Cheap CCTV Kits?
Discussion
After some bafoon put half a paving slab through my windscreen, for no apparent reason i'm thinking of getting cctv.
Im after one camera, and the thing you plug it into that records the footage. Ideally to be mounted inside looking through a window.
It happened at 11pm so id prefer night vision or infared etc.
my car is parked approx 35 metres from my front door (my sisters and moms are parked directly outside and mines further down the street)
any suggestions?
Im after one camera, and the thing you plug it into that records the footage. Ideally to be mounted inside looking through a window.
It happened at 11pm so id prefer night vision or infared etc.
my car is parked approx 35 metres from my front door (my sisters and moms are parked directly outside and mines further down the street)
any suggestions?
The looking through a window can cause a lot of problems with light reflecting back at the lens, thus you won't see anything. Ideally it needs to be mounted outside out of direct sunlight. Some good deals on ebay. One thing to watch out for is that A LOT of DVRs on there don't come with a hard drive attached. Make sure you get one with one attached.
I have a load of these wireless IP cameras scattered around the house (inside and out) which I primarily bought as a tool to keep an eye on the dog during the day, but eventually got added to to make a [sort of] home security system.
http://foscam-uk.com/foscam-fi8910w.html
My computer acts as the main hub running the software to control it, then I also use this software http://skjm.com/icam/ on my iPhone which allows me to control and view the cameras whenever I'm not in. The camera software also has motion sensors which allows you to record captured images directly to your computer. In my case I have all images recorded straight to my 'cloud' dropbox (it saves it to dated (and times) folders), so if somebody breaks in and take the computer, I still have the images as proof.
You can buy twin packs of the cameras on eBay for circa £150, and the iPhone software is only a couple of quid, so all in all it's relatively inexpensive.
Hope that helps.
http://foscam-uk.com/foscam-fi8910w.html
My computer acts as the main hub running the software to control it, then I also use this software http://skjm.com/icam/ on my iPhone which allows me to control and view the cameras whenever I'm not in. The camera software also has motion sensors which allows you to record captured images directly to your computer. In my case I have all images recorded straight to my 'cloud' dropbox (it saves it to dated (and times) folders), so if somebody breaks in and take the computer, I still have the images as proof.
You can buy twin packs of the cameras on eBay for circa £150, and the iPhone software is only a couple of quid, so all in all it's relatively inexpensive.
Hope that helps.
Edited by kmpowell on Saturday 22 December 12:13
Make sure it records date and time on the footage, If it doesn't record date and time it can't be used for prosecution afaik.
amazon and ebay have good deals.
I have a camera that links to my media server and saves onto my computers hard disk. Saves footage for 5 days (or longer when i'm away) and organizes it into dated folders.
amazon and ebay have good deals.
I have a camera that links to my media server and saves onto my computers hard disk. Saves footage for 5 days (or longer when i'm away) and organizes it into dated folders.
Edited by Meths on Saturday 22 December 12:01
I've got a few of these dotted around the house and the garage:
http://www.y-cam.com/y-cam-black-s/
The most important thing though (imo) is finding somewhere off-site to store the recordings. Its no good if your computer is nicked at the same time as your car.
http://www.y-cam.com/y-cam-black-s/
The most important thing though (imo) is finding somewhere off-site to store the recordings. Its no good if your computer is nicked at the same time as your car.
Maplin sell some handy gear. Either individual bits and pieces, or a full kit from £279.
http://www.maplin.co.uk/cctv-and-security/complete...
http://www.maplin.co.uk/cctv-and-security/complete...
Pay peanuts you get s
te - simples.
Before you buy anything please talk to Henry at CCTV42 and at the very least hear what he has to say - it's free and you can then make an informed judgement.
A decent set-up won't cost the earth and it will pay dividends when you need the footage - a cheap set-up will let you down when you need it most I promise.....
te - simples.Before you buy anything please talk to Henry at CCTV42 and at the very least hear what he has to say - it's free and you can then make an informed judgement.
A decent set-up won't cost the earth and it will pay dividends when you need the footage - a cheap set-up will let you down when you need it most I promise.....
Problem in using a PC to record events is that if you are burgled the PC is usually one of the items the thief's will take.
