Surveillance Systems

[boroson]

My next door neighbor's work van was broken into last night and a significant anount of $$$ was stolen. He is a general and I am an electrical contractor so we are a bit handy around the house. I was asked to look into a surveillance system for him but I have no experience with them. PE sells Talos 4 camera 500GB systems. Are they any good? Are the cameras wireless? If not, do we use CAT 5 for the hook up? Do the cameras operate continuously or are they motion triggered? How are the cameras powered? Any help will be appreciated.

[Woodfiend]

The camera's are a good idea ( I have been debating as well about purchasing some. Not sure which ones yet although PE is on the potential list). I need to research them some more as well. But you probably need to alarm your vans as well. It doesn't always just happen at home. And although it may be a deterent..... if the stuff is already gone then seeing who did it later may not help get it back. But loud attention drawing noise may deter them more. I am a commercial finish carpenter and I keep a ridiculous amount of money/tools in my van and so I always have an extensive alarm on it. I have all the doors on sensors, two glass break, dual motion sensors, bump,hood, etc.... and get a two way remote so it lets you know if someone is messing with it. If I am working on a jobsite I want to know it is secure especially if people see me moving tools in and out of it every day. I can set it to let me know if someone is even peering in the window.....

I had a friend who had his van broken into about 8 months ago and they took everything that was in there..... table saw, miter saw, corded and cordless power tools..... all gone. After insurance he still didn't want to spend money on alarms so I recommended metal over the interior of his windows and one of the large two piece locks that the big box stores sell that mount through each door so even if they break the window they can't get the rear doors open. If interested here is the lock mechanism I recommended to him at Lowes Master Lock MAGNUM VEHICLE HASP AND LOCK

Item #: 362597 | Model #: M736XKAD

[boroson]

Thanks Woodfiend. My neighbor had over 5K stolen and in addition 6 other contractors in my community lost cash on the same night. We have undersireable teens roving in our small area, looking for cash and firearms, tools seldom get boosted. Faces would be a desireable piece of information.

A security monitoring outfit told us that any $300.00 system would work. We will probably just order a system from PE and install the thing. At least I will learn another new skill, like home theatres, home inspection, whole house audio, communications, generator repair, etc., etc. I'll let you know how it goes.

[generic]

Try and hit up a security forum for more ideals. Car Alarms can help chase someone off, but they can't help convict. For that, video is needed. I've personally had a car alarm stop off a successful theft, so they are not useless, but I think they can be over rated too.

I'd go hard wired myself. Anything wireless can technically be jammed and has to deal with general interference. Just be sure to hide wires, put camera's too high to be stolen or covered. Think like a jerk who wants to steel your stuff. What would you attempt?

[Deward Hastings]

Since most "events" occur at night you'll find that color (which seems to be a big selling point these days) doesn't matter anywhere near as much as good illumination (IR where applicable). And if you're looking any distance then both resolution and an appropriate focal length lens matters *a lot*. Most of the low rez wide angle stuff will tell you exactly what you already knew . . . somebody robbed the truck.

[Woodfiend]

We also have a fully alarmed house in addition to my work van. But when you install the DVR make sure you locate it in an inaccessable location so if they break into the home they can't also leave with the evidence of said break in......... I would have an easily useable monitor (password protected) to view and access the DVR but have the unit itself hidden and protected.

[coffeebum]

I installed a DVR system in my house after several things went missing from the back yard. Got it from newegg, cannot remember the brand right now. Lowlight wired cameras, ran cables from soffet into attic space with a 6' 3/4 in flex bit and some 3/4in pvc, drill with flex bit at an angle and remove, sleeve cable connectors into pvc end and tape, run other end of 10' pvc into attic/crawl space so you can reach it and pull through to inside. Pipe prevents damage to connectors and prevents hangups, you could leave pvc in place as a chase if desired. The red glowing led's on the cameras have seemed to deter any other late night visits so far, and DVR holds about a week of info before it overwrites the harddrive. Install as suggested, hidden/hardened. Video is kinda crappy on my entry level system, but for around 400$ I am pretty happy.

[boroson]

Thanks for all of the responses. We did not consider resolution of the cameras, capturing a clear image of the bastar*s would certainly be useful. Wireless would be nice but I think too expensive.