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Monday Night some POS shattered my rear windshield on my car, and they better thank whoever whatever they worship that they were gone when I got outside.


Really irritated and passed off, because money is tight and I only have liability, my cars in the shop its going to cost $300 to get the new windshield.


So after this I'm getting security cameras on my house, am thinking closed circuit, but want something with good HD images, because if I can identify them then there's no reason to call the cops, and would prefer the video only be seen by me.

Anyone have any experience with cameras?

Any recommendations?

Need at least 3 but I might just go all out and do like 6-8, which might get a little spendy but it'll be worth it if I can catch someone next time.
 
Well as for camera's I have had a system by Amcrest for about 8 years. A system with ability to record in HD for a week that will take up to 8 camera's runs less than $400 to get started. There is several names now. Probably all come from the same factory. See fairly well in the dark with IR. All of them you can see and even operate with your phone also and even set them to detect motion and alert you if you wish. The old system I use is wired with cable. Now a lot of them use CAT 5 cable and you can get pan, tilt, and zoom camera's. Start doing this and they get a little more expensive but they are still light years cheaper than they were a while back.
As far as dealing with the scum. I feel your anger but, weigh the options here. Sadly the scum are now protected. This is sadly how the voters want it. So remember you use caution. You do not want to end up in a HUGELY expensive legal battle because you "took out the trash" sadly.
 
That's awesome the cost of the system your running is only $100 more then the replacing my window.

Thanks for the info, and I know the system protects the criminals more then it does us.

This isn't the 1st time I've had my car vandalized.

Definitely not worth going to jail over, but if when confronted I'm attacked then ill damn sure deffens myself.

Also not sure what state your in, but in Oregon we don't have "stand your ground laws" but the law as stated says we can use "appropriate" force in defense of life or property.

I've had to do the dance in court a couple times. And I've learned quite a bit about what they'll consider, justified use of force, and what is excessive.


Just gotta walk that line. And I'm ok with that, in the end it is just a car window, but ill still fight to protect my home and everything in it.
 
That's awesome the cost of the system your running is only $100 more then the replacing my window.

Thanks for the info, and I know the system protects the criminals more then it does us.

This isn't the 1st time I've had my car vandalized.

Definitely not worth going to jail over, but if when confronted I'm attacked then ill damn sure deffens myself.

Also not sure what state your in, but in Oregon we don't have "stand your ground laws" but the law as stated says we can use "appropriate" force in defense of life or property.

I've had to do the dance in court a couple times. And I've learned quite a bit about what they'll consider, justified use of force, and what is excessive.


Just gotta walk that line. And I'm ok with that, in the end it is just a car window, but ill still fight to protect my home and everything in it.
WA, and its pretty much the same here. The camera's are great. Often you may be able to run off the scum before they have a chance if you know they are there. Amazon has a ton of these to choose from. You get real used to having them. It's nice when I am at home if the fur alarms go off. I can just pick up my phone and see what's out there.
 
WA, and its pretty much the same here. The camera's are great. Often you may be able to run off the scum before they have a chance if you know they are there. Amazon has a ton of these to choose from. You get real used to having them. It's nice when I am at home if the fur alarms go off. I can just pick up my phone and see what's out there.
Yeah for sure, my older dog Loki, he used to only bark at people now everytime a cat farts he's up and barking, and just about everytime there's nothing out there.

All the false alarms had me a little desensitized, so I didn't rush outside when they 1st barked, I was cooking dinner and had to stir a couple pots so they didn't burn, otherwise I'd have likely caught them still out there, it was probably only a 20-30 second gap, from noise/bark to me going outside, checking the phone would be a nice addition.
 
Yeah for sure, my older dog Loki, he used to only bark at people now everytime a cat farts he's up and barking, and just about everytime there's nothing out there.

