Gate for security while building

[boggen]

some additional things. for a licenses plate number, you really do need a camera low near the ground. else all you see is bumper or head lights glaring the camera up.

higher you mount it, less likely camera is going to get messed with. including animals. get some metal conduit, and mount camera to it. and use some zip ties or regular old plumbers pipe holders and fasten conduit to a tree and point it down to the gate area. do some tree trimming as well. as if it is permanent. to keep the limbs and leaves out of the camera.

 

[Western]

Second photo does look more daunting!

Hopefully the gate will be all you need.

 

[atgreene]

When we were building our house I saw some tracks driving in and out of the 200' driveway now and again. It made me think, so I decided it was time to start patroling.

I would hide my truck behind the house late in the evening and walk the property, often with my shotgun. Even sit on the stonewall out front for hours with the shotgun in my lap. Word got around real quick, people would drive by and see me sitting there, no truck in sight.

Late one evening (10 pm) when I was sitting there a car did a drive by, turned around and came down the driveway, shut off their lights. I was sitting in my truck just off the driveway. When I snapped on my lights they spun out of there in a hurry. Chased them while I called the sheriff's and my father on my fd radio. They turned into a dead end road and he and I blocked it until the sheriff got there. Cop couldn't do anything, but he did tell the kids that they had better not return as "Mr. Greene likes to shoot things". Word spread pretty quick amongst everyone that the sheriff had told them I'd shoot them next time. Last I had any trouble. :laughing:

Sometimes making a suprise appearance when no one expects you is best. Close the gate and work late up there a few evenings, lights on, nail guns going, target practice etc... If they know that the gate being closed doesn't necessarily mean you aren't there the game changes. Good luck.

 

[zmoz]

Something I've done in the past for temporary security, is leave an old lawnmower or something idling all day/night. If someone hears/smells equipment working they will think someone is there.

Also, I've found that a good way to prevent neighbors from opening your gates is to electrify them. No need to post notice, they will only try once.

Don't do anything too stupid, if you hurt somebody, you'll be the one that gets in trouble.

 

[zmoz]

as far as motion detectors that take pictures. not worth your time. they are low resolution cameras. and they also give off a flash. flash = someone going over to camera and stealing the camera to.

if you have power and telephone line already ran to building site. you might be able to pick up some motion detectors. and a cheap security system. that calls your cell phone. then you could make choice of contacting police or not.

They sell devices now on ebay for relatively cheap that are like game cameras but they also immediately send you the picture via email or cell phone because they have their own prepaid cellular card in them.

They also have similar alarms and switches that can call you or send you a text message wirelessly if somebody opens your gate, sets of a motion detector, or whatever. In many places having an "autodialer" call the police is illegal, (too many nuisance calls) but you can have it call you.

I'm going to install something similar in my truck with GPS. If it goes missing I can simply ask the truck it's location via SMS, and cut off the engine if need be.

 

[Lloyd_E]

You could also have a sign or two made and place one below the camera and one at the house. The sign could be fictitious regarding the website on it but would essentially say:

24/7 Live Video Feed Security
"We see you" Day/Night Optics©
www.seeyousecurity.com(in small letters) at bottom.

You want to make them think they are being recorded and watched. Make the sign look professional.

 

[zzvyb6]

Back to Basics:

Your gates are in the wrong place. There is a 'vehicle staging area' in your driveway now. Put another set, up by the road so they would have to park there in order to get into the driveway. That would mean they could be seen while they try to break thru gate set #1. You might want to by an old junk car and park it in front of the front gates to block the path for vehicles. It says there may be someone there, too. Don't leave lights on at night, all it does is advertise that there is something there.

Get some 12v alarms. My Miltronic alarms run off of car batteries. The sensors are 9v. I even have an announcer in my golf cart that receives the signal, rings an alarm bell and sets off the revolving flashing light for 4 seconds. When some one comes via multiple sensors, even the dogs know that somethings coming up the drive. No mater where I am on the property, if the golf cart tones out, I have company. The revolving light is from an old state police car. The neighbors sure think the cops are at my place an awful lot. Its especially effective at night.

