March 24, 2024 • 25 mins
Ever found yourself scratching your head over a mysterious charge on your bank statement? You're not alone. This week, I'm pulling back the curtain on the aggravating world of ghost subscriptions, revealing how I outmaneuvered the silent siphoning of funds by old services. From scrutinizing bank statements to documenting communications, I lay out the strategic playbook you need to reclaim control over your finances. But it's not all defense; we switch gears to discuss the offense of home security, dissecting the merits of video coverage versus surveillance systems—inspired by the peace of mind my Simply Safe setup delivers. I'll walk you through the cost-benefit analysis, the integration with emergency services, and how these systems can be a homeowner's best friend as the days get longer and the weather warms up.
Change is in the air, and I'm thrilled to hint at our new direction—including a possible venture into video to strengthen our community ties. As we adapt our schedule in preparation for exciting developments, I want to leave you with a thought: how prepared are you for the summer season when it comes to safeguarding your home? From the importance of motion detection to the subtleties of choosing the right security system, there's a wealth of knowledge to absorb. Please stay vigilant and cultivate that perfect blend of security and comfort for your living space. Catch all these insights and more, from Refuse to Be aVictim PersonalProptrecton Training.
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Security Cameras- Self-Monitoring Suggestions
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, if you're a fan of the Ghostbusters series, you
know what the refrain is Iain't afraid of no ghost.
Well, I'm not afraid of a ghost, but I am afraid of ghost
subscriptions.
Yeah, it's gotten so bad.
My bank's fraud unit has gotteninvolved.
More on that.
We'll have an overview of videocameras.
(00:21):
I promised we'd talk about that.
What's the difference between avideo system and video
surveillance system?
Hmm, lots to learn and we'lltake a look at some upcoming
classes.
All that and the usual zaniness.
Come on in, let's get started.
Why, everybody?
(00:48):
I'm Bill Bateman, part of theteam here.
It refused to be a victim.
Personal protection, training.
We are located say it with mepeople in the Medford White City
area of Southern Oregon, 6800Kershaw Boulevard, and it is
where Kershaw meets Corey.
Out there in the White Cityarea, the old camp White Range.
(01:09):
It's a historical landmark andit's a whole lot of fun.
Well, I promised I'd talk toyou first about ghost
subscriptions.
Last week I was telling youabout a problem of subscriptions
that simply would not die.
I have a Zipcar subscription.
(01:34):
About 7 years ago, right aboutthe time, I moved from
California to Oregon and startedworking at Southern Oregon
University.
Well, that no longer is used.
Things changed, didn't need it,but just this year, when I was
getting my tax informationtogether, I noticed that my bank
(01:54):
account was being deported forabout $140 in subscriptions and
fees to renew this oldsubscription.
Well, I couldn't get into itbecause the email address has
changed.
I have retired from theuniversity.
As such, that email address hasbeen required.
I've sent a number of emails.
(02:16):
I had a number of phoneconversations.
What did I get?
This month?
Again, that's right, anotherreversal of my reversal charges.
Well, I've tried being nice.
I called them for the last timeand I was very polite.
I even had a witness so nobodycould say I was rude or hard to
(02:37):
deal with.
But we'll get right back to you.
We'll get back to you.
That was a week and a half agoa week ago, let's be accurate
but I finally have lost mypatience and I referred it to
the Chase Bank Fraud Unit.
Now, to make it a little moreinteresting, I also used a
service called Survey Monkey.
(02:57):
We were doing those littlesurveys.
We click a button and thank you.
Yes, I like this, I don't likethat.
We were doing that for ourcustomer service.
Again, several years ago.
This one I forgot to cancel.
That's on me.
Called them up, talked to them.
I was in a situation within 24hours of finding the charge and
(03:18):
they were very professional,very nice and said, boom, we'll
take care of it.
And that was good until thismonth went.
That's right.
The zombie charges were backagain.
The message from here A becareful who you do business with
and.
B be very careful with yourbank and checking information.
(03:38):
It's very easy, if I wasn't sodiligent, for those charges to
go through.
Now these are bigger numbers.
It's even littler numbers thatslip by unnoticed.
In fact, that's a tactic andI'm not saying either of these
companies were doing that, butit is a common tactic to run a
$5 through charge, $5 chargethrough your system and say
(04:02):
subscription.
Well, you may or you may notcatch that.
Now when you see $192 or $165,you're going to go.
What the heck is that?
Go, be vigilant on your bankaccounts.
Be extra careful on yoursubscriptions and don't make
them work harder to help you.
If you don't need a service, besure to cancel it.
(04:25):
Be sure to honor thecancellation policies and be
sure to communicate clearly,effectively and keep copies of
everything.
I uploaded like 7 megabytes ofemail that I had sent to help
support my claim.
So it's not just some old guyyelling on the telephone.
(04:46):
Never do that, Never be atelephone screamer.
Doesn't help you, doesn't helpyou at all.
