home alarm thwarted a burglary today

[crb]

Well it appears our alarm did its job today and discouraged a burglar, I'm guessing he/she took off after the siren went off. Luckily noting was missing and nobody was home. The attempted breakin happened about 10 minutes after my sister in law left the house. I'm not sure if they picked the lock(I doubt it) of if my nephew unlocked the door before they left and my SIL didn't check it. She will be doing a bet

ter job checking doors now The police responded quickly.

I think my SIL got a wake up call today. She thinks someone was watching the house. Maybe she will reconsider her statement that guns are bad.

[Scruit]

Are you sure someone was inside the house? Anything disturbed?

My neighbor has this one door that sometimes wouldn't latch and a strong breeze would open it.

A couple of years ago my CCTV caught footage of someone who (I believe) was about to break in to the house. Ignore the front door and went down toward the side of the house where the workshop is - then looked up at the camera and left quickly.

[crb]

Are you sure someone was inside the house? Anything disturbed?

My neighbor has this one door that sometimes wouldn't latch and a strong breeze would open it.

A couple of years ago my CCTV caught footage of someone who (I believe) was about to break in to the house. Ignore the front door and went down toward the side of the house where the workshop is - then looked up at the camera and left quickly.

I'm not 100% sure because I wasn't home. The door that was opened doesn't blow open. The alarm and siren went off immediately because that door does not have a timer programmed. The police believe someone was there but nothing was missing. I have noideavif anything was disturbed as I'm not home. The officer seemed convinced though. The door was locked when we left, but the SIL left after us. The 3 ye old can unlock doors. He doesn't unlock knob usually though only the deadbolt. The schlage knob locks don't need unlocked to open the door from the inside.

All three vehicles were gone today which is unusual.

The SIL also said the dogs were acting weird.

Cameras may be the next step, although this is the first incident.

Edited January 9, 2012 by crb

[Simplysix]

glad everything worked out ok crb, could have been a lot worse

[bowdog]

glad everything worked out ok crb, could have been a lot worse

^^

This! I would love to put some camera's up at my house. Not to jack the thread but if anyone see's a good deal on some let me know.

[crb]

There are only three things in my house that would devaste me if they were stolen the flag that was over my gpas casket,his medals, and his tool box. I love my firearms, but they are replaceable. I think the idea that someone was almost in our home bothered the wife. She made the comment that you are supposed to feel safe in your home, it's your private space. She asked me what we would do if the house was trashed and everything was gone. I'm not sure she liked my answer as I can be very unsympathetic. I said first I'd go to the gunstore and get something to defend myself(assuming all the guns are stolen), then I would call the insurance company and get them to cut me a check.

[Scruit]

If anyone needs camera advice hit me up. Or we can create a cctv thread.

[crb]

If anyone needs camera advice hit me up. Or we can create a cctv thread.

Feel free to use this thread.

What kind of dough does a system run? Im guessing I would need 9 cameras to cover the house propertly. I have a split level so one pat of the house is 2 story, and 3 doors to cover.

[Carwhore]

to bad you weren't there. Coulda shot them.

[Scruit]

Cheap system with unusable images, about $500.

DVRs come in 4, 8 and 16 channel flavors. Best "cheap" DVRs IMHO are the AverDigi DVRs. I have the Aver EH5216+ DVR which cost $1600. The 8-channel model is abotu $900. The wiring can be assumed to be about $20 per camera going household distances if you crimp your own connectors and buy wire in bulk (rg59 ain500' increments) and connectors by the dozen (BNC crimps on ebay can wind up being just $1 each if you buy enough)

You can get entry-level IR vandal domes for about $100.

Anything cheaper is goign to give bad results.

Conventional wisdom was to avoid CMOS sensor cameras and with CCD instead, but CMOS has come a long way since then.

Camera placement is key. Don't let it see the sun (direct, or reflected (pool/shiny roof)). Don't mount your cameras so they look *down* on people. Mount them at eye level. Understand that a camera that can see your whole garden will NOT identify a person. And a camera close enough to identify a person will not see much else.

