View Full Version : Home security cameras - question
Anyone familiar with the state-of-the-art?
We have a weird neighbor. NOT next-door to me, thank goodness.
They have cameras all over their house, and it appears that they do nothing but look at monitors 24/7. They call the cops all the time, to the point that the cops often yell at them for causing trouble, etc. If a kid's ball goes into the yard, they pounce on it, grab it, and run back inside. Eventually, the cops come by and threaten to charge them for theft unless they are returned. They file frivolous lawsuits against neighbors. You get the picture.
Their latest toy, is a rectangle box, perhaps 6"x3"x10" that sits on their front porch. If you walk by the house, a red light tracks you as you walk by, then a white flash goes off. This happens even if you are on the other side of the street. I assume that this is a tracking still camera.
It's annoying as hell, and actually freaks out people and pets.
Is anyone familiar with such a beast?
cameraman
07-20-13, 01:09 AM
Does the red light actually track you? Like a laser rangefinder on a motorized mount? That can't be legal if it is a laser.
Does the red light actually track you? Like a laser rangefinder on a motorized mount? That can't be legal if it is a laser.
Not a laser, it's a lens approx. 1.5 inch diameter. Typical "red".
Yes, it tracks you. As you walk by, it will start moving over to the L or R, acquire lock, then follow you for a bit while it (I assume) focuses, then it snaps a photo (again, I assume). If you are slow, you'll get 2 or 3 flashes (that's white light, from another lens about 1 inch dia. or so).
I really want to know how it works. I'd guess it's IR. Since it can track you across the street, if it's IR, it's gotta be some big bucks.
I have plans.
Big plans. :\
WickerBill
07-20-13, 07:03 AM
I have plans.
Big plans. :\
Do they involve moving?
Google 'wildlife camera' and you might find what you are looking for.
I agree with WB, might be time to look for a different place to live.
Insomniac
07-20-13, 09:46 AM
They call the cops all the time, to the point that the cops often yell at them for causing trouble, etc. If a kid's ball goes into the yard, they pounce on it, grab it, and run back inside. Eventually, the cops come by and threaten to charge them for theft unless they are returned.
Do they call the cops after taking the ball or does the owner of the ball call the cops? I thought my next door neighbor sucked...
stroker
07-20-13, 10:07 AM
You need to organize a Neighborhood Watch whose sole purpose is to walk past their front yard at all ours of the day, 24/7, turning to the box, waving and yelling, "HI, HAL, HOW YOU DOING!" at the top of your lungs.
Andrew Longman
07-20-13, 10:34 AM
They are some seriously unhappy people. And it seems they have made choice to be that way... Because it makes them happy. :rolleyes:
I take it that your neighborhood hasn't given them any actual reason to be so fearful... Otherwise it would be a neighborhood where someone would just steal and pawn the camera. I also suspect that when they aren't watching monitors they are surfing nut job hate websites.
Does this guy happen to be a former moderator on the current events board of a certain Indiana based Indy car fan website? Runs. ;)
datachicane
07-20-13, 12:18 PM
Sensitive, huh? Get a big fat heat lamp or an IR laser and blind it. If it has an automatic brightness adjust, the drop in gain will allow people, etc., to go by unnoticed.
Sensitive, huh? Get a big fat heat lamp or an IR laser and blind it. If it has an automatic brightness adjust, the drop in gain will allow people, etc., to go by unnoticed.
SSSHHHHHHHH!!!!!!
Ixnay on the ansplay!
:mad:
:)
I didn't really want to turn this into a blog about the "Psychos", so I just wrote a few things about them in a rather poor, disjointed paragraph. :o
They tend to leave us alone, although one year we got a Christmas card from them. It was the talk of the neighborhood, re. why did they reach out to US? I'm not lying when I say that getting a card from them was unnerving.