All the false alarms had me a little desensitized, so I didn't rush outside when they 1st barked, I was cooking dinner and had to stir a couple pots so they didn't burn, otherwise I'd have likely caught them still out there, it was probably only a 20-30 second gap, from noise/bark to me going outside, checking the phone would be a nice addition.
For us the damn things are something that after we had them a while I can't be without. I had wanted to get one long ago. Wife kept poo pooing the idea until someone got into her vehicle one night. She forgot to lock it. She had a set ordered that day :s0140:
Soon you get so used to having them. Often set up the motion detection. Been a HUGE thing with ordering. Many times with FedEx claiming they delivered a package. I would call and they would start with the line that maybe it's around the house. With me telling them I looked at the video and you guys were either never on my street at all, or you drove past my house and never stopped. Once you have them for a while you really learn to love having them. Even when we are not at home I can look in on the place from wherever we happen to be.
 
Hard wired is the way to go in my opinion. Can get much better image quality and you are not relying on wifi. PoE with the cat5 Ethernet is the way to go for wired cameras. It's easy to run and you can buy a thousand foot roll of the stuff cheap.

You can pick up a combo kit for like $400 when I got ours a year ago with four cameras and the NVR. Get an NVR that has more camera inputs so you can add to it later.

Setup was simple. Important to think about securing/hiding the NVR as if someone gets inside your house don't want them walking off with your footage.
 
Cameras won't prevent theft and vandalism. All they do is record evidence hopefully identifying the perp. They are also useful for recording any interactions you have with them, especially if you need to defend yourself. The other thing they can do is to give you a preview of what is happening if you need to go outside - it;s a big relief just to know you can get outside without being shot at.

Cameras can be easily disabled by anybody with a baseball bat or can of spray paint, so the less visible the better with the exception of decoys. Nope, you still won't be able to ID them since they will be wearing a hoodie and mask.

For prevention you need an alarm. The only wireless alarm that works is a well trained dog.

Wireless systems are quick and easy, but you have to keep batteries charged/replaced, and wireless is easily jammed. Yeah, that's "illegal", but so is breaking out your windows or robbing your house.

Wired systems are much better, but not always practical, so you have to decide what route to go. The best resource IMO is ipcamtalk.com . They also cover alarm systems, There is a lot of things about the various all in one systems that you won't find out until after you buy them like monthly service charges that add up over time. As a preview avoid Ring. Expensive monthiy fee and documented abuse by employees monitoring you cameras.

I personally have gone with Blue Iris software running on a Windows 10 computer that is dedicated to cameras, security, and home automation. I started with an inexpensive Windows computer I got off of CL for a couple hundred dollars. That plus Blue Iris gave me a base system for under $300. Expect to go about $1,000 this route after you add in cameras, cabling, and a used PoE switch, but it's all self contained and no monthly service fees. Not for everybody, but I have a lot of flexibility and can still monitor my house from anywhere via VPN to my home network.

Blue Iris easily integrates into free AI that makes my motion sensing 99% reliable and hardly ever get a false alert. One of the few times was when the shadow of my US flag blowing in the wind caused a human shaped shadow in my entry. It has a built in web server, so I can monitor my cameras from any of our laptops or really nice from our PC driven living room TV. You can also set up cameras to be license plate readers that not only take the picture but transcribe the plate to text.

Mainly, though, go to ipcamtalk and read, read, read (great FAQs) then ask questions. Also, it's OK to start cheap and easy to plug the hole, then design a better mouse trap you can work towards,
 
Cameras won't prevent theft and vandalism. All they do is record evidence hopefully identifying the perp. They are also useful for recording any interactions you have with them, especially if you need to defend yourself. The other thing they can do is to give you a preview of what is happening if you need to go outside - it;s a big relief just to know you can get outside without being shot at.

Cameras can be easily disabled by anybody with a baseball bat or can of spray paint, so the less visible the better with the exception of decoys. Nope, you still won't be able to ID them since they will be wearing a hoodie and mask.

