[TowerTalk] Video surveillance for remote tower

[Pete Smith N4ZR]

Agreed, but at least you can have a burglar alarm on the house, or take 
the major stuff home with you.  I gather that's what CN2R does, in a 
considerably riskier environment <http://cn2r.net/cn2r/index.aspx>.  
This discussion aside, it's a really great web site, with 
user-accessible audio snippets from many contests keyed to log entries.

73, Pete N4ZR
New Articles Daily - the Contesting Compendium at http://wiki.contesting.com
The World Contest Station Database, updated daily at www.conteststations.com
The Reverse Beacon Network at http://reversebeacon.net


On 8/14/2009 3:49 AM, Michael Tope wrote:
> Perhaps I am giving the average criminal too much credit, but I feel 
> there may be another dimension to this problem that goes beyond the 
> tower. I agree that the climbing shields and a dummy camera will 
> provide a deterent against people climbing the tower, but to me a 
> tower with a bunch of antennas is as good as a billboard that reads 
> "expensive equipment inside this house".
>
> Mike, W4EF...............
>
> Pete Smith N4ZR wrote:
>
>> If it was mine, I think I'd install a good anti-climb arrangement, 
>> put a sign on the tower warning that it is under 34-hour video 
>> surveillance, and get one of those $20 dummy video cameras to put up 
>> on the tower well out of reach, facing down.
>>
>> 73, Pete N4ZR
>> New Articles Daily - the Contesting Compendium at 
>> http://wiki.contesting.com
>> The World Contest Station Database, updated daily at 
>> www.conteststations.com
>> The Reverse Beacon Network at http://reversebeacon.net
>>
>>
>> On 8/14/2009 12:15 AM, Bill Conwell (home) wrote:
>>
>>
>>> I'm preparing to erect a tower and antennas at a weekend retreat 
>>> house that
>>> is often vacant.  We haven't had any trouble leaving the place 
>>> unattended to
>>> date, but I'm a bit concerned that a tall tower might attract unwanted
>>> attention while we're away.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Does anyone have experience with video surveillance systems for their
>>> towers?  Desirably, I'd like something that might be solar-powered and
>>> connect wirelessly to the home network (lest someone be tempted to cut
>>> cables from the ground), although that isn't strictly essential.  A 
>>> motion
>>> sensor - either in the camera, or in software on the associated 
>>> computer -
>>> that captures frames when motion is detected would be a plus.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Paul Nyland, K7PN, referred me to Axis products (www.axis.com
>>> <http://www.axis.com/>  ) which offers a variety of systems.  
>>> Particularly
>>> interesting is one that is remotely steerable, with autofocus and an 
>>> 18X
>>> zoom.  But the $1200+ price is a bit off-putting.  And while 
>>> steerability is
>>> a great feature while you're watching the image, I envision the 
>>> camera will
>>> mostly collect imagery unattended, which I'd review only 
>>> infrequently.  If
>>> the price were modest, I could install several static cameras - 
>>> capturing
>>> different views.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> 'Suggestions (including anecdotes about arrangements to avoid) are 
>>> welcomed.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> /Bill, K2PO
>>>
>>>
>
>
>