So yeah, if you got a problem,document, document, polite,
courteous, escalate if you haveto.
I have not had any escalation.
I've had it promised.
I haven't seen it happen.
(05:06):
I have let them know that thisis the last time they'll be
hearing from me.
Next time I'll be having myattorney call them and it's
going to get expensive.
You can't keep snagging mymoney without permission, people
.
It's just not how we do it.
So keep an eye on your accounts.
(05:26):
That's item number one.
Zombie accounts are out there,ghost subscriptions.
I am afraid of those.
Let's take a look at videocameras.
We talked about this last timeand there is video coverage and
there's video surveillance.
And the difference ofsurveillance system is monitored
(05:47):
.
Now, full disclosure.
I have a home installed, aself-installed system called
Simply Safe.
It has the little sensors onthe windows.
It has motion sensors ifsomebody gets in your room, and
it has a panic button and it has.
I choose not to, but it willsupport a camera system and it
(06:13):
has monitoring.
There's two levels ofmonitoring.
If the alarm goes off, they'llcall the police.
The second level of monitoring,which is about twice the cost I
want to say one is like $20, sothe other one is about $40 per
month.
They'll have cameras that comeon, they'll talk to the burglars
(06:34):
or people in the house andthey'll also let the police know
.
Yep, I'm looking inside Bill'shouse in Baygali.
That's not Bill and there'ssomebody trying to get into his
big stash of jelly beans.
So, depending on what you wantto spend now, this thing cost me
$19 a month in monitoring feesand the whole system, and this
(06:57):
based on square footage and thenumber of windows.
You have ran me about $300.
But before that, before I gotreal serious about this, and
partially now that I have morethings to keep track of, I'd
like to have better security.
Things are getting a littlestrange out there.
I did have a remote videocamera in my home and it was
(07:23):
really.
It looked like R2D2.
It was a little tiny thing saton the kitchen table.
Had a camera would do a lot ofthe things they should do, like
night vision.
They would monitor and followmotion.
The weirdest thing you've everseen to walk into your front
room and have this little camera, come on, click and start
(07:45):
whirring and following youaround.
Now, this thing ran me like Iwant to say $60 and it would not
call the police.
It would call me on my cellphone.
What it would also do and thisis a feature I think that is
very valuable it would send thatvideo both to a little video
(08:06):
card, like you put in yourcamera on the unit.
Well, that's handy, but it'snot because you can just reach
up, take that thing out.
There goes all the video.
So it also had cloud storage.
It had a three, I think threegigabytes of cloud storage,
which is plenty enough to takecare of a break-in.
(08:28):
And it had also a good, sharpcamera.
So let's look at the things thatare important for cameras.
Well, if you want fullmonitoring, there are
professionals, companies thatwill do it.
They have a set fee.
There are home do-it-yourselfsystems like the one I chose to
(08:49):
use.
Now, I'm kind of techy, but itreally wasn't that hard and it
took me about an afternoon toset up.
There was no medication, therewas no crying.
It worked out really pretty,pretty well.
And then there are thedo-it-yourself home
self-reporting systems.
You can actually go on Amazonand enter home security systems
(09:13):
wireless and find things thatstart around 25 or 30 dollars.
Well, okay, yeah, you may notwant to get the lowest rated pop
quiz class.
How do we judge a system?
We look at the specs, we lookat the features and we look at
the reviews.
(09:33):
Yes, on any product made,you're gonna have somebody
whining because it doesn't comein blue and give it one star.
If you've got 1500 reviews and1497 are pretty good, that tells
you that you're looking in theright direction.
So, for an indoor or for anoutdoor system and outdoor
(09:56):
systems do have a few morerequirements, but only because
they are outdoors you can do ityourself between $100 and $200
or connect it to aself-monitored system for under
$300.
Now, this doesn't in fact,include the doorbell camera,
(10:18):
because the doorbell camera issomething kind of different.
They're going to record video,they are going to have cloud
storage, but they have to gointo your existing doorbell
system.
This is going to require somewiring you might want to talk to
.
I am not an electrician.
One of our team is.
He knows all things aboutelectricity and he's the guy you
(10:42):
want to talk to.
He knows what has to happenbecause of power and because of
connecting it to existingin-home wiring.
In fact, I'm a firm believer.
Anytime you need anything donewith an electrical system or any
modification to the homestructure, you may be this, you
(11:02):
know, you may be really, reallygood.
I'd like to let a pro do it.
Only for the liability aspect.
If you burn down the back endof the house and you're standing
there with a screwdriver andsome electrical tape in your
hand, that's going to be areally tough call to the
insurance company.
I'm just saying Now, if you'rean electrician, god bless.
I mean, go big.
(11:25):
So let's look at the featuresthat we're looking for in
cameras.
First of all, a doorbell camera.
The resolution of the camerathe sharper the resolution, the
better it's going to be foridentifying hazards, identifying
what's going on.
Also, night vision You'llnotice those little things that
(11:46):
look like little mini, minilights around cameras.
