Security at anchor - camera in top of mast

[Lepke]

There any number of IR detectors that are adjustable by angle or distance and could be adapted for boat placement.
I spend most of my time on the boat alone. I don't hear well. At anchor or on the home dock. I don't stay at marinas, rarely at a commercial dock. Anchoring in mostly remote places. I use some China IR detectors found on Ebay. They are wired to a relay that turns on deck lights pointing outboard so they don't light the cabin insides. Also a quiet buzzer. Homemade system. Plastic and cheap, but the IR internals will corrode in time on the ocean so I keep extras. When sleeping I also use (my favorite) a couple trip wires on deck that fires a blank shotgun shell. It wakes me and my dog and has been used by both people, raccoons, and a bear. All quickly left on their own. People and boat duly reported.

[LoudMusic]

I don't know that you'd be able to get reliable alert triggering, due to the chaotic nature of ... nature.

But having a camera on the mast looking down recording could at least be good in retroactively processing harm done to your boat.

[mikereed100]

Originally Posted by Lepke

There any number of IR detectors that are adjustable by angle or distance and could be adapted for boat placement.
I spend most of my time on the boat alone. I don't hear well. At anchor or on the home dock. I don't stay at marinas, rarely at a commercial dock. Anchoring in mostly remote places. I use some China IR detectors found on Ebay. They are wired to a relay that turns on deck lights pointing outboard so they don't light the cabin insides. Also a quiet buzzer. Homemade system. Plastic and cheap, but the IR internals will corrode in time on the ocean so I keep extras. When sleeping I also use (my favorite) a couple trip wires on deck that fires a blank shotgun shell. It wakes me and my dog and has been used by both people, raccoons, and a bear. All quickly left on their own. People and boat duly reported.

I for one would love to hear details. Not only about your setup, but about bears on board!

[Jim Cate]

Here I wanted to explore a technical challenge. I am not interested in the endless discussion about security. There are so many threads about that with the two sides fighting. I would actually like to think that an intelligent knowing technical person, who would never herself consider setting up such a detection system, could help someone who might consider it. Let's see if I am naive, or if this world is lost to triggering...

OK, ignoring the holier than thou attitude, lets look at the problem that you posed. Seems that there is no technical difficulty in mast mounted cameras, so you shouldn't need help there. The problem is interpreting the data generated by those cameras in such a way as to differentiate casual nearby traffic from folks with evil intent... and several respondents have commented upon the difficulty in so doing. If you are willing to endure frequent false alarms, simply setting some arbitrary distance discriminator should be fairly easy, so why do you need help? Actually the sort of IR motion detectors that suburbanites put on their garages would do that sort of job at very low cost and no technical challenge at all. Their range is limited, but likely not adjustable, but if anyone approached your vessel, an alarm would be triggered. Others have had similar responses to your post...

So, if you find the responses on CF not to be of your liking, you could request a refund of your entry fee. One of our inadequate moderators will see to it.

Jim

[Dane]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

OK, ignoring the holier than thou attitude, lets look at the problem that you posed. Seems that there is no technical difficulty in mast mounted cameras, so you shouldn't need help there. The problem is interpreting the data generated by those cameras in such a way as to differentiate casual nearby traffic from folks with evil intent... and several respondents have commented upon the difficulty in so doing. If you are willing to endure frequent false alarms, simply setting some arbitrary distance discriminator should be fairly easy, so why do you need help? Actually the sort of IR motion detectors that suburbanites put on their garages would do that sort of job at very low cost and no technical challenge at all. Their range is limited, but likely not adjustable, but if anyone approached your vessel, an alarm would be triggered. Others have had similar responses to your post...

So, if you find the responses on CF not to be of your liking, you could request a refund of your entry fee. One of our inadequate moderators will see to it.

Jim

Hi Jim,

I had to delete my earlier post after reading the Rules section of the forum. Sorry about that. I vented my opinion about moderation, which is a no go. So as stipulated by the rules I took that up directly with the moderator.

In short. I am just really interested to learn something useful. The rules actually supports my chances here. They say "Stay on topic by keeping discussions relevant and on track". This is what I will continue to try to do..

You write "simply setting some arbitrary distance discriminator should be fairly easy, so why do you need help?" I need help on camera technology and make. The cameras I believe you are taking about (?) will not work pointed away from the yacht with an unsettled sea as background. If you know differently, please let me know in detail.

And if you are aware of other threads with detailed information on the subject, I will be happy to get a hint of there whereabouts.

