Remote Surveillance or Security Camera Advice/Suggestions?

Laninchris on 20/10/2020 - 12:25

Hi All,

I’m looking for advice on a surveillance type camera with decent night recording, and motion activation- if possible (oh and, thanks to COVID, I’m still jobless so I absolutely know that I’m asking for champagne on a beer budget!). Also, we’re happy to hire one if there are places around that have that sort of equipment- we live in Perth, in the southern suburbs.

I need the kind of camera that can be set and left to record overnight- without hardwire power supply or needing to access my WiFi (we live on a small acreage and the WiFi signal barely goes through the house- it definitely won’t go to the farthest front corner of the property LOL). Having said that, if recording to WiFi is a necessity or will get me a cheaper camera, I have an old mobile that I can stick a $2 SIM in and leave nearby…

I need to monitor a fence line- both in the day (when I leave to do the school runs), and at night- to see if our dog is somehow jumping our 1.2m diamond mesh fence and getting off the property.

One of our distant neighbours (around the corner) have had a couple of dogs chasing/playing with/terrorizing their sheep, chickens and alpaca’s on their property at random times. They are 100% certain that one of the dogs they’ve chased away is our dog - and more than once. They’re good, genuine people and I believe them- I just can’t fathom how our dog would be doing it.

We have been the victims of multiple dog attacks over the years, on our own Alpacas, and that is one of the reasons we got her- because her breed is a livestock companion dog. They are protectors and ‘apparently’ lack some aggression gene.

We have sheep, lambs, chickens and newborn chicks and she has only ever shown gentle and protective care for any of them. I am devastated to think that our big gentle giant of a girl would chase or intimidate someone else’s pets 😔

We need to prove one way or another if it’s her or not- before one of their animals is killed.

**No doubt someone is going to come out with ‘put it on a chain/in a crate’ or ‘get better fencing’ etc, but, she’s a 3yo rescue who was abused as a pup. We can’t get a collar on her because whenever we’ve tried she whimpers, trembles and urinates all down her back legs. So we don’t try.

We don’t need to take her for walks because she’s got 5 acres to run around on and that seems like enough… She is terrified of strangers, strange ‘things’ in her environment and (to our knowledge) has never left our property since we got her- I honestly think she would be too scared to leave here 🤷🏻‍♀️

We love her, we play with her, we keep low gentle voices around her and, over the years she is getting better, and she is trusting us (she’s just started taking food/treats out of our hands this last month 🙏🏼). We decided that, if we can’t ‘fix’ her issues, we will just provide a loving home for her to live and be safe.**

Electrical & Electronics Security Camera

Comments

  • AustriaBargain on 20/10/2020 - 12:50

    If it's just to check if dogs are jumping the fence, why not buy a taller fance. Or an extension to your fence.

    • Laninchris on 20/10/2020 - 14:00

      Unfortunately, having a 5 acre property means that our front fence line alone is 120m long. At approx $40 (usually more) for each 2.4m long extension, we’d be looking at $2,000 just to put an extension along the front.
      And I’m not even 100% sure that it’s her that is doing it yet… that’s why I need to get a camera- to get proof that it is her, before I try and find the extra $5k++ that it’s going to take to raise the fence line.

  • outlander on 20/10/2020 - 13:51
    +1

    Trail cam would be the first choice, no? They are already built with the main considerations ie battery powered, waterproof, motion operated, night vision.
    They come pretty cheap too, $40 direct from china.

    • Laninchris on 20/10/2020 - 14:08

      Sounds the goods… would you know what kind of “recording quality” specs I should be looking for?

      I am completely ignorant when it comes to the TV/Video quality and definition-type tech stuff.

      I felt genuinely sorry for the guy at JB when I was buying my eldest son’s birthday present a few months ago- he was trying so patiently to explain the specs on the different dash cams and why it was relevant (and don’t get me started on the SD cards 🤯). I’m sure I looked like a deer in headlights…

      • outlander on 20/10/2020 - 16:35
        +1

        No expertise in the area, but I'd be asking myself what the main purpose for it is. In this case, a dog jumping over a fence. You don't need to be able to see the dogs face or what color his fur is, just if he's jumping or not, so even the crappiest 'web-camera-from-the-90's' type quality will do.

        It gets a little more complex when you say you want to monitor 120m of fence line. In that case, the better the quality, the less cameras you'll need to monitor the full length of the fence. But given motion sensing is only good for maybe 10m, they may not work for you in this case without buying a dozen of them.

        For this situation, a laser tripwire system would be better. Like they have in stores, you know where you walk in and the door chimes? Theoretically you should be able to mount it to the top of the fence, and if the dog jumps over and breaks the line of sight of the laser, a chime in your room sounds letting you know.
        They sell them pretty cheap here at banggood just to give you an illustration. You can even get addon modules that can send an alert to your phone. Unfortunately they are GSM though, and Australia shut off it's GSM network a few years ago.