Those allow them to see atnight.
They take existing light andmagnify it.
Field of view how wide can yousee?
You don't want just like akeyhole where you could peek out
a little hole in your frontdoor.
You want like the garden hosethat sprays wide to left, to
(12:08):
right, above and below, to seewhat's out there.
Motion detection and this isactually almost a checklist for
everybody Is that a dog?
Is that a possum?
Is that a little kid?
Is that somebody hunkered downpretending to be a little kid?
These are important things.
The source of power Is ithardwired into your home?
(12:31):
Now, generally you're going tosee doorbell cameras are they
don't have to be.
And again, if you're notgetting into hard wiring, if
you're just going with a videofeed to your computer screen,
okay, that'll work.
Audio doesn't have an audiofeature and, related to that,
cloud storage and some will workwith your, for example, alexis,
(12:55):
the various home systems.
So these are things that arevery, very, very useful.
Motion detection alert Is italerting on an empty house?
Is it alerting?
Is it calling your cell?
Is it calling a call center?
This is where your cost isgoing to get there, but really,
(13:17):
I think 35 a month for livemonitoring.
That's not really bad.
That's what I'm paying.
Check other systems, checkguarantees when is this call
center?
What is the history of thiscompany you're dealing with?
Like any other service, thereputation of the company is
going to be really, reallyimportant.
(13:41):
Let's see what else isimportant.
Motion detection we talkedabout.
If you're going outside, doesit have a light Think many of
these systems come like anexternal patio light might be
and in the center is the camera.
This gives you full nightvision.
(14:02):
You don't have to worry aboutpicking up existing light.
You're going to have lightprovided to you and, I think,
for almost anything.
Cloud vision is importantbecause or cloud storage,
because this information isgoing to be used later to deal
with criminal prosecution andyou should be able to clearly
(14:25):
identify what this is for.
I talked last time about gettingready for summer and knowing
who's in your yard and knowingif you're sitting there, and I
saw this in a magazine and Ican't remember that or I would
tell you where I read this.
I think it was in the ConcealedCarry Magazine and they told a
story about a couple who livedout in a fairly rural area and
(14:48):
they were sitting there on theirsofa and somebody tried to come
in through the screen door andthere was a confrontation and
police were called, shots werefired.
It was a very serious, a veryfrightening situation.
It ended well for our homeowner, but they kind of got in some
trouble because, it was pointedout, this bad guy came through
(15:12):
your gate, which was a goodlydistance from the home.
You didn't know it came all theway across your yard.
You didn't know it looked inall your windows.
It was double jeopardy how areyou supposed to know?
And were able to just startyanking your screen door open to
come on in.
These are some areas that youand I, as preppers, as people
(15:35):
who are concerned about our homeand our family and our
situational awareness, as we'vebeen talking about, these are
things we should know.
If somebody comes in our frontgate, you don't have to set off
a flare and a marching band, butthere should be a ding, dong
and maybe something pop up onyour computer screen.
Lights in the yard.
(15:56):
My yard is lighted.
My yard has motion sensors init, not because I'm afraid of
ninjas coming to get me I'llnever hear them anyway but I am
concerned.
Some of the neighbor kids arepretty squirrely.
We've had an occasionalunhoused person show up here in
the area and try to see ifyou're really serious about not
(16:19):
using that lawn furniture youhad on the back patio.
Knowing what's outside your homeis your responsibility and
protecting it is yourresponsibility.
The front door, when we movedin there was just your basic
screen door.
Well, we got rid of that secondthing we did.
We made sure that it was asolid metal door, like a storm
(16:42):
door that you could open and getventilation, but it locked.
Now is it a blast door?
Is it a security door?
No, but it's metal and you'renot just going to yank it off
the hinges.
You're going to have to work atit and that's going to give us
some time.
So, looking at your home as westart getting ready for 2024,
(17:07):
for this season, it's going tobe hot, windows are going to be
open or your cooling system isgoing to be running and that's
noisy Not super noisy, but it'sa background noise that you get
used to.
Would you know if somebodyentered your yard?
Would you know if somebody wasout in your yard?
Have you looked out yourwindows?
(17:29):
Looking at your existinglighting system, would you know
if there was somebody movingaround?
I have my lights set, so ifthere's someone moving between
the lights and the house, thoselights are going to go off and
on.
I'm going to be able, withouteven seeing the individual, to
be able to monitor motion in myyard.
(17:50):
Now, this does not mean youshould be running around on full
alert all the time.
It does mean you should begiving yourself full advantage
for your home court defense,home court advantage.
What is your plan?
We've talked about this before,part of the planning process.
In an emergency, if somebodycomes to the door and it's the
(18:12):
sheriff, bang, bang, bang, wegot an emergency, you gotta go.
I have it set so people canfind my front door.
I've got my hose coiled up, myrakes and tools A.
I don't leave tools out wheresomebody can get them and use
them to get into the house.
