The Thing in the Woods... cont'd

I went back in broad daylight curious to find out more about the thing in the woods. It was clear that someone had visited the site, as the twigs I'd carefully laid down were trodden and broken. The camouflaged log thing had been stood upright against a tree trunk. Eager to know more, I once again lifted the hatch, this time from the other side. After a bit of firking about I felt something further down in the hole, I pulled it up. It was a laminated label. "ECO-VIEWER MK3 RECEIVER AND DIGITAL RECORDER"
So it is a covert camera system.

On studying the now upright camo' log, the lens was obvious. Last time I visited it was slumped up against the tree, the lens hidden by the trunk. It must have fallen out of position and the operator has been back to rectify it. Not wanting to appear on CCTV I had to bend over backwards in a comical ballet position in order to take the somewhat blurry photo. Lets hope that there is only one hidden camera or else there is some great footage of me making a pleb out of myself!

It seems likely that this is a covert camera system left by the council in order to catch fly-tippers. I'm no fan of CCTV, and to find out that even in the countryside where I thought I was safe from prying eyes, I am still been spied upon, frankly pisses me off. People (if you can call them that) that dump crap in the countryside (or anywhere) piss me off even more, so I will tolerate this little intrusion.

From the looks of the case etc, I reckon this system is similar to the one below.

I don't suppose that these systems come cheap, and apparently the council have had a few of these stolen (Hint... hide it better, and/or lock it to a tree?) ... Not by me of course, what possible use or adventures would I find for one of these?!

The Thing in the Woods...

It is a wood I know well, out in the countryside, not particularly near anywhere. Something was different. A branch out of place. Foliage that did not belong. A footprint where there shouldn't be. A tweak in the wire of the fence.

I looked closer and saw this. At first I thought it was a homeless persons stash.

A closer inspection revealed a wire, disguised with camouflaged tape. The wire led down into the leaf cover.

I followed the wire through the leaf litter along the floor of the woods...

It disappeared into what looked like a hatch.

I cleared away a little of the debris, and tentatively peeked under the edge.

Carefully I lifted up the lid. Beneath was a Peli case and two large camouflaged battereis.

I didn't attempt to open the case. I don't know what this equipment does. Maybe it's some sort of E.T. contraption 'phoning home'... (I didn't see any BMX tracks). Someone has gone to a lot of effort to conceal it. I reckon that it's got to be some sort of surveillance apparatus. The local council use spy tactics to catch people illegally dumping, and there was that incident where a postal van was set on fire here after a raid with the driver still tied up inside (he got out luckily), so it could be the police. I couldn't find any sort of a camera attached. I suppose there could be a remote camera. It's mystery, and that's why I'm going back tonight. I'll be sure to take a scanner to try and find a signal of any kind, as well as a video camera to pick up any infra red from a low light camera...

Things to do when you're bored!...

I'm forever playing with my cameras. While messing about experimenting with long exposures, I realised that I could get the computer screen to appear to 'leap out'...
With a little bit more fiddling, I got it to project out further...
... and further... OK, I'm bored with that, what next?
Evil eyes coming out of your screen!
Cat eyes staring you out...
"You looking at me?!"...

Helicopter highs...

The idea was simple. Learn to fly a model helicopter, attach a mini video unit to it and get some cool footage. In reality it didn't turn out so simple.
I began with a cheap 3 channel electric model. No good. After practicing enough to elude myself that it was me controlling it, and not visa versa, I came to the conclusion that it wasn't up to the job. The slightest puff of wind sent it drifting to the far end of the garden.
A better helicopter was purchased. Coaxial rotors (2 main rotors mounted one above the other operating in opposite directions) for stability, 4 channel control employing a proper swash plate for pinpoint positioning. Now I was able to go up, down, forwards, backwards, plus yaw left and right, or any combination of all six together.
Learning to fly this was like patting your head while rubbing your tummy while riding a bicycle!! Two weeks later I could fly with reasonable accuracy.
I started off using a little wireless camera. Fairly light at only 20 grams the helicopter lifted it easily, unfortunately it required a heavy battery to run it. The weight was too much and flight became laboured and clumsy. I purchased a specialist flight camera. It only weighed 37 grams, and would take stills as well as 25 frames a second video, storing them on an SD card...perfect.

