Security Cameras

[Citroënbender]

Suggestions, please.

I’ve got an immediate problem of someone pinching plants of value from my front garden border. It’s being done under cover of darkness, one at a time.

It’s my desire to identify the person and then decide how to proceed.

I can conceal a security camera in the side window of a car, to survey the area. Obviously I want the camera to be invisible (no blinking LED), able to mount flush to glass and a black or dark grey colour body. In-device storage on an SD card and low-current DC power that can be easily spliced into the car’s wiring.

It’s my preference to have this sorted by tomorrow evening. My preferred budget is under $250 done and dusted, will go up if persuaded. I need to be able to collect the item(s) in Sydney metro.

So… Hit me with your ideas. Maybe including where I can buy those law enforcement type cable ties.

[Mulva]

Sorry, can't help, but did lol at this:

Originally Posted by Citroënbender

...Maybe including where I can buy those law enforcement type cable ties.

[aussiblue]

If you want to clearly ID someone you are better of going with something that turns on floodlights as well so you get full colour pictures rather than the shades of grey night vision. Something like this: https://www.bunnings.com.au/brillian...amera_p0138900 But you would need to mount it somewhere like the roof of your house.

[Citroënbender]

Unfortunately, there’s not a good line of sight from the house to support elevated floods in this instance. I don’t want to make the place into a fortress or “paranoid palace” but to deal topically with the odd issue.

[slowsnake]

Just use a dash cam?.....not sure if you can run them with car ignition off, but you seem to be a very resourceful individual, but I would suggest either a brilliant flash of light, thieves like to work in the dark, or get a doona and sleep in car, or the old tin cans tied to plants by strings, or watch and wait, get the old Thermos and army greatcoat, good luck!

PS:- Watch during the day, whomever takes them sees them firstly during the light of the day, then decides to act at night!

Cheers BillyK

[FTE217]

CB I've checked outdoor cameras a few times and I'm needing to get 2 for our useage and originally I tried out the Arlo product. (plus you can get camo finished ones blening in with the trees or fauna)
Alot of these cameras run via your wifi and you load their app up so you can adjust/see whats going on via motion movement sensor and record X amount of times depending on your data.
At night looking at a few brands if there is some distance from camera to where your wanting to keep an eye on (record) the vision is not very clear to make the person out well.
I'm sure some others may know more but thats my experience to date and I found the Arlo ones a PIA to operate and pair up trying countless times, sent the product back got a credit.
Maybe a decent outdoor sensor light (solar) as mentioned.

Parking a car nearby makes sense having a dash cam running is your only choice to try quickly.

[Citroënbender]

The car is usually about three metres from the “hot” plants. Dash cam might be a clever answer.

[slowsnake]

Originally Posted by Citroënbender

The car is usually about three metres from the “hot” plants. Dash cam might be a clever answer.

You see CB, old Billy is not just a pretty face......


Cheers BillyL

[Blue Dog]

Talk to these people.
https://outdoorcameras.com.au/?gclid...BoCitkQAvD_BwE

They're in Qld.
I use a Reconyx UltraFire.

https://www.reconyx.com/product/XR6-...xampleControls

These things are like dash cams, if you want clear pics you have to pay a bit more.

[FTE217]

Originally Posted by Blue Dog

Talk to these people.
https://outdoorcameras.com.au/?gclid...BoCitkQAvD_BwE

They're in Qld.
I use a Reconyx UltraFire.

https://www.reconyx.com/product/XR6-...xampleControls

These things are like dash cams, if you want clear pics you have to pay a bit more.

These look like trail cams to me.....

Cheers Blue Dog I've looked up the website, might just suit what I need and the plus they have it set up with Telstra (can't beat dealing with local companies) makes it easier to me for those other app ones with OS support sites are a PIA I found with Arlo.

[Blue Dog]

Originally Posted by FTE217

These look like trail cams to me.....

Cheers Blue Dog I've looked up the website, might just suit what I need and the plus they have it set up with Telstra (can't beat dealing with local companies) makes it easier to me for those other app ones with OS support sites are a PIA I found with Arlo.

Most of these cameras are on youtube.
If you find one you're interested in check out the video quality prior to ordering.
Most appear to do a pretty good job in daylight.
Camera's at the higher end of the price range usually do a better job at night than the cheaper versions.
The clarity of night time images can be affected by lighting in the coverage area, as an example if it's a full moon or not.
Something worth considering is the trigger speed, the faster the better.
If the trigger speed is a bit slow, the subject that triggered the camera may not be captured, or perhaps only partially captured.

[jaydee]

If you go dashcam, check the quality of night vision first.
I recently installed 4 cameras at home with infra red night vision, but to be honest, unless they're within a few metres, the image won't stack in Court.
Can I just warn you about detaining anyone or using cable ties, fraught with danger. By all means grab hold and make a citizens arrest, but the minute it gets physical it's dangerous territory for civilians.
But going by some of your posts, I think you know a bit about the law.
I found Bunnings had a good array of cameras, both hard wired and not.

[FTE217]

yer dash cam sounds a good approach to try.
As said though you need to make sure how good its night vision is.

[five 7]

Have a look at trail cams CB.

[sgt_doofey]

Originally Posted by five 7

Have a look at trail cams CB.

