Want to use a dash cam for home security too....

tyler zambori

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Hi all,

I've been looking at the "real" options for setting up some home security cameras,
but have not found anything that has its own power source, and also its own
internal recording device. I want to just stick a class 10 sd/tf card in there,
not mess with hooking something up to my computer or tv or dvd machine or
whatever. I don't want to leave my computer / tv/ whatever on all night.

Primarily I want to stick a dash cam in the window facing my front door.
Is there anything else I could use that at least uses a class 10 sd / tf card
internally?

I was thinking of getting this cheap chinese dash cam because I don't have a
lot of money:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/331535857516
Thanks for your thoughts!
 
Interesting in that I just today started a trial to see how that would work out.

Since getting the SG9665GC I have a G1W-H sitting around doing nothing so I turned motion detect on and stuck it in the window using a 120V-5V USB adapter. Haven't even checked the SD card yet to see what it's picking up - will do that tomorrow morning sometime after giving it about 24 hours.

IMG_5015.JPG IMG_5014.JPG
 
Only good for monitoring outside.
In a break-in situation, they'll simply grab the camera and SD card goes along with it unless it's locked inside tamper proof box or hidden very well..
 
There is no good, easy to install, affordable solution that will cover all scenarios.
 
Choice of camera and features I believe is paramount...

I can't see any point to using 30fpm when using a dashcam to capture a slow moving human and 5fps is plenty and has the advantage of playing back at high speed for glancing through files swiftly...

Nor can I see any point to fitting an HD camera whose image can't be tweeked to daylight clarity with vlc player in very low light conditions...

Having tested a gt680w mounted externally it certainly is capable of the images mentioned above and does offer the low frame rate...

It would be helpful if the forum contained vlc enhanced footage maybe even from an external source so a clear comparison of the quality that is delivered from each camera can be seen as an end result..... Rather than the untweeked firmware constricted images we rely on now to make our ill informed choices we do now that bare no resemblance to the quality of image that can be extracted...
 
Last edited:
Hi all,

I've been looking at the "real" options for setting up some home security cameras,
but have not found anything that has its own power source, and also its own
internal recording device. I want to just stick a class 10 sd/tf card in there,
not mess with hooking something up to my computer or tv or dvd machine or
whatever. I don't want to leave my computer / tv/ whatever on all night.

Primarily I want to stick a dash cam in the window facing my front door.
Is there anything else I could use that at least uses a class 10 sd / tf card
internally?

I was thinking of getting this cheap chinese dash cam because I don't have a
lot of money:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/331535857516
Thanks for your thoughts!

Most of the dash cams on the market have a small internal battery which will only last a few minutes, and as Sunny says, the dash cam you mentioned has 'steal me' written all over it.

Perhaps consider a Mobius ActionCam which is far more compact and has a built in battery which lasts for approx 85 minutes. Is available on Ebay direct from the manufacturer in China, whose link is http://stores.ebay.com/eletoponline365/ Size wise it is tiny, measuring less than 2 1/2" long, 1 3/8" wide and 3/4" high.

You could always purchase an external power pack, I've purchased a couple off Amazon, the first smaller unit lasted for 11 hours and the second larger unit lasted for 22 hours.

In terms of SD cards, 32GB is good for approx 320 mins, 64GB is good for approx 640 mins and the 128GB is good for approx 1280 minutes.

The Mobius ActionCam also provides a 'Motion Detect' option so you don't have to trawl through 1200 minutes of boring stuff, on the other hand, motion detect isn't perfect and it doesn't pre-record events so you might actually miss something really exciting happening!

mobius-actioncam.jpg
 
Well, I want to use this camera as a deterrent. If somebody breaks in, all bets are off? I'm also planning to look at other
inexpensive ways of securing things, like preventing a would-be burglar from simply lifting the sliding glass door out of the
frame.

At least this beats a Cheap plastic $4 fake security looking thing on ebay, which would
be easily identified for what it is.

@DT MI: great! please let me know your results!
 
Well, I want to use this camera as a deterrent. If somebody breaks in, all bets are off? I'm also planning to look at other
inexpensive ways of securing things, like preventing a would-be burglar from simply lifting the sliding glass door out of the
frame.

At least this beats a Cheap plastic $4 fake security looking thing on ebay, which would
be easily identified for what it is.

@DT MI: great! please let me know your results!

CCTV cameras work well to record the burglary in graphic detail, but that doesn't stop your home being trashed and your possessions stolen in the first place.

Here in the UK the majority of house break-ins are by opportunist burglars driving up a street and selecting the house that looks most vulnerable. They tend to avoid houses with bell-boxes on the outside and 'Dogs are loose' warning signs because dogs bite with a vengeance. A side-gate works wonders because it stops them gaining easy access to look around the back of the house and because they are wondering what is on the other side of the gate, is it a friendly labrador or a bad tempered Alsatian or Rottweiler.

Ultimately they are looking for the easiest and quickest option.

Once they have decided to break into your house you really do need a proper alarm system installed to alert you of the break-in, and shock sensors on the doors and windows that set the alarm bells ringing even before the glass has been broken. Ultimate defence is of course the smoke generator which fills your rooms with dense smoke in a matter of seconds so they can't see what to steal, and if you really do want to make this burglary a truly horrible experience for them, add the strobe light and high decibel sounder.

Alternatively, as you are living in the USA, if you're in the house when they break in, just shoot them dead if it's legal to do so... just wish we had that option here, might reduce burglaries!
 
Ultimately they are looking for the easiest and quickest option.
Sort of like you dont have to run faster than the bear just faster than everyone else running from the bear. Make your house look like it is more trouble to break into than the neighbours and you are most of the way there.
 
