New guy looking for help with outdoor, sound activated camera

S

Slim Pickens

n3wb
May 12, 2025
3
1
Up there somewhere
Hello everyone. I'm a new guy who ended up here because I heard this is the place for security camera advice. I've searched around some, but apologies if I am breaking forum etiquette - I know those cane be particular.

I'm not at all a home security guy, but I've found myself needing a camera. Long story short, I have a neighbor with anger issues and they are being totally inappropriate over a shared backyard fence. I've tried talking to the guy, but it's gotten to the point where I'd like to start keeping a record.

The technical aspects are pretty straightforward. It's a small backyard with a single short (50'?) straight fence segment. I am trying to create a record, not monitor from a distance. I'd like to record loud vocal outbursts and what immediately preceeds them. There will generally not be motion to trigger recording. I think(?) continuous recording would be best for that. Night performance isn't critical but would be nice. I've read enough to know to avoid wireless setups. I am not at all a hobbyist (in this domain), so simple is good. I can image either running a cable and storing the recording somewhere, or just having the thing record on like a 24 hour loop and if anything happens I can download the file and store it. Will spend what it takes but if I can get out of this for a couple hundred all the better.

Hope that's enough to go on and that I'm posting in the right place. Any help is appreciated.
 
@Slim Pickens Welcome!

Not sure what state you are located in, but in Florida audio recording is an all party consent state.


Third-degree felony​

In Florida, all-party consent is required for audio recordings. This means that all participants in a private conversation must consent to the recording for it to be legal. Violating this law can lead to serious legal consequences, including being charged with a third-degree felony, which carries penalties of up to five years in prison and fines of up to $5,000. Exceptions to this requirement include law enforcement recordings and certain public spaces where there is no reasonable expectation of privacy. Therefore, it is crucial to obtain consent from all parties involved before recording any conversation in Florida.
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Not sure where up there some is but here is a list of all states per a law company that put a list together. In case you are in another state.. For me I have Signs Audio and Video being recorded and I am a 1 party state and with that I have been told that covers me if they remain on my property that is them giving consent however this wouldn't be effective in FL.. There is no exit option for consent there..


Another state that I have audio and video hardware in I have to announce that they are being audio and video recorded every minute while on the property so had it setup while I was there now just video record there and have my neighbor keep out people that don't belong seeing I don't live close enough to do so my self.
 
Slim Pickens said:
Hello everyone. I'm a new guy who ended up here because I heard this is the place for security camera advice. I've searched around some, but apologies if I am breaking forum etiquette - I know those cane be particular.

I'm not at all a home security guy, but I've found myself needing a camera. Long story short, I have a neighbor with anger issues and they are being totally inappropriate over a shared backyard fence. I've tried talking to the guy, but it's gotten to the point where I'd like to start keeping a record.

The technical aspects are pretty straightforward. It's a small backyard with a single short (50'?) straight fence segment. I am trying to create a record, not monitor from a distance. I'd like to record loud vocal outbursts and what immediately preceeds them. There will generally not be motion to trigger recording. I think(?) continuous recording would be best for that. Night performance isn't critical but would be nice. I've read enough to know to avoid wireless setups. I am not at all a hobbyist (in this domain), so simple is good. I can image either running a cable and storing the recording somewhere, or just having the thing record on like a 24 hour loop and if anything happens I can download the file and store it. Will spend what it takes but if I can get out of this for a couple hundred all the better.

Hope that's enough to go on and that I'm posting in the right place. Any help is appreciated.
Click to expand...
You should seek the advice of a local attorney to you, and see what he says.
Not a good idea to take legal advice from strangers on the interwebs.
 
Slim Pickens said:
Hello everyone. I'm a new guy who ended up here because I heard this is the place for security camera advice. I've searched around some, but apologies if I am breaking forum etiquette - I know those cane be particular.

I'm not at all a home security guy, but I've found myself needing a camera. Long story short, I have a neighbor with anger issues and they are being totally inappropriate over a shared backyard fence. I've tried talking to the guy, but it's gotten to the point where I'd like to start keeping a record.

The technical aspects are pretty straightforward. It's a small backyard with a single short (50'?) straight fence segment. I am trying to create a record, not monitor from a distance. I'd like to record loud vocal outbursts and what immediately preceeds them. There will generally not be motion to trigger recording. I think(?) continuous recording would be best for that. Night performance isn't critical but would be nice. I've read enough to know to avoid wireless setups. I am not at all a hobbyist (in this domain), so simple is good. I can image either running a cable and storing the recording somewhere, or just having the thing record on like a 24 hour loop and if anything happens I can download the file and store it. Will spend what it takes but if I can get out of this for a couple hundred all the better.

Hope that's enough to go on and that I'm posting in the right place. Any help is appreciated.
Click to expand...
Not sure if you ended up finding something that works for your needs, but any update? Did you run into issues with privacy laws?

I know the laws vary from state to state, but from what I understand (in CA at least), audio consent laws are meant to protect other parties from recording without their permission, as long as there is a "reasonable expectation of privacy". But this may have limits. For example, if you have a neighbor that verbally abuses at his elderly mother at the top of his lungs while in their backyard, then he is no longer acting in a way that is "private", which would void the "reasonable expectation" part of the law. e.g.- when he is being that loud, to the point where his immediate neighbors are not able to avoid hearing it, then there is no longer a reasonable expectation of privacy.

Again- I'm not 100% sure this is correct (especially in other states), but that's my understanding of it from what I've read so far.

*Oh and yes, the example is about my own neighbor from hell; he has been reported to the police several times in the past but is still currently a free man. I don't rly care about the noise he makes- I am mostly concerned for his mother. If it escalates any further I will seek police & APS intervention. He is dangerous IMO, even though he's only been verbally abusive (which is just as abhorrent as physical abuse IMO), I don't trust him not to take action against us (or our pets) for any reason, big or small. He has already threatened my gardener (said he would "shoot him in the face with a gun") over a minor issue with the tree branches above our shared wall. So... yeah, I don't really want to try and inform him that I want to put up cameras on my property. But I am looking to beef up security to protect us, our pets, and possibly his own mother, if he continues screaming his abuse in the backyard.
 
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Don't know if it's true or not but I've heard that down this way the elder abusers and child abusers are some of the poorest swimmers in the region's lakes for some reason.......:idk:
 
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