Thank you,
Dane

[Dane]

Originally Posted by Lepke

There any number of IR detectors that are adjustable by angle or distance and could be adapted for boat placement.
I spend most of my time on the boat alone. I don't hear well. At anchor or on the home dock. I don't stay at marinas, rarely at a commercial dock. Anchoring in mostly remote places. I use some China IR detectors found on Ebay. They are wired to a relay that turns on deck lights pointing outboard so they don't light the cabin insides. Also a quiet buzzer. Homemade system. Plastic and cheap, but the IR internals will corrode in time on the ocean so I keep extras. When sleeping I also use (my favorite) a couple trip wires on deck that fires a blank shotgun shell. It wakes me and my dog and has been used by both people, raccoons, and a bear. All quickly left on their own. People and boat duly reported.

Hi Lepke,

Can you confirm that your detectors are positioned to have your own boat as background, as opposed to looking outward from your boat. It is the latter I am interested in.

Cheers,
Dane

[Cherod]

Originally Posted by Suijin

I think you're going to find there is no way of reliably triggering a deterrent...lights, sound, whatever, until someone is either extremely close to your boat or actually boarding it. At any sort of distance you're going to get all sorts of false alarms from wave action, wildlife, etc.

I bet that statistically you have a better chance of being hit by a bus or struck by lightning than being boarded and assaulted. Which means your time is probably better spent reading bus schedules and weather reports.

That said, a light going off and some sign of occupancy of the boat will deter all but the most desperate of thieves even at close range. Some time ago I asked a city detective in Washington DC what the best security system is for a house in the city. He said "A good sized dog that barks at the door." He was very serious. So a dog would probably work best of all.

Now there is the solution , get a flood light and camera activated by your dog barking .

[Dane]

Originally Posted by nautical62

One could place multiple cameras surveying the perimeter of your boat and stay up all night watching feeds from these cameras on monitors inside. Personally, I feel safer from invaders at anchor than at home, but do whatever you feel keeps you safe.

One surely could. I was more hoping that a system reliably could detect existence of a swimmer or dinghy in the immediate vicinity, 10-20 meter maybe, of my boat. Turning on the lights would give a "soon to be intruder" the possibility to turn away before being "committed". If the system detected persons with no bad intentions I guess they would just carry on, so no-one looses anything except me getting woken up. If I am getting to many false alarms, I would ditch the system or develop it. If there is a lot of activity, which is not harmful, I can just opt not to activate the system. No worries..

[Rowglide]

How about this system? It is on SV straban.
Hans Christian 43 - SV Straban

Seems like a lot of work, but there is a beer holder on the mast head and that is undeniably interesting.

[rwidman]

Let me make another suggestion:

Do a web search on "boat" + "security system". The members here are not security experts or installers, they are boaters.

[Dane]

Originally Posted by Rowglide

How about this system? It is on SV straban.
Hans Christian 43 - SV Straban

Seems like a lot of work, but there is a beer holder on the mast head and that is undeniably interesting.

Hi Rowglide,

Thanks for the heads up. I may take contact to the owner for his experience. It looks like something similar to a FLIR M232, and it would seem that it is quite a task to cover a 360° view. Maybe 180° can be done by proper lense choice.

Best,
Dane

[rhubstuff]

Once knew a guy who kept a lot of expensive camera and diving equipment aboard his ketch. He got robbed one night of thousands of bucks worth of gear, so he wired his lifelines to the main battery bank and installed a three-way switch labeled "Off," "Tickle," "Stun," and "Kill." Might work for you...

[Dane]

Originally Posted by rwidman

Let me make another suggestion:

Do a web search on "boat" + "security system". The members here are not security experts or installers, they are boaters.

Thanks for your kind suggestion. I surely will try (again) to search the web. Clearly there may be few security experts around, but is it not so that we boaters often has a decent technical understanding and install the most advanced of equipment? Very often I find we even take parts designed for other purposes, and put them together to serve a specific purpose on board.

Also it very often pays off to ask the users of a product, and really I would think I have come to the right place for that.. So really I am quite happy giving it a shot in here.

[Copacabana]

Dane, while I understand you are looking for a detection system with the ability to indentify someone approaching your boat from a distance, you might also want to consider a simple solution like a companionway grate (security bars) and a pressure mat in the cockpit or boarding transom that sets off an alarm and lights. This would meet your needs in the sense that you are protected inside (the intruder can't reach you) and you are warned of their presence (alarm and lights). I think there is little chance of false alarms with this setup.

Someone mentioned that a camera doesn't descourage people, but I'm not so sure about that. If the camera is visible to the person approaching, they may think twice for fear of being recorded and identified later.

Still, the best advice is just avoid places where you think security may be an issue.

[Volkeno]

I don't know about electronic security but didn't Slocum spread tacks on his deck at night to prevent unwanted intruders? They would be easy to sweep up and redeploy.
I've heard of people electrifying the lifelines. I have solar panels so that would work as long as you have lifelines all around the boat.
I have a small chihuahua that will bark at anything within 50 feet which usually wakes me up. He doesn't eat much either.