Yet another newbie and a female one to boot..

[Coleslaw 0]

Greetings to all..

 

Since complaining about my neighbour's noise last Summer (after several years) without result, I started a noise diary and got the council involved. Since then, I've had my front trellis fence pulled down, broadband cable ripped out, paper recycling dumped in the road, garbage stolen (go figure) and her, her brother, daughter and friends thumping on my front door at 0400 swearing. The police have failed to do anything constructive.

 

First, we got a 6ft spiked gate for the internal porch of our Edwardian house, with a heavy duty but quick release padlock. Ordered a 3ft spiked one now, for the end of our front path. Then we put up a 30.00 GBP dummy CCTV camera in the porch with a CCTV sign. These measures were followed by window alarms on all ground floor windows (all windows have locks) and Prikka strips with signs, on the garden walls.

 

We left it long enough for the neighbour to get complacent about the dummy camera and on Saturday I went out and bought a Sentient CCTV kit - 1TB H.264 8 channel DVR with 4 Sony CCD cameras (2 dome, 2 bullet) with an Acer 19" colour monitor. I chose a wired system because I don't want interference with my wireless router. I bought a mount to put the monitor on the wall and a smoke alarm style alarm to go above it. I'm not buying a traditional burglar alarm with box because I believe CCTV is better.

 

The Husband was impressed cos I chose it all myself and it's the manufacturer they use for CCTV at work.

 

So I thought I'd join a forum and ask if anyone has tips for me re: Sentient please.

Thanks in advance.

[Numb-nuts 1]

Good for you, fighting back against these intrusive uncultured ingrates.

 

Your Sentient system is probably about the right level for home CCTV, but don't be too disappointed if it reveals some limitations over time.

Under the Data protection Act as a domestic user you are not required to place signs, however I believe them to have a "think twice effect" which greatly enhances the deterrent effect of having CCTV which is why dummy cameras work so well. I also keep a fire extinguisher by the front door.

 

I can't envisage your layout but for me the front door is the principal place of interest. My house was attacked several times with eggs, stones light-bulbs and even potatoes. It always starts with a violent knock at the door, a kick of the door thumping etc. Of course I come to the door to see what is happening and provide these children (teens actually) with a target. After a while, they realized I won't answer the door so they started sending the youngsters or girls to ring the doorbell. So my next step was to get a door-view camera with a wide angle lens. The camera itself is far from satisfactory, but any evidence is better than no evidence.

 

Wired is good, I use a wired system, I also use one IP (Wi Fi) camera through my network. It was cheaper option to add an IP camera than to change my DVR.

 

I thought I might use prikka strip to stop my rear garden being used as a shortcut, but squirrels use my fences

as a sort of squirrel super-highway,I didn't want to stop that so I haven't tackled that one yet.

 

I have tackled the 'graffiti on my concrete fence' war by buying a large tin of masonry paint and overpainting immediately any graffiti as soon as it appears, after while it stopped altogether. Leave graffiti alone at your peril, graffiti breeds leave it there and it encourages more. After a while, the offenders feel they have the right.

 

Well let's hope the police allow you to display some heads on your spiked gates before too long

 

Let us know where you are, I am in Greater Manchester.

[tomcctv 190]

signs are never a good thing on the side of your home. kids love it. and it can also bring more problems with neighbours. people dont like to see or think they are being watched.

 

before you fully install your system try it just for a day or so with the cameras just outside your window see what type of images you get. Maplin systems have a few problems 1 being burning off to usb other is quality cif units are old hat. check these things out first before you install everything.

 

last november in leeds we were asked to look at a maplins system. police were called 3 time and on each time the footage was usless. a usless system is just as bad as not having a system at all

[Nimrod 0]

“We left it long enough for the neighbour to get complacent about the dummy camera and on Saturday I went out and bought a Sentient CCTV kit - 1TB H.264 8 channel DVR with 4 Sony CCD cameras (2 dome, 2 bullet) with an Acer 19" colour monitor. I chose a wired system because I don't want interference with my wireless router. I bought a mount to put the monitor on the wall and a smoke alarm style alarm to go above it. I'm not buying a traditional burglar alarm with box because I believe CCTV is better.