I also don't want somebody,especially an emergency worker,
(18:33):
if I have to call an ambulanceand paramedics are coming up my
front walk and the rakes outthere and they fall over that
and get hurt or, worse, do achevy chase and smack themselves
upside the head.
It's funny on tv but if you'veever done it in real life, not
so funny.
So we're going to be gardening,we're going to be out in the
yard.
(18:53):
Let's keep our walkways clear.
Let's keep our hose rolled upIf you're trying to get out of
the house in an emergency, ifyou get tangled up in the yard
furniture, no, all of thesethings are things to think about
now.
Season is just starting.
Look at, do you want anexternal light Look at.
(19:15):
Do you want just a simple alert?
Video screen pops up.
Do you want a more advancedsystem?
What will your budget stand?
What will you stand?
I have had people I used toprior to getting married.
I had a cleaning person who'dcome in lovely lady.
But she came to me and she said, bill, I'd be happy.
(19:37):
You know, this is how much Icharge.
I don't do windows the usualthing.
And she said also I won't workin a home with a security camera
.
If you don't trust me enough,if you think I have to be on
camera, I'm not the person foryou.
Well, she worked for me for anumber of years.
I give her the highestreference.
(19:58):
She's excellent and never had aminute's trouble.
And I did have a home securitycamera, the little R2D2 unit.
I called it and I'd unplug itwhen she was there.
She explained she didn't wantpeople to see her dancing.
Well, she worked and that wasgood enough for me.
Two final points when you'retalking about home security and
(20:20):
alarm system, specificallyInsurance benefits and is a
permit required.
My insurance company gives me a10% discount for a monitored
alarm system that's not tooshabby, and also both places
I've lived do require you tonotify the police department if
(20:41):
you are using a home securitysystem.
Some areas they're not thatworried about it.
Other areas, you must get alicense and that can be $15 or
$20 for a home system, up to$120 for a professionally
installed system.
And there is a fee in someareas, although not all, for
(21:05):
false alarms.
So keep that in mind whenyou're looking at a home
security system.
If it's not monitored, it's notan issue, and when I just have
my little R2 unit, I just get acall on my cell phone and deal
with it from there.
Hopefully these are some ideas.
You can go from 20 or 30 to 100to 120 is about the sweet spot.
(21:28):
And then when you start buyingmore sophisticated systems 200
to 350, depending upon the sizeof the property you're
protecting Internal and externalcameras.
Also, consider how much Wi-Fi.
If you're going to go wirelessand almost all the things I have
are wireless what kind of planyou're going to have to have.
(21:51):
If you have bad Wi-Fi, you'renot going to be happy.
You should deal with your Wi-Fibefore you deal with the camera
.
I find that I use between 45and 90 gigabytes a month at
maximum.
When I had a big camera systemthat I tried out for a short
(22:11):
term and generally about half ofthat for the occasional alert
or a simple monitoring system.
Check with the company on theproduct you're going to buy and
run those nifty download andspeed tests.
On the internet you can get andcheck your system out.
Wi-fi costs are going up and,yes, indeed that's no surprise.
(22:37):
The government alsodiscontinued that wonderful
stipend we senior citizens gotfor Wi-Fi and not real pleased
about that.
That's going to kick my bill up$30 a month.
Hey, thank you.
Thank you, washington.
Just another example of thegreat job you're all doing.
(22:58):
Finally, as we head into it,it's time now, with the weather
changing the weather nicer, it'sa great time to think about
getting some lessons.
We are in the month of March,which means the April concealed
carry class.
We do have some room in that,don't miss out.
(23:18):
It filled up.
Last month.
Some people were sad.
The way not to be sad subscriberight now, grab it today, or we
always will, are willing to doa private lesson and, yes, a
private lesson is more expensivethan the class we're offering
the second Saturday of the month.
With that said, we'd like toinvite you to the website to
(23:41):
check it out, see what's goingon.
I'd like to also invite you toshare this podcast.
We're trying to build ourlistenership, so subscribe,
download it, talk it up to yourfriends and if there's things we
can talk about that areinterest to you that I'm not
hitting, or you'd like moreinformation on something, for
heaven's sakes, use that emailaddress on the front of the
(24:04):
first page and give us a shout.
I'll put a few links up.
I'll put simply safe up onlybecause it's something I use,
not because they're a sponsor,although I wouldn't mind if they
want it to be and a couple ofthe camera systems I have tried
and had pretty good luck with.
You would want to, of course,see if it's going to fit with,
like your system, your wi-fisetup and your lifestyle.
(24:29):
You do.
We have had a couple ofoccasions when the I, when I was
dating one of my dates, woke upin the middle of the night,
wanted to go out to the car andget something.
She wasn't going to wake me upand she got up and, oh boy, the
alarms went off.
Lights came on.
Scared the socks offer.
(24:50):
Well, scared flip flops offer.
And it's not the way you wantto start a relationship.
So if you've got a lot of kids,if you've got a lot of pets,
pets and motion sensors or anissue, do your research check it
out.
