Advice for a Victim.

[Knocknoc 0]

Hello gents,

 

I woke up this morning to the attached pic. Damages over $1500 and counting...

 

 

I work in IT and have a new son which prompted me to buy my first new car (ever!) for his safety's sake. I've had it 8 months and own a condo in a gated community just outside of Philadelphia. Both driver-side tires slashed, rear hatch keyed and rim damage. Another car was "hit" the same night, though not as bad (owned by an elderly woman). I'm growing very tired of having my cars vandalized (my previous car was "hit" as well), and I'm looking to install a monitoring system and could use some advice.

 

I have a rather unique layout:

I'm on the ground level of my building which is a high-rise apartment building. The parking lot behind the bldg where my vehicle is parked is what I need to monitor. I've read alot on here and have gotten a great many ideas I have some questions about. (added building layout pic and explanation for refs- Thanks in advance!)

 

My unit is indicated,

RED BOX Perimeter:

Area I'd LIKE to monitor (mainly larger, rear lot)

RED CIRCLE:

Bottom Left, where my car is usually parked (due to parking-or lack thereof). I know the lot is pretty empty in the pic, but it has gotten a lot busier in the last few years and parking is getting harder to come by, forcing me to park way in the rear of the lot.

YELLOW ARROWS:

There is an existing CCTV system in the bldg that the property managers have access to. I don't. These lines indicate an existing camera (IR) that has a very narrow FOV.

GREEN NUMBERS:

Possible camera locations

 

 

 

And the coup de gras, my questions: (thanks for making it THIS far. lol)

1.) I'd like a quality, easy to install PC-based system that will support (MAX) 4 cams and save to an External HDD, if poss.

2.) I'm assuming that because of the distance (and my only option of outside/exterior mount), I'd have to get a wireless, NV/IR cam. Correct?

- If so, which camera will offer best resolution/suspect ID and durability?

- If not, what are my alternative(s)?

3.) Is a CCTV system necessary? Are there any products available that will notify you if your vehicle is tampered with?

4.) Is there a way to get access to the current system> and is this legal if done? (Though I'm flexible on the "legal" end as it seems that the other car vandalized was well within the rear CCTV cam's range, however the management company has said repeatedly that nothing was visible on the tape. I'm beginning to wonder if it even works!)

 

CCTV is "proof in the pudding" so to speak. I'd like to catch these guys and have them prosecuted. I'm figuring that its already cost me over 3k in car damages (over the years) and have a FLEXIBLE budget of around 2k, depending on options. I'm viewing this as an investment.

 

Any suggestions or comments are appreciated and greatly welcomed. I felt like I got kicked in the family jewels when I saw this at 8am this morning, then watching my BRAND NEW car be TOWED to the garage... I'm tired of it. Please accept my apologies for the long-winded explanation, just wanted to be crystal clear.

 

Thanks guys and gals!

Knoc

[scorpion 0]

The best solution is to buy a 12volt DVR and place it your vehicle. Install the cameras on your car.

 

Get a router that take a cellphone air card that are used for laptops to get a wireless internet connection. Have a PC at your house record the video. If they see the equipment and steal it you still have the video.

 

Camera for your description are probably more than you may want to spend. Once it is attached to the building the owner of the building will own those cameras.

 

You will need to get permission from the building owner to allow you to attach cameras to the building.

 

You are better off hiring a professional CCTV company as this is not a simple DIY project.

 

Now is not the time to go through a learning process win 1,000s of your money is a stake.

[Knocknoc 0]

Thanks much Scorpion!

 

Great advice, any chance you could provide a link to what you're talking about?

Either way, thanks for taking the time to respond.

 

Take care and thanks again!.

Knoc

[Soundy 1]

And as Scorpion says, anything mounted to the building would have to be cleared with the management... the only way you could "get around" that is if you arranged with a neighbor on an end unit to put the camera in their unit, attach it somehow non-destructively outside one of their windows (something that clamps to the window frame perhaps), and then either put the DVR in their unit and monitor it remotely, or run the camera into a "video server", essentially turning it into a network camera, allow you to access the camera via the internet (assuming that person has broadband internet).

 

At the distance you have there, you'd need a camera with a pretty long lens to get any kind of detail on your car from a camera mounted on the building, and nothing with built-in IR (at least not anywhere near your budget range) would illuminate that far. I'm guessing the lighting in that lot isn't great, so you'd need something with pretty wicked low-light performance.

 

A building-mounted camera would also need to be at least on the second floor to clear anything else that parks in between (taking Murphy's Law into account, the guy at the next space directly between your car and the building would then get a really tall RV or something), and of course, the higher you go, the less likely you are to get faces clearly.

 

Scorpion has good advice for putting a recorder and cameras IN your car.

[scorpion 0]

Let me google some info:

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=router+with+air+card