cctv surveilance

hey guys, recently my house has been vandalized a few times. mainly eggings. their main targets have been the cars so ive finally had enough and want to see who's doing it. they usually come at around 3am ish and do it but i cant really stay up and watch the street. so im interested in installing a couple of cameras. apparently i need an infra red one but idk much about them. its also gotta be waterproof. the camera will be about 10m away from the car. i just want them to watch the cars and record clear and easily identifiable videos. i want the most cost effective method so what have you guys done home surveillance wise.

cheers
alex

I've only really delt with high end stuff, lots of $$$$.

You could try something similar to this http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView...UBCATID=1034#5

It may be over kill, it might not. Your only issue is about the idetification, the cameras might not be up to it.

If you have a Jaycar near you they normaly have samples running, just go and have a look.

yeh i might actually. im actually thinking of rigging it up to the pc and just leaving my computer on overnight

Can't think of the model but uniden do a wireless setup that can be connected to a PC, has ability for 4 cameras Inc outdoor ones.

Will find it when I'm on my PC for you

Quote:

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Originally Posted by poita

Can't think of the model but uniden do a wireless setup that can be connected to a PC, has ability for 4 cameras Inc outdoor ones.

Will find it when I'm on my PC for you

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thanks for that pete. its ridiculous because theyve damaged the paint on ALL our cars. mum has a brand new cj lancer and the paintwork is f*****d. the astra copped it last night. got egd marks all over it. i cleaned it up took photos and reported it to the police. now i just need to find who did it because theres no doubt theyl be back. then they can pay

here are the different models mate

http://www.uniden.com.au/australia/p...rveillance.asp

thanks again pete. they dont look to bad. is this any good?

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Security-...ht_4518wt_1139

If you want a decent nighvision cctv setup for home use. Basically the only one I've ever dealt with is the Logitech Alert 750e.
Very good quality nightvision, and can use an SD card if you can't connect it directly to a computer.
Priced from about $300-$500

yeh i saw those today. can you tell me if the night vision footage is easily identifiable?

Seeing my mate tomorrow with one on the outside of her house. Will have a chat with her old man about it and get back to you :thumbs:

thanks heaps mate. any other sugestions camera wise?

Hello metry,

Please keep in mind that if you intend to place these cameras to watch outside the proximity of your house then you are breaking the law. That being said if you wish to pursue legal action don't use your camera footage as evidence. At least you will know who it is that is being cock suckers. Last time I had someone egg my car I happened to be standing next to it. Thinking just because its an astra thought I couldn't catch them in there commodore. Boy they were wrong ;) SRiT shits all over those fat cars haha

Don't you just need a sign somewhere to say CCTV is operating in the area to keep it legal??

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Originally Posted by willhouse

Don't you just need a sign somewhere to say CCTV is operating in the area to keep it legal??

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Hello Willhouse,

Yes, in commercial, residential it is just plain illegal.

How/why is it illegal?

There are heaps of houses in my area that have CCTV all over the property

Or is it a NSW thing?

Hi hazrd,

It is not illegal to watch the house, it is illegal to watch the road. I setup cctv around my house and the council stated it was illegal when I inquired about watching parking area on the street outside the house, so I confirmed with boorandara police and they've confirmed this to be the case.

Road + Nature Strip = illegal.

http://www.customs.gov.au/site/page5979.asp

more specific for op: http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/n...007210/s8.html

I think this might be a good read for this topic.

http://www.channelnews.com.au/Automa...urity/W4A9M7K5

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dglewis80

I think this might be a good read for this topic.

http://www.channelnews.com.au/Automa...urity/W4A9M7K5

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smack bang on i was! ;)

I always thought it was legal to film anyone/anything as its in a public place. But filming someones home or going onto their property was illegal...

Maybe I was wrong :|

Now I'm confused. I cbf trying to understand the law now. I would read the above documents and see. It seems very grey.

The Law is a confusing thing and open to interpretation.

The Laws you've put up such as Section 8 of the Surveillance Devices Act doesn't really regulate the use of video surveillance directly, but rather does so indirectly through regulating access to premises or interference with property to install, use or maintain the device. The consent that is referred to is actually consent to the entry onto (or interference with) the premises or vehicle for the purpose of installing, using or maintaining the device, not consent to the installing, maintaining or using per se. So if its your property you can install to your hearts content. So as a result, you as the property owner/occupier whose property the device is installed that must consent (rather than people that might be observed) so the question of whether entering an area to instal a CCTV is moot.

Section 12 does cover video surveillance records, however it only applies if the record was obtained in contravention of the Act (which mainly means contravention of section 8 ), which as above if its your property you have the right to install CCTV systems on your property for the surveillance of your property. You can't point a camera into another's property or even if it partially looks over it (there are laws on such thongs including voyeurism etc laws that are very harsh etc. You can also get an AVO bought against you based on threatening or intimidating behaviour). However a public areas such as a street or nature strip outside your house is a "grey area" when it comes to CCTV if it is included in the background and primary purpose of the system installed is your property. Of course any installation will be subject to the Law, however that doesn't mean you can't so it on your own property.