Okay, that's all I got for thisweek.
I hope to see you again nexttime.
(25:11):
We are going to be going to amore modified schedule.
I got some things going on.
I'll tell you about that nexttime and I'll tell you what to
expect in the weeks to come.
We are still I'm threatening togo to video by May.
We'll see if it happens, butthat's what I want to do either
way.
We hope to see you next weekback here at the ranch.
For another issue of survivalbeyond the bug out back or out
(25:35):
at the park or, hey, maybe justout on the street to say howdy,
be safe out there.
The preceding program was apresentation of retired guy
productions.
Well, if you're a fan of the Ghostbusters series, you
know what the refrain is Iain't afraid of no ghost.
Well, I'm not afraid of a ghost, but I am afraid of ghost
subscriptions.
Yeah, it's gotten so bad.
My bank's fraud unit has gotteninvolved.
More on that.
We'll have an overview of videocameras.
(00:21):
I promised we'd talk about that.
What's the difference between avideo system and video
surveillance system?
Hmm, lots to learn and we'lltake a look at some upcoming
classes.
All that and the usual zaniness.
Come on in, let's get started.
Why, everybody?
(00:48):
I'm Bill Bateman, part of theteam here.
It refused to be a victim.
Personal protection, training.
We are located say it with mepeople in the Medford White City
area of Southern Oregon, 6800Kershaw Boulevard, and it is
where Kershaw meets Corey.
Out there in the White Cityarea, the old camp White Range.
(01:09):
It's a historical landmark andit's a whole lot of fun.
Well, I promised I'd talk toyou first about ghost
subscriptions.
Last week I was telling youabout a problem of subscriptions
that simply would not die.
I have a Zipcar subscription.
(01:34):
About 7 years ago, right aboutthe time, I moved from
California to Oregon and startedworking at Southern Oregon
University.
Well, that no longer is used.
Things changed, didn't need it,but just this year, when I was
getting my tax informationtogether, I noticed that my bank
(01:54):
account was being deported forabout $140 in subscriptions and
fees to renew this oldsubscription.
Well, I couldn't get into itbecause the email address has
changed.
I have retired from theuniversity.
As such, that email address hasbeen required.
I've sent a number of emails.
(02:16):
I had a number of phoneconversations.
What did I get?
This month?
Again, that's right, anotherreversal of my reversal charges.
Well, I've tried being nice.
I called them for the last timeand I was very polite.
I even had a witness so nobodycould say I was rude or hard to
(02:37):
deal with.
But we'll get right back to you.
We'll get back to you.
That was a week and a half agoa week ago, let's be accurate
but I finally have lost mypatience and I referred it to
the Chase Bank Fraud Unit.
Now, to make it a little moreinteresting, I also used a
service called Survey Monkey.
(02:57):
We were doing those littlesurveys.
We click a button and thank you.
Yes, I like this, I don't likethat.
We were doing that for ourcustomer service.
Again, several years ago.
This one I forgot to cancel.
That's on me.
Called them up, talked to them.
I was in a situation within 24hours of finding the charge and
(03:18):
they were very professional,very nice and said, boom, we'll
take care of it.
And that was good until thismonth went.
That's right.
The zombie charges were backagain.
The message from here A becareful who you do business with
and.
B be very careful with yourbank and checking information.
(03:38):
It's very easy, if I wasn't sodiligent, for those charges to
go through.
Now these are bigger numbers.
It's even littler numbers thatslip by unnoticed.
In fact, that's a tactic andI'm not saying either of these
companies were doing that, butit is a common tactic to run a
$5 through charge, $5 chargethrough your system and say
(04:02):
subscription.
Well, you may or you may notcatch that.
Now when you see $192 or $165,you're going to go.
What the heck is that?
Go, be vigilant on your bankaccounts.
Be extra careful on yoursubscriptions and don't make
them work harder to help you.
If you don't need a service, besure to cancel it.
(04:25):
Be sure to honor thecancellation policies and be
sure to communicate clearly,effectively and keep copies of
everything.
I uploaded like 7 megabytes ofemail that I had sent to help
support my claim.
So it's not just some old guyyelling on the telephone.
(04:46):
Never do that, Never be atelephone screamer.
Doesn't help you, doesn't helpyou at all.
So yeah, if you got a problem,document, document, polite,
courteous, escalate if you haveto.
I have not had any escalation.
I've had it promised.
I haven't seen it happen.
(05:06):
I have let them know that thisis the last time they'll be
hearing from me.
Next time I'll be having myattorney call them and it's
going to get expensive.
You can't keep snagging mymoney without permission, people
.
It's just not how we do it.
So keep an eye on your accounts.
(05:26):
That's item number one.
Zombie accounts are out there,ghost subscriptions.
I am afraid of those.
Let's take a look at videocameras.
We talked about this last timeand there is video coverage and
there's video surveillance.
And the difference ofsurveillance system is monitored
(05:47):
.
