Need help finding a decent outdoor IR camera & digital recorder system, and other Q's

[Foo909]

I've got a little one on the way (Dec. 29th) and have really started to get serious about keeping the house a little safer as I've started a new career and will be out of town a couple days out of the week for quite possibly the rest of my life .

Other than current projects of getting a biometric operated quick access gun vault for the lady as well as getting her something easier to shoot, basement window removal and blocking of said hole, and getting strike masters on the front and rear doors.

I would really like to get a decent lower cost camera system to mount out off the back of our house to monitor our back yard (we recently had our lawn mower and weed eater stolen off our back porch which has left a nasty taste in my mouth).

I just need one camera, IR, and must be all weather capable. The problem im posed with is the monitoring/recording. I would really require it that we could just plug it into the TV and watch it as an input, but also find it necessary to have a way to record at the same time.

Being able to watch the camera online would also be very nice or from an Iphone but NOT to considered as a requirement.

Any suggestions?

As far as other security measures for the home we have a large very territorial Siberian husky, a motion activated light for the back porch, dusk to dawn lights on the front porch, heavy glass security door with dead bolt, faux ADT sign, small safe, and security chain on rear door. Any other ideas are appreciated, I want to keep my little family as safe as I can!

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[Rivers]

An IR camera will only light up the short zone around the camera. A low LUX camera will capture a more normally exposed night image.

Depending upon whether you want to simply see activity or capture an identifiable image, it's all camera. For activity, pick one that is at least 520 TV lines. Spend a bit more and you can get full HD. At least pick one that delivers an image 1024 x 768 for usable JPEG images. I've seen some very impressive Samsung cameras. Make sure your camera's angle of view is matched to the scene you want to cover. It's common to use an overly wide angle lens, sacrificing needed detail.

[tessa]

Series 1 and 2 Tivo's make great security dvrs. Speco analog cameras are good.

[gatopardo]

Put cameras on windows or places where they cannot be vandalized, download and purchase WebcamXP , install it on a small pc, connect the pc toa backup battery package, pay for a hosting server, (really cheap) and have your pc upload the pictures.

You can check what is going on from any place with an internet connection, even if you are on vacations at cancun.

Another think you can use a program to manipulate your pcs remotely if you need to work from home pc.

It's important that you install motion activated lights outside since that is going to be the "trigger" for the cameras to start taking pictures, since it's movement what triggers them.

Constant monitor systems with video recorders are for situations when an operato constantly maintain the system, If you're going to be away that won't be possible.

Check on Newegg.

Gato

[ppkheat]

Moultrie makes a game cam with cellular output so your pics are automatically sent to your phone, laptop or whatever. There is a monthly subscription. Game cam plus cellular accessory puts the initial cost at around $350. BTW I don't have any experience with it, just know what I read.

[Blue Thunder]

I have a Lorex system from Fry's (there are lots of systems out there that are complete packages). It came with 4 IR Color cameras that can see 90 feet in the dark. It has a 50GB HD and can be set to turn on with Motion on any of the camera inputs. It has 8 camera inputs and I have two additional Wireless cameras feeding it. It also feeds the internet with software thru Lorex and can be viewed on any computer or Smart phone. I also have a 4 hour large UPS that powers it. Any Video system must have a UPS so it will keep running if the power bumps (some won't re-power themselves up if you get a bump in power) or the power goes out. Good Luck with your system.

[lordhamster]

I've currently got an IR camera from www.sharxsecurity.com, although I later found out it is manufactured by y-cam (http://www.y-cam.com/). A camera can be had new on amazon for as low as $150.

These are IR sensitive cameras with IR emitters around the lens. The camera has a built in wifi wireless and web server so you can look at the camera footage and record from your computer, or cell phone. Also, the camera has a built in SD card slot that it can record to. It can also be set to record to NAS.

Currently I'm using an indoor model as a baby monitor. It allows me to see and hear the baby from my PC day or night. When money allows I'll get some additional units for outdoors. They DO make an outdoor model. Check out the www.sharxsecurity.com site they have some live demo cams you can check out. Keep in mind that the same Camera exists branded from 3 vendors so shop around for the best price on amazon.

If you need more IR illumination than is included with the camera, you can get cheap IR illuminators for outdoors off ebay. Although, I think a better strategy would be to put up real visible light floodlights. What good is having a grainly black and white tape of your lawnmower being stolen... I'd rather have the lighting be a deterrent, and worst case provide a nice crisp full color image of the perp.