There goes the neighborhood...

[completelyhis]

Well,
I used to live in a quiet little rural area and then the development came. I have no problem with progress and capitolism and whatnot, but I do have a problem with the litter that has become an incredible eyesore on just the other side of my fence. I'm 99.9% sure it's the curb suckin' teen agers that go and buy all their junk food from the country store right around the corner, then hang out on their skate boards for a while. It's gotten so bad that whenever I go on a walk with my family (often) I bring latex gloves and a trash bag.

Add to this the recent egging of the church shuttle bus I had parked in my driveway for a few days, and I'm feeling frustrated. Maybe I belong in the "crotchety old man" class, now that I sit there on my porch and say, "kids these days, what's this world coming to...."

So, anyway, I'm thinking about setting up the IP security camera system. I'd like to get one that looks over my driveway and into the cul de sac, one in my back yard, and several around the interior of the home.

Here's the question: I'd also like to add one that looks OVER my fence onto the PUBLIC sidewalk. It would be motion activated, just to record the litter in action, then, seems how I still know most of the people in the neighborhood, I could use the video/images to kindly ask parents to have a discussion with the kids, or even talk with the owner of the country store (a friend of mine) and ask them to create a litter bug wall shame - I'd be glad to print out the pictures and all!

Is that overkill? Is it legal? Do I need to just get over it?

Next question is regarding what type of cameras to use. I want to get some that will meet the following feature list:

~record to PC and/or external DVR (I'm running vista on my HS machine)
~ip based, with ability to use HS apps such as Maestro or Media Center Plugin
~good enough resolution to be able to get quality identification of people from a good 40' or so
~at least some cameras good for night time use
~doesn't need to be wireless. I have conduit EVERYWHERE!

I'm thinking of getting one of these packages from Costco:

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product...US&Sp=C&topnav=

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product...se=&lang=en-US

Thanks for letting me rant!

Ian

[rmasonjr]

Is that overkill? Is it legal? Do I need to just get over it?

I cant see it being any more than being part of a neighborhood watch, or a good samaritan. We have the occasional redneck who dumps dead animal carcasses on our road (gross) .

I live in extreme rural (southwest MS) and I want cameras to capture the wildlife - deer, fox, turkeys, etc. Those prices on those cameras look pretty good.

If you do decide to get one of the packages, please let us know about the quality.

Thanks

[langenet]

I'm feeling the same way as Ian. I don't know what we have done to our kids to allow such disrespect. When I was a kid, I was taught that littering was bad and to respect the 'world'. Todays kids are "all about me" and generally don't give a rats @#s. While I'm lucky there's no junk food stores close by, I have on accasion picked up the fallout of McDonalds and the like.

I'm close to 49 and want to know if this is too young to join the likes of the "crotchety old man"?

Thanks for listening. I feel better now...

Robert

[completelyhis]

Robert,
I imagine you're not too young..I'm only 31!!!!!!!!!

I was standing in line Saturday AM at the country store (actual name of it btw) with my wife - we go and get coffee there with the boys every sat. am). There was one of curb suckers in front of me, had his pants down PAST his hips. I asked the lady at the counter (I know her well), "Do you sell belts here? I'd be glad to buy one for this nice young man who seems to have lost his." He looked back and laughed. I asked him, "seriously, how do you keep your pants up? Doesn't it feel weird showing my beautiful wife your underwear? Would you go to a job interview like that?"

He pulled his pants up.

Maybe we should start a crotchety old man club, eh? Like the HA Pioneers or something.

I know that I for one am teaching my kids to be respectful of others. Oldest is 10, youngest just turned six. Each one of them knows how to look someone in the eye, give a firm handshake, and say, "My name is ____, it's nice to meet you." You can bet each one of my boys knows that littering is wrong, as is using disrespectful language. Man, I must be old fashioned - wait I am, I remember I cling to my guns and my religion...that explains it.

anyway, back on topic...questions of legality (remembering these would be minors, but it is a public place).

also questions of those costco cameras working for my wants.

[Rotech]

In my opinion, I would go the DVR way. Ive heard that storing images can be trouble some making your PC slow down. Having it in a DVR all the info is stored in the unit.If you need to see any images you would access the DVR thru HS, having it independent from HS is a better option.

[completelyhis]

Does anyone know of how easy/hard it would be to control/access the dvr unit made by Q-see?

It says you can access the cameras from over internet, so the dvr must have some sort of ethernet and/or pc connectivity.

I have a pretty beefy pc, so I'm not too concerned w/ using the capture card. my concern there would be the limit to 4 cameras/card.

[completelyhis]

Here are some questions I have regarding cameras, after looking over the features.

it has server client software to install, is vista compatible, and connects to the router. I imagine this means that the cameras are actually analog (they have a bnc connector) and the dvr unit is IP. Would each camera also need the power ran to it seperately then, as the power wouldn't be part of the bnc run?

The dvr has one audio input...what's that about?

The dvr also has a usb connector, apparently for backing up to a pc.

