Please help with home system- layout and measurements incl

[Advocate512 0]

Hello, my wife and I are moved into a new place, but the area is still a bit rough although it is developing nicely. She would feel a lot better if we had some cameras to see what is going on, especially since we chased someone out of our car only a week ago! There is a circular drive in the front of the house with decent lines of sight. My front door is actually depressed down several feet, but I have a second story balcony that sees above the parked cars great.

 

I would like to be able to get the license plates of cars coming both ways during the day and at night. We need to be able to see who is at the front door and around our cars, and we have some foot traffic over the fence in back. Almost all of the break-ins in our complex have been through punks kicking in back doors. I want to see who comes onto our back porch area and or tries out our back door. We have the same balcony setup in back, but here the ground continues to slope away, so the bottom floor might be a a better place.

 

Here is the map with measurements:

 

It is about 100 feet on the longest side of the green triangle, most traffic comes from that direction. It is about 50 feet to my car, which is the one that is the topmost of those that the green triangle intersects, and it is about 75 feet to the other place I park our cars, which would be the top of the purple triangle. It is the same in the backyard, 50 feet to the fence line, but about 100 feet to the bottom-left corner of the property.

 

Here is a shot looking to the right down my street:

 

And to the left (in this one you can see my car by itself, and I often park our other under the tree on the other side of it where the little yellow car is.

 

If there are any other measurements I should post or pictures that would be useful, please let me know, and I will append. We appreciate your help immensely!

Edited November 14, 2013 by Guest

[Advocate512 0]

I forgot that my budget is about $500, I could go up to around $1000 if it got me some great leap in effectiveness. I would much prefer to use my computer to record than a DVR setup. I know my way around networking.

 

There is another post on here about using this for a license cam at night (color esp at night is not a priority as much as ID and license plates. I looked at the Dahua cams, as I am all about value, but will it matter that those are usually PAL instead of NTSC cams?

[the toss 0]

Capturing number plates at night can be tricky with the best of cameras so you need to you need to ask yourself before you spend money - am I willing to pay what is needed to obtain the results I am after? If not then there is a good chance that what you spend will be wasted. My advice is that whatever camera you get make sure you explain exactly your situation & the results you expect & after the salesman sells you your camera get him to agree to a return & refund if (when) his assurances don't pan out.

[Advocate512 0]

Thank you for the honest reply. After looking around, I don't think I am going to be able to afford what it will cost to get the license plates, well not at night anyway. What would you recommend for the other areas? I just want to be able to see if someone is messing with or in my car, and to see who is at my front or back doors. These seem to be much more realistic goals. Could I do it with two cameras in front, because if the two places we park, and one on the back porch, or will I need a fourth camera for my front door area?

 

I am almost always home, so I am much more interested in being able to know when I should step outside with either Mr. Mossberg 12-gague or Mr. Colt .45 Defender than I am making case with the cops after the fact (although that would be really nice too!). If I am asleep when it goes down, the I guess that's why I have insurance.

[PaulfromCT 0]

Thank you for the honest reply. After looking around, I don't think I am going to be able to afford what it will cost to get the license plates, well not at night anyway. What would you recommend for the other areas? I just want to be able to see if someone is messing with or in my car, and to see who is at my front or back doors. These seem to be much more realistic goals. Could I do it with two cameras in front, because if the two places we park, and one on the back porch, or will I need a fourth camera for my front door area?

 

I am almost always home, so I am much more interested in being able to know when I should step outside with either Mr. Mossberg 12-gague or Mr. Colt .45 Defender than I am making case with the cops after the fact (although that would be really nice too!). If I am asleep when it goes down, the I guess that's why I have insurance.

 

Haha, what warrants the .45 over the 12 gauge or vice versa? For what you are looking to do AND if you are good with computers/networking you could pick up (2) 2 packs of the Swann Bullets at Costco ($700), Blue Iris server software ($50) and a 4/8 port POE switch ($50) and you would be good to go with a pretty good entry system for around $800 bucks. To get GOOD video this is really the starting point for DIY. Plus, Blue Iris has a great Android app and the developer is really responsive. With only 4 HD cams the BI CPU usage shouldn't be too bad (if it is an i5 or i7), but if you keep adding cameras BI might tap out your computer.

[Advocate512 0]

Thanks! And it is usually the .45 because I have it handy all the time. The cops swear by the shotgun, though, but where is a safe place to keep it where it is quickly accessible. Maybe if I ha d cameras instead of waiting to hear something, I could better prepare and make a more menacing appearance. My .45 is the smallest they make, but as Omar from The Wire said, "even if I miss, I don't miss" So far I have scared off two would-be car thieves int he 7 or so years I have lived here. And no, young punk car thieves do not come back to "retaliate," there are many other cars that do not have armed owners lording over them for them to go check out.

 

I think this is the first time I have read a recommendation for Swann equipment. $800 reads really nice, however, so I am appreciative. I am going to wait a bit to see if I get some more ideas before I pull the trigger, so to speak. I am also looking forward to catching whoever is letting their dog crap in my yard. As for the system, I have an HTPC i5 Sandy Bridge setup I did myself with a whopping 32GB, yes 32, of RAM and 6TB of hard disk space at 7200 RPM. If I need more computer, you wouldn't have to twist my arm.