STOP!!!! THIEF!!!! RV Alarm Systems

[Davydd]

Advanced RV started installing a 360 degree camera last year but unfortunately for me I think it was about the next RV out the door after mine. I didn't know about it and saw it for the first time when I picked up my RV. This is a pretty good video describing it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoLpYTct9_k

[Mike]

Originally Posted by islandrog

Mike, the tattletail base unit and 1 fob is $399. What seems excessive after talking to them is the $20 a month to get txt, email when triggered. For an additional $8 they call the police. I pay $15 a month for my home security for txt, email and police notification.

So, not as economical as the demo videos seem to imply?

The only additional fees I pay for my home system, a Fortress Security Store GSM enabled self monitored DIY system, beyond the purchase price of $650 (I added some additional components that weren't included in the base system, smoke detector, extra PIR motion sensors), was the one time cost of the SIM card to send out the SMS alarm triggered messages, and slapping a few bucks on it whenever it gets low. Up here we have a carrier called SpeakOut711 that has low airtime adds, that last 365 days. I can add $25 and it's good for a year and that's all I need. SMS messages are $0.10 outgoing, free inbound. So it's a perfect fit for a DIY self monitored alarm system. SO711 uses Rogers cell towers, so the coverage is pretty decent. Our cell phones are also on SO711, for the same reason. The most economical prepaid carrier in Canada (possibly North America?), afaik.

Do you know of any US carriers that have low top up rates, with long expiration dates? Was thinking of adding a small home DIY GSM system to the van to supplement my NuStart remote fob alarm system. Would be useful to know, as we travel in the US a lot. Some carriers in the US have 365 day expiry, but it's usually $100 a pop, which wouldn't ever come close to being used up in a typical year of alarms. You could go to shorter top ups, but there would be the chance that your SIM card/phone number would expire, from lack of use. Interestingly enough, the FSS DIY system has 2 way voice communications from the base unit, so if I wanted to, I could make phone calls from it. It has a standard digital telephone dial on the base station.
Anyone know of any US carriers that would be similar to SO711 up here? I just did a little research and I think T-Mobile has some sort of basic prepaid PayGo option for $3/month, and you can add as little as a $10 top up which is good for 3 months, and would cover the $3 monthly fee, when the account is just sitting idle. Maybe that's the closest answer to my question. I also read that their coverage areas aren't nearly as good as AT&T or Verizon.

I should also mention I have no affiliation or connection, retail, commercial, or otherwise, with either NuStart/Best Buy or Fortress Security Store. I just like their products, and am happy to share my experience with them, or any other relevant products I've tried.

[SiennaGuy]

Originally Posted by avanti

I recently installed one of those 360-degree "bird view" camera systems that uses four cameras to synthesize a "top-down" view of the area around the vehicle… You can get these systems from Asia for less than $250. Mine works really well.

When I someday get my dream RV, I'd love to have such a system. I'm not so worried about tickets, but all of my vehicles tend to get "garage rash" or "invisible pole-itus." They usually come down with these ailments when I'm trying to park in an unfamiliar place. They seem to develop these maladies even without my intervention.

Anyway, what brand is yours and where did you get it?

[Davydd]

I should mention that Advanced RV has developed a deadbolt lock system for every door in an ARV. It is described in this video. I have no idea if it is retrofittable on mine or can be done on other RVs as it seems very proprietary. I did learn from the video we do have extra security with a third party locking system beyond what MB provides but that doesn't prevent breaking a window or jimmying a door to get in. This is the ARV Bolt Secure system.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1p2litHx_o

[avanti]

Originally Posted by SiennaGuy

Anyway, what brand is yours and where did you get it?

I ordered it directly from the manufacturer in China:

http://wholesaler.alibaba.com/produc...392986084.html

Much cheaper than any domestic source I could find. They are not really set up for one-off purchases, but it can be done. They are good to work with modulus the language problem. In addition to the product, you need to order a set of calibration patterns. Shipping was $40. Expect to get an import duty bill from Fedex for something like $11.

[TravelingCOWs]

Originally Posted by avanti

...The main reason I did this was that these systems can continuously record while driving...

Avanti: What exactly is being recorded--each of the four cameras OR whatever combined view is being fed to the screen?

[avanti]

Originally Posted by TravelingCOWs

Avanti: What exactly is being recorded--each of the four cameras OR whatever combined view is being fed to the screen?

The video actually recorded is a single MPEG stream that has the raw video from all four cameras in quadrants of the frame (like the second image in post #34 above), so no information is lost. You can pull the micro-SD card and play the video on a laptop. However, you can also play it on the device itself, in which case you can select a full-screen image of any of the four views.

Here is a short sample of the raw recording:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/412063...posted-public/

[SiennaGuy]

Originally Posted by SiennaGuy

Having video of a break-in might mean fewer arguments with your insurance company and might help the police find the SOBs. My gut says that the ones that include a time and date stamp on the video might provide stronger evidence but I'm not an attorney or a cop.

Today, while looking for something else, I came across an article about time/date stamps. I can't say how reliable or complete the information is, but it makes sense to me. The article is called "3 Reasons Why Your Security Video Will Be Thrown Out Of Court" http://homerestored.com/2015/04/22/3...-out-of-court/

(I'd really rather not get into discussions about how right or wrong these legal defense tactics are. They're out there, so it's best just to deal with the simple solutions.)

[avanti]

You don't think there is any chance that the author of that article might be trying to SELL us something? Naaah...

[SiennaGuy]

Yes, that particular site, like most commercial sites, was trying to sell something.

Most of the advice that they gave would apply to any system from any vendor, however. They advised the following things to improve the accuracy of a recording:

a) Make sure that the clock and calendar on your security system are set correctly, so that the time/date stamp is accurate.

b) Choose a camera with good resolution, so that faces can be accurately identified.

c) They also mentioned a problem that some color systems have, where almost everything shows as some shade of blue. I don't know if that's grounds to get something thrown out of court, but it's worth considering. If you're paying for a color system, it makes sense to get one that can accurately record and display all colors and not just shades of blue.

[Mike]

Originally Posted by avanti

The video actually recorded is a single MPEG stream that has the raw video from all four cameras in quadrants of the frame (like the second image in post #34 above), so no information is lost. You can pull the micro-SD card and play the video on a laptop. However, you can also play it on the device itself, in which case you can select a full-screen image of any of the four views.

Here is a short sample of the raw recording:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/412063...posted-public/

Pretty cool system. Is there a wide angle lens available that doesn't do the cat's eye thing to the images? It reminded me of looking through 4 apartment door peephole lenses. If all you're after is any unplanned vehicle to vehicle contact, you've got it covered right there.

[avanti]

Originally Posted by Mike

Pretty cool system. Is there a wide angle lens available that doesn't do the cat's eye thing to the images? It reminded me of looking through 4 apartment door peephole lenses. If all you're after is any unplanned vehicle to vehicle contact, you've got it covered right there.

The super-wide-angle lenses are necessary in order to get 360 degree coverage with only four low-mounted cameras. The fish-eye effect is a necessary consequence of this. It is mostly corrected by the system's image processing when looking at a single view.

The cameras appear to be standard analog video, so if you only wanted to use the system as a security camera, I guess you could substitute different cameras, at the expense of coverage