Introduction: Make a Dummy/Fake Camera
Have you ever had the feeling someone was "casing" your house. Perhaps someone was shaking your front door and when you asked them if you could help them, they asked you if this was -------'s house. You'd say no and they'd wander off. Then a couple of days later perhaps you'd see some guys hanging out by your back door. Perhaps you can see them scanning your house with their eyes but when you open the door, they'd act as if they were also looking for an address. Well, here's a way to deter crooks from even wanting to look at your house again.
Yes, there is a story behind why I made this. If any of you read my Full-sized ROMP instructable, you'd know that my sister had a baby and now he's only 2 weeks old. But anyhow, you hear all over the news about how some people are stealing other peoples' babies in any way they can (Example: In Missouri, a woman opened the door to let another woman use her phone cause her "car was broke down". As soon as she opened the door, the other woman slashed her throat and took her newborn baby).
Well, a few days ago, my sister was in her house and taking care of my nephew. She then heard the front door shaking so she went to investigate. There was a man with a large box on her porch shaking the front door. So she opened the door thinking that this was the rocking chair she had ordered. The man asked her if the town he was in was ------ (I'm not telling you where she lives), she said yes. Then he asked her if the address he was at was ------- ---------, once again she said yes. Then the man just said, "Oh, I must be in the wrong town", and walked away. And that's not all. A couple of days after that, there were two men standing outside their back door, just looking at the house. Luckily my brother-in-law was home and asked them if he could help them. They replied quickly, "This is the Jones', right?" and my brother-in-law said no. So they also walked off.
I made these with magnets so that you can use any flat ferrous surface to stick it to. The portable Dummy Camera....Also remember to put up "Warning: Surveillance" signs, to help deter thieves.
I made this to help deter the crooks and I'm also giving them some other real cameras that I have.
Yes, there is a story behind why I made this. If any of you read my Full-sized ROMP instructable, you'd know that my sister had a baby and now he's only 2 weeks old. But anyhow, you hear all over the news about how some people are stealing other peoples' babies in any way they can (Example: In Missouri, a woman opened the door to let another woman use her phone cause her "car was broke down". As soon as she opened the door, the other woman slashed her throat and took her newborn baby).
Well, a few days ago, my sister was in her house and taking care of my nephew. She then heard the front door shaking so she went to investigate. There was a man with a large box on her porch shaking the front door. So she opened the door thinking that this was the rocking chair she had ordered. The man asked her if the town he was in was ------ (I'm not telling you where she lives), she said yes. Then he asked her if the address he was at was ------- ---------, once again she said yes. Then the man just said, "Oh, I must be in the wrong town", and walked away. And that's not all. A couple of days after that, there were two men standing outside their back door, just looking at the house. Luckily my brother-in-law was home and asked them if he could help them. They replied quickly, "This is the Jones', right?" and my brother-in-law said no. So they also walked off.
I made these with magnets so that you can use any flat ferrous surface to stick it to. The portable Dummy Camera....Also remember to put up "Warning: Surveillance" signs, to help deter thieves.
I made this to help deter the crooks and I'm also giving them some other real cameras that I have.
Step 1: Materials and More....
Materials:
1. Old smoke detector (I did tell you I salvaged it)
2. Glue
3. Solder & Solder Iron
4. A disc magnet
5. Small flashlight's plastic lens.
6. Scissors
7. Wire
8. A red and black marker
9. Clear gloss spray
Steps:
1. Cut the disc magnet in half and glue them together.
2. Take the large white object (this is the alarm/siren of the detector) off of the smoke detector's circuit board (We'll call it the detector for the steps). Now glue the plastic lens over the hole so that it is center.
3. Now return to your circuit board and cut off the black wire. Turn the detector over and locate the "top" terminal (The bottom should be a wide open space). Solder the black wire onto the top terminal.
