FrankLee wrote:

Does anybody know of a good home video surveillance system?

I have a neighbor who has been periodically vandalizing our property
over the past 3 years. I want to set up a hidden camera system to
record him. The police said they can't do anything unless I catch
him on camera.

He causes a couple hundred $ of damage every year and I afraid for
the safety of my family.

My budget is about $300 but may be willing to go higher. I have a
good working pc I can use for a system.




I suggest an inexpensive homemade system. You need:


1) A regular personal desktop computer. You need 1600 mhz CPU or
better IMHO. Larger hard disks are preferred. Note, you can get
Western Digital 320 gig harddrives at Newegg.com for less than $100.



2) A camera interface board for the computer. These are commonly
called a DVR board. An excellent value interface board is the 4400R
or clones.

Look here for a 4400R clone for $80:

http://www.inesun.com/search.php?keys=es416&series=0



3) A software surveillance package. The best of class that I've found
is Go1984: http://www.go1984.de/en/order.html

Buy the "standard" edition. Make damn sure you enable time and date
stamping on the recording (very easy to do).



4) Analog cameras that hook up to the interface board. I use hi-res
black and white Sony's. Some people prefer color. There are tons of
different types available cheap. Google "surveillance camera".

You can hide all cameras for a covert operation. Alternatively, have
one visible camera and covert cams watching the visible cam(s) and
other areas too.

I have a mix of visible and invisible cams in my system. It's
interesting to video people intentionally avoiding the visible
camera.


If you pick an choose -- and already have a good personal computer --
you should be able to keep costs between $300 and $400. Good luck.