Now, full disclosure.
I have a home installed, aself-installed system called
Simply Safe.
It has the little sensors onthe windows.
It has motion sensors ifsomebody gets in your room, and
it has a panic button and it has.
I choose not to, but it willsupport a camera system and it
(06:13):
has monitoring.
There's two levels ofmonitoring.
If the alarm goes off, they'llcall the police.
The second level of monitoring,which is about twice the cost I
want to say one is like $20, sothe other one is about $40 per
month.
They'll have cameras that comeon, they'll talk to the burglars
(06:34):
or people in the house andthey'll also let the police know
.
Yep, I'm looking inside Bill'shouse in Baygali.
That's not Bill and there'ssomebody trying to get into his
big stash of jelly beans.
So, depending on what you wantto spend now, this thing cost me
$19 a month in monitoring feesand the whole system, and this
(06:57):
based on square footage and thenumber of windows.
You have ran me about $300.
But before that, before I gotreal serious about this, and
partially now that I have morethings to keep track of, I'd
like to have better security.
Things are getting a littlestrange out there.
I did have a remote videocamera in my home and it was
(07:23):
really.
It looked like R2D2.
It was a little tiny thing saton the kitchen table.
Had a camera would do a lot ofthe things they should do, like
night vision.
They would monitor and followmotion.
The weirdest thing you've everseen to walk into your front
room and have this little camera, come on, click and start
(07:45):
whirring and following youaround.
Now, this thing ran me like Iwant to say $60 and it would not
call the police.
It would call me on my cellphone.
What it would also do and thisis a feature I think that is
very valuable it would send thatvideo both to a little video
(08:06):
card, like you put in yourcamera on the unit.
Well, that's handy, but it'snot because you can just reach
up, take that thing out.
There goes all the video.
So it also had cloud storage.
It had a three, I think threegigabytes of cloud storage,
which is plenty enough to takecare of a break-in.
(08:28):
And it had also a good, sharpcamera.
So let's look at the things thatare important for cameras.
Well, if you want fullmonitoring, there are
professionals, companies thatwill do it.
They have a set fee.
There are home do-it-yourselfsystems like the one I chose to
(08:49):
use.
Now, I'm kind of techy, but itreally wasn't that hard and it
took me about an afternoon toset up.
There was no medication, therewas no crying.
It worked out really pretty,pretty well.
And then there are thedo-it-yourself home
self-reporting systems.
You can actually go on Amazonand enter home security systems
(09:13):
wireless and find things thatstart around 25 or 30 dollars.
Well, okay, yeah, you may notwant to get the lowest rated pop
quiz class.
How do we judge a system?
We look at the specs, we lookat the features and we look at
the reviews.
(09:33):
Yes, on any product made,you're gonna have somebody
whining because it doesn't comein blue and give it one star.
If you've got 1500 reviews and1497 are pretty good, that tells
you that you're looking in theright direction.
So, for an indoor or for anoutdoor system and outdoor
(09:56):
systems do have a few morerequirements, but only because
they are outdoors you can do ityourself between $100 and $200
or connect it to aself-monitored system for under
$300.
Now, this doesn't in fact,include the doorbell camera,
(10:18):
because the doorbell camera issomething kind of different.
They're going to record video,they are going to have cloud
storage, but they have to gointo your existing doorbell
system.
This is going to require somewiring you might want to talk to
.
I am not an electrician.
One of our team is.
He knows all things aboutelectricity and he's the guy you
(10:42):
want to talk to.
He knows what has to happenbecause of power and because of
connecting it to existingin-home wiring.
In fact, I'm a firm believer.
Anytime you need anything donewith an electrical system or any
modification to the homestructure, you may be this, you
(11:02):
know, you may be really, reallygood.
I'd like to let a pro do it.
Only for the liability aspect.
If you burn down the back endof the house and you're standing
there with a screwdriver andsome electrical tape in your
hand, that's going to be areally tough call to the
insurance company.
I'm just saying Now, if you'rean electrician, god bless.
I mean, go big.
(11:25):
So let's look at the featuresthat we're looking for in
cameras.
First of all, a doorbell camera.
The resolution of the camerathe sharper the resolution, the
better it's going to be foridentifying hazards, identifying
what's going on.
Also, night vision You'llnotice those little things that
(11:46):
look like little mini, minilights around cameras.
Those allow them to see atnight.
They take existing light andmagnify it.
Field of view how wide can yousee?
You don't want just like akeyhole where you could peek out
a little hole in your frontdoor.
You want like the garden hosethat sprays wide to left, to
(12:08):
right, above and below, to seewhat's out there.
Motion detection and this isactually almost a checklist for
everybody Is that a dog?
Is that a possum?
Is that a little kid?
Is that somebody hunkered downpretending to be a little kid?
These are important things.
The source of power Is ithardwired into your home?
(12:31):
Now, generally you're going tosee doorbell cameras are they
don't have to be.