Our interactions with them is mostly getting police called on us when we would walk through the city lot (it's a well-house) to look at ducks and turtles in the retention pond. They made the city put up a "no trespassing" sign. Now we use the neighbor's yard on the other side (with their permission). :shakehead:
The neighborhood is VERY quiet, kids everywhere, suburban sprawl, etc. Except for the occasional visit from the FBI and Dept. of Homeland Security, pretty standard suburbia. (When fish-toxin guy got busted, everyone immediately assumed it was the "Psychos".)
The neighbors next-door to Paranoia Palace ARE moving. They have had enough. Imagine having a pool, and having 2 cameras pointed at it 24/7, recording video and audio. :shakehead: Not to mention a separate camera pointed at each of your windows, and one for your front porch.
I've tried to get flash-mobs organized (that would send them into a frenzy). Harlem shuffle, morph-suits, Guy Fawkes masks (how much for a half-gross?), whatever. Too many people love the ideas, but they still want to continue to live here.
To answer a few questions, they call the cops for just about anything, but grabbing the toys from their yard is new. If kids are across the street playing, they seem to sit by the front door waiting, and they RUN out and grab anything that lands in their yard. I'm not sure if someone called the police on them to get the toys back. I think the cops were there due to the nutcases calling about "kids in the yard", the cops started to YELL at them ("Where exactly do you think you live? This is WHAT KIDS DO!"), a small crowd gathered to laugh, then someone happened to mention the collection. Cop threatened to arrest them for theft, the a big box of toys appeared.
klang, this is much different than any wildlife camera I've seen (and I am somewhat familiar with them).
It's not illegal to record audio?
Take a picture if it and post it. :gomer:
Take a picture if it and post it. :gomer:
Still need to live here. Sis-in-law might not get recognized...
You can record audio in Illinois (I think), unless you're recording a cop (I know :mad: ).
Andrew Longman
07-20-13, 10:17 PM
Anyone ever think about a restraining order? Seems that monitoring you neighbors' window 24/7 is harassment.
My wife told me about this http://blogs.citypages.com/blotter/2012/05/white_bear_lake_neighbor_from_hell_is_a_met_counci l_executive_assistant.php
Took too long but worked in the end
Anyone ever think about a restraining order? Seems that monitoring you neighbors' window 24/7 is harassment.
My wife told me about this http://blogs.citypages.com/blotter/2012/05/white_bear_lake_neighbor_from_hell_is_a_met_counci l_executive_assistant.php
Took too long but worked in the end
What they do is all very legal, just nutty.
So, no one is up on the latest spy gadgets?
I was hoping to find out if it was IR (and what wavelength) or ultrasonic (and what frequency).
For science.
TrueBrit
07-21-13, 01:15 AM
Still need to live here. Sis-in-law might not get recognized...
You can record audio in Illinois (I think), unless you're recording a cop (I know :mad: ).
Actually I think that whole "you can't record the fuzz" law in Illinois was struck down...
datachicane
07-21-13, 01:33 AM
About 2AM, run by in a gorilla suit with a chainsaw. Next night, walk by real casual-like, swinging your arms, carrying a pair of dummy heads by the hair (long and blonde, preferably). Then a full Indian Chief getup, maybe an astronaut, you get the idea. Make sure you end up in their yard so they call the cops each time.
About 2AM, run by in a gorilla suit with a chainsaw. Next night, walk by real casual-like, swinging your arms, carrying a pair of dummy heads by the hair (long and blonde, preferably). Then a full Indian Chief getup, maybe an astronaut, you get the idea. Make sure you end up in their yard so they call the cops each time.
I think the morph suits are creepier.
Napoleon
07-21-13, 06:29 AM
About 2AM, run by in a gorilla suit with a chainsaw. Next night, walk by real casual-like, swinging your arms, carrying a pair of dummy heads by the hair (long and blonde, preferably). Then a full Indian Chief getup, maybe an astronaut, you get the idea. Make sure you end up in their yard so they call the cops each time.
How about as a different one of the Village People each night.
So, no one is up on the latest spy gadgets?
