Does this security camera exist?

Craig234

Lifer
May 1, 2006
38,548
350
126
- No cables (battery or solar battery powered)

- Day/Night vision at least 1080p resolution

- Upload to cloud via wi-fi preferably free

- Selectable continuous recording or motion-triggered

- Optional: concealable, e.g., can shoot through a material that hides it
 

Carson Dyle

Diamond Member
Jul 2, 2012
8,173
524
126
Solar powered... You won't be able to install it in the ladies' room at work, or in your guest room.

Battery powered... Won't be able to install it in the tree behind the neighbor's bedroom window. Unless you want to climb the tree periodically so you can change or recharge the battery.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Number1

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
71,121
14,000
126
www.anyf.ca
Would be easy to make a camera solar powered with a small panel, charge controller, and lead acid battery. (can probably even do a 6v system) Cheaper than running a proper PoE feed? Doubt it. I would do PoE cameras myself. I kind of want to set some up around the perimeter of house one of these days but it's a low priority project.
 

Kaido

Elite Member & Kitchen Overlord
Feb 14, 2004
52,147
7,517
136
Solar powered... You won't be able to install it in the ladies' room at work, or in your guest room.

Battery powered... Won't be able to install it in the tree behind the neighbor's bedroom window. Unless you want to climb the tree periodically so you can change or recharge the battery.

657dc12866bcfbc5c09b7f4debff75b7.jpg
 

Craig234

Lifer
May 1, 2006
38,548
350
126
Would be easy to make a camera solar powered with a small panel, charge controller, and lead acid battery. (can probably even do a 6v system) Cheaper than running a proper PoE feed? Doubt it. I would do PoE cameras myself. I kind of want to set some up around the perimeter of house one of these days but it's a low priority project.

My handyman includes plugging/unplugging and changing some light bulbs. I'd probably hire these installed and some light bulbs changed.

I don't know what PoE is.
 

AMDisTheBEST

Senior member
Dec 17, 2015
682
90
61
X-ray camera should be able to shoot through materials.

To make it WiFi capable, I just instal a network card in there.

To make it solar power, I can cover it with solar power. However, that still barely produces enough watts to power the thing especially in cloudy days.
 

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
71,121
14,000
126
www.anyf.ca
I don't know what PoE is.

Power over Ethernet. The power and data would be all the same cable. Idealy the switch/injector/server etc would be UPS protected too. That way should the power go out the camera system keeps working.

You can get fake cameras too, I would maybe put those in an area that is easy to see then put the real ones more hidden.
 

Craig234

Lifer
May 1, 2006
38,548
350
126
Power over Ethernet. The power and data would be all the same cable. Idealy the switch/injector/server etc would be UPS protected too. That way should the power go out the camera system keeps working.

You can get fake cameras too, I would maybe put those in an area that is easy to see then put the real ones more hidden.

Ah. I haven't even figured out how to split my internet ethernet cable to two PC's yet much less to security cameras, I'm not sure how that would work, maybe they'd need their own service.

Good point about the fake cameras, but I don't think they'd help in this case.
 

Kaido

Elite Member & Kitchen Overlord
Feb 14, 2004
52,147
7,517
136
Wow, the Arlo 2 Pro is pretty much excatly what I asked for!

Way to go. I'll need to consider this. $480 for two cameras. My idea is make one obvious that thieves would take down, and have the second concealed.

They sell dummy cameras (complete with blinking LED lights) & security stickers on Amazon, so you can buy fake stuff for cheaper & hide the real camera(s).\

My buddy did that at his shop & had a theft. Had a fake camera wired to a fake VCR recorder...they stole the VCR & left the DVR (and real camera) alone lol.
 

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
71,121
14,000
126
www.anyf.ca
They sell dummy cameras (complete with blinking LED lights) & security stickers on Amazon, so you can buy fake stuff for cheaper & hide the real camera(s).\

My buddy did that at his shop & had a theft. Had a fake camera wired to a fake VCR recorder...they stole the VCR & left the DVR (and real camera) alone lol.

