my aunt recently moved into a community where housing is cheaper, but you should have burglar bars installed on your windows… if ya get what I mean… anyhooooo, she hates that idea but wants to consider some type of surveillance system, if it isn’t too costly. Any suggestions?
Does she have a decent computer? It’s possible to set up a motion-sensitive video system using USB webcams, and various software packages. These will record video any time motion is detected–that is, a sudden change in the video image. There’s a an example of this here. I don’t know if there are any which can record from multiple cameras, but I can’t of any technical reason such a thing couldn’t exist.
If she plans to be there for a while, home monitoring can be cheap. At my office, a company came in and wired all doors and windows, and installed two keypads. All of the equipment and labor was free if I signed a 5 year contract for monitoring. The monthly fee is reasonable (around $20 a month).
One of the problems with a home PC based surveilance system is when you really need to view the video, most likely the PC has already walked out the door.
The best security is to get to know your neighbors and become a part of the community. People watch out for each other, but not when they don’t know each other.
I found my (relatively high-crime) community has a very active Yahoo Group devoted to crime prevention, and through that I’ve learned a lot about the neighborhood, the local police, what security measures are useful, etc. It really helps to be in the know rather than just fearing everything.
Would your aunt consider getting a big and/or yappy dog?
she doesn’t have a computer, but I suppose we could setup one in her home. However, would she have to be somewhat computer literate to utilize such a system? If so, it’s not going to work, she’s 73 and still doesn’t know how to use a remote control, she actually walks up to the tv and pushes the arrows up or down :-/ uugghh!
… but y’know, maybe i’d like to have something like that in my home! Thanks for that link!!! 
Yes, I agree, neighbors watch out for eachother,and we have suggested she get friendly with them and hope for the best. She does have a little dog, but he’s either 150 years old, or stone deaf–nothing (sounds or strangers) affects him.
There’s an excellent bit of webcam-recording software out there called CatSpy; it’s still freeware.
It differs from most of the others in that it can be set to record constantly to a short buffer, then when it detects motion, it dumps the buffer PLUS the live stream to disk; the result being video that does not miss any of the action - with many of the others, the subject can be almost out of the frame again before the program has detected the motion and got started on recording.
It also has very good masking options (to ignore motion in certain parts of the view) and it can handle multiple cameras.
As i mentioned in another reply, I’m personally interested–didn’t realize it could be so cheap via this way or video monitoring thru computer… pretty cool stuff!
The only trouble with webcams for surveillance is that the longest possible cable run on a standard USB connection is 5 metres; there are workarounds though, but they are a bit pricey - my birdbox webcam (see sig) is USB, situated at the end of… I dunno… 30 metres of Cat5 cable, using a pair of these transcievers.
If it’ll help your cause, that advice comes from the handbook they give Peace Corps volunteers heading to high crime countries. They find people who intergrate well in to the community, participate in community events, and make lots of local friend are less likely to become crime victims. They find that women are more adept at this than men, and that having a community support network of women is very important (remember, criminals have moms, girlfriends, etc. that they listen to).
I got one of these things for Christmas. It’s a single outdoor wireless camera and BW monitor with sound. The monitor has 4 channels that you can flip through (not all on the screen at once) so you can hook up up to 4 cameras.
The wireless thing is awesome. Of course the camera itself has to be plugged in but the cord is really long, and weatherproof.
The picture and sound are really great - if you keep it away from other 2.4gHz appliances. I’ve got wireless internet throughout my house and a 2.4ghz cordless phone, so the picture seems to have a bit of a vertical hold problem. But you can tweak it using controls on the monitor.
Since your aunt doesn’t have a computer she probably won’t have much problem with interference.
The monitor runs on batteries (or AC) which is cool, so you can carry it around. It’s very small.
Oh yeah, and it can output to TV or VCR.
Costs $110 at Amazon, and extra cameras are under $70.