Bad neighbors. Need help with surveillance system.

[MANN]

The house that is directly behind my property is a rental property. I was going to purchase a surveillance system about a year ago when the previous tenants lived in there, but was sorta slow to buy one. They went bankrupt, and were evicted (literally. or they filed for it at least). The house went unoccupied for about 8 months, and now there are a new set of tenants. To my knowledge there are three people living there. A ~60 yr old man (I think is the "grandfather"), a ~40 yr old woman (I think is the "mom"), and a ~ 20yr old punk kid (I think is the "son").

I am not worried about someone getting into my house as the other surrounding neighbors are all retired, and stay at home all day. (the other 4 neighbors). I have 2 ~125lb dogs so no one is going to get into my fence without a struggle. My problem is that I am finding food in my yard. I found a roman noodle cake, some other food with ants on it, (It didnt look good, and I threw it away)and a dead squirrel (I dont think my dogs are ninja like enough to catch one. Again 125lbs). All of this was found yesterday.

I would hope that no one is cruel enough to try to hurt my dogs, but in todays world who knows. I want to find out how this stuff is getting into my yard. I work 12 hrs a day so I need to find a way to "watch" my house.

I am needing any pointers anyone has on surveillance cameras. Preferably wireless ones. How do they work (Ie which ones do I need). Can any camera be wireless if you have a transmitter and receiver? What is good resolution for ~ 100 ft? What recorder do I need, etc. I would like ~ 6 cameras if that is an option. The more wireless the better.

[chafnerjr]

I tend to use computer based web cams, but for your situation check these guys out.

http://www.internationalspyshop.com/


Best of luck to you! :cheers:

[guseppe16]

I've used x10 camera systems before, with good results for a very cheap price. Range through walls is limited, but it won't suck your wallet dry. link. (http://www.x10.com/key_products/discount-camera.htm)

[doc_Zox]

i like axis web server cameras

the 213 is quite sweet

http://www.axis.com/products/cam_213/

a blinking red LED and a fake camera would prolly keep them honest

[VTLO910]

I agree, get something you can log onto the net and check when away from home...!

[robnix]

The house that is directly behind my property is a rental property. I was going to purchase a surveillance system about a year ago when the previous tenants lived in there, but was sorta slow to buy one. They went bankrupt, and were evicted (literally. or they filed for it at least). The house went unoccupied for about 8 months, and now there are a new set of tenants. To my knowledge there are three people living there. A ~60 yr old man (I think is the "grandfather"), a ~40 yr old woman (I think is the "mom"), and a ~ 20yr old punk kid (I think is the "son").

I am not worried about someone getting into my house as the other surrounding neighbors are all retired, and stay at home all day. (the other 4 neighbors). I have 2 ~125lb dogs so no one is going to get into my fence without a struggle. My problem is that I am finding food in my yard. I found a roman noodle cake, some other food with ants on it, (It didnt look good, and I threw it away)and a dead squirrel (I dont think my dogs are ninja like enough to catch one. Again 125lbs). All of this was found yesterday.

I would hope that no one is cruel enough to try to hurt my dogs, but in todays world who knows. I want to find out how this stuff is getting into my yard. I work 12 hrs a day so I need to find a way to "watch" my house.

I am needing any pointers anyone has on surveillance cameras. Preferably wireless ones. How do they work (Ie which ones do I need). Can any camera be wireless if you have a transmitter and receiver? What is good resolution for ~ 100 ft? What recorder do I need, etc. I would like ~ 6 cameras if that is an option. The more wireless the better.

Whatever you get, do NOT use standard PC's webcam's. They simply don't have the speed or the sensitivity to light to get anything you can use. The Axis cameras are pretty good, here's some live:

http://85.235.16.146/view/index.shtml
http://128.230.73.133/view/index.shtml

They're not cheap though, they run around $1400 iirc. A decent cctv cam starts around $400.00

One option is to simply set up an old camcorder that has good nighttime to a pc with a video capture app that only records when there's motion.

[Sumthinwicked]

http://www.security-kits.com/?s_kwcid=TC-2355-34574215011-S-6600074511&OVRAW=CCTV%20Cameras&OVKEY=cctv%20camera&OVMTC=standard&OVADID=6600074511&OVKWID=34574215011 link at top of ao!

[ajnin]

You can setup a system for about 50 bucks with a few cameras even. We use them when we general scenario games. Its pretty cool too have eyes on the field while be in the safety of a command post....

pm me

[MoeMag]

Are your dogs barking while you are gone?

Reason I ask is that there is a... large dog behind my parents house

Well the person is gone a lot of the time. and it barks non stop. like endless.

It doesnt like it when we are in our own backyard. jumps at the fence and what not.

I tried making friends with it, but no bueno.

That dog met the end of a carriage whip a few weeks back.

It doesnt bark now.

[MANN]

Are your dogs barking while you are gone?

Reason I ask is that there is a... large dog behind my parents house

Well the person is gone a lot of the time. and it barks non stop. like endless.

It doesnt like it when we are in our own backyard. jumps at the fence and what not.

I tried making friends with it, but no bueno.

That dog met the end of a carriage whip a few weeks back.

It doesnt bark now.

Do my dogs bark? yes. Do they usually bark at someone/other dogs? yes. If someone is walking down the street I want my dogs to bark at them; same thing goes with animals. luckily I have a brick fence that separates my dogs from their yard. I don't think my dogs can go over or under it, and my neighbor cannot do anything without it being obvious (or at least so to a camera).

I will record the "kids" next phone conversation he has on his back porch, and you will understand why I don't trust these people. Every other word is MF, and he says this in front of the "mom" and "grandfather". It really is quite disturbing that people allow friends/relatives/whatever he is act the way he does. I know I personally would have received the ace of spades and the five of clubs if I spoke this way in my parent's house.

[MoeMag]

I dont doubt you that they sound like bad news. sounds like your dogs would be just fine in my book. Just wanted to throw that out there.

Sorry its been on my mind. My roommate, and my folks neighbors have annoying dogs.

As much as I like animals... I have horses, dogs, cats, donkey, goats, and even a pig.

but, I HATE a dog that barks non stop. not the dogs fault... Its that some person lets them do it. If it was legal I would have taken that whip to the owner instead.

[Madmarx]

If it was legal I would have taken that whip to the owner instead.

Not sure where you live but... whipping the dog is illegal around here.
I'd like to catch you doing that in my neighborhood.

[punkncat]

To be honest there are a few solutions available at your local Sam's Club.
Are they the best thing money can buy?
No

However they are quite useful, work decently and are stand alone, fully assembled systems.
Here is the issue. For most states in order to even get decent camera systems you need a low voltage license. Most of the better systems are going to require that you make up your own cables, get a power supply, make connections back to the dvr or computer as the case may be. That is where the license becomes neccesary. These pre assembled systems at Sams avoid that problem and honestly, especially considering the cost of them, are not too bad. They would give you resolution enough to see if someone were throwing food over the fence etc. This is of course assuming your back yard is only 100' feet back from the house.

I work on the security field and I can tell you that for the cost of a "better" system you could EASILY bring yourself into the 4-5000$ range for something to even work noticably different.

The biggest problem is lightning and static discharge. I would recommend that you run grounding straps to all the cameras you put up.