For prevention you need an alarm. The only wireless alarm that works is a well trained dog.

Wireless systems are quick and easy, but you have to keep batteries charged/replaced, and wireless is easily jammed. Yeah, that's "illegal", but so is breaking out your windows or robbing your house.

Wired systems are much better, but not always practical, so you have to decide what route to go. The best resource IMO is ipcamtalk.com . They also cover alarm systems, There is a lot of things about the various all in one systems that you won't find out until after you buy them like monthly service charges that add up over time. As a preview avoid Ring. Expensive monthiy fee and documented abuse by employees monitoring you cameras.

I personally have gone with Blue Iris software running on a Windows 10 computer that is dedicated to cameras, security, and home automation. I started with an inexpensive Windows computer I got off of CL for a couple hundred dollars. That plus Blue Iris gave me a base system for under $300. Expect to go about $1,000 this route after you add in cameras, cabling, and a used PoE switch, but it's all self contained and no monthly service fees. Not for everybody, but I have a lot of flexibility and can still monitor my house from anywhere via VPN to my home network.

Blue Iris easily integrates into free AI that makes my motion sensing 99% reliable and hardly ever get a false alert. One of the few times was when the shadow of my US flag blowing in the wind caused a human shaped shadow in my entry. It has a built in web server, so I can monitor my cameras from any of our laptops or really nice from our PC driven living room TV. You can also set up cameras to be license plate readers that not only take the picture but transcribe the plate to text.

Mainly, though, go to ipcamtalk and read, read, read (great FAQs) then ask questions. Also, it's OK to start cheap and easy to plug the hole, then design a better mouse trap you can work towards,
They may not prevent theft or vandalism but they can give you an advanced warning of trouble, at which point you can chose to ward off the threat personally.
 
They may not prevent theft or vandalism but they can give you an advanced warning of trouble, at which point you can chose to ward off the threat personally.
That's where carefully positioned pan tilt zooms come in handy. Thinking about positioning so they look towards the house rather than away for that purpose . Also, nobody looks for cams in those places
 
They may not prevent theft or vandalism but they can give you an advanced warning of trouble, at which point you can chose to ward off the threat personally.


For years i have been wanting a super bright light set up around the house, triggered by me.
A loud speaker system, for outside.
And a sprinkler system with gasoline or some other flammable.

Idea would be that when scumbag is caught on camera, the lights come on, the sprinkler with gas comes on, and the loud speakers start playing "Welcome to the Jungle" at an ear piercing volume. Shortly after the first few notes, the flammable is lit.
The cleanup in the morning would be worth every little penny.
 
Last Edited:
For years i have been wanting a super bright light set up around the house, triggered by me.
A loud speaker system, for outside.
And a sprinkler system with gasoline or some other flammable.

Idea would be that when scumbag is caught on camera, the lights come on, the sprinkler with gas comes on, and the loud speakers start playing "Welcome to the Jungle" at an ear piercing volume. Shortly after the first few notes, the flammable is lit.
The cleanup in the morning would be worth it every little penny.
Love it except the music, id go with Metallica "For Whom The Tell Tolls"



maybe Slayer "Overt Enemy" or "Raining Blood"
 
They may not prevent theft or vandalism but they can give you an advanced warning of trouble, at which point you can chose to ward off the threat personally.
YEP! For us, don't know if all will feel the same, they have become something I will not be without. Just because I can see what is going on 360 degree's at a glance. Have a monitor sitting on my desk at home showing the 8 views. Also if not at my desk my phone will let me see the same. Really nice when I am sleeping. If fur alarms say "something is out there", I don't have to get out of bed to go see. I can just look at my phone and see if its something I need to bother with. It was why when we last moved, as busy as I was, getting those camera's back up at the new place was a top priority for me. With me working at night the wife REALLY likes it. When she is sleeping I can drop in at look at the outside many times during the night. If I see something I can wake her up to let he know. Great piece of mind for very little money.
 

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