My Home Video Surveillance Setup.

Debymoore55

I had my house broken into so I spent. 2 grand on a recorder and put 2 pin hole cameras hidden in the house. Needless to say they found everything and took it. You must lock up the evidence in a secure location. It's no good of they take the recorder. The cops told me after the first hit that the perpetrators wouldn't be back again . So I went on vacation and 7 days later they did break in again. All the locks on the doors is useless when they can take a Rock and break your windows to get in

raylo32

Sorry to hear this, Debby. It sounds like you really need to get an alarm system. They have their own weaknesses but these can be minimzed.

For the video surveillance systems you are correct that they are useless if the bad guys get the recorder. They should be installed in a hidden location if at all possible but you have to run camera cables (or have wireless cams close enough). That's why I decided on an IP based system that runs on a computer and backs up the video to a hidden network hard drive and all the drive needs is one ethernet cable running to the router. Pretty easy to put that in a very concealed location but never going to be totally foolproof. You can also set things up with many internet connected systems to e-mail videos or photos on motion detection. None of this would help if the bad guys were disguised or the cams don't take good enough images for identification.

I hope your luck improves.....

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Live long and prosper.

AtlanticWBConst.

They can cut-through the siding & plywood and bust through the sheetrock too. Thieves don't need windows or doors to get into houses.

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- Build Well -

raylo32

That's what PIRs are for.

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Live long and prosper.

knotquiteawake

Can you guys post what cameras you are using and what they look like mounted/installed (maybe with something to help me get a feel for the size)?

I was looking to build my own CCTV system as well (The software is no issue, I have a Linux and Windows computers that could save data to a hidden Network storage device.

I am looking for something to put on the front door, the driveway, and 1 for the back yard. For the cameras up front I don't want the neighbors to think I'm crazy (I take morning walks and have not noticed anyone else with a camera).

So I'm trying to find something as small and unobtrusive as possible. I am of course trying to do this inexpensively as well but I'm afraid of getting some kind of Chinese made junk.