Hello, just joined.

[Phil.g00]

Hi everyone,
I just joined the forum. I will be retiring to a rural setting in South Africa (from Ireland) within the next 18 months and figure I better get my domestic security ducks in a row.
I have had a couple of bicycles pinched in Ireland over the years. Everything else in the country can be left unlocked, but bikes outside pubs seem to be considered fair game.
Anyway, long story short, the said bicycles were parked in full view of security cameras; I soon was made aware that identifying the culprit is way different from watching the crime happen.
So I am of the firm opinion that second-tier cameras are a waste of money.
Security concerns in South Africa are more severe than bicycle theft. It is not an if but a when.
Footage quality, the chain of custody and being able to prove the footage has not been tampered with are paramount.
I have been reading this forum on and off for several days, and thank you all. There is a wealth of advice here.

 

[gwminor48]

Hello, welcome to the forum.

 

[SpacemanSpiff]

Welcome OP. Clearly not enough caffeine intake at this point. The first sentence sent the brain a wandering...

 

[TonyR]

Welcome to IPCT !

 

[Rob2020]

 

[Ri22o]

@CanCuba Might be able to be of assistance with his knowledge living in Cuba. Security, cameras, lighting, etc.

 

[garycrist]

Yes welcome but, geese are better than ducks at guarding..

The Military’s Guard Geese May Have Saved Countless Lives; Here’s How

“Guard geese” might sound ridiculous, but once you learn about the history and benefits of them, it starts to make a little more sense.

veteranlife.com

While less expensive, they do not record very well!!
So the cams are the best, as we do not have very many geese configures here..

 

[CanCuba]

@CanCuba Might be able to be of assistance with his knowledge living in Cuba. Security, cameras, lighting, etc.

Thanks @Ri22o I was visiting family so haven't really been on the forum much.

@Phil.g00 I'm an expat Canadian living in Cuba. Just let me explain that the vegetation in our new homes grows much faster, and grows year round, than in our home countries! I was back in Canada for 2 weeks and could not believe how much the trees have grown. Back in Canada tree grows maybe 5 months a year and here it's 12 months a year. Big difference.

South Africa has more severe issues than Cuba. Cuba is seeing a rise in crime due to the economic fallout from the pandemic. I'm glad I purchased my cameras a couple years ago as video we've supplied has led to arrests in two different cases. I'm far, far from the most informed members here but I would absolutely light up your perimeter as much as possible. Forgot about motion detected lighting as the cameras need a couple seconds to adjust. I just posted a thread where I hooked up my new 200W LED security lights. Incredible. I should have gone with 150W, or even 100W but I'll make do!

Best advice I can give you is to do a lot of searching on the forum and do the research. This will give you a great background but I suggest you contact a local company who will have a better requirement of local requirements.

All the best!

 

[Phil.g00]

Thanks, ordinarily, I am a big believer in good lighting.
However, the situation in South Africa is unconventional in that the country is stricken with daily bouts of load-shedding. These are rolling power cuts to prevent the national grid from overloading.
That won't affect me electrically as I will have sufficient solar power to provide lighting. I intend to go off-grid.
Unfortunately, this is counterintuitive as solar equipment is now a popular target for theft. So having big lights in a dark environment is like advertising beacon that I have the stuff to steal.

 

[CanCuba]

Thanks, ordinarily, I am a big believer in good lighting.
However, the situation in South Africa is unconventional in that the country is stricken with daily bouts of load-shedding. These are rolling power cuts to prevent the national grid from overloading.
That won't affect me electrically as I will have sufficient solar power to provide lighting. I intend to go off-grid.
Unfortunately, this is counterintuitive as solar equipment is now a popular target for theft. So having big lights in a dark environment is like advertising beacon that I have the stuff to steal.

Makes perfect sense. I've had two solar powered reflectors stolen along with their panels. I live in Cuba and last year there were many blackouts so solar powered devices became very common.

In that case, I'd consider installing a lot of IR illumination maybe even into the 940nm spectrum. Consumer-grade IR devices are almost exclusively 850nm. The light itself is invisible to the human eye but the lamp itself has a subtle red glow. 940nm and above doesn't have the same tell-tale glow. Unfortunately, not all cameras can see 940nm and the IR light itself doesn't get cast as far which means more watts are required to cover the same are.

I'm jealous. I live in Havana but would eventually like to move to a more rural setting and get as off-grid as possible. Wife doesn't seem wild on the idea but I'm trying to wear her down!

 

[Phil.g00]

Makes perfect sense. I've had two solar powered reflectors stolen along with their panels. I live in Cuba and last year there were many blackouts so solar powered devices became very common.

In that case, I'd consider installing a lot of IR illumination maybe even into the 940nm spectrum. Consumer-grade IR devices are almost exclusively 850nm. The light itself is invisible to the human eye but the lamp itself has a subtle red glow. 940nm and above doesn't have the same tell-tale glow. Unfortunately, not all cameras can see 940nm and the IR light itself doesn't get cast as far which means more watts are required to cover the same are.

I'm jealous. I live in Havana but would eventually like to move to a more rural setting and get as off-grid as possible. Wife doesn't seem wild on the idea but I'm trying to wear her down!

Yes, high-wattage 940nm lights combined with very low-wattage white and 850nm lights off-camera and also using some thermal cameras is the way I intend to go.

 

[Phil.g00]

@CanCuba If you know?
I would like to know the recommended method for longer-distance cameras to switch on lights when a zone is triggered remotely.
I may also use stronger white light but selectively turn them on for different zones.
Is this doable without being a HA expert? ( Which I certainly am not).

 

[CanCuba]

@CanCuba If you know?
I would like to know the recommended method for longer-distance cameras to switch on lights when a zone is triggered remotely.
I may also use stronger white light but selectively turn them on for different zones.
Is this doable without being a HA expert? ( Which I certainly am not).

I don't have any experience with HA. There should be an expert or two here.

 

[Phil.g00]

I'd prefer not to use HA, as I also don't use it.
I understand relay, but code is beyond me.

 

[CanCuba]

I'd prefer not to use HA, as I also don't use it.
I understand relay, but code is beyond me.

My Dahua NVR (4216) has two output relays which can be triggered by camera through IVS or motion. I have a piezoelectric buzzer hooked up to one for a louder alarm for two IVS rules.



Would be like this but you'd hook up lights instead of alarms.

 

[Phil.g00]

That's what I was looking for, thanks.