Numb-nuts

At about 5 am this morning, I heard the beeping of my DVR telling me it's recording something. I always take a look out the window and it's usually a cat or dog walker, but this morning I saw some scrote just about to break the side window of my neighbour's car. I lifted the curtain wide and knocked on the glass only to see the perpetrator make off on a bicycle that he'd left conveniently in the road. I telephoned police emergency (999 in the UK) and was able to give a description of him and the direction he made off in. After this I started to review the footage, I found that not only had he tried my immediate neighbour's car he'd also tried my car and another neighbour's car before deciding on which car to target. The idiot was not wearing gloves and was seen placing his hand on my car's side window so police are coming along later to see if they can get his prints. While I was relieved that he hadn't broken my side window, I was also a bit insulted thinking "whats wrong with my car, not good enough for you" ? I can't upload any footage yet, until the police are finished their enquiry, but I hope to after the police are finished. The officer that attended to get the CCTV disk from me, said that a local police officer will probably know this perpetrator. She also said that it's a very slim chance that they could make a case of 'Vehicle Tampering' but with the evidence they have now, they may well get the guy to plead guilty as these guys know pleading gets them more lenient treatment by the courts.

Right, and there is a LOT of dissatisfaction from iPhone users about such issues. I think Apple's arrogant "in our own good time" attitude is shooting themselves in the foot and they barely realize it. More fool you Apple

Dave where are you in the UK? That budget doesn't sound too unrealistic if you want a good system. Clarity is a combination of a good camera and the recording resolution. Some cameras have vari-focal lenses which can either zoom in on a specific targeted area or zoom out to cover a wide area (wide angle) so an installer would need to look at the project for you to get the best proposal together.

Why was this bod given the task. He doesn't know anything about CCTV.

Haven't used one yet but the QVIS Discovery Shangri-La looks like a well featured unit for the money (on paper anyway). Alternatively any of the QVIS Apollo or Zeus range are good quality and very popular.

Video matrix are ridiculous prices from the main CCTV suppliers with a 1 in 2 out costing trade from £59.00 + tax. Anyone recommend a good supplier in the UK?

Thats a cracker

It does look an impressive piece of work. I like the ones with a counter so that when letting it down for service there is a winch to control it's descent and ascent, which can them be removed until required again. It fits into the slot at the side and hooks onto the mast. This one manufactured in the UK by WEC in Darwen Lancs

The do say that the best way to learn a lesson id the hard way. Well this morning I leant ar real hard lesson I spent a full day putting a quote together for a quotation. I went out door knocking and and through a whole day odf rejectction this was the only positive interest I had all that day and it was raining. I have just been into the garage and started to discuss the when the boss will be back in the workshop. Suddenly this customer of theirs pipes up 'what are you guys talking about?" to the the second in charge who then tells him, the man respond's "but my son does CCTV installation and cheaper than anyone else" I thought to myself if he didn't before he does NOW. I could not be rude to the guy as I didn't know what he was now, a customer or what, but I wanted to swear and curse at him for being nosey. Fact it it was my stupid fault. Now I am kicking myself I WON"T BE MAKING THAT MISTAKE AGAIN!

I didn't have a 'tantrum' and I didn't refuse to talk to anyone, and frankly I find that comment extremely unhelpful and quite patronizing. I think I behaved with restraint and tact considering what happened. My decision is that in future I will not be discussing my business in front of anyone other than the decision maker and certainly not in a workshop with other's listening on. I am entirely to blame and I should have known better to avoid such a situation. I will be going in to speak to the boss there, he's off with a bad back at the moment so I'm not sure when he'll be in I'll telephone first. Door knocking is my only source of business at the moment and I don't have the budget to advertise or do emailings or surface mailings and I have not been trading as a supplier and installer that long.

I absolutely agree with that. I should have threatened to report him to police. Anyway I don't do anything dodgy and that was a long time gone now.