 

The Husband was impressed cos I chose it all myself and it's the manufacturer they use for CCTV at work. “

 

It took a little doing but i was able to find your system. This system is one step up from bottom of the barrel.

 

1TB H.264 8 CH Network DVR with 4 x CCD Cameras and 19inch Monitor

 

Camera specs are.

420 tvl

.5 lux

1/4 inch sensor

3.6mm lens

IR leds

 

The cameras are fixed wide angle lens types, to get good facial recognition you can not be much farther away from the camera than about 7 feet, this will give you a FOV (field of view) of 6.22 ft, so you have to think very carefully about placement. 420 tvl / 6.22ft = 67 tvl per foot also called pixels per ft or PPF. 75 is about as low as you should go and 100 is very good.

 

Another option would be to put different lens in the cameras, you can buy them on ebay for a few dollars each. Get the ones that say IR for IR correction.

 

here is a easy to use lens calculator you can play with.

 

http://www.sdvision.be/en/calculator.html

 

This is a top secret code 1, UK government Doc, on proper CCTV system setup.

 

http://www.nactso.gov.uk/SiteCollectionDocuments/ManagingTheRisk/28_09_CCTV_OR_Manual2835.pdf

 

Use this Doc for camera lens information and placement.

[Coleslaw 0]

Thanks for replies so far, more are welcome.

 

The document and website will be useful thank you, in setting up the cameras. I had realised that I might have to buy different cameras and I can do that no problem. I just wanted something to start me off and learn with. I 've no intention at the moment, of trying to look at CCTV footage via my BlackBerry or via Internet, hence the monitor.

 

I live in a town on the South Coast of England and CCTV on domestic properties seem to be rarer than hens' teeth and the assumption is that CCTV signs are like dummy burglar alarm bells. The police have asked to come and look at it once set up to ensure that I'm complying with Data Protection Act ie not showing street, houses and gardens. Anti social neighbour has already complained to us about Prikka Strips but I had crime reduction officer round to OK everything we want to do.

 

The local police told me I had to put signs up and my husband called his security consultant and he said I didn't. So I have chosen to put them up but close to the house ie at the front it will be necessary to get past 3ft spiked gate and 6ft spiked gate to see the sign and camera. At night it would be difficult to get at the camera when the 6ft gate is padlocked. At the rear I put a sign above my back door so someone would have to leap over a 2.1m wall with Prikka Strip, untangle themselves from plants and traverse approx 20ft of garden to get there to see it. But if a would-be vandal or burglar gets close to the house then s/he will find alarmed and locked windows, CCTV, spiky gates, padlocks, bolts, Prikka Strip on walls and windowsills over 2m up, dog, prickly plants etc.. and then inside, anything valuable is on the UK National Property Database.

 

The neighbours dislike this woman and brother but do the See No Evil Hear No Evil thing when the police do house to house. I do feel left to fight on the frontline by myself. But I am not being unreasonable in wanting to hear the DVD I am watching or not be kept awake by parties until 6am and I'm not putting up with threats from drunks.

[Numb-nuts 1]

I believe you are exempt from the Data Protection Act (but I cannot quote the exact section) and that includes the myth that anyone can turn up at your door and demand to view your CCTV. They don't even have the right to ask in writing. I have told several nosey neighbours that my cameras are dummy and that if they want to see a movie clip they can watch the video from my recent rectal endoscopy. Innuendo? yes definately

 

There are loads of myths about CCTV or anything that makes the Chavs nervous.

 

Yet another myth is that you cannot film in a public place. (another thing that makes Chavs nervous) ABSOLUTE BUNKUM !

There is no law that says a member of the public (as opposed to public body) cannot film in a public place otherwise video cameras, digital cameras and mobile phones would have been banned long ago.

 

I know you will get to the bottom of it ( no pun intended) you seem like a quite savvy lady. Please excuse my course humor

Edited May 31, 2011 by Guest

[rory 0]

Dont forget the iron bars on the doors and windows, and rolled razor wire along the wall

Spikes and Regular barbed wire is fairly easy to get over

Some Optex Beams around the perimeter also, just in from the moat of burning oil.

