# Home CCTV?



## katec (Jun 2, 2014)

Hey Everyone,

I am planning to hook up a home CCTV system, and I want to run the plan by you all and find out whether or not any of you have undertaken similar plans previously, and if so what advice you may give me. 

So - to reduce the downtime I'm planning to use a dedicated router for wireless webcam connections, with one directed on the front street and the other to the back yard. Each will record footage to a Raspberry Pi (one for each camera), which will save the footage to hard drives, as the Pi's don't have great storage and I won't need to keep any of the footage for extended periods of time.

The one directed to the front of the house will be motion activated, recording only while there is motion or motion has been detected within the last 5 minutes. The one directed at the back yard will record constantly and stream live over the internet, allowing me to check on my dogs (who have access to the rear yard during the day) while I am at work. 

My current estimation is that this will cost me approximately £130 to set up - which is cheaper than any CCTV systems I have seen, and of course more customisable to my needs. 

Would it work the way I want it to if I set it up this way? Has anyone else done anything like this? How did it go?


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## Wuzzat? (Jun 2, 2014)

Crimes in a country that uses pounds may be significantly different than in the U.S., partly because over here across the pond we have the NRA.

If you have a local Crime Analyst paid for by your tax dollars then I suggest you ask them for guidelines specific to your neighborhood.

BTW, burglars are different from robbers: burglars don't want a confrontation, robbers have one on every job.


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## carnuck (Jun 4, 2014)

We have Harbor Freight here and a set of 6 cameras with controller and 48 hour recorder is about $200.


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## katec (Jun 5, 2014)

carnuck said:


> We have Harbor Freight here and a set of 6 cameras with controller and 48 hour recorder is about $200.




Wow that's pretty cheap. What sort of setup does that use? Did a company fit it or is it DIY done?


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## bud16415 (Jun 5, 2014)

http://www.harborfreight.com/househ...and-mobile-monitoring-capabilities-61229.html


It's DIY friendly.


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## Wuzzat? (Jun 5, 2014)

I got a HF chopsaw as a gift and I had a question.  

Their 800 help number is a joke (this is getting to be normal in the USA) so I wrote them a letter.  
They seemed offended that I would even question them, I think they know nothing about what they sell, so they wrote me a smart-a$$ letter back.
http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=define+snide&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

I figured out the answer myself.

I still use that saw occasionally and I'm still waiting for it to fail catastrophically and cut off some of my body parts.


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## carnuck (Jun 6, 2014)

I use their stuff and consider it disposable and pay accordingly. Their solar panel stuff has the sloppiest soldering and the wrong solder for exterior electric to boot.


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## Bailenforcer (Jun 7, 2014)

I found a reputable ebay seller (  cctvhotdeals ) of CCTV in Campaign Illinois. The system I bought is 8 cameras with night ability and 480 lines (Beginning HD ) and a small DVR that has a 1 Terabyte hard drive. The system is fairly cheap and I can view it through the Internet with an Iphone/Android or any computer with the FREE Zmodo software. I am impressed considering the cost and I put the whole system up with 4 cameras up in the tree canopy where they are not seen and 4 more surrounding the house 360 degrees. One can in no way approach my place without being seen, and my Pit Bull watches the cameras and let's me know when anyone approaches. The Pit Bull wasn't included in the deal, he learned on his own with a little help from me pointing at the Visio television I use as a monitor. He now runs to the door someone is walking up to to be ready to greet them. 

I thought I would let you know since this is affordable and has a long record time. NOTE: you can upgrade to a larger drive also. 






katec said:


> Hey Everyone,
> 
> I am planning to hook up a home CCTV system, and I want to run the plan by you all and find out whether or not any of you have undertaken similar plans previously, and if so what advice you may give me.
> 
> ...


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## Bailenforcer (Jun 7, 2014)

Between the Pit Bull, German shepherd LE trained dog, and a angry old man with a Glock 45 acp we don't see much crime here... 





Wuzzat? said:


> Crimes in a country that uses pounds may be significantly different than in the U.S., partly because over here across the pond we have the NRA.
> 
> If you have a local Crime Analyst paid for by your tax dollars then I suggest you ask them for guidelines specific to your neighborhood.
> 
> BTW, burglars are different from robbers: burglars don't want a confrontation, robbers have one on every job.


