I only created this "CCTV" page in late 2015, even though I've been playing with various types of hidden video cameras for many years. They've all been used for hobby and amusement purposes, even if they very occasionally have a security benifit. Our main protection against thieves is having rusty cars and little of value. CCTV = Closed Circuit TV - but perhaps here it would be better called "Covert Camera and TV" :-)

I thought it would be good to pull together old and new CCTV videos, from my youtube channel and some of my hobby pages. It must have been nearly 25 years ago that I first put in wired CCTV, to watch for the heron stealing fish from our ponds. I experimented with every trick in the book, and amused myself watching them fail. e.g. plastic herons, guard wires, PIR water pistols, Ultrasound scarers, decoy goldfish. I still have these old videos.

This wired CCTV covering our house and garden soon became a source of amusement and interest in wildlife. We were suprised to see deer occasionaly visit, to munch our roses. We see a badger several times a year. Cats and foxes are regular visitors, every night. Sometimes they bring members of their family, like fawn or fox cubs. I have amused myself, watching how they sometimes interact, or react to seeing their reflection in a large mirror :-)

My daily routine, after checking overnight emails, is to have a cup of coffee, while playing back the night's video. at high speed, looking for any interesting visitors. If it is sufficiently unusual, I will archive the video, and may even upload a youtube video. Over the years we've had few visits from thieves. One was at Easter 2014, after we'd left our car unlocked - but he found nothing. By the time the police arrived, shortly after I rang them, I had a little queue of neighbours who had been less lucky, but who had looked and discovered something had been stolen from their unlocked cars. A year later, someone came down our drive, tried a car door, made eye contact with a camera, froze, then beat a hasty retreat ! There are one or two other petty criminals who have been caught, after the police looked at my CCTV - but I won't list them here :-)

The earliest visit was many years before, with a young lad from the village stealing a lawn mower. By the time he got home, a policeman was sat with the boy's mother in the lounge. As he came in, the boy called out with glee, "I've got a fly-mow !". The policeman responded, "Really Sir ? may I take a look please ?" :-)

A few years after my wired CCTV went in at home, I started playing with wireless TV cameras, carried in my electric model aeroplanes. It started with a customer in Germany using my software for covert aerial survellence, with TV video and GPS data being sent back to the control stations. They sent me some kit to play with. This was many years before drones became common tools for police/military and toys for Joe Public. I was soon taking aerial videos from lots of places, mostly flying from school playing fields or recreation areas. Within a couple of years it had progressed to air-to-air filming of Red Kites, which became a hobby in itself. The resulting aerial photography and videos were linked to my Trans-Atlantic Model page. That same "TAM" page, showed my putting wireless TV camera into plastic ducks for use on water, and a puppy dog, for use on land.

In more recent years, small low cost "keyring" TV camera became available, with a micro-SD card to hold an hour's worth of high quality video and sound, with no need for the complication and limitations of wireless links. We made good use of the Mobius TV camera in Snoopy's robot boat. It was also (alegedly) used to covertly film the police, and inside an NHS Mental Health Hospital, early in 2015. Checkout those "Bluebell" pages. It is claimed that these covert videos were all made for educational and amusement purposes :-)

Videos from Robin's cameras ...

Click on a frame below to play the Youtube video. Most are from Robin's wired CCTV. First is in April 2020. Enjoy ! :-)
September 2017: Mr Brock, the Badger, walks towards me on our bridge, I say "Hello", and then he licks my face and walks away again ;-)

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Below is a screen from our wired CCTV, now with 4k line cameras, in 2020. Then the fox after peanuts. Then the sign he saw :-)

Robin, June, and Samantha on their CCTV, in "Covid19 Lockdown". Samantha is working from home, for a company doing media monitoring Worldwide. See covid19 page.

Access to Robin's public Wifi cameras ...

In September 2016 I discovered the range of Motorola Hubble cameras, and made good use of them in my 97 year old father-in-law Jack's home. I also started experimenting with them around our own home, and places like Bray Lake. One should be careful in making cameras public, especially since some pick up sound ! However, home security is improved if a prospective thief does not know who might be watching his exploits ! My main interest is using the cameras to catch wildlife on camera, like those deer, foxes, and badgers.

Neighbours are paricularly welcome to add their cameras to those here, or use them privately. Robin is happy to provide free advice and assistance. Screwfix are a convenient source, since Maplins went bust.

To access Robin's cameras, click on Robin's Cameras and login. Login details are available from Robin by email: robin@gpss.co.uk. If I give you the login details, please don't mess with my account, like change of password :-) Maybe, in time, we will find how to give a simple link to the TimeLines, without access to the account.

Below is the Hubble display of Robin's cameras to choose from ....

Below is an example of the "TimeLine" display of motion triggered events for a particular camera ...

That's our Mr Posty, checking out Wallace and a Wifi camera under test. He knows the strange people on Armitage Court better than most :-)

Footnotes added in January 2024. e.g. Old "Crime" videos; Peanuts shared by Deer, Foxes, Hedgehogs, Pidgeons :-)

The August 2020 Crime video is below. The text on the above picture reads ...QUOTE: There are many cameras in Armitage Court ;-) The thieves leave the house, carrying the stolen goods. One frame from 4000 line Swann. Reduced 1000 line published. Better released later ? ;-) UNQUOTE. Some other videos here are directly relevant ;-)

More later ? Sorry: it may take a while to update this section - many other other things in progress ;-)

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