I live in a relatively good neighborhood but because of the location (out of the way) we have a lot of issues with people's cars being broken into and even stolen. 2 cars in the past year, that I know of, have been stolen from my neighborhood.
This morning I received a message to check my camera's to see if anyone was on it around 1-3 am. Sure enough around 2:15 am a guy walks up to my car and tried to open the driver side door and then moved to the next house. His face was fully covered with a mask and had gloves on. Even if my camera's did capture anything it would have been useless. There were also 3 of them. 2 across the street. If I was awake and I went out there I would probably have 3 people jumping on me and that is if you don't get shot first.
I am more worried about it escalating and getting into the houses. For the first time in my life I am actually considering a gun. I have never even held a gun but this is what it's coming to.
I have Hikvision camera's that are good but pretty useless at night to really identify anything. They are supposed to be motion activated but things such as bugs and headlights are constantly causing motion trips. Do they make perimeter alert systems? Maybe some invisible barrier so if someone breaks the barrier in the middle of the night I can get alerted. Would seem there would be less of a chance of false alarms, except for maybe critters and such, than motion activation on the camera's.
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks.
I feel your pain.
I live in a relatively good neighborhood but because of the location (out of the way) we have a lot of issues with people's cars being broken into and even stolen. 2 cars in the past year, that I know of, have been stolen from my neighborhood.
This morning I received a message to check my camera's to see if anyone was on it around 1-3 am. Sure enough around 2:15 am a guy walks up to my car and tried to open the driver side door and then moved to the next house. His face was fully covered with a mask and had gloves on. Even if my camera's did capture anything it would have been useless. There were also 3 of them. 2 across the street. If I was awake and I went out there I would probably have 3 people jumping on me and that is if you don't get shot first.
I am more worried about it escalating and getting into the houses. For the first time in my life I am actually considering a gun. I have never even held a gun but this is what it's coming to.
I have Hikvision camera's that are good but pretty useless at night to really identify anything. They are supposed to be motion activated but things such as bugs and headlights are constantly causing motion trips. Do they make perimeter alert systems? Maybe some invisible barrier so if someone breaks the barrier in the middle of the night I can get alerted. Would seem there would be less of a chance of false alarms, except for maybe critters and such, than motion activation on the camera's.
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks.
I feel your pain. My cameras are really mainly for forensic purposes at this point. I use all IP cameras so I can send one of the streams to a small inexpensive android tablet loaded with the “IP Cam Viewer” app. The tablet sits next to my large TV where I can see my driveway, but I’ve missed the neighborhood brown bear on too many occasions due to TV distraction, so again a motion sensor to detect motion and alert is essential. A inexpensive outdoor sensor is the “Driveway Patrol”, I think it can be found at Harbor Freight, the con is it has a very limited distance between the sensor and the indoor audible/light unit, it may work for some. If you do get it to work you can always add a low current relay to trigger your NVR video system (must have input capabilities) for the higher frame rate recording. The outdoor environment causes the most disturbance to any video system using pixel changes as its detection. I’m a security professional, even I can’t afford the products I sell, they’re very high end and expensive, but prices have drastically come down to the DYI market. A high megapixel camera is essential for the high pixels required when distance is an issue. The questions is do want to detect or recognize a person. Use a distance calculator for the megapixel requirements, again risk vs price will determine your selection. A true LPR camera must match the software in order to capture fast, low light images against blinding headlights, a true LPR system can work, make sure you do your research and verify system specs. Some true LPR systems can verify license plates against law enforcement databases.
To reach your camera, there’s burial network cable available for your POE IP camera, but yes securing the camera from theft is essential, most cameras come with torx security screws, my preference are the spanner screws, torx screws are easily defeated.
My number one advice is to purchase a monitored home alarm system, perimeter cameras 2nd, and as a last line of defenseI use my trusty Beretta hand gun with bird shot first, then hollow point as the second round to stop the threat (always take yearly classes).
Security is about layering and creating overt and covert layers. Using your physical house as one of the perimeter layers is easy with wireless sensors. The Honeywell 5800 wireless series integrate with many alarm panels. One of the optional accessories is a outdoor motion sensor, plus wireless contacts that you could create trip wires. Or a 3rd party solar beams with a 5800 transmitter to send the signal to the panel. Use the panels output to then trip the video system to increase the frame rate upon the alarm event. And yes, set your video recorder to 24/7 at a low frame rate until an alarm event bumps it up to a higher resolution frame rate. But most importantly is to start with simple overt layers; Neighbor Watch sign at both ends of your street; home yard sign; motion detection lights will create your first two layers, etc.... Hope I’ve been able to help someone. Sorry for the ramble, I love catching thieves instead of the blowing leaves, lol! Good luck all.
