Home Sureillance Camera - what all is needed?

[klopper22]

Hi. I am new to the forum and a novice at home security. At this point we have no system or cameras. I have a neigbor who I think is throwing bags of dog shit and trash in our back yard and I want to be able to prove it.

I'm looking into setting up one simple surveillance camera which could maybe record to my computer. I need visual ONLY. Night vision would be a plus but not necessary.

What all do I need to set this up?

 

[Kevin L]

Welcome to CocoonTech! This is a great place to learn about automation, security, etc. Plus, the members here couldn't be nicer and more helpful.

I'm just learning about surveillance cameras myself, and besides here, I've found CCTV Forum to be a lot of help.

Good luck,

Kevin

 

[mustangcoupe]

What all do I need to set this up?

Im just looking into cameras also but the basics are.....

camera, capture hardware, capture software

 

[gatchel]

The biggest thins in setting up a home CCTV system is budget IMHO.

Once you decide what you are willing to spend you can then decide on the 4 camera out of the box recorder/monitor for a couple of hundred bucks or the several hundred dollars per camera and several hundred to several thousand dollars for recording equipment. CCTVForum is a great resource.

If you are looking to go to your PC you may want to look into Geovision capture cards or a similar type of device.


Also, you may want to simply invest in a deer watching style camera that you can hid out back. They have IR illumination built in usually and can take several snapshots and might just get you what you are looking for. They are usually motion activated. You just have to keep up with the batteries. Check Cabellas, I think they have several models. You could hide one or two near a bush or something like that.


Good luck catching the Ba$t@rd.


edit : here are some links:

http://www.whitetaildeer-management-and-hu...ra-reviews.html


http://trailcam.com/

 

[WayneW]

Hi. I am new to the forum and a novice at home security. At this point we have no system or cameras. I have a neigbor who I think is throwing bags of dog shit and trash in our back yard and I want to be able to prove it.

If you want to prove who does it, you will need a camera positioned such that it shows the thrower, not just stuff magically flying over the fence.

 

[mustangcoupe]

Hi. I am new to the forum and a novice at home security. At this point we have no system or cameras. I have a neigbor who I think is throwing bags of dog shit and trash in our back yard and I want to be able to prove it.

If you want to prove who does it, you will need a camera positioned such that it shows the thrower, not just stuff magically flying over the fence.

Then you get yourself into a Legal situation Wayne, with recording the activity in their "private" yard. isn't that a no-no?

 

[Steve]

The OP never said anything about a fence. If there is a fence and the camera 'looks' over it and into the neighbors yard then I see there being a potential legal issue, but if the camera is pointing at your own hard but happens to get a few feet of the neighbors in the periphery then I'm not sure they would have much of a case. If there is no fence or other privacy type structure or shrub and anyone can freely look into the neighboring yard then I would think it would be ok, but different states definitely have all kinds of rules, some very strange.

 

[mustangcoupe]

Thanks Steve, I guess I read into it a situation I encountered at one point where one neighbor was throwing dog crap over his fence into another neighbors yard... I guess I just figured there was a fence.

 

[WayneW]

I believe I was the first one to use the dirty word "fence", so I take the blame for assuming. But my point is that if things are being thrown, you need to see the thrower. If things are being carried into your yard, things are much simpler. And yes, depending upon the exact situation, the legal aspects need to be covered as well as the technical aspects.

 

[Neurorad]

I'd ignore the legal implications.

Unless you're in California.

Lucious, do you have a PC? Wifi?

 

[AutomatedOutlet]

Do you have a shotgun?

 

[gatchel]

You could put up some of that fine black golf course netting so that whatever is thrown bounces back at the thrower....nothing.....nothing at all?

:wacko:

 

[DcN484]

Avoid "CCTV" camera's, and any "capture" type hardware/software. Outdated technology.

It's very hard to beat the new Panasonic IP cam's for an easy, simple, residential application.

Outdoor cam: http://www2.panasonic.com/consumer-electro...000000000005702

Best price I've found: http://www.geminicomputersinc.com/bl-c140a.html

They are POE cams, that come with a power injector. Injects power into the Cat5 cable at the router end. Then all you have to do is run one single Cat5 to the camera. Any PC on the network can view the cam. Even a PC outside the network can view the cam if you set it up correctly with IP/PortForwarding. You can set it up to save the images on any computer on the network.

 

[electron]

How are you going to record the IP cam? You need some type of capture hardware/software. IP cameras are nice, but when it comes to good video recording, I still prefer CCTV type setups (higher FPS etC).

 

[gatchel]

How are you going to record the IP cam? You need some type of capture hardware/software. IP cameras are nice, but when it comes to good video recording, I still prefer CCTV type setups (higher FPS etC).

IP cameras can FTP images to a share, usually. Not so functional, but it works.