After weeks of windy, wet, dull, unsuitable weather, there came a still, brightish day. Everything was set... except the camera battery wasn't fully charged, damn. It switched off after 30 secs of video, which was VERY annoying. Luckily it had enough juice to carry on taking stills, one every 4 seconds. The first attempt seemed to be going well. Achieved a good height, span it around to look back at the house. Then, as I descended, the wind funnelling around the house gripped the little chap and urged him down to the main road. After amusing the rush hour traffic with a couple of jaunty pirouettes, it headed for the sanctuary of the front garden. The Bumble bees buzzed in annoyance as it landed on the flower heads next to them in the Buddleia bush. A battery change and a quick pruning to remove the majority of the collected foliage and it was time for another attempt. Brimming with enthusiasm I flew ever higher... The little machine was a silhouetted speck against a wide sky. This may have been part of the problem as the wind tussled the rotors... The tail boom was missing after a previous incident when the ground came up unexpectedly and hit it. It wasn't now very clear which way the helicopter was pointing. I descended a little, gravity being the only control I was sure of. That was better. Now I could see which way it was facing. Look left, over the neighbours garden... Look behind, for a view of my garden... Spin 180 degrees for a look at.... CRAP!! Who put that roof there?! Rotor tips whined at 3000rpm against the roof tiles, desperate to gain escape velocity. It was no good, the camera and tired battery forced an unceremonious 'gutter' landing. It dangled perilously from the high roof, swinging calmly from the one skid hooked over the gutter edge.
Not to worry. I have a plan. If I buy an even bigger helicopter, and attach a hook underneath. Hover it over the stranded one......

A beacon light, and fireworks bright....

It's not actually Bonfire night yet, not until the 5th, but as it was the weekend Pype Hayes Park had their fire and fireworks early. The queues and the traffic chaos is tiresome, so I park some distance away and walk up along a small stream. You can't actually get in this way, the huge fire looks small on the horizon, but you are really, really close to the firework launching area....perhaps too close.

Trying to get a good photo offered a dilemma, a long exposure and get streaks of colour, or a fast shutter speed and capture the action.

I locked the focus, compromised on the shutter and set up the white balance as best I could. In the end I was happy to get anything, (quite fast things fireworks!)

This years display concentrated on variety and shape rather than the usual shock and awe.

Pretty, but where's the big bangs?!

There were some really unusual ones...

These reminded me of palm trees.

The display got more raucous. They had just been building up to the bigger stuff.

I wasn't where I should have been, and as the sparks showered ever closer this became more apparent. I made a mental note of the direction to take towards the stream should it be needed.

Some of the bangs shook your innards. One particularly big explosion sent a visible shock wave out across the grass towards me and my camera shut itself down. The 'shock protection' on the hard drive had decided enough was enough and had saved itself by switching itself off. It came back on with little fuss but I had missed the opportunity of photographing the best of the display.

In a flurry of sparks and bangs it was over. I switched the camera off and prepared for home. It was then that, through the gloom of firework smoke a low flying passenger jet banked sharply, its underbelly illuminated golden in the glow of the fire. Why is it the best shots turn up after you switch the camera off?!.....

Big Brother IS watching you (but doesn't give a damn)

4.2 million CCTV cameras and counting in the UK. That's 1 for every 14 people. On average you are captured over 300 times a day. George Orwell warned us of this in his creation "Nineteen Eightyfour". He lived at Flat 27b Canonbury Square, London. Within 200 yards of his flat there are now 32 CCTV cameras...Big Brother is truly here.
In the spirit of research, I decided to see how many cameras and how many times I was filmed on a short few minute walk around my immediate neighbourhood.

First off, the local station. A small station with reasonable sized car park for commuters to 'park and ride' in a quiet suburb of a small town. How many cameras would you expect?

What a lovely welcome! Do you feel safer? Why the need for spikes?

On the walkway and the platform, more 'prettified' cameras. Remember this count doesn't include the two more cameras in the ticket office, just the ones encountered as you walk out in public areas.

You might think your car is safer parked in such a well watched place, but of an evening it was left up to me to tackle some teenagers running across vehicle rooves. They ran off when they saw me in the car, after an angrily executed tyre squealing J-turn and a short chase I caught them. The police were phoned but never turned up, not a peep out of any transport police that should have been dispatched by the camera operators. What was I meant to do? I had to let them go. This might lead you to believe that the cameras aren't being watched, but no. Park with one of your wheels on the white line and a voice booms out from the top of a mast that you are not complying with car park regulations!!!!!!

On your exit, an extra camera scans the back of your head...just in case.

So, how many cameras to guard the ever so dangerous station....24!

The tally increases as I amble up the road. One camera filming the road outside offices. One filming you from the Chinese takeaway. 14 watch you as you pass the petrol station. There are pinhole cameras mounted in the pumps themselves now. 4 in the small public car park. 3 follow you as you walk by the library. 3 more point across the road at you from a small electronics manufacturer.

Homeward bound a police car passes, adding another 3 (1 forward facing, 1 to the rear and 1 automatic number plate recognition ).

The final total on my short walk?...Fifty three! This doesn't include any residential cameras or those keeping tabs on you in shops etc. This is not the middle of a city.

Do these cameras serve their purpose? I don't think so. Last week a neighbour was robbed, their car stolen, that car was then used in a break in of the pub across the road. The perpetrators were neither identified or apprehended. In April I had to chase thieves (posted as 'Men in black' gone bad...(April)), no images available on video. What's the point of these cameras? It is 1984, it's just running late....