#936 – The Expat Files: Security Systems & Life in Portugal

Automatically transcribed from the original recording; names and wording may contain errors.

[00:00] South of the border down Mexico way That's where I fell in love when the stars above came out to play and now I wonder Hello there all you ex-pat wannabes. I'm Johnny Mueller and you're listening to the expat files living in Latin America The show that tells you just what it's like to live work play and or retire down here in Latin America It's a mix of the good the bad the ugly and the great and it's all right here. So let's get started I mentioned since I did that show a couple weeks ago about security cameras in your home You might remember I got a slew of emails from people asking me to go into more details and give them some suppliers and tips On good products and how to set up a complete system of the highest quality for the lowest price, etc

[00:48] So on the previous show just Friday a couple days ago I went into some more details, but I didn't quite finish up So I'm gonna give you some more tips that are really important in setting up your own security camera system and how to save yourself a ton of money and have really clear high-definition images on both your monitor and Your smartphone while you're out and about and you know I realized that when you're looking to buy a system like that you can get so confused There's so many types of systems out there so many companies so many camera styles so many different kinds of specifications So right now I'm gonna break it down for you and eliminate some of that confusion First of all, let's talk about zoom. You can zoom your cameras two ways In other words, there are two ways to magnify the image on your camera

[01:34] One is a built-in digital zoom all cameras have those you just zoom and your camera and software Expands the image automatically. It's like the zoom in your cell phone Usually you can zoom a camera like that from four to eight times But with a digital zoom like that you automatically lose definition That's why as I mentioned the last show you want to get 4k cameras or 8 megapixel Resolution same thing kind of confusing but 4k means 4,000 pixels along the horizontal edge of the picture with the vertical edge being 2,000 pixels the total number is roughly 8 million and that's why they call it 8 megapixel So ultra high definition is 4k or 8 megapixels either one So then why do I always recommend 4k cameras because when you do a digital zoom on those things

[02:21] It's just a click of the mouse the picture is such ultra high definition Anyway, even with an 8 times zoom, it won't be blurry and you'll see the picture very clearly like for example if you want to check out someone's face clearly from across the street or a license plate if You have anything less than a 4k camera that again is 8 megapistles There's a good chance it'll be blurry and it just won't be able to make it out clearly In other words with a lesser definition camera, you'll start seeing the pixels. It'll be pixelated Now you heard me say before you can get those 4k cameras for under a hundred bucks Now meaning you've got no excuse not to get the best Anyway, as mentioned there are two kinds of zoom electronic zoom in your circuitry like I was just talking about and mechanical or optical zoom That means the cameras got a built-in tiny little nano motor that on command will do a mechanical zoom within the camera

[03:11] In other words, the lens will actually move just like when you're zooming with a pair of binoculars or a telescope And with that kind of mechanical or optical zoom you get no loss of resolution while you zoom There's no definition lost at all The only loss you get is the loss of the field of vision because when you zoom you're looking at a smaller area And now you might be thinking okay, so let's get 4k cameras with internal or optical zoom Well, here's the tip a camera like that will cost you over 200 bucks because it's got more circuitry the nano motor Just more parts in general and more things to go wrong So in the case of people like us We just want a nice camera system with nice high-definition zoom The big tip here is just to get an ultra high definition 4k camera Go ahead and get one of the low priced models

[03:59] That means it'll have a fixed focused lens a lens that doesn't move and that's fine Now, of course, you've seen those mechanical or optical zoom cameras Some of them are on turrets and they actually can be operated with a joystick and follow a person around you've seen those I'm sure like in spy movies and such. Well, that's commercial grade stuff and cameras that have a motorized turret That is they spin around they are very costly could be three four five hundred bucks Believe me, you do not need anything like that because for one thing cameras these days even the cheap ones will give you a hundred degrees Or more field of vision. So what's that mean? Well our normal field of vision when you're looking straight ahead with two eyes is around 200 degrees in other words one stationary camera will see about one half of The width of the panorama that you see when you're looking straight ahead and really that's a hell of a lot

[04:48] That means if you set up two cameras in one spot slightly angled away from each other It's about equal to a human's field of vision simply put skip the motorized turret camera And if you need a wider field of vision just get an extra camera and mount to for example If you mount a camera on your garage And you're looking at the street if you want to get the entire view left to right up and down the street 180 degrees or more you just mount two cameras next to each other angled about 90 degrees apart now You heard me saying the last show that 4k cameras That's 8 megapixel cameras have been around for a couple of years But just in the last year year and a half They've dropped way down to under a hundred bucks apiece and sometimes you can find complete package deals on sale minus the monitor Where the cameras break down to around 50 bucks apiece that means if you shop around and you get lucky

