Help!!! CCTV from a shed.

[Mossy 0]

Can someone give me some advice. I have an allotment and I am having alot of things stolen. What I want advice on is:

 

Is there anything on the market that can be set up within a shed (no 240v power supply) that I can record a thief that will work off a car battery say.

 

I am not electronically minded so please put it in lay-mans-terms please lol.

 

Many thanks in advance.

 

Mossy.

[Scruit 0]

240v, allotment, shed... British?

 

 

Assuming that this is an immediate need, it's for the shed only and it's not part of a larger system...

 

 

Check on ebay and find one of the single-channel 'mini DVRs' in PAL. Talk to the seller and make sure you get the car adapter (plugs into the cig lighter) even if you have to pay extra.

 

Then get a cheap 12v IR camera. Try to get CCD, not CMOS. Inside a shed you don't need much IR, anythign rated for 10-15' should work. If you get a camera with too much IR then the thief's face will be washed out if he stands too close to the camera.

 

 

Next, go to Halfords or another car spares shop and get 2 cig lighter sockets for a couple of quid each. This will wire into the battery and let you plug int hte power for the DVR so that you can power the DVR from the battery. You might have to get a pair of alligator clips from Tandy (or a pair of battery clamps from Halfords) to hold the wires onto the terminal.

 

While you are at Tandy, show them the camera and ask then for a cig lighter power adapter that will run it. You also might need an RCA to RCA wire to get video from the camera to the DVR. Set it up opn the floor in your house and do a test run before you take it to the shed.

 

 

 

Now, put it all together...

 

Put the camera somewhere where it can't be seen, but make sure it's about shoulder height when the person it standing or crouching in the shed - no point in mounting the camera too high and getting a picture of his bald spot. Try not to get the window or door in shot because if it's daytime then anyone standing in the door will appear too dark becuase the camera will be blinded by the light. Try to aim so that the door and window are out of shot, but so that someone standing inside the shed will be visible.

 

Put the DVR close to the camera but out of sight. Don't put it in something that will get nicked, like a toolbox.

 

Connect the Camera to the DVR, put the car battery in the shed and hook up the two cig lighter sockets. Then plug in the cig lighter power adapters for the DVR and the camera. Make sure you test recording and playing back so you know that it's recording ok.

 

When you play back, use the RCA cable to plug the DVR video out into the yellow RCA "line in" on your TV or video.

 

 

That's the cheapest and easiest way I can think of to get something recording. Probably cost you about 100 quid total, exluding the car battery.

 

Good luck, m8.

[GM8JIP 0]

Sorry to hear that you are having an unfortunate problem at your allotment.I have one as well, so you have my utmost sympathy.

I might be able to give you an easy solution to your problem.

Do you live or do you know anyone that lives near to the allotment ?

What I suggest you do is buy a WIRLESS camera system from Maplin at £69.99. (Two cameras supplied). The camera you can install in your shed and runs off 12Volts. All of this can be hidden. You take the receiver end of the kit supplied and plug it into a video recorder (remotely) and you can watch what is happening on the allotment ! If you have the time and date stamped on the video recordng, this can be used as evidence in court. Make sure you transfer the video recording on to a DVD !!

Any problems, feel free to contact me.

Regards, Graeme.

[rzoned 0]

wow... great advice

 

my friend is having quite similar situation

I'll ask him to read this