Doug's stupid ex-wife wants to put up security camera for her place

[franksolich]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=268x5034

Oh my.

EFerrari  (1000+ posts)        Sun Oct-16-11 04:36 PM
Original message
 
Has anyone here set up their own web cam at a gate?

I can't afford an alarm company and have to put something up at the gate to make sure these boarders don't leave it open at night and let their own horses loose. It's either that or murder and I don't want to go to jail. lol

The gate is about a quarter mile from the house. We have wifi up here but the range isn't great.

HereSince1628  (1000+ posts)        Sun Oct-16-11 04:44 PM
Response to Original message
 
1. Here's a link to how Cowboy Frank did it...

setting up a webcam

http://cowboyfrank.net/webcams/HowTo.htm 

EFerrari  (1000+ posts)        Mon Oct-17-11 12:10 AM
Response to Reply #1
 
4. My installation would have to accomodate a camera outdoors.

I could use the same camera but would need an enclosure for colder or wet weather. We don't get snow here and rarely near-freezing temps.

Also, there's the problem of range. Somehow I'd have to boost the wifi range to make it go 1/3 of the way down the hill to the installation. The view is a straight shot, which is nice, but the installation would be about 150 feet outside of our present range. Maybe I should walk it with my laptop to double check that.

I'd love to hire someone to do this but all of our big appliances are timing out at the same time, so that's right out for now anyway.

ProgressiveProfessor (1000+ posts)        Sun Oct-16-11 04:45 PM
Response to Original message
 
2. Here is an an alternate very low cost solution

Get an inexpensive wireless path light from a home improvement store. Wire a magnetic switch to the gate and have it interrupt the battery wire. Mount light where you can see it. This should be about a $20 solution.

I have done cameras. Good wireless cameras are more expensive than alarm systems. If all you want is visual confirmation the gate is closed, this kind of approach is much cheaper and reliable.

EFerrari  (1000+ posts)        Sun Oct-16-11 11:49 PM
Response to Reply #2
 
3. The problem with that is that people go in and out all day.

If I get a switch that tells me the gate is open but I can't see, it's not telling me enough.

I believe you completely about wireless cameras and also have monitored silent alarm systems.

However, there is no way for me to see out there from this part of the house. I'd have to get up and physically check it at some interval. Although, I'm not sure a pair of binoculars isn't the best solution.

By the way, franksolich just installed an amateur telescope (used) on the back porch here, and there's now a pair of binoculars in the wooden milk-box on the front porch.

Doug's stupid ex-wife and franksolich sometimes think along the same lines.

shinyhead (20 posts)      Fri Oct-21-11 02:57 PM
Response to Reply #3
 
5. wifi yagi.

Look up wifi yagi antennas. Set up right they can extend range as long as you have some kind of clear line of sight. I use a homemade cantenna to connect the main house to the outbuilding where my home office is several hundred feet away. Find a ham radio geek to help you if you can, they know a good bit about what you need to know to pull this off.

[Airwolf]

Good luck using a web cam outdoors. The first rainfall you get it could go out and of course ,rinse ,lather and repete

[longview]

Some trail cams will send to an email or phone app when they are triggered.  A friend in WA state recently moved to the country and is addicted to monitoring every small mammal that crosses her place.  Her husband set up a solar power source near the camera to recharge the batteries.  She loves it and I get a lot of pictures of racoons now.

I used a trail cam, borrowed from a friend's brother to find out who was stealing food from my kitchen.  It was a former construction day-worker that had gotten access to the house key and had a copy made when working on my house.  The cops sure got a kick out of it. 

[Skul]

Sounds more like "I want to know when I'm being raided."

[longview]

Sounds more like "I want to know when I'm being raided."

  You're right, of course. 

[Evil_Conservative]

Why doesn't she want people coming onto her property?

[Skul]

Why doesn't she want people coming onto her property?

See one comment above.

[NHSparky]

But...but...but...she doesn't want HER wealth redistributed???

I can't afford an alarm company and have to put something up at the gate to make sure these boarders don't leave it open at night and let their own horses loose. It's either that or murder and I don't want to go to jail. lol

The gate is about a quarter mile from the house. We have wifi up here but the range isn't great.

She 1--has her own horses, 2--has 1/4 mile of land between gate and her house, but she's "not rich".  Yah, bull-SHIT!

Beth, there's a very good reason why you're regarded as the stupidest person on the Internet.  Please don't think we're as dumb as you, however.

[miskie]

The miskie solution to the gate would involve a solenoid and an electric timer.

1 ) Set gate so that it swings shut by itself.

2 ) add a small steel plate to the top corner of the gate, that when fully open, will come in contact with a post. mount the solenoid and the timer on said post.

3 ) strip the solenoid, exposing the electromagnet.

4 ) trigger the solenoid with the electric timer - allow the guest to set it for how long they need the gate open.

- and if they forget, once the timer runs out, the circuit breaks, cutting power to the electromagnet, which then releases the gate, allowing it to swing shut.

[Skul]

Bestest and mostest complete and absolutest answer...
...don't do illegal shit on your property.
Problem solved.

We're talking a stupid DUmpass here.
Anyone think that's gonna happen?

[diesel driver]

Install a cattle guard in place of the gate.  No gate to open or close, maintenance free, and you can drive over it to your heart's content.

[GOBUCKS]

The reason poor, stupid Beth made this post was to claim to us that she hasn't yet been evicted from the camper.

One of the storylines she left hanging was where she was being evicted because the county had declared her camper uninhabitable.

And remember, poor stupid Beth doesn't own a square inch of this property. It was her mother's, and they had to flee to the camper when the poor, stupid mother took poor, stupid Beth's advice on real estate and ended up having her home foreclosed, about the same time poor, stupid Beth was evicted from her Sodomy City apartment.

God only knows how badly this little patch of desert has been leveraged on more of poor, stupid Beth's advice.