And again, if you're notgetting into hard wiring, if
you're just going with a videofeed to your computer screen,
okay, that'll work.
Audio doesn't have an audiofeature and, related to that,
cloud storage and some will workwith your, for example, alexis,
(12:55):
the various home systems.
So these are things that arevery, very, very useful.
Motion detection alert Is italerting on an empty house?
Is it alerting?
Is it calling your cell?
Is it calling a call center?
This is where your cost isgoing to get there, but really,
(13:17):
I think 35 a month for livemonitoring.
That's not really bad.
That's what I'm paying.
Check other systems, checkguarantees when is this call
center?
What is the history of thiscompany you're dealing with?
Like any other service, thereputation of the company is
going to be really, reallyimportant.
(13:41):
Let's see what else isimportant.
Motion detection we talkedabout.
If you're going outside, doesit have a light Think many of
these systems come like anexternal patio light might be
and in the center is the camera.
This gives you full nightvision.
(14:02):
You don't have to worry aboutpicking up existing light.
You're going to have lightprovided to you and, I think,
for almost anything.
Cloud vision is importantbecause or cloud storage,
because this information isgoing to be used later to deal
with criminal prosecution andyou should be able to clearly
(14:25):
identify what this is for.
I talked last time about gettingready for summer and knowing
who's in your yard and knowingif you're sitting there, and I
saw this in a magazine and Ican't remember that or I would
tell you where I read this.
I think it was in the ConcealedCarry Magazine and they told a
story about a couple who livedout in a fairly rural area and
(14:48):
they were sitting there on theirsofa and somebody tried to come
in through the screen door andthere was a confrontation and
police were called, shots werefired.
It was a very serious, a veryfrightening situation.
It ended well for our homeowner, but they kind of got in some
trouble because, it was pointedout, this bad guy came through
(15:12):
your gate, which was a goodlydistance from the home.
You didn't know it came all theway across your yard.
You didn't know it looked inall your windows.
It was double jeopardy how areyou supposed to know?
And were able to just startyanking your screen door open to
come on in.
These are some areas that youand I, as preppers, as people
(15:35):
who are concerned about our homeand our family and our
situational awareness, as we'vebeen talking about, these are
things we should know.
If somebody comes in our frontgate, you don't have to set off
a flare and a marching band, butthere should be a ding, dong
and maybe something pop up onyour computer screen.
Lights in the yard.
(15:56):
My yard is lighted.
My yard has motion sensors init, not because I'm afraid of
ninjas coming to get me I'llnever hear them anyway but I am
concerned.
Some of the neighbor kids arepretty squirrely.
We've had an occasionalunhoused person show up here in
the area and try to see ifyou're really serious about not
(16:19):
using that lawn furniture youhad on the back patio.
Knowing what's outside your homeis your responsibility and
protecting it is yourresponsibility.
The front door, when we movedin there was just your basic
screen door.
Well, we got rid of that secondthing we did.
We made sure that it was asolid metal door, like a storm
(16:42):
door that you could open and getventilation, but it locked.
Now is it a blast door?
Is it a security door?
No, but it's metal and you'renot just going to yank it off
the hinges.
You're going to have to work atit and that's going to give us
some time.
So, looking at your home as westart getting ready for 2024,
(17:07):
for this season, it's going tobe hot, windows are going to be
open or your cooling system isgoing to be running and that's
noisy Not super noisy, but it'sa background noise that you get
used to.
Would you know if somebodyentered your yard?
Would you know if somebody wasout in your yard?
Have you looked out yourwindows?
(17:29):
Looking at your existinglighting system, would you know
if there was somebody movingaround?
I have my lights set, so ifthere's someone moving between
the lights and the house, thoselights are going to go off and
on.
I'm going to be able, withouteven seeing the individual, to
be able to monitor motion in myyard.
(17:50):
Now, this does not mean youshould be running around on full
alert all the time.
It does mean you should begiving yourself full advantage
for your home court defense,home court advantage.
What is your plan?
We've talked about this before,part of the planning process.
In an emergency, if somebodycomes to the door and it's the
(18:12):
sheriff, bang, bang, bang, wegot an emergency, you gotta go.
I have it set so people canfind my front door.
I've got my hose coiled up, myrakes and tools A.
I don't leave tools out wheresomebody can get them and use
them to get into the house.
I also don't want somebody,especially an emergency worker,
(18:33):
if I have to call an ambulanceand paramedics are coming up my
front walk and the rakes outthere and they fall over that
and get hurt or, worse, do achevy chase and smack themselves
upside the head.
It's funny on tv but if you'veever done it in real life, not
so funny.
So we're going to be gardening,we're going to be out in the
yard.
(18:53):
Let's keep our walkways clear.
Let's keep our hose rolled upIf you're trying to get out of
the house in an emergency, ifyou get tangled up in the yard
furniture, no, all of thesethings are things to think about
now.
Season is just starting.
Look at, do you want anexternal light Look at.