If I was to do it (and I have), make sure that the "primary" focus of the camera(s) is your property. Any installation must be done with due care. Point it away from the neighbour's or private property and keep the camera primarily focused on your property. If it just so happens to view a public area such as a street in the background then whilst not ideal, it gives you a "primary purpose" argument. The sound thing is a simple no go. You can't legally surveil or record and keep/listen to a persons conversations without express permission or legal order from the courts (such as police warrant etc).

Either way if nothing else you will be able to see whose doing it and go from there.

thanks for the input guys. i understand it is illegal and have decided that the focus of the camera will be set up on the front gate to my house. in the backround you can see the cars. also if anything backfires on me i could argue its there so i can see whose coming to my door before i open it. im actually thinking of installing two cameras now because the focus will be "on my property" that way ill get more background footage

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gman

However a public areas such as a street or nature strip outside your house is a "grey area" when it comes to CCTV if it is included in the background and primary purpose of the system installed is your property.

If I was to do it (and I have), make sure that the "primary" focus of the camera(s) is your property.

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These 2 points ;)

Be aware though, there is currently work being done in the background to update the privacy laws which will have a dirrect impact on all of this. As to the extent we will have no idea until it's actually released.

chances are it's someone you know. Just focus one directly on the street for a week or two, see what happens ;) Then report them saying you seen it happen. haha

yeh obviously it someone we know. me and 2 other mates in the area got hit in the same night the first night. now though its just been me. and these things arent random cause my street is out of the way in regards to main roads etc (theres only 9 houses). the neighbours dont care they're actually for it. like on the weekend they let the pressures down on the tyres in the astra and two of them now are no longer holding air. so ill be rolling on stockies for a bit now. i got 3 sets of wheels anyway. so ive been thinking i might need two cameras now. one two watch the side fence, (and a bit of the street subtly) and one to watch the front porch and the street. these will be focussed on my property. one camera can be average but the other needs to be pretty heavy duty in that ill be needing good images from about 15ms away. my street is fairly dark (theres only one street light) but i might be able to get my neighbour to leave a sensor light on for a case of beer. my limit on the whole setup is around 400ish absolute max. i cant afford to spend more than that

fk it mate, just for a week watch the road ;)

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Originally Posted by brc

fk it mate, just for a week watch the road ;)

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so one camera on the road aye. i can do that. eigged up to the pc. my mates saying if i catch em upload the vid to facebook or something haha. i wouldn't do that. jsut want to know why

Don't know what the quality is like, but its cheap and I'm thinking of getting one myself.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Black-CCT...item4153aa630e

im actually really considering this one
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Security-...ht_4518wt_1139
from all the others ive seen its better than anything else for that money and compares with cameras on ebay for around 80-150

the onyl bad thing is it has a fairly narrow viewing angle 40 degrees

while strolling the web and doing my research. i found this kit available from all tronics for $500. its a bit pricey but comes with 4 cameras which should be more than adequate. my street is fairly dark so im hoping these would be alright. this is the kit from alltronics http://www.altronics.com.au/index.as...=item&id=S9901

i did find the same kit on ebay for 420 delivered. i am really considering this kit. any opinions now would be greatly appreciated
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/DVR-Surve...ht_3866wt_1012

cheers
alex

I bought a couple of extra cameras like these ones http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/36LED-1-3...item41583edd15 from these guys and comparing the quality of these to some other ones I have had for a few years that cost me $$$ from Altronics they are great value for money.

If your looking for 4 cameras checkout http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/4-x-1-3-S...item41583ec989

Have a look at this 4Ch DVR unit....just plug a harddrive in and should be able to do everything you need http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/4-CH-H-26...item41583ed39b

whats the picture quality like especially at night?

Picture quality is good, obviously the closer the camera is to the object the better, but does everything I need it to do. With 36 IR cells it looks like daytime in the darkest of conditions.

well theyre located in sydney so ill contact them and see what they see. even though i work night shifts sitting outside in the cold till 4 in the morning isnt the easiest.

on a side note it syays monitoring quality is 720x576 and play back quality is 352x258. does that mean when it records it the quality is reduced? if so is the recorded quality still easily recognizable

ok guys sorry for the thread revival but i didnt end up buying any security cameras due to the massive cost but spent a few nights sitting out the front of my house. when i thought the people had stopped they decided to start again.

so i want to set up some sort of cctv to watch my cars. im trying to make my own kit to save some $ (uni student budget). i only need two cameras and was thinking that the swann pro 580 would be more than adequate.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Swann-Pro...t&hash=item257 3ee720a#ht_3848wt_1139

the cameras would be no further than 10ms from the cars and my street does get pretty dark because of all the trees. also i would need a dvr recorder so if someone could recomend me one that would record in decent quality (i need to be able to recognize faces) im all ears (obviously one thats not gonna break my pocket no more than $300 with a hd)

cheers
alex