Create a CCTV system to monitor your home or office using the equipment that you probably already have.
A post appeared in the internet news feeds this week about a burglar who broke into someone’s home and was caught on surveillance cameras. 
Here is the link to the article “Caught in the act: Dopey burglar stares directly at CCTV camera”
The article mentions the use of a special camera that is not available in the UK. Nonsense! You can use your existing computer or laptop webcam.
In this quick guide I will show you how to install your own (DIY) CCTV for security – without the expense of fancy cameras and monitoring equipment.
Images and video captured by the camera are sent up and stored on the internet so if a burglar steals the computer that is recording them – the footage has already been sent to an online server or another drive.
Equipment Required:
- A computer or laptop.
- A webcam (you can even use the webcam that is built into your laptop)
- An internet connected router
There are a lot of software programs that you can use. As this is a starter guide we will focus on a free program called Yawcam.
Yawcam stands for “Yet Another Webcam” software. But it is anything but “just another” webcam software. This free utility has a tiny footprint on your computer, is incredibly easy to use and includes features such as online streaming, motion detection, scheduling, time lapse recording and much more.
How to get started.
Download the Yawcam software from this link.
Once the program is installed run some tests and set it up as required. Im not going to go into all the details of how to configure the software, the website has very good support and tutorials on how to set it up. On the Yawcam site look for the “Help” section and the instructions are all there.
Disclaimer bit: The idea of this post is a project tutorial to show you how easy these things can be set up. If you think that you do need CCTV then I recommend contacting a professional alarm technician to arrange a consultation.