1. Old smoke detector (I did tell you I salvaged it)
2. Glue
3. Solder & Solder Iron
4. A disc magnet
5. Small flashlight's plastic lens.
6. Scissors
7. Wire
8. A red and black marker
9. Clear gloss spray
Steps:
1. Cut the disc magnet in half and glue them together.
2. Take the large white object (this is the alarm/siren of the detector) off of the smoke detector's circuit board (We'll call it the detector for the steps). Now glue the plastic lens over the hole so that it is center.
3. Now return to your circuit board and cut off the black wire. Turn the detector over and locate the "top" terminal (The bottom should be a wide open space). Solder the black wire onto the top terminal.
Step 2: The Easy Dummy Camera
1. Now turn back to the circuit board and cut the red wire off. This will make the camera appear to be connected to power. Solder the red wire to the bottom terminal. Loop the tip of the wire around the middle post (or solder/glue it).
2. Glue the two magnets underneath the bottom terminal. Push the red wire to the side to give the "looped power wire" effect.
3. Take a black marker and "color" the lens so it's kind of gray. Take a red marker and put three dots on the lens. This will make it appear as though the camera has nightvision.
4. Use the clear gloss spray on the front to prevent the marker from fading.
And there's the easy version, but if you want to really convince the crooks, you'll want to add a real LED onto the camera. So in order to do that, you must do all these steps and continue on.....
2. Glue the two magnets underneath the bottom terminal. Push the red wire to the side to give the "looped power wire" effect.
3. Take a black marker and "color" the lens so it's kind of gray. Take a red marker and put three dots on the lens. This will make it appear as though the camera has nightvision.
4. Use the clear gloss spray on the front to prevent the marker from fading.
And there's the easy version, but if you want to really convince the crooks, you'll want to add a real LED onto the camera. So in order to do that, you must do all these steps and continue on.....
Step 3: The More Convincing Fake Camera.
Extra Materials:
1. Two small watch batteries
2. Pliers
Steps:
1. Go back to the circuit board and take off either one of the LED's (both of mine were burnt out, so I took mine out of an old computer). Trim off two pieces from the tall metal piece to use as guides.
2. On both sides of the middle/bottom terminals, melt a hole and place the trimmed metal pieces into them. Glue or solder them into place. Now you should have a rectangle in the center. Melt away the bottom of the rectangle to create a pocket for the two batteries.
3. On one of the sides of the detector, melt a hole to put the LED into.
4. Now solder wires to the LED. Now Goop around the inside of the "pocket" to insulate the electricity from the terminals. Put a dollop (Haha, made a commercial reference) of Goop behind each wire and press them into place on the inside of the pocket (or solder it, but it's easier to glue it).
5. Glue the LED into the hole on the side. Now glue all the wires down to prevent them from straying.
Now put the batteries in. I made a little extra room in my camera's battery pocket, so I could use a small wire as an on/off "switch".
Improvement ideas are welcomed.....
1. Two small watch batteries
2. Pliers
Steps:
1. Go back to the circuit board and take off either one of the LED's (both of mine were burnt out, so I took mine out of an old computer). Trim off two pieces from the tall metal piece to use as guides.
2. On both sides of the middle/bottom terminals, melt a hole and place the trimmed metal pieces into them. Glue or solder them into place. Now you should have a rectangle in the center. Melt away the bottom of the rectangle to create a pocket for the two batteries.
3. On one of the sides of the detector, melt a hole to put the LED into.
4. Now solder wires to the LED. Now Goop around the inside of the "pocket" to insulate the electricity from the terminals. Put a dollop (Haha, made a commercial reference) of Goop behind each wire and press them into place on the inside of the pocket (or solder it, but it's easier to glue it).
5. Glue the LED into the hole on the side. Now glue all the wires down to prevent them from straying.
Now put the batteries in. I made a little extra room in my camera's battery pocket, so I could use a small wire as an on/off "switch".
Improvement ideas are welcomed.....