Lol that's brilliant to have the VCR. I need to consider this when I setup a system. Have an old VCR just sitting on a shelf in the server rack labeled "security cameras" with the recording LED turned on. Have the real one rack mounted and just named something else.
 

Darwin333

Lifer
Dec 11, 2006
19,946
2,330
126
Wow, the Arlo 2 Pro is pretty much excatly what I asked for!

Way to go. I'll need to consider this. $480 for two cameras. My idea is make one obvious that thieves would take down, and have the second concealed.

If it uploads to the cloud you will still have the thieves stealing the camera on video. You aren't going to get a better face shot then a thief looking directly into the camera as he steals it.
 

Craig234

Lifer
May 1, 2006
38,548
350
126
If it uploads to the cloud you will still have the thieves stealing the camera on video. You aren't going to get a better face shot then a thief looking directly into the camera as he steals it.

Yup.

On the other hand, if for example they put on a mask first, a broader view might catch that and their face before putting it on.
 

Darwin333

Lifer
Dec 11, 2006
19,946
2,330
126
Yup.

On the other hand, if for example they put on a mask first, a broader view might catch that and their face before putting it on.

You are making the mistake that a lot of others are, thinking thieves are as smart as you are. Unless you have some serious loot for them to steal like insane artwork or bricks of gold in your vault they are generally dumb as shit. So they either put their mask on in the car or well before getting to your property or they aren't wearing one at all. And your camera still gets the broad view as they walk up to try and steal it but the vast majority of even dumb crooks just keep on going if they see a camera. They are very opportunistic, they prey on the easiest targets possible. Generally a few visible cameras will keep them away unless someone is absurdly (read: personally) interested in your stuff.
 

Craig234

Lifer
May 1, 2006
38,548
350
126
You are making the mistake that a lot of others are, thinking thieves are as smart as you are. Unless you have some serious loot for them to steal like insane artwork or bricks of gold in your vault they are generally dumb as shit. So they either put their mask on in the car or well before getting to your property or they aren't wearing one at all. And your camera still gets the broad view as they walk up to try and steal it but the vast majority of even dumb crooks just keep on going if they see a camera. They are very opportunistic, they prey on the easiest targets possible. Generally a few visible cameras will keep them away unless someone is absurdly (read: personally) interested in your stuff.

Well, I actually have a stalker burglar - a young woman who is a career criminal with a background of drugs, assault, burglaries, stolen cars and more, and has identified targets she stalks. She thinks she's a clever con and is patient. She burglarized my house twice several years ago. She came buy in a stolen vehicle asking for gas money (her attempted con with me was to play a victim, fighting to get off
drugs, asking for a burger or a ride or showing up at 1AM in the rain begging to sleep on the couch and so on), and I got her arrested for the stolen car - but while I told the prosecutor how dangerous she is, they only put her in jail for 90 days for a probation violation. In 2014 after she got out, she led police on a high speed chase, while pregnant on meth, ending up with her vehicle on top of someone else's in their driveway. For that she finally supposedly got 4 years, but was out well before that.

I was thinking maybe she had learned to stay away, but in the last month, for the first time since the stolen car arrest, she came by late at night again, casing.

Stupid thief? Ya, you could say that - as was the guy I saw peering in my window from my back yard at 3AM one night a decade ago (who I talked to who made a lame story about looking for the owner of a car for sale, in a surprising coincidence the same story the woman criminal gave a couple nights ago before fleeing worrying I was calling the police again).

The place I'd like a camera, the porch outside the door, it's hard to hide or prevent it being seen and stolen or broken. If they have masks on - it'll be that much harder to prove their identities.

So far, none of the burglars I've seen have worn masks.

