Re: spyproofing your house/work building

"Perry E. Metzger" <anagld!lehman.com!pmetzger> writes:

> > Make sure the drapes block IR.  There are instances of even local
> > police forces flooding the front of a house with IR light,
> 
> You mean heat? What did they do, exactly? Erect giant heat lamps in
> front of the house? No one inside noticed either?
 
This is getting rather far afield, but I'll answer:

Light sources to generate usable IR aren't any larger than visible
systems, and do not generate the amounts of heat you're imagining.
These aren't Kentucky Fried Chicken food warmers.  Pick any of several
security industry magazines and you'll find many advertisements for
"undetectable" (in the sense of being visible to the naked eye) IR
surveillance systems.  Even the FLIR systems mounted on police observation
helicopters (Ft. Worth being the most notable user) are easily mounted
inside a van or delivery truck.

From the literature I have, the British SAS have long used this
observation method immediately prior to initiating hostage rescue.

It will be interesting to see if any "peeping tom" cases come out of
the large amount of Soviet night vision gear now available,
relatively cheaply, to civilians.  Due to it's low price, it has
also become popular with local police departments.  Even the town
I went to high school in, population 10,000, has some night vision gear.

Dan


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Yeah, this is getting pretty far afield, but if you want to see what
IR floodlight/camera combinations look like, visit Disneyland. That
park probably has one of the most extensive video surveillance systems
of any place readily accessible to the public. (I expect Disney World
is much the same).

IR cameras are everywhere in the inside rides, especially in dark
areas where visible floodlights would ruin the dramatic
effect. Perhaps the easiest place to see them is in Pirates of the
Caribbean. Just turn around and look backwards, and you'll see video
cameras mounted overhead next to dim red lights.

Other rides where they can be easily seen include People Mover (never
crowded), Haunted Mansion and Space Mountain.

Phil

> Yeah, this is getting pretty far afield, but if you want to see what
> IR floodlight/camera combinations look like, visit Disneyland. That
> park probably has one of the most extensive video surveillance systems
> of any place readily accessible to the public. (I expect Disney World
> is much the same).

Wow, I never knew that... then again, since Disney is its own government,
I should have expected as much....
 
> IR cameras are everywhere in the inside rides, especially in dark
> areas where visible floodlights would ruin the dramatic
> effect. Perhaps the easiest place to see them is in Pirates of the
> Caribbean. Just turn around and look backwards, and you'll see video
> cameras mounted overhead next to dim red lights.
> 
> Other rides where they can be easily seen include People Mover (never
> crowded), Haunted Mansion and Space Mountain.

Here's another idea... in terms of spyproofing one's house, how about
throwing some radio-shack IR-detecting transistors outside the house,
rigged to an internal alarm... Ifg a lot of these detectors go off, 
the folks inside can be fairly sure of some weirdos outside...