I was going to suggest this too! They're usually used to set up out in remote areas to catch wildlife, so should work for your application!

[prktkljokr]

As the previous posts

Have used a trail camera before myself, I would suggest buying a quality one as the cheapies just dont cut it for clarity, I would suggest buying more than 1 as its always better to get pictures from a few angles.

[snowbear 77]

I use ZOSI camera's from ebay, they have various setups / builds.............but for a 4 camera system that works ( with infra red ) for less than $300 is good value. They have a higher 4k system which I recently updated to and can see everything up to 5 meters from the camera at the dark of night.

Though in your case, watch them do it, follow from a distance and see where they go / end up, then call the police..........

[aussiblue]

plants of value

Hmmm; not this I hope.

[Citroënbender]

No, multiple mature Hippeastrum. Think five gone in the last week at a minimum retail value of $15 apiece. I don’t expect the stealing to stop unless I act.

[GO FURTHER]

Make it easier for them.

Get a large pot plant... Bury a GPS tracker connected to a small 12 volt battery, in the soil in the pot.

Phone app leads them to their home... Ring police.

[slowsnake]

Originally Posted by aussiblue

Hmmm; not this I hope.

image

Like this one.....



Chinese Tomatoes........



Cheers BillyK

[Ross 1]

Get one of the Ring doorbells https://www.bunnings.com.au/ring-sat...rbell_p0192691
Gaff tape it to the window of the car, when you are finished with catching the thief you can use it on your house. $115 and you can watch it all on your phone, we have the Ring cameras at our warehouse and the quality is pretty good of a night time.

[Tonz]

love the thought of phoning police ..." hi I've had plants being stolen from my yard and I now know where and who."
police..." yes and how can you prove this".
" I put a gas tracker in one of the plants."

brilliant. would give the boys in blue a great story too. go for it and let us know the results

[FTE217]

Originally Posted by Tonz

love the thought of phoning police ..." hi I've had plants being stolen from my yard and I now know where and who."
police..." yes and how can you prove this".
" I put a gas tracker in one of the plants."

brilliant. would give the boys in blue a great story too. go for it and let us know the results

a perfect current affair segemnt you can see easily

[GO FURTHER]

If you want to get nasty...

Razor blades attached to plant stems.

Follow blood trail.

[aussiblue]

Razor blades attached to plant stems.

Reminds me of back in the early 70's when I kept getting the spotlight stolen off my car when I parked outside my favorite nightclub so I replaces the washer on the mounting bolts with razor blades. Came back to find blood everywhere and all my headlights and tail-lights smashed. So perhaps not as the may similarly seek immediate (and perhaps these days more violent) reprisals. Plus these days the cops would charge you with setting a man trap per http://www5.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/...90082/s49.html

CRIMES ACT 1900 - SECT 49
Setting trap etc
49 Setting trap etc

(1) Any person who--

(a) places or sets, or causes to be placed or set, any trap, device or thing (whether its nature be electronic, electric, mechanical, chemical or otherwise) capable of destroying human life or inflicting grievous bodily harm on any person, or

(b) knowingly permits any such trap, device or thing to continue to be placed or set,

with intent to inflict grievous bodily harm shall be liable to imprisonment for five years.

(2) Nothing in subsection (1) shall extend to any gin or trap, placed with the intention of destroying vermin, or to any trap, device or thing placed in a dwelling-house for the protection thereof.

[Itsme]

Originally Posted by Citroënbender

Suggestions, please.

I’ve got an immediate problem of someone pinching plants of value from my front garden border. It’s being done under cover of darkness, one at a time.

It’s my desire to identify the person and then decide how to proceed.

I can conceal a security camera in the side window of a car, to survey the area. Obviously I want the camera to be invisible (no blinking LED), able to mount flush to glass and a black or dark grey colour body. In-device storage on an SD card and low-current DC power that can be easily spliced into the car’s wiring.

It’s my preference to have this sorted by tomorrow evening. My preferred budget is under $250 done and dusted, will go up if persuaded. I need to be able to collect the item(s) in Sydney metro.

So… Hit me with your ideas. Maybe including where I can buy those law enforcement type cable ties.

Sounds like you expect plant removal in the next few days so sit in a car with a few mates to to do a proper fix for the problem.
This is what I did for some lousy sod who was doing some graffiti work in our street, some sleepless nights finally paid a satisfactory result.... actually it was gold to see fear in his eyes when caught out.

[Citroënbender]

I’m having trouble drilling down in the local website linked by Blue Dog. Are others finding the same issue?

[danzvtil]

If the rootball is out of an 8inch pot or bigger, you can stake it in, going right into the soil below. I planted 4 westringeas on my verge and put 1 stake in each, but one still went missing, so followed up with a second stake. Use sawn timber, so if they try to have a crack, at least they will have splinters.

[slowsnake]

Stick with the dash cam CB, they are proven to work even in a court of law, plus the bonus is you can run it during the day, whoever sneaks in at night, only knows they are there because they have seen them during daylight hours?

Set up a plant trap, get hold of a real "I want one of them plants" for free of course, and you know it will go that first night, just hunker down in the car and wait, still get it on dash cam, and hit ya car headlights, have ya car pointed right at the plant!....

Cheers BillyQ