Ought to mention that many house burglaries in the UK occur not at night but in the daytime, and are caused by druggies crawling out of bed around mid-day and in need of their next fix but have no money, so they break into any vulnerable looking house, flog the stolen goods anywhere that they can, then descend into oblivion with their next fix until the next day, when they will repeat the whole incident again and again. They don't care about the damage done to the house-holder or the kids living in the house whom no longer feel safe and secure, all the druggie wants is the next high.
 
Home cam systems are pretty cheap these days in the US and work better for this than dashcams. Like with dash cams, you don't get what you don't pay for with them. Every thug knows that a decent hoodie and big sunglasses defeat cams- you've got great pics, but of who? And your stuff will still be gone, probably forever. You can't stop a Pro and druggies want only something they can sell quickly. I have lived most of my life in semi-rough or worse neighborhoods and here are the rules I live by

1-Never look like a good target- they won't try to steal what they don't know about.
2-Know your neighbors and watch out for each other (even if you don't like each other).
3-Nobody wants to become dog food (medium size or bigger dogs only, small ones can't stop anyone).
4-Make it a lot of work to get inside but don't make it look that way from the outside (thieves hate work)
5-Have a good alarm system and set the entrance delay to as short as possible (in 30 seconds time I can kick your door in, grab your TV or computer and be down the street before it goes off)

Having a visible camera breaks rule 1- you will look like you've got something to protect which is exactly what the thugs are looking for. If some of your neighbors have visible cams, maybe you will blend in but otherwise hide them. Good crooks know where to sell your cams too!
 
@SawMaster: Wow, I guess that takes the home security video right out of it completely .

Just to to let you all know, I'm dealing with neighborhood drug dealers here, and/or their customers.
I do have a large dog, I have a reputation for calling the police, and I started a neighborhood
watch. The neighborhood watch materials have further recommendations for preventing crime.
I will probably get some kind of door alarm, but as I said, we are on a budget. *budget!*!

Of course I have something to protect, it's ridiculous to pretend I don't. Thanks for your advice though.
Did I mention we are on a budget???

I was looking for advice about using a dash cam for this purpose. I'm getting good general advice
about preventing crime.

I'm going to get that G1W that DT MI posted, and plug it into an outlet with a usb to usb
cable and an adapter. short battery life problem solved.

Thanks everybody!
 
Only good for monitoring outside.
In a break-in situation, they'll simply grab the camera and SD card goes along with it unless it's locked inside tamper proof box or hidden very well..
This is my setup for camera 2, hunting/trail camera inside bird figure, bird can be stolen but at that point there's pictures saved on SD card inside security lock box.
I did this mostly because i had spare camera and this was one good use for it, also at night my main IP security camera gives quite bad image quality and motion detection is not 100% sure, that bird has a infrared sensor so every image has some living things on it, zombies may pass by undetected.
165352.jpg
 
There are a number of low-rent properties close to me where drugs are present and sold too. The police here are crap, even after numerous complaints from many long-time residents they will do nothing about them. They avoid my dog, and my hiking stick has gained a reputation after one late-night event here so they all now give me a wide berth. I do fear that the single women living on either side of me would not be so lucky if it were not for me being seen outside being very neighborly with them but between me and their own dogs they've had no trouble either.

For the same price as one dashcam, you can have two cams with IR and a monitor http://www.harborfreight.com/color-security-system-with-night-vision-60565.html which are much better for your purpose. Runs on 12VDC so an old car battery gives you easy back-up power and the VCR-DVR output makes for a lot better storage media. If one of their retail outlets is near you there would be no waiting on shipping either. This company also sells other cheap security stuff but you don't get what you don't pay for with anyone so research your prospective purchases well.
 
@SawMaster
Lol... Camera Resolution (tvl) 512 x 480
 
...

@DT MI: great! please let me know your results!
After 48 hours mounted in 2 different locations I've come to the conclusion that the G1W-H is not suitable for this purpose (at least mine is not). The issue seems to be the motion detection is nowhere near sensitive enough to meet this purpose. In the 48+ hours it was in place not a single recording took place.

I know the motion detection works because I've tested it by having the camera operating and moving my hand in front of the lens. My cursory testing indicates that the motion has to be about 1.0 to 1.5 seconds and occur across about 1/3 of the frame for the camera to begin recording. When used as a 'security cam' that doesn't happen.

When the camera was mounted covering my front porch and entire driveway as well as the street in front of the house traffic on the street would not trigger recording to start. Neither would me walking down the driveway, or cars leaving or entering the garage.

I'm going to play around with it a bit more but as of right now the bottom line is - it was an interesting experiment but proved only that if I want a security cam I will have to buy a security cam.

Now I need to find another use for a couple of G1W-H cams.
 
After 48 hours mounted in 2 different locations I've come to the conclusion that the G1W-H is not suitable for this purpose (at least mine is not). The issue seems to be the motion detection is nowhere near sensitive enough to meet this purpose. In the 48+ hours it was in place not a single recording took place.

I know the motion detection works because I've tested it by having the camera operating and moving my hand in front of the lens. My cursory testing indicates that the motion has to be about 1.0 to 1.5 seconds and occur across about 1/3 of the frame for the camera to begin recording. When used as a 'security cam' that doesn't happen.

When the camera was mounted covering my front porch and entire driveway as well as the street in front of the house traffic on the street would not trigger recording to start. Neither would me walking down the driveway, or cars leaving or entering the garage.

I'm going to play around with it a bit more but as of right now the bottom line is - it was an interesting experiment but proved only that if I want a security cam I will have to buy a security cam.

Now I need to find another use for a couple of G1W-H cams.

here you go.. a solution..

also good for protecting catalytic converters from theft on motorhomes !

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