But the camera above comes in a set of 2, so I'd have a second to put somewhere.
 

bononos

Diamond Member
Aug 21, 2011
3,944
192
106
Wow, the Arlo 2 Pro is pretty much excatly what I asked for!
Way to go. I'll need to consider this. $480 for two cameras. My idea is make one obvious that thieves would take down, and have the second concealed.
I saw some cheap $20 wifi cameras with IR, motion triggering, even a speaker for 2way comm on china based websites. This <$20 camera can run off a 5v usb battery pack.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jd6c6WEivYg
 

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
71,121
14,000
126
www.anyf.ca
Wow sounds like a crappy situation. Cops don't care at all about small game theft, which makes these situations harder. You're on your own, yet anything you do that hurts her will then land you in trouble. Cameras and stuff for sure so you can keep an eye on things, but then you need something to actually repel her away. This is where castle laws are great but too bad they don't exist everywhere.
 

spacejamz

Lifer
Mar 31, 2003
10,993
1,742
126
I had the first generation arlo system and the remember not liking that the motion detector was based on the image coming from side to side not and not towards the camera and also the delay in capturing the video was iffy (half the time, my cameras started rolling after the subject was off camera)...

I did love the fact that the camera was completely wireless but I had to swap batteries every 5-6 months or so...
 

Craig234

Lifer
May 1, 2006
38,548
350
126
Do any of those cheaper options do the things listed above? They seem to have long youtube videos to wade through.

I saw one that looks neat that can tell people, animals, and cars apart since one problem is cats that move in the area a lot - but it's AC powered.
 

Craig234

Lifer
May 1, 2006
38,548
350
126
I had the first generation arlo system and the remember not liking that the motion detector was based on the image coming from side to side not and not towards the camera and also the delay in capturing the video was iffy (half the time, my cameras started rolling after the subject was off camera)...

I did love the fact that the camera was completely wireless but I had to swap batteries every 5-6 months or so...

My first question about Arlo Pro II (the 1080p) is about the batteries - how long do they last each charge, and how long before they need replacing?
 

Darwin333

Lifer
Dec 11, 2006
19,946
2,330
126
Wow, that is some batshit crazy stuff Craig. Hope everything works out for you, I haven't personally heard of thieves stealing actual cameras but with that kind of crazy who knows.
 

Craig234

Lifer
May 1, 2006
38,548
350
126
Wow, that is some batshit crazy stuff Craig. Hope everything works out for you, I haven't personally heard of thieves stealing actual cameras but with that kind of crazy who knows.

The criminal's 'street name' is Psycho.

Such a good fit.

If you find it entertaining - when she came by in the stolen car for case money, she had another young woman with her she knew from jail. She introduced her as her 'cousin' who was unable to speak. As I stalled for time, the other woman started suggesting maybe they should just go. 'Psycho' would get furious at her for talking.

Because the other woman had tried to get her to leave and didn't act badly as 'Psycho' did - at one point, screaming profanities, she actually knocked my glasses to the ground, but I didn't need the complication of responding - I took the other woman with me to 'get gas' as the police came, so that she wouldn't get arrested also. She appreciated it and told me the story.

After the burglaries, I saw a young man on a bike suspiciously in the neigborhood and suspected he was casing places (it's not a through street). He didn't want to answer for himself and I got in my car to follow him a ways to make the street unattractive to him as a target. He walked his bike about a quarter mile, on his cell phone.

We got an area where an older man about 40 came and met him and they talked, he'd clearly called him for help. Threats and profanity followed. Then they left, clearly a criminal affiliation.

The next day, there was a knock at the door. Some young person I hadn't seen that appeared to be wearing some sort of gang jacket was there. They began saying to never mess with 'his friend' again and screaming profanity and saying he was 'el diablo' and acting pretty insane. I called the police, he was gone. Fun stuff. Learned there are these criminal networks around.

One time a young man knocked on the door after 'psycho' had left.

He seemed pretty shocked I answered but said he was looking for 'psycho'. My guess was he was part of a burglary group for my house and she'd ditched him when I was home.