[05:35] You could find it 8 camera set up for just a little over 500 bucks including the brain called the DVR That's digital video recorder sometimes called an NVR That's got the electronics the hard disk and the power supply for each camera now depending on the size of the hard driver hard drives That you select you can record all your cameras from anywhere from a couple of days to a month or even more It's up to you It's your choice, but the bigger the hard drive the more it'll cost you for example a 2 tetra byte hard drive might cost 75 bucks and a 4 tetra byte 100 bucks So it's well worth spending the extra 25 bucks to get double the recording time now You'll also see a bunch of different styles of cameras out there too the way they look and I recommend only two types The bullet camera and the turret camera. I'm talking about the stationary turret camera

[06:24] It's a camera that looks like a ball But does not have a motor in it that can be operated by a joystick to follow people around Though you can buy them that way and they're very expensive They're not necessary for our purposes that would be big-time overkill even if you had a store or some other kind of commercial business So what's the difference between a bullet camera and a turret camera for one thing the turret camera? It looks like a ball or a partial glass ball and the glass is tinted very dark so you can't see where the cameras pointed so people don't know if they're being watched or not and Turret cameras look a little more professional and cleaner than the bullet types and bullet cameras They don't really look like bullets. They look more like little cans on a stick now Both of them will give you exactly the same quality picture except the bullet camera It's much easier to disable if you're a bad guy

[07:11] So you don't want to have bullet cameras outside unless they're very high up and unreachable However, if you want people to instantly know they're being surveilled get bullet cameras because they're obvious they stick out now Here's the strange part. They both cost the same So mix and match if you like but note that the bullet cameras have one great advantage over the turret They're very easy to adjust and the turret cameras sometimes it can be a pain in the ass You can get it done, but it takes a lot longer I'm referring to what you have to do to get your camera adjusted and pointed exactly where you want it because they're stationary cameras Remember and once you set them that's where they're gonna stay but really the only time that will concern you is when you're first setting up your system and looking at your monitor and Deciding what you want the cameras to see in other words bullet cameras are a snap to set up initially and turret cameras

[08:00] Unless you're really lucky the first time out can take a hell of a lot longer to adjust but with patience you'll prevail Now if someone was to say to me Johnny, you can only pick one kind of camera style What would it be I'd pick the turret cameras even though initially they're harder to set up and adjust because for one They're less noticeable to they're pretty hard to disable and three They seem to be a bit tougher and longer-lasting over time and in this is important They're very easy to clean compared to the bullet types Which have lots of angles curves and areas dirt and bugs can hang out and you'll find especially if you've got those cameras outside After a couple of months, you'll find that especially the bullet types will start building up dust and grime and spiderwebs even become

[08:46] magnets for wasp nests and bird poop Believe me. I've seen it all. Nope. They're not completely maintenance free every once in a while You have to go up there and dust them off takes a little time, but easy enough unless you don't like heights But hey, if you live here in Latin America, you can send your maintenance guy or gardener up to do that sure But do show him how to clean the first one don't just send them up there because well those guys are used to solving problems with a hammer or a machete and We're talking about sophisticated delicate electronics here. Oh, and here's another tip I never recommend you have any of those cameras out there on an EAVS or an outside wall without some Protection from the elements. In other words, you don't want rain to hit it directly or the hot Sun to beat down on it all day Sure, even if they're protected, they'll catch a little Sun or rain they can handle that but not

[09:34] Continuously day after day though. They are completely waterproof the Sun can be a killer So that means you should install them under ledges or under your EAVS Or if you're placing one up a tree, I've done that then shield it under a big branch and what I've always done But it takes a little time and some planning is when I set a camera in a tree or up a power pole I've done that to fastening it with a couple of stainless steel straps basically a giant hose clamp You know what I'm talking about I'll also build a little enclosure for the camera looks like kind of a half a birdhouse So that the camera itself has a tiny roof above it That'll stop the Sun when it's high on the horizon and rain when it's beaten down And if you don't have your cameras under an EAVS or protect them like that after a year or two They start looking pretty ready and eventually something's got to give now if you want more detail

[10:23] And just how I make those boxes and protect the cameras send me an email to expat files at gmail.com And I'll go into some more detail for you right here, and I might even post a couple of pictures of how it's done Sure protecting cameras that are right out in the open takes a little extra time, but believe me it's worth it For example not so long ago I put in a 16 camera system with six of those cameras either up in trees or exposed on telephone or power poles So I made some simple but effective custom enclosures for them out of galvanized electrical boxes Oh and one more thing you heard me mentioned that I don't recommend wireless cameras simply because they're not there yet with 4k Plus you have to have power teach camera and even though some of them run on battery They're just not good enough yet though. They will be in a couple of years, so that's coming now

