Looking for help on long range night cameras.

[Built2Drive 0]

Hello all,

I've introduced myself and now my big question is to long range night cameras. I live on about an acre of land. My problem, is teenage kids. Now I know where they live, and they have targeted my house among a couple others. Legally I can not do what I'd like to them, so I'm hoping to set up surveillance to protect my property.

My house sits back 80-100 feet from the road. I live in a raised ranch. So camera mounting would be ideal below the roof, which ads some more footage. In front I have a light, that I can just kind of see someone walking on the road. While the other side of my house has some nice new LED spot/flood lights that do a nice job.

I've been looking at camera's and trying to find the best ones to suit my needs. I've seen the Cantek SV-4TN501VR36 which had a video, but its difficult to make out faces. My guess is that I need a PTZ camera. A neighbor spoke of one that has motion detection, and once it picks up an image it will zoom in on it. But he can not remember what that is.

So what are my options? I'm also looking at probably a dvr set up, but want/need one that can send me mobile alerts. (There have been break-ins reported too close for comfort, during day and night)

 

Sorry for the novel, I'm very interested to learn all that I can and be able to search other sites and gain knowledge. I wish there were more video reviews and clips to help people determine what is worth the money.

[shockwave199 0]

How has your house been targeted?

 

You might be better off covering the doors and windows with cameras on your house really well, rather than put too much into trying to cover things 100' out. You could put one fixed camera specifically to see your mailbox or something, but at 80-100' your fov shrinks up and you can't cover much territory at all. That is, with a fixed camera. With a ptz you have range of motion, but like you said- you'd want it to have an aux/alarm so it could be called to a certain spot if needed. Without actually working the ptz, it's a crapshoot whether or not you'd get anything useable. I have a bunch of vids in my signature link. Maybe they'll give you some ideas. Consider no less than an eight channel dvr, good cameras, ample exterior lighting so the cameras see better, and maybe a ptz for your application. Good luck.

[nDAlk90 0]

I would try speaking to them individually. As the saying goes "catch more bees with honey than vinegar". Perhaps speaking to them nicely will help. If they are your neighbors the last thing I think you want is more conflict.

 

Even when you catch them in the act what then? Try to solve the problem.

 

Legally I can not do what I'd like to them

[Built2Drive 0]

It started with banging on the door, ok, no biggie. Then rocks started to be thrown. I see my neighbors house has a broken window. I've yet to see them to ask them about it. I know know where these 2 kids leave. They think they are tough guys, yet run away every time. I do plan to confront them, after talking to the police.

Also in addition, its not just these kids, but a lot of young drivers have been racing through the neighborhood, which is a private road. Last weekend a car full of kids swerved at some young children riding bikes. Great huh?

There have been break-in's during the day time from kids who are off from school. This is why I'm looking to get a dvr and software that can alert me when motion is picked up.

I guess I'll still have some searching to do. I see some PTZ's will do a scan, so that is kind of nice. I do realize that I'd have to be there to control them.

Thanks for the advise so far

[shockwave199 0]

The thing about ptz's doing tours and scans is that one, it's constantly moving the ptz and will wear it down quicker and two, it will keep that dvr channel recording constantly from all the movement. You may be recording full time anyway, so that may not matter. Even though I schedule recording, I still take advantage of motion recording to help keep unwanted stuff from cluttering the hard drive. A ptz touring or scanning defeats motion recording. It's great if you're monitoring in real time and not recording, and then if you see something you can start manual recording. Or, just record full time and tour or scan all the time. I actually prefer to keep my ptz fixed wide on motion record, and then schedule auto tracking in the wee hours until daybreak. If your problem with the kids is rock throwing and breaking things, be careful you don't tell them about your cameras or they will become a vandal target too. Your cameras will become the documentation of the problems if other measures don't stop the problems. Good luck.

[Built2Drive 0]

Thanks for those tips. I'm interested in the camera I talked to you on PM about. I seem to only hear them around 8-10pm, so scanning could be done then. Although as summer is around it may be a bit longer. I was also looking to recess the cameras so they are just not fully hanging out.

 

I also did have a local officer coming around my neighborhood today. I got to talk to him about my findings and what else has been going on. I had also called the local station today and talked to someone. So my efforts are noticed. I talked to him about the homes to where I know the 2 kids are located. He took some notes and said he'd be driving by to observe so he knows the area better. He said having cameras can help not only me, but the police and neighbors.

 

I think I'm going to look into a PTZ camera for the main corner of my house. Then look into some dome or bullets for the other sides of my house. I may have to go with some infrared's in some of those area's.

[Soundy 1]

I know know where these 2 kids leave. They think they are tough guys, yet run away every time. I do plan to confront them, after talking to the police.

"Well, officer, he ran away, tripped, and hit his face on the sidewalk. Then he got up, started running again, tripped, and broke his arm rolling down that hill. Then he got up again and stumbled face-first into that light post. Six times. I was standing 'way over there, watching the whole thing from a distance. No, unfortunately, I don't have any cameras on this side of the house. I agree, that could have been amusing YouTube fodder..."