I was hoping to find out if it was IR (and what wavelength) or ultrasonic (and what frequency).
Our security cameras have the ability to detect motion with either a passive infrared sensor or just by detecting changes in the scene. They don't track anything and their motion detection range is limited to about 30 feet so I don't know if it's the same technology.
They probably don't watch the monitors 24/7. They probably have an alert that is triggered when motion is detected and when they hear that they start watching for any stray objects that might enter their property.
Even as a proponent of the "you kids stay out of my yard" doctrine this seems silly. The best policy with kids is to ignore them as much as possible since anything you do to oppose bad behavior will just make you the target of more bad behavior. If you don't want to be bothered it's a bad idea to choose a property next to an open space where kids are bound to want to congregate and play.
Our security cameras have the ability to detect motion with either a passive infrared sensor or just by detecting changes in the scene. They don't track anything and their motion detection range is limited to about 30 feet so I don't know if it's the same technology.
They probably don't watch the monitors 24/7. They probably have an alert that is triggered when motion is detected and when they hear that they start watching for any stray objects that might enter their property.
Even as a proponent of the "you kids stay out of my yard" doctrine this seems silly. The best policy with kids is to ignore them as much as possible since anything you do to oppose bad behavior will just make you the target of more bad behavior. If you don't want to be bothered it's a bad idea to choose a property next to an open space where kids are bound to want to congregate and play.
If you get bored, try taking your TV remote control out and point it at the camera and see if that sets off the detector (somehow, magically, without getting sensed by the IR detector yourself. Go Full Ninja.).
As far as 24/7, you don't know them. :gomer: It's a strange girl that owns the house, and her fruitcake parents live there as well.
(Half-serious) I wouldn't be surprised if they took shifts watching.
Finally, I'm pretty sure you didn't mean to imply this, but the kids are NOT doing anything that could be considered "bad behavior". Yet. I am sure as the legend of the Psychos grows, the kids may grow up to do stupid things to them...
I'd bet you that they are up to something very bad. Personally, I would have them thoroughly investigated. The hostility to children is a big red flag.
chop456
08-14-13, 01:29 AM
I'd bet you that they are up to something very bad. Personally, I would have them thoroughly investigated. The hostility to children is a big red flag.
http://s3.amazonaws.com/auteurs_production/images/film/the-burbs/w448/the-burbs.jpg?1289442918
Greatest. Movie. Ever.
chop456
08-14-13, 04:51 AM
Seems that monitoring you neighbors' window 24/7 is harassment.
And quite illegal if said camera were to happen to catch someone in the buff. Just sayin'.
:notvolunteering:
And quite illegal if said camera were to happen to catch someone in the buff. Just sayin'.
:notvolunteering:
My cousin's kid is a devious little ****. They were here last week, and his bright idea (and he DID volunteer) was to walk by the house in the buff, and when the inevitable police came by, have them busted for CP.
That's one 15 y.o. that you don't want to mess with. :laugh:
Glad he lives far away, most times.
Their latest toy, is a rectangle box, perhaps 6"x3"x10" that sits on their front porch. If you walk by the house, a red light tracks you as you walk by, then a white flash goes off. This happens even if you are on the other side of the street. I assume that this is a tracking still camera.
Like this?
http://shop.nationalgeographic.com/ngs/product/gear-%26-gadgets/cameras-and-photography-gear/8.0-megapixel-infrared-digital-motion-detection-camera
They are obviously alien scientists conducting field research on your neighborhood, like Jane Goodall did with the gorillas.
Like this?
http://shop.nationalgeographic.com/ngs/product/gear-%26-gadgets/cameras-and-photography-gear/8.0-megapixel-infrared-digital-motion-detection-camera
They are obviously alien scientists conducting field research on your neighborhood, like Jane Goodall did with the gorillas.
Nah, It lays down flat, and flashes from the "end".
SurfaceUnits
09-03-13, 06:03 PM
http://www.majorgeeks.com/index.php?ct=news&action=file&id=1214
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