[11:10] I'm not saying you can't buy a good wireless system now But you will not have a very high definition picture And if they use batteries they might last six months, but you still have to go up there and change them my opinion I'd rather wait till they're better and cheaper so that leaves you with a traditional kind of system Where you have to string wires and by the way when you buy a complete system that's got everything in a box You're gonna get the cables all pre-made up usually for example if you buy a four or eight camera system each Cable will be 50 feet long which may or may not be enough because each one of those has to lead back To the brains of the unit the DVR or NVR and as luck will have it you'll usually end up having huge rolls of extra wire near your DVR for Six out of your eight cameras if it's an eight camera system and two cables from two long-distance cameras outside that are too short

[12:01] That's life isn't it and if that happens you can just go on Amazon or down to your electronic store and buy a hundred foot pre-made cable and that will solve the problem by the way pre-made cables are pretty cheap a 100 footer on Amazon 20 bucks or less Problem is you never know until you start stringing your cameras up if you're gonna have adequate cable or too little That's why I like to make up my own cables It takes some time, but then you get the cables exactly the lengths you want them And you know there are lots of youtubes that show you exactly how to cut and splice cables for camera systems It's easy. You just have to have the right tools in fact You could buy a nice splicing kit with the connectors on Amazon for something like 25 bucks Then you just buy a spool of cable and start making them up as you need them Which brings us to something that people need to understand there are two completely different cable systems. You can use for cameras

[12:52] Let's talk about the slightly more expensive up-scale kind of commercial grade what they call PoE that's POE System also known as Ethernet cable the kind of using computers and modems with that system each camera uses only one cable With eight little wires in it and at each end of the cable. There's a clear plastic connector You know what I'm talking about You probably have a cable or two like that in your home right now if your computer is hardwired to your router In fact, you'll need one of those cables to plug into your DVR or NVR and into your router So that you can look at your cameras on your smartphone So let's talk about that so-called POE system that stands for power over Ethernet So what's that mean now as mentioned when you use this system? You only need one cable like that's got eight little wires and two of those wires have the power in them

[13:41] The rest are for the signal the video signal and there's two in there also for an audio If you want to listen to people who are walking by your camera So if you elect to buy one of those systems You'll have audio too, and you know those Ethernet cables are pretty tough They'll withstand a lot of tugging and pulling now the 12 volt power That's in that cable will allow you to run a camera up to 300 feet from your main NVR or DVR unit monitor That's where the other end of the cable is plugged in one in your camera one in the NVR or DVR and of course One cable for each camera. That's not to say 300 feet is the limit There is what you call a POE switch, which will give you another 300 feet But to tell you the truth, I never set up a system myself

[14:27] Nor do I know anyone whoever has we had to accommodate for a camera that was more than 300 feet That's the length of a football field from the NVR and monitor But technically it is possible to run a camera over a mile As long as you've got a daisy chain of POE switches, so when would you possibly use that well? If you bought a place out in the boonies and set up a teak or an avocado farm could come in handy So that's the first of two types of cabling systems. You could have your camera POE power over internet It's called a plain old ethernet cable by the way I personally much prefer this system the POE system to the second type of cable system called CCTV cables as closed-circuit TV cables or BNC Connectors BNC now that type of cable a BNC cable

[15:16] Connects very easily to your system. Basically, it's a coax cable. It's a snap Except you need two cables for each camera one cable to carry the 12 volt power supply and one to carry the video signal Note with this system. You can't have audio like you can with the POE ethernet cables Why well you need two extra wires for audio and they're not there You've only got two cables and each one has two conductors now this so-called CCTV BNC cable system Is a lot cheaper than a POE Ethernet system. It's more for non-commercial use household use The cables are flimsier more fragile than POE and the cables almost always come pre-made with a completely different kind of connector than POE Installers call this cable

[16:02] Siamese cable like Siamese twin because the two cables the one for the audio and for the video Come bonded together. You can see the two distinct nearly identical pairs when you're holding it in your hand Now the question is is there any difference in picture quality over one or the other system? Well, the truth is there is a little bit of a difference though Not in the actual picture quality if you've got 4k cameras are still ultra high definition No matter which system you use But you see when you're setting it up You can adjust the frames per second that are recorded the more frames per second Let's say 10 frames per second versus 15 the smoother the picture is on playback Now there's not much difference at all when you're watching the monitor and the cameras live But on playback the number of frames per second makes a big difference and the systems with the POE cable or ethernet cable