I bought a 4 camera Q-See camera + recorder from Costco. Its REALLY cool. The outside cameras are mounted below birdhouses. I upgraded one of the cameras from eBay to a high def unit with 100' night vision. You can buy longer camera+power cables from eBay. The siamese RG59 cables can be run up to 800', 1800' with CAT6 as I recall. My longest run is 450'. I also ran a video cable from the DVR to one of my HDTV's so I can jump to AV1 and see who's at the gate almost immediately if there is unexpected activity. It also allows you to see the camera outputs from another location if you can get an internet connection via phone or other computer. It will also do the email notice.

I have found that doing your own walk around on a moonlit night or rainy day is a good exercise: how would you steal from your own property? That means what's outside that can be used to break in, what is there to steal, are the windows and doors locked, how quiet can I be, and what sense do I get that there is some danger there for me. Nothing like a 'good' dog, either a real one or the sound of one.

It also don't hurt to fire off the old 870 once in a while at random times day or night. That's free advertising. If its one of your neighbors, they may not want to get involved at your place. You know, it can be hard on the ears.

The latest scoundrel I had the fortune with this setup was a ploy by a girl claiming to be a meter reader. Except: no car sign and no badge from AccuRead. I was way out on the property by the pond. She got the shirt from Salvation Army. Pulled up, knocked on door in front and in back (as seen on Reality TV!), dogs barked (that didn't stop her), golf cart turret light takes off, I drive up to her car and wait. I blew her car horn and she comes running. Waited until she gave up the name of her 'remarketter', took her drivers license and sent her on her way. I told her if I ever had another problem I would turn her in. Mailed her licence back after 3 days (as promised). The word has probably gotten out. Traffic up front is sure down these days...

If you do get a picture or video of the culprits and it has a licence plate you can read, there are plenty of ways to turn that into an address. Given an address, 1 gal of Sunoco 260 and a flare pistol, you can fulfill your dream that revenge is its own sweet reward.

 

[forgeblast]

Get some 12v alarms. My Miltronic alarms run off of car batteries. The sensors are 9v.

do you have a link for the alarms that you use?
thanks

 

[roamerr]

Your set-up looks ggod. It is exactly like when we built last year. My drive also is tree lines up a steep hill such that the only way to drive up is to open that gate. Thieves are not gonna walk 800+ feet up a hill to steal. Most are too lazy....

It especially would bother them when they see motion lights coming on and cameras snapping pictures. My family thought I was nuts but over 9 months we had nothing stolen.

 

[zzvyb6]

Here is the source for my sensors and alarms:

Driveway Alert

I have a receiver in the house, one in my shed and one on the golf cart (powered off the golf cart battery). Alarm bell on the shed that plugs into the built in relay on the shed receiver. Rotating beacon on the golf cart is relayed to the receiver relay (it carries a LOT of juice so I took extra precaution). All the receivers also have a built in tone alert. I have a transmitter at the gate for vehicle and people traffic, one at the shed to sense when the dogs are heading towards the road (not allowed), and one strapped to the back of a chair that's in the barn. Its currently watching a 'coon trap. When it tones off I have a critter in the trap. I also have a spare just laying around the house. It came in handy when puppy decided it was OK to poop on the lower level at 4:00 a.m. Cured him right away of that bad habit. These are well made units, weather proof and work at good distances. I got the first one about 10 years ago. Some extra transmitters and receiver I bought a few months ago work just fine with the old model stuff. That's pretty amazing to me by itself. Batteries last a few months, depending on the amount of 'traffic', Yes deer set it off, but clever placement can solve unwanted trips. There are receivers that can tell you which station is having traffic by setting switches unique to each transmitter. I just use the one channel though. Any late night action gets me in front of the computer or TV and I can figure out what the appropriate response is, even the 870 off the porch if I'm wanting some fun. Since its on the wireless home network, I can view any of the camera stations from the $248 Walmart PC I keep in the back bedroom just for that purpose (Security camera viewing).

Everybody has there own ideas on how to keep trouble makers at bay, this sure works for me, especially when you let 'them' know via the neighbor hood gossip channel, that this place is not worth your photo on a milk carton.