Domestic CCTV

[foz01]

Had 2 garage break ins in the last 6 months, first time my own fault for not locking the door and they got a good scott mountain bike but the second time they really went for it, levering an up and over door and damaging an electric opener, snapping the chain amongst other damage in the process. They stole a set of 19" M3 alloy wheels and tyres which i found fairly bizarre considering the weight of them, but after a good hunt I found them hidden in some bushes about 100m meters away, obviously for collection later. Great to get them back but i suspect they thought the bike would be replaced hence the determination to get in..

So onto domestic CCTV, a friend got a lorex system but seem a us biased manufacturer, anyone else got anything in the uk, decent resolution, remote viewing, wireless If possible with some kind of hard drive backup/motion sensing . There's the deterrent aspect but if it caught something that may help a conviction as knowing people have been in the vicinity particularly freaks her indoors out.

Thanks

[Meeja]

I'd beef up the door security before installing CCTV.

CCTV can be an excellent weapon in the crime prevention arsenal, but hoodies, ski-masks etc can in some circumstances render it useless in catching and convicting someone after the event.

Twice in six months? And you recovered your wheels?

You can be pretty certain that they will be back (again)


A friend of mine runs an Audio Visual company, and are regularly targetted - fortunately, the physical security on the premises is good..... but I have watched at least a dozen of the attempts on their CCTV system.... and plod haven't been particularly interested because the scum cannot be positively identified due to hoodies etc (in one case they all wore motorbike crash helmets whilst attacking a roller shutter with an angle grinder.... only to find once they got the shutter open a bit which set the alarm off, once they had crawled through there was a full height locked steel gate behind it!)

Edited by Meeja on Friday 4th March 14:58

[dustybottoms]

As per the post above beef up the door security, up and over doors are very easy to get open in seconds, CCTV will not deter them.

I had two garage break-ins in a week 4years ago, I then beefed up the door security, a week late and the third time they put a lot of effort in with a crow bar and couldn't get in, they never came back after that.

[voicey]

I had my garage broken into and have beefed up the security - see here.

I've fitted a Garage Defender, some more bolts on the inside and a cheap shed alarm from Wickes. I also removed the outside handle so they couldn't pull on it.

[Harry Flashman]

foz01 said:

Had 2 garage break ins in the last 6 months, first time my own fault for not locking the door and they got a good scott mountain bike but the second time they really went for it, levering an up and over door and damaging an electric opener, snapping the chain amongst other damage in the process. They stole a set of 19" M3 alloy wheels and tyres which i found fairly bizarre considering the weight of them, but after a good hunt I found them hidden in some bushes about 100m meters away, obviously for collection later. Great to get them back but i suspect they thought the bike would be replaced hence the determination to get in..

So onto domestic CCTV, a friend got a lorex system but seem a us biased manufacturer, anyone else got anything in the uk, decent resolution, remote viewing, wireless If possible with some kind of hard drive backup/motion sensing . There's the deterrent aspect but if it caught something that may help a conviction as knowing people have been in the vicinity particularly freaks her indoors out.

Thanks

I'd have left the wheels in the bushes and been waiting round the corner for them with the police / crowbar, matches and petrol (delete as applicable)

[foz01]

Oh trust me I was tempted to hang about to see them come back for them, i reckon they were expecting another bike, bar stewards!

[Henry-F]

The vast majority of domestic CCTV for sale is pretty rubbish for variety of reasons. DVR recorders which don't record in a high enough resolution (they usually always display live footage fine, it's the recording bit that's the issue) and cameras which are useless through poor quality electronics or inadequate lenses (or both !).

Most people fit cameras with too wide an angle lens and in so doing spread their pixels too thinly as you move away from the camera.

A couple of bits to read through, our General guide to CCTV, DVR's, Cameras etc will help you in terms of what to look for when buying the various components.

A bit more specific advice in relation to Domestic CCTV

Avoid anything that comes as a one box solution, it is highly unlikely the cameras will be right for your specific application and avoid anything wireless like the plague. Interference, poor quality electronics and they still have to be wired to power ! Cat5 cabling using video baluns for the video feed is the way to go but you must use pure copper Cat5, not aluminium, or CCA (copper clad aluminium). It lets you do a neat job with nothing more than a flat head screwdriver.

If I can be of any more help please feel free to post or get in touch off air Mon-Fri.

We have had some good results from domestic CCTV so when fitted properly it does work.

All the best

Henry