Iron bars will slow them down at getting inside and disabling the alarm system, and give you time to get the shotgun

[Numb-nuts 1]

Dont forget the iron bars on the doors and windows, and rolled razor wire along the wall

Spikes and Regular barbed wire is fairly easy to get over

Some Optex Beams around the perimeter also, just in from the moat of burning oil.

Iron bars will slow them down at getting inside and disabling the alarm system, and give you time to get the shotgun

 

What a thought we're supposed to be talking about CCTV not army surplus

[Coleslaw 0]

 

The council told me that I couldn't use barbed wire as it's illegal so I asked why the council-owned local allotments (another thing rarer than hens' teeth) are swathed in the stuff... silence. I found realistic looking plastic barbed wire but the company told me it's not weatherproof. The crime reduction officer was most disappointed.

 

Garden isn't big enough for a moat I'm afraid, the house is Edwardian not Norman I'm really not wasting Extra Virgin olive oil on the neighbours either ! I did think about concealed electric fencing of the type used on livestock but having blundered into the stuff frequently as a teenager, it's not that painful.

 

Iron bars.. nooo I'm not the criminal, I'm investigating various types of toughened glass instead. I'm a lousy shot, can't hit a rabbit at 10 paces with a .410 but husband is ex Armed Forces and has his Marksman's badge - but no shotgun.

 

As the daughter of an insurance broker, it seems to me that it makes sense to protect the CCTV with extra locks etc. I'd look real stupid if a burglar nicked it ops

 

Even The Queen found an intruder in her bedroom, if someone wants to get in badly enough they will. Locks, bars, moats, oil, CCTV.. all just deterrents so they go bother/burgle someone else..

[rory 0]

 

What a thought we're supposed to be talking about CCTV not army surplus

 

Thats how I roll

 

ps. all except the moat.. . just cant afford the oil right now

[Numb-nuts 1]

See what happens when you let a woman loose with an idea and a credit card?

 

Being a woman you will have to accept a certain amount of ribbing, but then you knew that didn't you?

 

Seriously though, without experience to call upon I think you did well to accept that you

may have to change a couple of the cameras to suit the locations. Your purchase was a lot

better informed than my first purchase @ £ 19.99 in Aldi. My friend's son still has that and it works

as it did when we fitted it to his house. It's adequate for someone not really interested in CCTV.

 

For the uninitiated over the big pond, Aldi is like a down-market version of Wallmart,( if thats possible).

[rory 0]

No worries, before I got into the alarm industry some 12 years or so ago (no longer in it) I purchased one of those little alarms you double stick on the door... made a whistling sound ... ha ... now i have 3 loud sirens

[Coleslaw 0]

Actually, it was my debit card, not The Husband's money at all..and he's used to me, it's our 16th wedding anniversary on Friday Well, I'd rather be ribbed by guys than biatched at by women, that's for sure..my next door neighbour is rabid

 

Just wondering.. would the MoD Dispersal website have secondhand James Bond-ish CCTV for sale or is it just secondhand tanks and HMS Invincible ?

[Sawbones 0]

 

 

 

Iron bars.. nooo I'm not the criminal, I'm investigating various types of toughened glass instead. I'm a lousy shot, can't hit a rabbit at 10 paces with a .410 but husband is ex Armed Forces and has his Marksman's badge - but no shotgun.

 

 

 

This is why I could never be a Brit. Guns are a woman's best friend, especially when dealing with burglars.

[rory 0]

 

 

 

Iron bars.. nooo I'm not the criminal, I'm investigating various types of toughened glass instead. I'm a lousy shot, can't hit a rabbit at 10 paces with a .410 but husband is ex Armed Forces and has his Marksman's badge - but no shotgun.

 

 

 

This is why I could never be a Brit. Guns are a woman's best friend, especially when dealing with burglars.

 

We follow some of the same old laws as the UK .. guns are in general illegal here ..

except shotgun for hunting pigeon and need a license for that.

Ofcourse most get the shotgun license for self defense anyway.

All the criminals have guns though, machine guns, aks, etc.

