[TowerTalk] Video surveillance for remote tower

[Michael Tope]

Pete Smith N4ZR wrote:

> 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.

Yes, that is sort of what I was driving at - i.e. don't focus just on 
the tower itself as it may increase the threat to the property in the 
house.

I recall reading that between contests CN2R thas to roll up and store 
the radials that are under his lowband vertical phased array so the 
locals don't steal the copper. Definitely a cool website. Its great to 
look up a QSO you made and then hear how your signal sounded in CN2 :-)

73, Mike W4EF........................


> 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 
>>>