Security at anchor - camera in top of mast

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by donradcliffe

I used a cheap battery operated IR detector with a chime like a doorbell. It sat alongside the main hatch and was pointed to the swim ladder, which is the easiest, most obvious point of entry to my boat.

It had less false alarms than the more sensitive sensors, but would occasionally go off at dawn when the sun hit it. I used it when I had some concerns about the security of an anchorage.

The chime went off twice in 10 years. First time was at 2am on Saturday night in Gizo harbor, Solomons. The chime was followed by a splash as the intruder vacated. The second real alarm was another Saturday night anchored off the Pitons in St Lucia. It definitely was worth $15 cost and the false alarms.

Yep, I used a Radio Shack audible alarm. It ran on a 9V battery and used a string across the cockpit as a trip wire. I used fishing line. It cost about $10-15 and was ear shattering loud. As I found a couple mornings when I forgot about it and tripped it!
What you need is deterrence, not a picture of who came on your boat.

[Cherod]

I think only the most brazen of " invaders " will not be put off when realise that their identity will be known

[rwidman]

Originally Posted by Privilege

As a serving police officer it amuses me to hear people say things like 'avoid places where crime occurs'. If these people can let me know where the criminals are going to be occurring, I'll make sure that we're waiting for them! ...........

Your department really doesn't know where crimes are more likely to occur? In my country, the police identify high crime areas and act accordingly. For that matter, private citizens can access crime statistics on the Internet.

Personally, I wouldn't visit places where I feared for my life or felt the need to stand security watch all night with a firearm. There are plenty of safe places to visit.

[daletournier]

Originally Posted by rwidman

When someone suggests not going to dangerous places, they are just being realistic. The best possible "security system" is to limit your exposure to dangerous places and situations.

If you chose to expose your self to dangerous situations, the risk is on you. So you had a potential intruder and you were able to push him into the water. Fine, but someday you will meet your match and we'll never hear from you again. You will not always be the biggest and baddest guy in the fight. And you can't be sure this guy won't come back again but this time with a bunch of his buddies or a gun.

Did you even read what I wrote, where I am? There is more voilet crime per head of population in most of your large american cities than in the Seychelles! We aren't talking Somali here!

Of course the best possible security is to limit your exposure, isnt that obvious?

Do you lock your doors on your house at home when you go out or go to bed? Why? If you do then you need to move to a location that limits your exposure to crime then you wont have to!

Now if you do lock the doors of your house why wouldn't you lock the doors on the boat when you sleep?

Cruising is not without risk, particularly when you travel abroad.

Stick to your comfortable safety zones, whether they be real or not but try to be less judgmental regarding other's choices particularly if you know nothing about the area they are in.

I'll be bowing out now.

[SecondBase]

Originally Posted by rwidman

Your department really doesn't know where crimes are more likely to occur? In my country, the police identify high crime areas and act accordingly. For that matter, private citizens can access crime statistics on the Internet.

I think the officer's point is crime can occur anywhere.

Originally Posted by rwidman

Personally, I wouldn't visit places where I feared for my life or felt the need to stand security watch all night with a firearm. There are plenty of safe places to visit.

Well said.

[barnakiel]

I think just some plain online study may help telling the places apart.

e.g.

https://safetyandsecuritynet.org/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o..._homicide_rate

etc.

Even if you think Wikipedia and CSSN form a part of a larger conspiracy net, it does not hurt to read thru some alternative, easily available sources of information (say CIA: https://www.cia.gov/library/publicat...orld-factbook/) and THEN adjust one's vision of all places being equally safe.

I got nearly killed in Panama. Please do not insist that my experience does not count because you are a member of specific force and (know better?).

To each their own. I read, think and avoid places where statistics and reports tell me my odds of getting molested or attacked are above my risk seeking/avoiding preferences.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risk#P...of_risk_taking

I am not telling others what to do. I am only telling out loud what I do. One information point. Nothing else.

Denial has many possible sources. High risk seeking personality is just one of them.

Cheers,
b.

[rwidman]

Originally Posted by SecondBase

I think the officer's point is crime can occur anywhere. .

Perhaps, but he had a strange way of stating it.

Yes, crime can occur anywhere but there are "high crime" areas and "low crime" areas. Sticking to the low crime areas makes sense to me.

[SecondBase]

Originally Posted by rwidman

Perhaps, but he had a strange way of stating it.



Yes, crime can occur anywhere but there are "high crime" areas and "low crime" areas. Sticking to the low crime areas makes sense to me.

Definitely. Makes sense to me to.

I think the camera system I want to go with is what CSY 37 Southern Lights has out on YouTube. Looks like a couple cameras one fixed "bow up" and one PTZ both tied into a Garmin GPS for display.

[Lodesman]

Originally Posted by Stu Jackson

Wouldn't the skipper be better served watching the dock and knowing where his boat is rather than watching a screen? Or is this just more and better info?

