Security cameras for the S&B?

[sheridany]

We have a hard wired security camera system at our S&B and with the recent third world power outages in california, the cameras went down and the alarm system cut over to battery which only lasted 2 hours. At that point, we were vulnerable while there have been three home invasion in the area in the past 3 weeks. No incidents occurred so if you are going to be gone for a while know that these systems can go off-line. They do come back on line fine when power is restored and does not require manual intervention to reactivate the system typically.
One other comment I would make there is a great app for the I Phone (maybe Android) that we use for live view and playback called NVMS7000 that is excellent. I believe as long as the system has access to the internet, it can be work. You can save videos or still shots from the replay if needed.

 

[Joe Hogan]

We use an ADT installed system with 6 cameras. Covers all approaches to the house. Also has "night vision" infrared features. It is amazing the critters that move around at night.
The system we purchased has 1T of storage, about a month of history. Both realtime and history can be accessed via internet. The system has motion alert software with notification. We do not use notification but motion is nice to review. When home I have a monitor scrolling through the cameras in my office at the back of the house.

 

[TJ&LadyDi]

Thanks, Joe. We are looking at ADT as an option.

TJ

 

[MapNerd]

For me, the dumber my house is the happier I am. For those of you out there buying Ring Doorbells, Amazon Echos’, Facebook Portals and whatever other tech gadget, know that these products do not exist to make your life easier - they exist as the means to make you and any and all information about you, a product to be sold to advertisers and anyone else that wants to buy that data.

Ring however, is a next level disaster for the privacy minded and there are plenty of alternatives.
https://gizmodo.com/dont-buy-anyone-a-ring-camera-1840070640

 

[Neal]

I understand @MapNerd and some people are sensitive about their privacy. I for one am not. I don't turn it off on my phone as I want to take advantage of the location aware features. If someone cares about my asking Alexa about NFL games so be it. I like being able to voice control my thermostats at home, turn lights on/off, use it as a light timer, I've been able to adjust my home automation while away on a 6 monther. If someone wants to use my Ring doorbell to help keep my neighorhood safer, have at it. It's just my perspective on this as I have nothing to hide and I embrace the technology and really enjoy it. I understand the other side as well.

 

[sheridany]

Here’s something else to consider which is camera quality. Spend for good cameras and make sure they work at night. Little did I know someone drove over our irrigation main valve last night and left. Did significant damage. We just spent the last 1.5 hours replaying and zooming the video. We cannot read the license plate after they backed up clear into our driveway. Sort of worthless if you can’t read a license plate. The security company will hearing from us Monday.

 

[Neal]

I always wonder this when I see crime pics on local news and wonder why the image quality is always so poor. This is why I went with a 4K dashcam (blackvue) so I could actually get the detail needed should I ever need it.

 

[Joe Hogan]

I have always wondered how the License Plate Reader cameras get such clear images. My home security cameras have the same issue at night.
There is a set of LPR cameras just down the street from our home. Day or night that camera catches plates with a legal issue. It took a couple months in service but now keeps the bad guys out of the area.
It is my understanding the LPR is connected to FL DOT computers as well as a NCIC system. Keeps that little three or four "on duty" Police officers busy. They had to shut down the "minor violations" from the output because of the number of hits they got during the day.
After some reading, it is my understanding that capturing reflective license plates with a infrared spectrum is very tough. The reflective plate material, as you can see above, reflects the infrared washing out the numbers. Note the unlit plate of the station wagon. Completely unreadable.
So just a better camera does not appear to be the answer. It appears they have to be tuned for this work. For those interested here is an abstract I found on the LPR camera. https://patents.google.com/patent/US8704889B2/en

 

[Akdare]

Yes, and those infrared lights also attract spiders that build webs over your camera lenses. I installed one of those ultrasonic pest deterrents next to each camera. It doesn’t completely solve the issue, but it certainly helps.

 

[Joe Hogan]

Thinking about the security camera image. If the plate is important to determine and you have access to the raw image file, you might try some adjustments to the image in a photo editor. Possibly adding a filter and reducing the exposure. There might be enough of the plate information in the image when matched to the truck to give you an ID.