Vandal Control?

[fcky529]

I have had my decorations vandalized as well as stolen in past years. for this year especially seeing as my whole yard is covered in C7's I stretched a steel cable around my entire yard. It's visible while walking up close, but doesn't get in the way of the display. :twisted:

[tommy]

I know what it's like to have someone steal a bunch of lights from a display. It really frosts me when I hear of that happening.

So what I've done in the past is to wire up several floodlights out in the yard with motion sensors on them so if anybody comes into my yard, the lights will come on. I have one of the lights also wired to an alarm inside the house so if someone does attempt to come into the yard in the wee hours in the morning, I get a wakeup call from the alarm. And I've allerted the neighbors to keep an eye out for any cars in the streets if they happen to see those floodlights come on.

[DynamoBen]

Recently a string of lights in my brother’s yard were cut by vandals. That got me thinking...while motion floods would help, sometimes vandals do the damage and then run. You really want to collect evidence for the cops so they can catch these idiots.

What might work well is a motion activated deer camera. They are designed to be strapped to a tree and when there is movement they take a picture. They are a little pricey $100-400. But I stumbled across a site that sells a control board (or you could make one yourself).

http://www.pixcontroller.com/Products/PixU_overview.htm

With this control board all that is left is the camera, motion sensor, case, and batteries. As far as a camera you might be able to hack a disposable camera from Walgreens, CVS, or Ritz (Google for details) an use it in place of a "nice" camera.

[TERBObob]

On EBAY , there are wireless cams that work on 12 volt wall wart or a 9 volt transistor radio battery .
The inside receiver is maybe the size of two cig packs put together , side by side .
The camera is VERY small . The antenna for the camera is the largest part of it and its only aprox 3X3X 1/8 thick . ( already mounted on the camera ) .
You guys worry about Christmas lights ... you should see for Halloween , the troubles I USED to have with thieves !
Lots of animatronics disappeared each year and THAT gets VERY costly !
So ... for $35.00 each , I went and got TWO of these cameras . Nice part about them .... you can hook them to your PC , or TV . AND , it has mulitply channels for transmitting and receiving .
I have placed mine at distances up to 150 feet without any problems .
Another nice note .... with IR , you can see them BEAUTIFULLY at night time and they are small enough to hide in trees , on a light pole , on the side, upper section of your house , or whereever .
Now , to capture the boogers ...
A PC camera called QUICK CAM has a program out specifically for this situation . Just instead of choosing the QUICK CAM for the source , choose your TV/vid card set to either composite or RCA and wha-la .... instantly capture your banditos red handed ... AND have PROOF to submit to the coppers for court !
With the program you can adjust the sensitivity to your liking . And then while your asleep , you can have your PC email you the pic it took and then burn them to CD disc and call the coppers . Tell them , SHOW them , and give them the CD disc for evidence . Works EVERYTIME !
One year ... a buddy of a guy that swiped a VERY expensive coffin with fogger enclosed , decided he was gonna try and get even ...
Well , guess what . He didn't succeed . He tried THROWING BIG rocks at the display in the middle of night . Well , when the first rock came flying across the TWO cameras snapped away . ANd even though he was a bit away .... the cams got him on film ( so to speak )
LOL .... he SWORE up and down to the cops that it wasn't him , untill they showed him the pics ... LOL
BUSTED ! !
Once the word gets out ( word spreads kinda fast amongst the "bad" guys , then you won't have any more problems ... at least , I don't anyway .
Good luck whichever route you take .

[tconley]

here is a program that will take a web cam feed and record when motion is detected.

http://www.crime-catcher.com/

all you need then is a night vision camera and a capture card those are relatively cheap.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Color-Wireless-Surveillance-Camera-w-Night-Vision_W0QQitemZ330191970451QQihZ014QQcategoryZ103 411QQcmdZViewItem