[Shop-talk] Exterior nighttime surveillance cameras?

[Brian Kemp]

Jim,

Check
http://www.newegg.com/Store/Category.aspx?Category=288&name=Security-Surveillance
or   http://www.newegg.com  Home & Outdoors >     Electrical >     
Security & Surveillance >

and
http://www.costco.com/Common/Category.aspx?cat=4802&eCat=BC|90607|4802&lang=en-US&whse=BC&topnav=
or http://www.costco.com > electronics >  home security & surveillance

for some sample systems.  Amazon also has a bunch with reviews so you 
can fine out what others are saying.  Security cameras are a very big 
market.

If you want to go really low end, Harbor Freight has some cheap 
cameras.  I bought Item #95914 for $40, but the quality was so bad I 
returned it the next day.   They have item #68332 which is a full system 
for $300 with a bunch of reviews.

Note that night vision distance claims are often a stretch.  If it says 
it can see 60 feet with night vision, that you can see "something", 
perhaps see the difference between a human and a dog, but not much more.

With a DVR and some cameras and you can see the basics.  Spend a couple 
hundred extra dollars and you can get a high power night vision camera 
that can read a front license plate between the headlights at 50 feet.  
My neighbors installed one after someone broke in their car and stole a 
generator.  It all depends on what you want to spend.

You can also put a video capture card in your computer and connect a 
camera, but you have to leave the computer on.  I don't have a current 
recommendation as my previous card is years obsolete.  I used it with a 
wireless baby monitor camera to capture the trash truck breaking 
branches off my tree safter they denied that their driver would ever 
even have part of his truck on my property. Quality was low, but the 
trash truck was big and slow.  Systems are much better now.

The motion activated recording has a sensitivity adjustment.  You will 
need to balance between tree branches blowing in the wind and the 
wildlife zipping down the street.  You can also set a detection zone 
(rectangle on the screen) where the system looks for the motion to 
trigger recording.  I'd go more towards having extra junk recorded than 
miss the important critter.

If you are serious on identifying wildlife at a specific location like 
your mailbox, you may want multiple cameras - one for a side view to 
capture the profile, and one to look for a tag on the back. A third 
going for the face might help further identify the critter.

A bunch of houses down the hill from me now have 2" galvanized pipes 
planted a few inches before the mailboxes.  The caution with something 
like this is to not make it too solid to avoid liability if a car slide 
on a wet road and the post didn't give way.

Good luck.  Let me know what you end up with as I'm in the market for a 
system after I catch up on other projects.  I expect I'll get one on 
sale from Costco.  If buying today, I'd probably get Item # 550442 and 
add a few specialty cameras.

Brian in Lost Angeles


On 7/31/2012 6:36 PM, Jim Franklin wrote:
> I'm interested in recording any movement such as kids driving by my mailbox
> with a baseball bat I mean seeing what wildlife comes through my yard at
> night. Ideally it would be motion sensor activated but with a very short
> delay, and quick recovery from headlights. Anything you use and like?
>
> thanks,
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