It is now my policy to be quite blunt in future and not to discuss anything with anyone except the boss. Yes I did leave because if I had started I would have been in a fistfight with the nosey customer, not a wise move since he was almost half my age and double my size and it's not a great way to influence potential customers either. I will go back when their boss is there and speak to him directly. If he does end up with some grey import crap, he'll deserve it, but I have a feeling the boss knows better than that as I told him the last 8 channel system I did with realtime recording at DI was £200o but his will be less I hope, he seemed okay with that. In future I will not speak in front of anyone else, not even staff. I never quibble about the cost, it's got to be done and I know the garage I use and know I can trust them.

You'll have a nice easy life then

Oh well everyone, better start saving your pennies

Yes I thought so, well that DVR has a good spec for the money and comes from a reliable manufacturer. It offers great value and is feature rich. I am not familiar with the cameras in the US so hopefully someone will give yo some guidance.

When you say full D1 I am guessing you mean 30fps@D1 (realtime) ? (or 25fps PAL) The QVIS Avalon with 500GB HDD is good value for money and has a 2 year warranty and comes from a well established company.

The range has been promised here for months it was supposed to be here last month and now it's supposed to be here on the 29th of this month. I hope the app will be available as it's almost universally required by clients. It's almost as if it were a status issue with some of them. Personally I feel it's bad enough that we can't escape mobile phones even in the toilet, now we are being asked to provide CCTV over mobile phones in the toilet. UPDATE: I hope the delivery date is accurate, I have two orders for this stuff and no other work on the cards so I'm sitting waiting on the discovery DVRs

You got that one about right except here in UK police recommend 12fps in high risk areas. The reason is that there are more opportunities to capture a still of a subject's face. 3-6 fps in a workshop where staff are monitored mainly so that help can be available in the case of an accident etc.Small Motor Garage workshops etc.

There is no single correct solution to any problem. I say if your reasoning for doing something is justifiable then it's right. Cables need protection. I usually try to hide them inside a building, but that's not always possible, so then you look other methods of protecting cables from both the atmosphere and vandals/criminals. PVC conduit is easy to work with and cheap to buy and looks tidy. You can use the PVC weld adhesive to seal it but wait until the cables are fully run. Personally I also like metal conduit but it's hard to work if you aren't trained to use it. I recommend 25mm PVC conduit.

Of Course!

There are very few CCTV equipments that aren't manufactured either in China or far East or that have no Chinese components in them. The trick is to know the brands and look at the spec.

ECHO

Yeah I never thought of that non-lethal method In retrospect, he obviously didn't see the CCTV warning signs so I am now considering placing a few more in-ya-face signs so they cannot be missed. The whole point of my CCTV scheme is to deter and clearly it needs to be more obvious even to numbskulls like my idiot this morning.

They seem to use bikes very often, it's because they can make a fast getaway, across parkland, through alleys etc. The bike can also be used as a ladder to start them climbing walls etc UPDATE: The Scene of crimes (SOC) officer has just been to dust for fingerprints and dodn't find anything, but she told me that an arrest was made, thank goodness the camera that captured the perpetrator's face was recording at 25 fps or I might not have captured the scrote's face. However he'll probably get a caution as no break in took place This is the video from my general view camera, it doesn't identify anyone so I can post it here. See how he approaches on his bike, looks in and after making a decision this is his target, he goes into the road and looks to see if there's anyone about then leave the bike in the road and goes to break in. Suddenly he abandons the target and makes off because I showed myself at the window and knocked on the window, to stop him breaking the door glass

If you want to save some money and are handy, then you could ask the supplier to reduce the installation cost to have you help him/ her do it. That way you can be assured of a good job and save some money. Obviously, the installer has to be willing to do this, I know I do it on occasion to help clients stretch their budgets. Some will just refuse. One thing you can be sure of planning is the key to success and for that experience cannot be overlooked. Get a pro in