Being able to tell at a glance, how much space there is ahead to the dock-head, when it's under the bow would be immensely useful, particularly when arriving at an unfamiliar marina. Or if you're shoe-horning in between the dock and a neighbouring boat, a quick glance down at the screen instead of craning your head around, allows you to correct your steering at once. Or so on and so on. When is having more info directly available not better?

[trifan]

Originally Posted by Dane

Hi All,

I am thinking that while you sleep at anchor, it would be great to have a camera keeping a lookout. Could one or more camera(s) be placed - possibly in mast - to detect approaching people, who could be swimming or in a small dinghy?

It would probably (?) be detection by infrared technology, as motion detection would not work at distance and with the unsettled sea as background.

Has anyone done this? Is there a company providing a product?

Cheers,
Dane

Dane (et al) please excuse the lateness of this post but I have been on other things recently, plus CF never sent any more notices of replies to this thread, which I see have been many.

OK, here's the way I see it working: There are 360 degree cameras that will mount quite nicely at the masthead and the software that comes with them is what I call "video undistorter", in that it turns the fisheye into a normal image, as many as you wish. Magic stuff, that. Now for the negative: any motion detected by the system is not what you or I consider motion, it is the differential between video frames so that if the deck is steady relative to the masthead, nothing else will be due to wind and wave action. This means that there will be a constant motion alarm. You can mark out the areas outside of the deck but sails flapping or canopy flapping or sheets moving or anything will generate a signal. The masthead camera is a great idea for many things, like seeing coral heads and plying those shallows in the Bahamas but not worth a damn for alarms. BUT if you combine that AND the 3G radar as suggested by someone else, you have everything you would need or want. The plus for having a video system on the boat is that you can add other cameras, like underwater thru-hulls. The possibilities are myriad and it probably is less expensive than you think. Tech has come a long way and as the newest tech happens, the not-so-old tech gets more affordable. Hell, I just saw an ad for a 50" 4K UHD TV for about $250. Unbelievable but that's the way of the tech world.

[Dane]

Originally Posted by trifan

Dane (et al) please excuse the lateness of this post but I have been on other things recently, plus CF never sent any more notices of replies to this thread, which I see have been many.

OK, here's the way I see it working: There are 360 degree cameras that will mount quite nicely at the masthead and the software that comes with them is what I call "video undistorter", in that it turns the fisheye into a normal image, as many as you wish. Magic stuff, that. Now for the negative: any motion detected by the system is not what you or I consider motion, it is the differential between video frames so that if the deck is steady relative to the masthead, nothing else will be due to wind and wave action. This means that there will be a constant motion alarm. You can mark out the areas outside of the deck but sails flapping or canopy flapping or sheets moving or anything will generate a signal. The masthead camera is a great idea for many things, like seeing coral heads and plying those shallows in the Bahamas but not worth a damn for alarms. BUT if you combine that AND the 3G radar as suggested by someone else, you have everything you would need or want. The plus for having a video system on the boat is that you can add other cameras, like underwater thru-hulls. The possibilities are myriad and it probably is less expensive than you think. Tech has come a long way and as the newest tech happens, the not-so-old tech gets more affordable. Hell, I just saw an ad for a 50" 4K UHD TV for about $250. Unbelievable but that's the way of the tech world.

I have an old radar so will need to investigate 3G radars. Are you telling me you know it can detect a swimmer or a dinghy 20 meter out, and be made to ignore objects further out? That sounds pretty wild..

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by Dane

I have an old radar so will need to investigate 3G radars. Are you telling me you know it can detect a swimmer or a dinghy 20 meter out, and be made to ignore objects further out? That sounds pretty wild..

Are you looking for something theoretical or practical for a cruising boat. Not sure how big a boat you have but not too many cruisers would except the power drain of using a Radar and it's display at anchor 24 hours a day. For it to work you'd have to mount it low. Then set on closest range and enable a guard zone. The closest range is around 100+m. This might reliably pickup pangas, dinghies and large birds. Doubtful you could reliably around 360* pickup swimmers.

[daletournier]

The chances of cameras etc standing up to the cruising environment are slim, running a radar 24/7 is impractical from a power consumption perspective for most of us.

[trifan]

3G and the newer 4G radars are pretty awesome gadgets that I think will do what you want, especially to give you peace of mind during nap time. As far as cameras surviving in the harsh marine environment, some environmental ratings are better than others. It kinda depends on the manufacturer as to how honest their specs are, like any other piece of equipment out there. The longevity also depends a bit on the installation methods and the type of wiring used, etc.

As to the question of power drain, again it depends on the individual boater; some setups will handle it just fine and others won't. At around 100ma to maybe 200 ma per camera, their 12VDC load isn't very much. What draws the current is the infrared illuminator (if the camera has one) and the recorder/display. I doubt that anyone would be running a video system on batteries for a long time so although worrying about the power budget is valid, it is just barely so. The radar draws far more but the newer 3G and 4G systems are pretty frugal on power, at least in comparison with older units.

[trifan]

Here is Lowrance's brochure on their line of 3G/4G radar:
http://www.lowrance.com/Global/Lowra...Guide_3406.pdf