[Aban-CCTV-Camera 0]

Welcome along luv

[Sawbones 0]

 

We follow some of the same old laws as the UK .. guns are in general illegal here ..

except shotgun for hunting pigeon and need a license for that.

Ofcourse most get the shotgun license for self defense anyway.

All the criminals have guns though, machine guns, aks, etc.

 

Isn't it funny how that always seems to be the case?

 

At least here in the US, we can arm ourselves, and make a go of it. Many homeowners respond to burglars with force, and most states have legal protections for the homeowner that chooses to defend family/property.

 

Burglary in the US can be a risky proposition indeed.

[Coleslaw 0]

 

 

 

Iron bars.. nooo I'm not the criminal, I'm investigating various types of toughened glass instead. I'm a lousy shot, can't hit a rabbit at 10 paces with a .410 but husband is ex Armed Forces and has his Marksman's badge - but no shotgun.

 

 

 

This is why I could never be a Brit. Guns are a woman's best friend, especially when dealing with burglars.

 

Prolly a good idea that I don't have a weapon (weapons are for fighting, guns are for fun) because she'd be long gone and she's not worth the time of day let alone time in prison. But my fingers sorely itch to give her a left hook. She's damaged my house to the tune of £££ and frankly she needs to be on a leash as far as I'm concerned, really. CCTV= evidence hopefully to get her cautioned at the very least.

[Coleslaw 0]

Here on the South Coast, it can be pretty windy and the mountings on the bullet cameras look a bit flimsy. I thought I had a brainwave, which is how about putting bullet cameras into cute nesting boxes ? The Husband fell about laughing when I called and told me that birds would try to get in. Seems to me that if the box is big enough for the camera and the business end was close up to the hole to keep the birds out, it would work as nest boxes usually have access panels.

 

Since posting, I started thinking about my sentry box-style shed for a camera and thought, hmm how about buying another one to put next to it in my side return. If I could plug all the cameras at the back into some sort of junction box in the shed, then I'd only need one cable from there to the house wall and up into my study. (A study each is what you get when you don't have kids, this is a four sofa hovel). If I'd need mains power then there's an outdoor socket on the other side of the side return, close by.

 

Feasible ?

 

The name's Slaw, Cole Slaw..

[Numb-nuts 1]

You can do what I do when I want to camouflage a bullet camera,

I have some PVC pipe from (dare I say it) B&Q and cut enough so that just 1-1.5"

over the end of the camera. I don't attempt to seal it at the viewing end and you

can usually buy plastic or rubber end-caps. I drill a mounting hole in the end or

the side as appropriate. The pipe gets a coating of military khaki and then a few

dabs of the various greens and browns have knocking about and the whole

assembly gets hidden in or near wall creepers or a hedge.. It its to camouflaged

on a building you can use black and greys.

 

All you are doing is creating a disguise jacket that you can paint. I have dome this for

mini bullet cameras as well as big 72 LED ones. PVC pipe is available in many diameters.

You can use your ingenuity to make it fit but you seem rather practical so I doubt this

would give you a problem.

 

Generally for safety from tampering or vandalism, your cameras should be at least 10 ft

above the highest point a person could climb up. Not always possible, practical or desireable

but aim to have 10 ft from the highest standing.

 

We were talking about night lighting a while ago and the subject of security lights at night

came up. The idea is to get colour images at night and also the sudden light coming on

attracts the intruder to look towards the light, so try and fit one near your camera , get the idea?

[Coleslaw 0]

Ingenious idea but wouldn't work in my garden because it wouldn't blend in. The garden walls are brilliant white, the pipes black and the wood (shed, trellis, pergola) is in Farrow and Ball Lichen or Cooking Apple Green. The soil is mulched with green slate, there isn't any grass and since most of the plants are Mediterranean without really dark leaves, DPM would stand out like a sore thumb.

 

Y'know you could save yourself all that trouble attempting to replicate camouflage on plastic pipe with paint, by using cam netting. If you Google Silvermans military outfitters you'll find lots of useful stuff

 

I do use B&Q actually though I prefer Proper Hardware Shops with People Who Know Stuff and can sell ya real mousetraps not sonic things that the mouse saunters past I use black plastic guttering to grow salad leaves in, it gives the slugs more of a workout.....

