Hotel Hallway Setup (Lets Get Technical)

[msfblitz]

Hey Everyone,

I was curious about setting up a perfect setup for catching sounds in hotel hallways.

Here's what I was thinking.

(I spent majority of my night looking out the window at the elevators hoping to catch couples getting out. So, here's what I was thinking. )

1) Cheap Wireless Camera in Hallway / Elevators. This would depend on how far you are from elevators. This would have to be disposable and would only be used to figure out where the couples are. I specify cheap because if someone finds it, well, fuck it, lost a camera. Who cares. Probably a velcro back and something to stick it to the wall so when you get it back, it's not a problem. I would only put it up where I would be able to monitor. This isn't for recording, it's just to figure out where they are. I'd watch the video feed on an ipad in the room and just watch for drunk couples or something. Definitely after dark maybe 10pm. Monitor most of the night. But, absolutely, get it back once I'm done monitoring. It's not like a whole day or night thing.

(Hotel employees and random guests always fuck up my recording, cause once I hear people down the hall, I gotta pick up my phone and walk away)

2) Pen Recording Device (cheap): Once I monitor a potential couple, I get my pen ready to record and walk by, see if they're up to something. If they are toss the pen down. If not, come back later. Cheap just because if it's gone, it's gone. Hoping there's no way to hook it back to me.

3) USB stick recording device (cheap): This could also be easily camouflaged, maybe if I put it in gray box that looks like a power box or chord? Cheap just because if it's gone, it's gone. Hoping there's no way to hook it back to me.

4) Camouflaging the recording device: Make it look like trash? Maybe the maid might toss it, but then again, we're only recording late at night. Maybe chew on the pen a little, make it ugly. Huh? haha.

5) Recorder placement: If I put the recorder at where the door opens, they might see it or step on it if they want to go get vending machine stuff after sex. I figure placing it on the inside of the door facing in.

I wish I could get maybe 3 floors worth of camera coverage. Just to see where it's happening. I think one good thing about having these hallway cams is that if you ARE recording some fun and you see on the monitors that an employee pops by or bystander finds it, you can just say fuck it and be gone. Can you imaging having such a range of wireless cameras to be able to surveil all the levels, then just walk where it's happening and record away.

I am so going to jail, right? haha! But, seriously, I walk halls for hours and on different floors, I feel like THAT is much bigger of a sign than this is.

[yeppie]

First advice and the only important: forget about the cameras.

[msfblitz]

Can you elaborate as to why? I appreciate the advice but maybe a firsthand story or something would help.

Do they not work?

It is illegal to record something on private property without consent from the owner, they have the right remove you from the property, that's fine.
But, if I don't have an ssd card in it, I'm not recording, it's surveillance.

It's illegal to point your security cams into neighbors yards where they might have an expectation of privacy. There isn't an expectation of privacy within the hallways of a hotel, there's an expectation that it is going to be surveilled. I suppose I could tell the hotel beforehand, maybe say, "Do you have camera's in the hallways? I have a stalker that lives in the city and I would love to be able to make sure they don't come to my door."

Also, this surveillance would only be useful in the hours that I'm able to monitor it, so it'd be between maybe 10pm-2am. I'd be able to directly see when it is found, at which point, I'd disconnect (probably from an old disposable phone) and end my session. Any traps would be easily avoidable. If they go back through tapes to find me, I could say any number of things, "I heard someone jiggle my door last night and wanted to make sure they weren't there. I have high value things for auction with me and it's for security purposes."

I'm really curious as to why. I would think getting caught walking the halls for hours on end could be more definitively illegal. Or recording someone thorough the windows of hotel rooms.

Have you tried this? Isn't it technically the guests hallway as well. But, I feel like there's enough gray area there.

[mjj9994]

Reason for no cameras, other than it being possibly illegal in hotels is because cheap wireless cameras are notoriously poor quality in terms of getting a signal. In order for the camera to get any type of decent image you would have to place them in a pretty obvious location and they will stick out like a sore thumb and surely be identified and confiscated.

If you have ever tried one of the cheapo wireless cameras is almost impossible to get any decent type of signal if you are even within 5 feet of the camera and with no other electronic interference in the way. Any type of background electrical interference will disrupt the return signal from the camera and will only show a very poor signal (just snow) or no signal at all. Interference can be from ANY other electric and electrical signals to include: power cables, light bulbs, cell phones, smoke detectors, television remotes, etc etc. Run an experiment in your house with the camera in the same room and just a few feet away with say a fan/airconditioner/heater/television on and see what the video signal from the camera looks like. Then figure the signal from a hotel will be 1/2 - 1/4 as good as what you get in your house.

Also the "built in" batteries for these types of cameras are typically really small like >500mah which means you are looking at maybe 30 min of use before the battery dies. If you use an external power source that will probably double the size and 3-4x the weight of the camera which means trying to get the camera affixed to a wall/ceiling/etc. without super glue or some other kind of permanent method will be very difficult, and removing it would be just as difficult.