[Thresh]

My grandma has some problems with people screwing around in her yard and she needs a way of keeping track of what goes on. So do we have any camera Guru's? She doesn't have a computer, so I'm not really sure how she would be able to do it cost effectively. Really she just needs 2 camera's for each side of the house. Any suggestions?

[Metal Chaos]

She could always set up some cam corders with motion activated recording in a window that looks over the areas she wants recorded or she could look into these: http://www.cyberguys.com/templates/s...roductID=8314. They can be hooked up to a TV or VCR, since you said she doesn't have a PC, hopefully she can find a way to order them.

[Thresh]

Yeah, I could probably order them and send them to her, that's not an issue really. The thing is, a VCR VHS can only record up to like, what 8 hours? That would be sort of a hassle changing out VHS's all the time I would think, unless it records only the essentials and it only records when it detects motion. She does have a DVD player that would definitly be able to record longer, but how do you record with 2 camera's at the same time? I can see this getting very expensive very easily haha.

[Metal Chaos]

Well it could probably record split screen or something, and a DVD recorder would hold a lot more footage. She could always go for a more top notch system, one that uses a camera that pans back and forth and tracks motion, unless the 2 areas she wants to survey are far apart, such as a front yard and a back yard, then she'll need 2 cameras. Security Cameras can be expensive but then again so are a lot of things. Good luck to your grandma in catching who ever or what ever is messing up her yard. The cameras I showed you should be sufficient, there is 2 of em and they do have night vision, which should come in ahndy as I assume most of this happens during the night. If you still have further doubts about the cameras I posted then just wait a while, I'm sure someone here will have more valueable input on
Surveillance Cameras than I do.

[Thresh]

Thanks man I appreaciate it. It's some kid next door to her, he's vandalizing her yard, filling her electric sockets with glue, and breaking into her car pouring sealant in her radiator, etc... She's just sick of it and wants to catch him red handed and end it. She's most concerned about her car, he targets that alot, so I'm thinking going with a car alarm for now since she can afford that, then camera later on. Thanks again.

[Metal Chaos]

If it's her car he's after the most, then just take a single camera and record the car and catch him red handed like you said, then call the cops and have them take care of the situation.

[Thresh]

I took a closer look at that camera, seems it has a button for switching camera's, not split screen. I'll look around on that site a little more and see if I can't find one. If it's available, I think it would be alot easier if it were motion sensitive too so she wouldn't have to go through 24 hours of footage every day as well. Of course, she would only have to look over it if she suspected something, but then again they could be doing other things she may not find out about. I think it would save her money on DVD's too.

EDIT: Ugh, two other things I just noticed - DVD's even though they have 4.7GB of storage, list there video recording time of 120min. Anyone know if that time changes depending on the quality of the video? You don't have many options for customizing how to record with a DVD player, not like a computer anyway.

Other thing I was thinking about - even if there is a motion sensor attached, the DVD player will be recording 24/7, the motion sensor wouldn't turn the DVD recorder on/off, so it sort of defeats the purpose of saving space and effort of looking through the footage.

[Thresh]

So I think what I'm looking for is 2 camera's that will only record video when motion is sensed and record to a DVR that will playback split screen on a TV so you can record it to VHS if you wanted or DVD (unless there's a system out there that will activate your VCR / DVD recorder to start recording). This way, it eliminates needing a huge amount of video storage since your only recording actual movement (the important stuff). Then you can easily review it later on and record it to a more versitile media storage source if needed (like VHS or DVD). The DVR would only need maybe 30min of video storage or 256mb, not 80GB+ like these $800+ ones, since your only recording movement.

[Keyboard Cowboy]

Originally posted by Thresh
My grandma has some problems with people screwing around in her yard and she needs a way of keeping track of what goes on. So do we have any camera Guru's? She doesn't have a computer, so I'm not really sure how she would be able to do it cost effectively. Really she just needs 2 camera's for each side of the house. Any suggestions?

I do a lot of CCTV set up.

First of all. You get what you pay for. There is a lot of cheap $hit out there, and you don't want it.

The way I would be going is a CCD D.I.Y. Bundle Pack with IR.
These are a complete do it yourself low maintance kit that goes for about AU$2000.

PC Based Solutions are the next best opition as they are customisable. However they are not cheap. Starting price on these are about $3500. (PC Intel 2.6Ghz + DVR Card + Cameras)
The only other cheap alternitive is the Skyview Single Port USB DVR. These are about $500 for the USB Dongle and Entry level camara. However you can only can only plug one of these into a computer. So if you are trying to set up 2 cameras, you need to set up 2 PCs. However you can pick up a 1Ghz PC and a KVM switch rather cheaply.

[Thresh]

Thanks for the info Harper. She's limted to about 500 right now and she doesn't have a computer, which makes it very complicated. You wouldn't happen to know of anything that has 2 camera's with a DVR that only records when motion is sensed would ya? This way she could play it back on a VCR or DVD Player and record it if she wants to keep it. I think this would be the cheapest, easiest, and most effective way.