With the depressed economy; crime is up. From a homeowner’s point of view – that sucks! ADT and those other alarm system companies know that crime is up; so they are pushing camera systems pretty hard. You can watch your property as it get’s stolen now! They can put cameras on the exterior of your house to cover all entrances to your property, and even some cameras inside – for a cost, roughly $40 a month.
Needless to say, Bosslady was all over this. She instructed me to look into it, and so, I did. My cat tried to talk me out of it, so I knew he was up to something. The requirements as stated TO me by the Bosslady were:
- Needed to be able to recognize the person in daytime or nighttime.
- Needed to store image for 7 days, just in case we’re on vacation.
- Must have motion detection capability.
I found a really nice 4 camera system from Swann. The price was ok; but I figured there had to be a better way. Then a co-worker of mine and I were chit chatting (over coffee of course!) and discussing the various cloud based cameras. I decided I would try this route instead, I’m happy to report that this was the right approach for me.
I picked up several of the cameras for under $200.00, similar to DCS-932L. For under $200; I have a covert and effective surveillance system. This is how I set them up.
- I placed them inside the house to cover all possible entrances. They are located inside the house; this has three advantages: 1) There are no cameras on the outside of the house to advertise to the bad guys. I think if they see cameras and think “Hey, they have something good!” 2) I can use indoor cameras, saving some coin there. 3) The cameras are located in such a way that they are not easily accessed. Sure, the bad guy may get the camera; but I have his/her picture!
- The cameras are linked into my network via wireless and wired connections; making for a robust system.
- I set up an email account specifically for my cameras. I think this is better – no DVR to break or to get stolen. No matter what they take – I have their picture!
- I set the cameras on motion detection, and then set the trigger zones. When something triggers the camera, it takes a series of pictures and emails them to my offsite email account quicker than you can say – Gotchya!
- The email account is set to automatically delete email older than 10 days. This keeps the account to a manageable size, plus, if I haven’t figured out that I have been broken into before the 10 day mark, I deserved it.
This set up cost less than $200. It has roughly a 5 month payback period. I already have a regular alarm, so this is double the insurance. Someone breaks in and is gone before Mr. Policeman gets there, no problem, I still have your picture, and a picture is worth a thousand words. I hope you find this useful and as fun as I have. I have already busted my faithful reader (my cat) eating some plants and doings some things he really shouldn’t be doing; he’s grounded!
A picture really is worth a thousand words.
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