        I'm sure there is a product out there that uses laser tripwires that would work for your situation, but I just don't know enough about it to find a ready made product.

        And I share your feelings about tech. I used to love it, now it just gives me a headache. Frustratingly that feeling of being overwhelmed just seems to grow. The more you learn, the smaller you feel. Makes me want to bin it all, move to the woods and live in a cave with my most technological possession being a pointy stick.

        • Laninchris on 21/10/2020 - 02:03

          I second the cave and pointy stick plan! That was part of the reason we bought semi-rural, trying to “get away from it all” sigh

          You are completely right about not needing great quality just to see if she is actually jumping the fence 👍🏼👍🏼

          And, your idea for the laser trip wire is brilliant!! Thank you 🙏🏼🙌🏼

          That sound would wake us up at night if she left the property- and we could go out and intercept her, as well!

          To clarify the are of fence to be monitored- we really only need to watch the one front corner, where the neighbour said he saw her jump back onto our property.

          I specified 120m to AustriaBargain because, if you start putting a physical barrier in place, a smart or determined enough dog will circumvent that physical barrier- meaning that I would need to extend the whole front fence line in order to make sure she can’t get out… if that makes sense?

          Thank you so much for the time and thought that you’ve put in to helping- you’ve made an overwhelming situation, feel a little less daunting!!

          • outlander on 22/10/2020 - 15:43

            @Laninchris:

            Thank you so much for the time and thought that you’ve put in to helping

            My pleasure. I don't have much to offer on the specifics I'm afraid, but sometimes it can help just to be pointed in the right direction.
            And, having owned a boarder collie with escape tendencies of his own, I know a little about the frustration you're going through.

            I think from a technology standpoint the laser trip wire is the best cost-effective way to do it, but without a ready made product there's too many challenges to overcome in make it work. I can even see how you might do it with the product I linked, but once you factor in the time mounting it, battery power, weatherproofing.. it's alot :/

            I think the trail cam's are still your best bet. They're cheap, weatherproof, and have everything inside except for SD card and AA batteries.
            All you need to do is plant a stake 10m back from the corner (if that's where he's jumping from), fix it to it, and then wait.
            You can find them on ebay here LINK

            Or if you want to go really cheap, these LINK. Be warned, the lack of a screen means they're harder to setup. However as you can see from this video LINK, even the cheap ones give very good image quality.

            Another way that comes to mind, and this is going totally low tech, but have you considered a chalk string?
            The kind builders use.
            A thin string, suspended a foot above your fence, covered in red or blue chalk dust. Cheap, easy to setup, and when the dog brushes against it it leaves a mark that should be quite visible against your dogs light fur.

  • Solrak on 20/10/2020 - 15:07
    +1

    You could maybe put a gps pet tracker on your dog's collar instead of setting up cameras. Maybe a cheaper option? I know you said you can't get a collar on your dog but patient persistence backed up by treat rewards will get her use to a collar over time. If not you will have a hell of a time getting her to the vets if she's a big dog!

    • Laninchris on 21/10/2020 - 02:25

      Unfortunately collars are not an option for us. The vets and behaviouralists say that it is some type of PTSD- which would have seen her put down if she wasn’t with us on a property.
      We also, sadly, don’t have the luxury of time. We have been very loving and gentle and patient and persistent, but she is not capable of being treat trained, at least not yet. She has only just started taking food from our hands, after 2.5 years- and she only does that when there is no one else around and no unfamiliar sounds.
      She is a huge dog, we pay our vet to come out here to see her when we need to, and the vet can’t even touch her. Having said that- when there is no food, or form of restraint, involved, she loves to play- she actually instigates play herself. He favourite is keepy-off with her rope toy, and chasey, and she plays these with my husband who’s a solid 6ft ranga.
      The only people that she is never scared of are our boys- one is 6 and the other is 17 and she just adores them. She won’t let our 6yo out of her line of sight when he’s outside- she is just so beautiful.
      The boys can lay on her and she doesn’t seem to care at all… but, bang the grass off your boots or drop something onto the patio table and she just literally cowers :(

  • Typical16-bitEnjoyer on 20/10/2020 - 16:14

    You're not going to find a cheap easy solution to record 120m+ of fence line at night time.

    Investigate a tracker. https://www.jbhifi.com.au/products/tractive-3g-gps-pet-track…

    • lgacb08 on 24/10/2020 - 21:39

      based on the look, definitely she can jump the fence. Don't think you should waste money to prove the neighbour your story, dog has their instinct and they have their own set of what's mine and not mine.

  • DingdongMcGee on 25/10/2020 - 07:10
    -2

    I find it strange that you needed to tell the OzBargain community your entire life story.

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