Hello From Nicaragua - Security in Paradise

[LunaAzul 0]

Hello from Nicaragua. My wife and I retired to Nicaragua from Canada about 10 years ago. Nicaragua is a very intriguing country with an amazing ecological and geographical diversity and a friendly and welcoming people. However, as it grows and develops the disparity between the haves and have-nots increases, sadly, as is the case for most developing countries. With this are increasing reports of crime and robberies. Although we consider ourselves safer here than in many (if not most) North American cities and places, we want to be as proactive as we can in making our home as unattractive/impervious as possible to would-be felons.

 

In that respect, I am looking for a video surveillance system with the following "use-ability" specs: 1) perimeter security (we want to know before anybody gets anywhere near the house); 2) motion detection (electronic fence/tripwires, customizable inclusion and exclusion zones); 3) low light/night capability-very important (sufficient low level lighting, triggered lighting, IR illumination are all possibilities); 4) alarm triggering (sirens, strobes, flood lights, recorded vocal warnings, etc.) and email notification and/or video/still uploads to off-site secure storage; and 5) remote monitoring through the internet (minimally through a web browser).

 

A few other items of note. We are pretty well on our own here: no vendors worthwhile, no system integrators/installers, no alarm response providers, no warranty service depots. I'm open to all ideas and have found some very interesting threads already in this forum (and other video surveillance forums) that are encouraging me to think outside the box - more specifically, the insane IP-based specs race that, at best, dances around item 3 above (low light/night performance). I would prefer an IP-based system in general but, good, solid, B&W (IR sensitive) analogue cameras with a video encoder appears to offer a route worth exploring. For that matter, a good still image is worth far more than any amount of fuzzy video.

 

Looking forward to participating in the forum. A successful and safe 2010 to all.

[missmimi 0]

Hello LunaAzul!

[cocacola 0]

You not only need CCTV but weapons as well !