(19:15):
Do you want just a simple alert?
Video screen pops up.
Do you want a more advancedsystem?
What will your budget stand?
What will you stand?
I have had people I used toprior to getting married.
I had a cleaning person who'dcome in lovely lady.
But she came to me and she said, bill, I'd be happy.
(19:37):
You know, this is how much Icharge.
I don't do windows the usualthing.
And she said also I won't workin a home with a security camera
.
If you don't trust me enough,if you think I have to be on
camera, I'm not the person foryou.
Well, she worked for me for anumber of years.
I give her the highestreference.
(19:58):
She's excellent and never had aminute's trouble.
And I did have a home securitycamera, the little R2D2 unit.
I called it and I'd unplug itwhen she was there.
She explained she didn't wantpeople to see her dancing.
Well, she worked and that wasgood enough for me.
Two final points when you'retalking about home security and
(20:20):
alarm system, specificallyInsurance benefits and is a
permit required.
My insurance company gives me a10% discount for a monitored
alarm system that's not tooshabby, and also both places
I've lived do require you tonotify the police department if
(20:41):
you are using a home securitysystem.
Some areas they're not thatworried about it.
Other areas, you must get alicense and that can be $15 or
$20 for a home system, up to$120 for a professionally
installed system.
And there is a fee in someareas, although not all, for
(21:05):
false alarms.
So keep that in mind whenyou're looking at a home
security system.
If it's not monitored, it's notan issue, and when I just have
my little R2 unit, I just get acall on my cell phone and deal
with it from there.
Hopefully these are some ideas.
You can go from 20 or 30 to 100to 120 is about the sweet spot.
(21:28):
And then when you start buyingmore sophisticated systems 200
to 350, depending upon the sizeof the property you're
protecting Internal and externalcameras.
Also, consider how much Wi-Fi.
If you're going to go wirelessand almost all the things I have
are wireless what kind of planyou're going to have to have.
(21:51):
If you have bad Wi-Fi, you'renot going to be happy.
You should deal with your Wi-Fibefore you deal with the camera
.
I find that I use between 45and 90 gigabytes a month at
maximum.
When I had a big camera systemthat I tried out for a short
(22:11):
term and generally about half ofthat for the occasional alert
or a simple monitoring system.
Check with the company on theproduct you're going to buy and
run those nifty download andspeed tests.
On the internet you can get andcheck your system out.
Wi-fi costs are going up and,yes, indeed that's no surprise.
(22:37):
The government alsodiscontinued that wonderful
stipend we senior citizens gotfor Wi-Fi and not real pleased
about that.
That's going to kick my bill up$30 a month.
Hey, thank you.
Thank you, washington.
Just another example of thegreat job you're all doing.
(22:58):
Finally, as we head into it,it's time now, with the weather
changing the weather nicer, it'sa great time to think about
getting some lessons.
We are in the month of March,which means the April concealed
carry class.
We do have some room in that,don't miss out.
(23:18):
It filled up.
Last month.
Some people were sad.
The way not to be sad subscriberight now, grab it today, or we
always will, are willing to doa private lesson and, yes, a
private lesson is more expensivethan the class we're offering
the second Saturday of the month.
With that said, we'd like toinvite you to the website to
(23:41):
check it out, see what's goingon.
I'd like to also invite you toshare this podcast.
We're trying to build ourlistenership, so subscribe,
download it, talk it up to yourfriends and if there's things we
can talk about that areinterest to you that I'm not
hitting, or you'd like moreinformation on something, for
heaven's sakes, use that emailaddress on the front of the
(24:04):
first page and give us a shout.
I'll put a few links up.
I'll put simply safe up onlybecause it's something I use,
not because they're a sponsor,although I wouldn't mind if they
want it to be and a couple ofthe camera systems I have tried
and had pretty good luck with.
You would want to, of course,see if it's going to fit with,
like your system, your wi-fisetup and your lifestyle.
(24:29):
You do.
We have had a couple ofoccasions when the I, when I was
dating one of my dates, woke upin the middle of the night,
wanted to go out to the car andget something.
She wasn't going to wake me upand she got up and, oh boy, the
alarms went off.
Lights came on.
Scared the socks offer.
(24:50):
Well, scared flip flops offer.
And it's not the way you wantto start a relationship.
So if you've got a lot of kids,if you've got a lot of pets,
pets and motion sensors or anissue, do your research check it
out.
Okay, that's all I got for thisweek.
I hope to see you again nexttime.
(25:11):
We are going to be going to amore modified schedule.
I got some things going on.
I'll tell you about that nexttime and I'll tell you what to
expect in the weeks to come.
We are still I'm threatening togo to video by May.
We'll see if it happens, butthat's what I want to do either
way.
We hope to see you next weekback here at the ranch.
For another issue of survivalbeyond the bug out back or out
(25:35):
at the park or, hey, maybe justout on the street to say howdy,
be safe out there.
The preceding program was apresentation of retired guy
productions.
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