[16:54] Can be set to record at a much higher frame per second rate than the system with the CCD BNC Siamese cable that means when you play back the motion is much smoother, but you know for our purposes It doesn't make that much difference who cares if the playback is a tiny bit jerky when you're watching it live It's completely natural. However, I do like the POE cable systems a lot better myself because they're more rugged And you only have to run one wire and don't forget that's the only way you're gonna get audio if you're interested in that It comes in handy, but very few people use it unless it's a front door camera Another reason I like the POE or ethernet cable systems with a little practice You can make up any length of cable you want pretty quickly Whereas the Siamese cable is more fragile and more difficult to work with when splicing

[17:42] Again, YouTube videos are great for learning how to do that stuff Oh, and I forgot to mention the cable with POE connectors is called cat 5 cable CAT 5 It's universally used for all computer ethernet connections So you can get it in almost every electronic shop Another tip when you buy that stuff always always always buy the stuff that's got solid copper wire in it Not copper clad aluminum, which is quite a bit cheaper. Don't be cheap when it comes to the wiring So a thousand feet of cat 5 cable, that's solid copper Remember, there are eight wires in that cable might cost a hundred bucks That's a lot of cable thousand feet probably a lot more than you'll ever need even for an eight camera system Now if you compare that with the cost of buying a thousand foot of cat 5 cable

[18:27] That's aluminum wire with a copper coating that might cost 60 bucks big tip here Go with the good stuff. You only want to do this once Alright one last thing if you order a complete system, that'd be everything but the monitor cables connectors NVR and all you'll notice right away that the POE or ethernet cat 5 cable systems are Heavier duty all around than the Siamese cable system even the NVR DVR controller box It's heavier more solid and looks like everything's a bit higher quality So my advice go with the POE ethernet cat 5 cable system if you can Simply because it's more rugged and probably less longer Oh and do note that these systems are all plug and play now That means you don't have to screw around with software or anything You just plug them in hook up the monitor in the mouse and you're good to go and as far as seeing your cameras on

[19:18] Your smartphone Well, you just download the app and it'll ask you to scan the barcode on the camera box and you're in Oh and one final final thing your NVR or DVR is probably going to be hidden in a closet or a shelf somewhere And your kit will come with a mouse that's connected by USB Well, you want to throw that mouse away and get yourself a wireless mouse Because miracle of miracles. I found out a long time ago The signal for a wireless mouse will pass through doors walls and closets 20 even 30 feet away from the NVR It's plugged into in other words If you have your monitor in the bedroom in your unit in the closet You don't want to run a long cable into the closet just to use your mouse with the monitor So go wireless and you know I used to think that it had to be line-of-sight and a wireless mouse would never work under those conditions

[20:03] You know with the unit in the closet. I was wrong the 2.4 gigahertz wireless signal penetrates even pretty substantial thicknesses of block and concrete Which begs the question are those EMF waves damaging you? Well, I checked it out with my trusty EMF meter You heard me talk about that before and they're not problematic at all By the way, have you bought your EMF meter yet? If you do you'll be surprised that the dirty electricity you'll find around your house again If you want to find out which EMF meter I recommend and use myself Send me an email to expect files at gmail.com and remember I don't make a cent when I recommend stuff Now I've said about that probably way too much said about that I don't know how many you guys and girls out there are interested in this stuff But you have to know when you move to another country or even if you're staying in the States

[20:50] Especially if you stay in the States, you really should have a high-tech security system things are not getting any better Unless you're living in a different reality than I am and of course I'm talking about things getting worse up in the first world Seems like 99.9% of all the bad boys and girls down here the ass crack pants and neck tattoo types They have a definite dream and a purpose to move to the US or Canada Tens of thousands of them have already you've probably seen a few if you're okay with that And are looking for more of the same or worse do vote for burnt Bernie cuz he'll take down the wall and he'll eliminate ice Hey, I'm no Trump fan. I'm no politicians fan We all know at least people listening to this show the trains off the rails and the bridge is out Depending who you vote for will determine how fast you get there

[21:38] Meanwhile all the smart and astute Americans and Canadians Some smart Asians and Europeans too are working on or at least thinking about a plan B Your plan B doesn't necessarily have to be in Latin America though many parts of Latin America are great options for example long-time Listener Mike writes to me says Johnny Get my plan B ducks lined up and probably come into your seminar in July by the way any thoughts on living in Portugal Mike glad you asked that question You know, I've been to Portugal a couple of times been to Lisbon and the Algarve that would be what they call the Portuguese Riviera Very beautiful peaceful very cheap though nowhere as cheap as Latin America But cheap as compared to most of the rest of Europe that is do you see the problem is Europe's got some?