People will tell you you get what you pay for but understand that CCTV was always a busniess with almost exclusively commercial customers until the last 5 year - who coudl pay more moeny for systems. Consequently there are a lot of VERY expensive systems out there.

Finally, check the DVR specs - you want 10 frames per second per camera for 'pretty smooth' recording. Any higher than 15 fps is not really needed. A lot of cheaper systems will quote "FPS" but mean fields per second instead of frames per second. An NTSC frame is made up of two interleaved frames. a 4-channel "60fps" dvr is likely to mean 60 fields per second total (shared across 4 channels), which is 30 frames per second total, which is 7.5 per channel - pretty stuttery.

[max power]

^^

This! I would love to put some camera's up at my house. Not to jack the thread but if anyone see's a good deal on some let me know.

Let me know what you are looking to do. I can hook you up. I can get some real nice cameras for a good price, but a good DVR makes all the difference. DVR prices are about to go up big time (if they havent already) due to major increases in chip prices.

DO NOT buy those shitty DVR's or cameras off the internet. Pure junk.

[Scruit]

Let me know what you are looking to do. I can hook you up. I can get some real nice cameras for a good price, but a good DVR makes all the difference. DVR prices are about to go up big time (if they havent already) due to major increases in chip prices.

DO NOT buy those shitty DVR's or cameras off the internet. Pure junk.

Agreed for the most part - but you can buy any brand camera or DVR on the internet so how do we know what the 'shitty' ones are?

I have an EH5216+ hybrid as my main DVR, and a CPCam 507HC as a backup. The CPCam is definitely SoHo but the Aver is a nice unit as far as I'm concerned

Plus the most reliable DVR I ever had is now about 9 years old - it's no-name piece of junk that just won't quit. The manual's only clue as to the manufacturer is "All about image recognition and processing"

[crb]

I guess I wont need as many cameras if they need to be lower elevation. I could put them on the shed to capture that side of the house. Ill have to talk to the wifie she is the one kinda upset/concerned. She suggested getting a gun safe, but then I can't have guns spread out through the house. I am definetly considering a small office type safe for the medals, jewelry, and important papers(mortgage, insurance papers, checkbooks, etc) we carry our ssn and birth certificates with us to work.

I think I know the person behind it, but I can't prove it. The person didn't do it themselves, but had someelse do it for them or gave them the idea/info. Unfortunately I can't prove it.

[Simplysix]

I am definetly considering a small office type safe for the medals, jewelry, and important papers(mortgage, insurance papers, checkbooks, etc)

this is a must have in my book, not only for theft but also in a flood/fire situation.

[kawi kid]

The next homestead I acquire will be secured with cameras more than likely.

[speedytriple]

If you had cameras now kawi you could bust the asshat next door for messing with the dog. I know grave digger about kawis dog problems. I might look into a system for my house as I work odd shift and am only home every three weeks at night.

[crb]

Where is a good place to buy cameras and dvrs?

Someone has busted my front glass screen door, and opened the back door of the house again dropping the alarm. Not sure if someone has s key or my mother in law forgot to lock the door. Either way this shit is happening too often. Security motion lights will be going up this weekend for starters. You would think the alarm going off would discourage this person from trying to get in. This makes me nervous because it seems as though someone specifically wants in our house. The neighbors haven't had any issues. Mother inlaw didn't notice anything missing, I will check when I get home. Dogs didn't open the door and neither did the wind. Not sure what they are after, or if it is the same person. The police set the alarm off a 2nd time while searching the house.

I'm going to call my alarm company to get a quote on security cameras too, but I think I'm going to try low tech first maybe a trail cam.

This all worries me with us planning to start a family next year.

On the bright side Wifie has decided to start carrying while at home, she has been slacking.

Edited July 13, 2012 by crb

[ReconRat]

I run Tebocam (free) on computer with any USB webcam. Cheap and easy and quick.

