I catch him
> >> on camera.
>
> >> He does a couple hundred $ of damage per year. And I'm afraid for the
> >> safety of my family.
>
> >> My budget is about $300 but maybe can go higher. I have a good working
> >> pc I can use for a system.
>
> >> Any suggestions/ideas helpful.
>
> >Would a simple webcam inside a window work?  Or is it a dark area that
> >this damage is occurring in?  Does the camera need to be outdoors, and
> >do you need more than one?
>
> This company is known for having a large selection of cameras and good
> prices (I have no affiliation ...  just bought some stuff from them
> once.)
>
> http://www.supercircuits.com/
>
> From past experience...  The problems you are going to need to solve
> might include the following...
>
> 1.   Inexpensive cameras, in general, do not perform well at night.
> You may need to go with infrared illumination.  Catching the guys face
> on camera and identifying him might be difficult.
>
> 2.  Storage - The more disk space you have, the better.   If you are
> recording 24/7 you will have hours (and hours) of nothing to see.   If
> you go with motion detection, you will save some on all that wasted
> space, but at the price of increased complexity.  Does your recorder
> put in a time/date stamp?
>
> For example, how do you set the threshold of motion to detect if
> something critical is happening?  Remember... you will have different
> lighting conditions throughout the day/night/variable weather.
> Multiple cameras compound this challenge.
>
> What is the guy doing specifically?  Can you install a sensor (for
> example) if he is breaking into a shed and stealing your property?  Is
> he messing with your vehicles?  An alarm trip that turns on the video
> recorder might be more feasible for you...
>
> 3.  How about audio?  If the guy is caught in the act and becomes
> threatening.  It might be a good idea to record the audio portion of
> the incident.  Again, you might have issues of extra complexity -
> weatherproof microphones, etc.
>
> Beachcomber

See http://scratchpad.wikia.com/wiki/CctvCameras for the Watec brand
which is what you want to use. Night vision needs a very low lux
resolution, you can't go below 0.003lux or the image smears. Lower lux
values are for use in http://scratchpad.wikia.com/wiki/AstronomyCameras