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## Wuzzat? (Jun 7, 2014)

Bailenforcer said:


> Between the Pit Bull, German shepherd LE trained dog, and a angry old man with a Glock 45 acp we don't see much crime here...


In Petosky they may leave the keys in the ignition while they go into a store.  

And at least three women were friendly.


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## Bailenforcer (Jun 8, 2014)

It used to be that way here. When I escaped Detroit in 1995 and became a refuge here near Petoskey lol, people used to leave cars running and to be honest it was a shock to me. In Detroit you had to lock everything up and they morons would even steal the locks. 

After working the streets of Detroit and retiring finally I will never look back. My friends downstate alays ask me to come visit and my answer is always why don't you come up here and visit so we all can enjoy that time together.

But Alas the Michigan State law that makes it illegal to leave a car running unattended stopped the cars running in the parking lot in winter. 





Wuzzat? said:


> In Petosky they may leave the keys in the ignition while they go into a store.
> 
> And at least three women were friendly.


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## katec (Jun 9, 2014)

Bailenforcer said:


> I found a reputable ebay seller (  cctvhotdeals ) of CCTV in Campaign Illinois. The system I bought is 8 cameras with night ability and 480 lines (Beginning HD ) and a small DVR that has a 1 Terabyte hard drive. The system is fairly cheap and I can view it through the Internet with an Iphone/Android or any computer with the FREE Zmodo software. I am impressed considering the cost and I put the whole system up with 4 cameras up in the tree canopy where they are not seen and 4 more surrounding the house 360 degrees. One can in no way approach my place without being seen, and my Pit Bull watches the cameras and let's me know when anyone approaches. The Pit Bull wasn't included in the deal, he learned on his own with a little help from me pointing at the Visio television I use as a monitor. He now runs to the door someone is walking up to to be ready to greet them.
> 
> I thought I would let you know since this is affordable and has a long record time. NOTE: you can upgrade to a larger drive also.



Thanks, that sounds really good - good to know someone else has made it work. Your system seems much simpler than mine, though as I finished setting up the Raspberry Pi computers to record and transmit the way I want them to over the weekend and I'm just waiting for the delivery of the cameras now I'm a bit reluctant to go with the simpler system  Will see how it goes, hopefully get it all functional this coming weekend. 


Thanks for the help everyone!


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## Wuzzat? (Jun 9, 2014)

Bailenforcer said:


> It used to be that way here. When I escaped Detroit in 1995 and became a refuge here near Petoskey lol, people used to leave cars running and to be honest it was a shock to me. In Detroit you had to lock everything up and they morons would even steal the locks.
> 
> After working the streets of Detroit and retiring finally I will never look back. My friends downstate alays ask me to come visit and my answer is always why don't you come up here and visit so we all can enjoy that time together.
> 
> But Alas the Michigan State law that makes it illegal to leave a car running unattended stopped the cars running in the parking lot in winter.


Regarding your previous occupation (!) what was the most unexpected aspect of your work?
Did you normally wear a Kevlar vest?
Do you know Aikido?
Were you allowed to use deadly force?

TIA.


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## Bailenforcer (Jun 10, 2014)

1.the most unexpected aspect of your work? Nice people lol
Did you normally wear a Kevlar vest? Always
Do you know Aikido? Yes and MooDukKwan.
Were you allowed to use deadly force? Yes

No glamor in any job, it paid the bills. 









Wuzzat? said:


> Regarding your previous occupation (!) what was the most unexpected aspect of your work?
> Did you normally wear a Kevlar vest?
> Do you know Aikido?
> Were you allowed to use deadly force?
> ...


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## Wuzzat? (Jun 11, 2014)

Bailenforcer said:


> 1.the most unexpected aspect of your work? Nice people lol
> Did you normally wear a Kevlar vest? Always
> Do you know Aikido? Yes and MooDukKwan.
> Were you allowed to use deadly force? Yes
> ...


If you believe people know when they are being watched, how is this done?
If you believe people know when a person approaching or nearby means you harm, how is this done?

I haven't been able to find anything provable on these paranormal events and Duke's PSI lab doesn't seem to test for this.  I've experienced both.

BTW, got a black belt in Tae Kwon Do after a corrupt judge refused to convict a street punk I got into a fight with.  
No problem, two years later I heard that this kid was shot dead at work.

A mugger was on our trail in NYC once and I had a weapon but I outwitted this stocky dude, instead.  I guess that was the optimum outcome. . .


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