You can do multiple installs to run multiple cams. (Someday it will upgrade to multi-cam.)

http://teboweb.com/WebCam.html

Slick as Hell, it sends me pics of what it sees to phone in email when something moves, stores the pics on computer and off-site.

edit: Also pings a pic each hour to let me know it's working.

edit: Change the locks.

edit: ok, that's not the only cam setup, but I was impressed by Tebocam considering it's free and easy.

edit: what people have said, try to stick to CCD for outdoors. CMOS is decent indoors. A motion light indoors helps illuminate for the pics.

Edited July 13, 2012 by ReconRat

[crb]

Mother inlaw doesn't think they locked the door now. Early AM when the alarm dropped she thought she locked it. After re tracing her steps she thinks she left it unlocked.

Edited July 13, 2012 by crb

[crb]

I run Tebocam (free) on computer with any USB webcam. Cheap and easy and quick.

You can do multiple installs to run multiple cams. (Someday it will upgrade to multi-cam.)

http://teboweb.com/WebCam.html

Slick as Hell, it sends me pics of what it sees to phone in email when something moves, stores the pics on computer and off-site.

edit: Also pings a pic each hour to let me know it's working.

edit: Change the locks.

edit: ok, that's not the only cam setup, but I was impressed by Tebocam considering it's free and easy.

edit: what people have said, try to stick to CCD for outdoors. CMOS is decent indoors. A motion light indoors helps illuminate for the pics.

Will teboweb work with a wireless camera? My pc is a good distance from the door that has been opened twice now.

Think two of these would good for the doors we don't go in when we get home.

Edited July 13, 2012 by crb

[attentiongetter92]

I have a security system for sale, pm me for details if you are interested. Top if the line stuff.

[crb]

Nevermind too many bad reviews of this system

Edited July 13, 2012 by crb
removed link

[Scruit]

I'm a big fan of AverDigi stuff. Their 4 channel DVR is the EB1304. Don't forget the hard drive. You can get the 1304 cheaper in IDE, not SATA, but the IDE HDs in CCTV sizes (1TB) are very expensive and SATA are cheap. http://www.apexcctv.com/p-493-eb1304net-sata-avermedia-dvr.aspx

Don't worry about it being 4 channels and you might want to upgrade later... Just add another 1304 and run them in parallel.

RG59 siamese (video and power) http://www.amazon.com/Siamese-Cable-Video-Power-Black/dp/B004SOLNGO/ref=sr_1_1?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1342222796&sr=1-1&keywords=rg59+siamese

Crimp tool and BNC ends: http://www.amazon.com/Evertech-Professional-Coaxial-Crimping-Tool/dp/B0082CNESI/ref=sr_1_8?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1342222839&sr=1-8&keywords=rg59+bnc+crimp

Power supply for all cameras (don't use wall warts near the cameras - use this type of power supply with a UPS - they cut power, you're still in business.) http://www.amazon.com/VideoSecu-Channel-Distributed-Security-Surveillance/dp/B002P35S84/ref=sr_1_2?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1342222919&sr=1-2&keywords=cctv+dc+power+plug

Power pigtails (connect the camera to the power wire on the siamese cable http://www.amazon.com/VideoSecu-Security-Camera-Pigtail-Cables/dp/B000S7AQF4/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1342222985&sr=1-1-catcorr&keywords=cctv+dc+power+pigtail

I love these cameras... http://www.amazon.com/Indoor-Outdoor-2-8-12mm-Varifocal-Metallic/dp/B001TLSS4O/ref=sr_1_12?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1342223051&sr=1-12&keywords=vandal+dome

Full 4-channel system about $1200. This is the bare minimum I would recommend. The big kits you see on woot or in the warehouse club for $300 are trash and you won't get the video quality you need.

[idodishez]

I install LV for a living. I can get you stuff if you need, at cost, but it won't be Costco type stuff.

Doorfront Parking like a BOSS

NoBama 2012

[crb]

I install LV for a living. I can get you stuff if you need, at cost, but it won't be Costco type stuff.

Doorfront Parking like a BOSS

NoBama 2012

Will keep you in mind. I'm going to try security lights and door stops. Trying to get debt paid off and shit just keeps happening. Going to rekey the locks too.

Like I said before I have a really good clue who is behind it.