The dvr can be IR controlled, so I could teach HS some commands and control it that way.

The dvr has analog a/v output.

The dvr has 8 alarm inputs and one alarm output. Could I hook something like a secu 16 supervised circuit to it to have it trigger?

it has an RS485 port for controlling 1 pan/tilt/zoom camera.
Record specs are:
720 x 240 pixels, 60 fps
5 of the cams have a 3.6mm lens, 4 have a 6mm lens. I have no idea what that means!
Horizontal resolution = 420 lines
IR light distance is aprox 30'

any camera smart people out there have any opinions?

[jackpod]

It really makes me feel good to hear/see you youngin's talk/feel like this, and here I had pretty much written off anyone younger than 50

There might be hope afterall

[zimmer62]

I'm 30 and I'm fed up with kids to the point where I don't offer candy anymore on Halloween. I've been that way for about 5 years now.

The thing it's, it's not just the kids, it's their adult counterparts too.

Kid A.... ding dong..."Trick or Treat" oh, hi there, that's a nice costume. Let me lower the candy bowl so you can select the piece of candy you want. Kid A takes 1 snickers bar.

Adult A.... Brings little kid to the door, has child walk up and hold out their basket. Aww... how cute, Parent says: Say Trick or Treat, kid tries to say something or is just too confused as to what to do. I give them some candy and the Adult says Thank you, tells the kid to say thank you.



Kid B.... ding dong..."Trick or Treat" oh, hi there, that's a nice costume. Let me lower the candy bowl so you can select the piece of candy you want. Kid B takes 4 or 5 snickers bars. Eats one right there and litters in my lawn.

Kid C.... BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG on the door. Hi... what are you supposed to be? I'm not dressing up this year, I'm too old for it. Caught me off guard and for some dumb reason I gave him candy anyway, which he ate there and littered in my lawn WTH? This seems to be a trend.

Kid D..... "Trick or Treat".... "Wait a minute, you were just here 2 minutes ago." "No I wasn't"... "Yes you were, I just saw you here 2 minutes ago, look up at that camera... want me to go review my logs and prove it to you"... "um... ah... It was my twin brother" "oh yeah, come back with both of you at the same time and I'll believe you..."

Adult B.... Bang Bang Bang on door. I come to the door, they have a stroller at the street with a kid in it... maybe... Trick or Treat. My son is to tired to come up to the door. Again I don't know why I gave this person some candy.

Adult C.... Has one kid with her... Kid says "Wow, that's a fat cat" Kid holds out bag, adult holds out bag... I put some candy in both. Adult pulls out another bag and says "I have a sick kid at home" WTH? Well then, sick kids don't need any candy, or you can share yours.. goodbye.




Please excuse my rant / bad grammar / spelling etc.

Don't get me wrong, I love "well behaved" children, but it seems there aren't too many of them anymore.

[completelyhis]

I hear ya Jo! seems like every generation is more and more "all about me"

and they learn it from their parents. I can only hope that there are enough good people left to crank out some good kids.

I'm doin my part: scouts, my family, church, etc.

Man it frustrates me to see kids not have boundaries, consequences, etc. I get so frustrated with parents who don't give kids the example they need.

anyway...how do we setup a crotchety old man club?

Ian

[neiltimms]

Agreed, i see the same things every day, sadly where i live it is often the parents that are more guilty so the kids have no chance!

About the camera's if you want face recognition you need at least 400 lines resolution from the camera so the cheaper package would not really work. Seeing that price for the dvr package i might just upgrade my system

On my cameras (which look similar to those) the power and video cable are inside one pvc sleeve and just break out at the ends.

Neil

[Wadenut]

I probably won't win any popularity contests for my opinion, but I really believe it's all about discipline. Kids know they can literally just about get away with murder these days and they take advantage of the fact.
I was taught to respect my elders and was no stranger to the belt.
Once a few years ago, a small kid, about five or six, on the street was using some rather foul language and I told him to stop. Not a half hour later, his young mother came to my door screaming at me, telling me I had no right to be yelling hat her (expletive deleted) kid. All I said to her was, "Well, I guess we know where he gets it.", and closed the door.
The latest I've heard is that in Canada there's legislation pending which would make spanking a criminal offence. All I can say about that is God help the next generation.

How could surveillance by cameras be illegal when we see them everywhere?

[completelyhis]

Do you think that kit would be worth, and then I'd swap out a few of the cameras with higher resolution ones? would the face recognizability of the existing cameras be acceptable from a closer distance?

[neiltimms]

I have some with 320 lines of resolution including one at my front door. If i know the person standing there i can recognize them but i really would like to get the ones with 420, i think it makes a big difference.

That kit from cosco with the 9 cameras looks like a very good deal. (maybe too good)

I am thinking of buying it myself

[completelyhis]

so with 420 lines, as the product description shows, I should be ok (if it works out). what about HS interconnectivity? anyone (Neil?) have experience with connecting dvr devices to HS? It seems like I could do it with either the alarm trigger inputs or the IR signals, probably even a combination thereof?