It is very seldom that CCTV is allowed to be used in court as the images can be tampered with, there are however a few DVR's on the market now that cannot be tampered with and are admissible in court, so you need to take that into consideration. I would doubt very much if you can find an infrared camera that will capture a good quality image in darkness at 35 metres, most domestic cameras are in the range of 6m-10m and even at that the quality is not good enough to identify a person. The more money you chuck at the project the better the quality of the picture you will be able to record, the shy is the limit, but only if your pocket allows
It is very seldom that CCTV is allowed to be used in court as the images can be tampered with, there are however a few DVR's on the market now that cannot be tampered with and are admissible in court, so you need to take that into consideration. I would doubt very much if you can find an infrared camera that will capture a good quality image in darkness at 35 metres, most domestic cameras are in the range of 6m-10m and even at that the quality is not good enough to identify a person. The more money you chuck at the project the better the quality of the picture you will be able to record, the shy is the limit, but only if your pocket allows
To cover public land you will need to apply for permission
To cover someone elses privately owned land no permission is required if it is caught in the corner of the shot, obviously you can't just point it at their window or just their back garden
The problem with covering public property is kiddy fiddling and all that stuff that you can be accused of, chatted to a local plod and she said there are so many hoops to jump through to do it properly
Get a highest range possible IR night vision and as many TVL as you can the higher quality
Don't forget to put up CCTV warnings otherwise the police won't look at it
To cover someone elses privately owned land no permission is required if it is caught in the corner of the shot, obviously you can't just point it at their window or just their back garden
The problem with covering public property is kiddy fiddling and all that stuff that you can be accused of, chatted to a local plod and she said there are so many hoops to jump through to do it properly
Get a highest range possible IR night vision and as many TVL as you can the higher quality
Don't forget to put up CCTV warnings otherwise the police won't look at it
RZ1 said:
Do the wireless ones record directly to online storage?
Depends on the camera, some I have seen have a internal slot for a memory card (usually up to 32GB), with the option to also FTP events to a server. If you have a wireless hub that supports a USB port for external storage, simples. So you have 2 copies, and one could be hard to get to.Thanks for the mention earlier in the thread.
A number of points raised here, I shall try to be brief.
Using your pc / network storage device. I'm not a huge fan of doing this. Irrespective of the chance they might be stolen the hard drives fitted to both items will not be designed to run for 24 hours a day and have 100% data churn. This means there is a much higher chance of them failing if you used them to store CCTV data. Would losing your hard drives be an issue? I thought so. The network storage device in particular is a real pain as that is what you use to back up all your data !
Wireless cameras tend to be lower grade and the wireless link is a bit hit or miss. Lots of conflicting devices share the bandwidth, walls have varying degrees of influence.
Fitting cameras inside looking out of a window. No chance. The infra red illumination reflects off the glass, also when the room is light and outside dark all you see is black through the window.
Filming public spaces. You do not need specific permission to do this from a domestic CCTV system. There are a lot of wives tales about the legalities of CCTV this is one of them. You can not aim your CCTV directly onto someone else's private property.
There are no hard and fast rules for CCTV footage to be used. Basically the clearer the footage the better the chances of it being used successfully. All good DVR recorders will put a time stamp on footage.
The trick with CCTV cameras is to make sure you use the right lens and zoom in sufficiently on your subject. Most of the cameras available are too wide angle to be effective at the ranges they are used for (and quoted in the advertising blurb). Of the cameras which could be effective they are set too wide by the installer or property owner. Think not about covering whole areas rather think about covering specific target zones. You only need 1 good image usually, not a 10 minute epic.
CCTV doesn't need to be complicated but it annoys me that pretty much everything offered for sale is ineffective. The rubbish spouted off whilst marketing the stuff prompted me to set up cctv42. I bought in relation our other business 911virgin and was so disappointed after doing all my homework that I decided to set the business up.
Have a look at our cctv buying guide
Henry
A number of points raised here, I shall try to be brief.
Using your pc / network storage device. I'm not a huge fan of doing this. Irrespective of the chance they might be stolen the hard drives fitted to both items will not be designed to run for 24 hours a day and have 100% data churn. This means there is a much higher chance of them failing if you used them to store CCTV data. Would losing your hard drives be an issue? I thought so. The network storage device in particular is a real pain as that is what you use to back up all your data !
Wireless cameras tend to be lower grade and the wireless link is a bit hit or miss. Lots of conflicting devices share the bandwidth, walls have varying degrees of influence.
Fitting cameras inside looking out of a window. No chance. The infra red illumination reflects off the glass, also when the room is light and outside dark all you see is black through the window.
Filming public spaces. You do not need specific permission to do this from a domestic CCTV system. There are a lot of wives tales about the legalities of CCTV this is one of them. You can not aim your CCTV directly onto someone else's private property.
There are no hard and fast rules for CCTV footage to be used. Basically the clearer the footage the better the chances of it being used successfully. All good DVR recorders will put a time stamp on footage.
The trick with CCTV cameras is to make sure you use the right lens and zoom in sufficiently on your subject. Most of the cameras available are too wide angle to be effective at the ranges they are used for (and quoted in the advertising blurb). Of the cameras which could be effective they are set too wide by the installer or property owner. Think not about covering whole areas rather think about covering specific target zones. You only need 1 good image usually, not a 10 minute epic.
CCTV doesn't need to be complicated but it annoys me that pretty much everything offered for sale is ineffective. The rubbish spouted off whilst marketing the stuff prompted me to set up cctv42. I bought in relation our other business 911virgin and was so disappointed after doing all my homework that I decided to set the business up.
Have a look at our cctv buying guide
Henry
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