 

What about flare from the lights ? Also, IME IR lights don't work in the rain..bit like a Stealth bomber, that..

[Nimrod 0]

Since posting, I started thinking about my sentry box-style shed for a camera and thought, hmm how about buying another one to put next to it in my side return. If I could plug all the cameras at the back into some sort of junction box in the shed, then I'd only need one cable from there to the house wall and up into my study. (A study each is what you get when you don't have kids, this is a four sofa hovel). If I'd need mains power then there's an outdoor socket on the other side of the side return, close by.

 

Feasible ? “

 

WOW that was impressive logic especially for someone just starting out. Yes it is possible and fairly inexpensive.

 

Search for this on ebay.

 

CCTV 4 Channel Video Balun

 

Look at several different ads for them, some will have instructions and hook up diagrams. You need 2 of these, one on each end, your cameras plug in to this balun and you plug in a standard cat5 cable to it and other end of cat 5 to the other balun. Note, it does NOT connect to your computer network. On the dvr end it is reverse the 4 bnc connectors go to your dvr camera inputs.

 

P.S. your hiding a bullet camera in a bird house is only a good idea if it is very securely mounted as this larger structure will have much more wind loading than a bullet camera. And do not get to real with it like giving the bird a place to land by the lens or he may try to peck it out, especially if there is any kind of hole around the lens the bird can get at.

[tomcctv 190]

Hi Coleslaw. making covert camera as in birdbox or bits of pipe can be done but they do need a different camera than that of Sentient. making a covert camera with IR is only covert for a few hours night time they stick out like anything. once spotted it no longer covert. plus if you are going to put cctv signs up then you may as well let them see you have cameras.

 

Having neighbours from hell is not a nice thing to deal with and as you may know there is not alot of help that you as the victim can get ... infact its now starting to cost you money. are the neighbours you are having problems with owners or rental.

[Coleslaw 0]

I think laterally but accept that not all of my ideas work

 

I knew what a cat5 was, I think we've got some of that knocking around in the Cables-Which-Might-Come-In-Handy nest in The Husband's filing cabinet. Balun and BNC I had to Google but I recognised the BNC when I saw a photo, that's what the vandals ripped out of my ISP's distribution box, leaving me Internetless for four days Don't eBay but I reckon The Husband can find a supplier without too much hassle.

 

I hadn't factored in windloading and it does get very windy here - just last week part of my pinot noir vine detached itself from the pergola. However, The Husband is pretty good with drill, bolts, brackets etc. so I'm not worried about that. There's a garden centre near my mother's house with a whole room devoted to nesting boxes of all kinds so I can go look them over and measure up.

 

I'm here to learn, so could you explain why Sentient bullet cameras in particular, won't work please ?

 

The Neighbour is a bully, she likes to strut about the street swearing and she hates that I do stuff by the book. It makes her lose face that she's telling people it's a bit of litter and I'm saying nothing but adding more and more security. She'd much rather shout obscenities at me through my letterbox at 4am and feel she's bested me. So I'm aiming to keep her unsettled. She'll either do something when upset that I get on CCTV or she'll harass me to the point where I can get her warned for that. The nesting box idea is more to protect the camera but if she can't see the whole thing she doesn't know if it's real

 

Yup, getting fed up with the £££. Changed cell phone #, ISP, solicitor, CCTV, alarms, gates, padlocks, locks, bolts, Prikka Strips. Fortunately insurance covered the damage to the house (over £1000). Police have told them that if they have to go back round again for harassment, then they'll get a warning. However they did attempt to upset The Husband, told police, nothing happened.

 

Both owners. Her husband divorced her, she had to go back out to work. Moved her chav brother in and reverted to type. No one likes her but they won't make witness statements to police.

[tomcctv 190]

I'm here to learn, so could you explain why Sentient bullet cameras in particular, won't work please

 

 

Hi its not just sentient its any camera with built in IR. they just dont make good covert cameras. the IR lights up at night like a tourch.

 

making your cameras (ir type) covert into a bird box does not work. this is also why you dont see them for sale other than in nature cams.