[22:24] Critical problems that just cannot be solved number one. They've got a huge debt crisis even worse than the states They're getting invaded by illegals mostly Muslims who refuse to integrate Just talk to any cop in Italy France Portugal Germany Even cops in the Nordic countries like Sweden Denmark and Norway and they'll tell you there are some districts that are completely Off-limits for cops. In fact in some districts. They practice sure real law. I'm telling you Mike. It's a huge problem I've been there. I've seen it in fact about a year and a half ago I was in Barcelona could eat Spain on the border of Portugal France Italy And I'll tell you the general population do not have good things to say about what's happening in Europe They're afraid and very pessimistic not to mention any place in Europe is way too close to that

[23:09] Powder keg called the Middle East every day you hear about rockets being fired buildings getting bombed civilians getting killed And remember some of those politically and socially retarded countries have nukes or are on the verge of having them Yep, I use the r-word. I don't care However, I do know that travel and retirement rags and blogs like International Living Conde Nast traveler and a lot of others like AARP rate every year the 10 best countries to retire in and Portugal always seems to Show up on that list and they're right at least for now. They're right, but in five years Man, I wouldn't give a plug nickel for the place or any place in Europe There are some cities and towns there that are on the edge of chaos Have you been to Rome Paris France or Barcelona lately? Oh, they've got all those beautiful museums ancient artifacts and tourist spots

[23:57] For sure, and they're great But you just walk two or three blocks off the main tourist drag and things start looking pretty ghoulish Welcome to the Casbah if you know what I mean I'll tell you last time I was in Barcelona Spain about a year and a half ago every single day I saw cops on motorcycles and on foot chasing thieves and muggers preying on a tourist and every day I'd see groups of raggedy sort of desperate very non-european looking young men mulling around on corners alleys and side streets Up to no good for sure and when a cop or two would come by on foot or on a motorcycle Man, they would split in a hurry Oh and I was in a pizza parlor in Barcelona and a guy with a fez walked in and demanded a free piece of pizza The owner said he and his buddies come in and harass customers like that every day Now mike, you don't have to take my word for it

[24:45] Why don't you take a little trip to Portugal and see for yourself? Then make a side trip to Madrid or Paris or Barcelona Just an hour or two by high speed train As for me, I still really like Europe, but just to visit it's going down fast economically crime rates are shooting up And I don't want to be there when the s*** hits the fan, but that's me I could be wrong, but I don't think so and finally I like to reach a part of an email It just came in that I think you're gonna find pretty interesting It's from chick. He says when I was a kid I idolized this style of Humphrey Bogart and James Stewart and I'm only 44 I was also drawn to old western swing and small combo jazz bands like Louie Armstrong, Satchmo's, Hot Fives and Sevens He says I began gigging at smoky bars on street corners with my homemade bow fiddle at 15

[25:34] Always in a suit of some sort Usually a thrift store throw together. I altered on my mother's 1960s sewing machine she bought in Germany as a wee little girl Then he says I still play the bow fiddle and wear suits Thankfully the gigs are no longer in clubs and street corners and my suits are tailored for me to my exact specs and design Here's my point Not everybody likes to wear suits every day like I do Though it has its advantages and can be comfortable, but one can get anything they want made for pennies on the dollar South of south of the border In fact, I had four quality suits a tux and tails and six World war one british and german tunics made for me in ecuador last year The suits were 120 bucks apiece and beautifully made tunics for a hundred

[26:25] Really quality work done in just six days too about those uniforms. They were made for a world war one movie I was commissioned to make Anyway, johnny. I have a lot to ask you I know this email is going on way too long I just wanted to let your people know that they can get anything they want Made to order in the way of clothing for cheap Like anything though one has to shop around when you're south of south of the border In the high-end shopping districts, for example of keto ecuador. I found tailored suits started at around 300 bucks But the price kept falling the closer. I walked into the historic downtown district closer to the blue collar areas Anyway, johnny. Thanks so much for your great show and the time and effort you put into each episode

[27:10] They never sound phoned in Ps and please let me know if you have any good lawyer in ecuador you can recommend for visa things We know that in ecuador like the other countries you've mentioned the rules are changing all the time signed chick valentino All right chick. Thanks for that and about that lawyer remind me with another email in a week or so, okay You've been listening to the expat files living in latin america If you need some help with your own plan b we can schedule a one-on-one phone or skype consult Just send me an email the expat files at gmail.com And if you want to get on the waiting list for my next week-long expat insider seminar in central america Where you're guaranteed to get a two to five year head start on your plan b send me an email the expat files at gmail.com

[27:57] nos famos