Complete newbie - want home alarm system and recordable cctv for good price??

[spaceman99]

Hello all

I'm completely new to all this, so any help would be greatly appreciated!

Due to a number of recent disturbances (including my car being keyed our neighbours being broken into) we want to step up security of our home. Wireless option would be best to make the install easy.

My requirememts are as possible:

- Security alarm: ideally 2 motion sensors + 2 door/window sensors

- CCTV: could get away with one camera, but 2 would be better (and 3 would be ideal!). Would prefer the ability to record. Wireless option would be best to make the install easy.


I have a MAXIMUM budget of £400 in total, ideally I want to spend less. Is this possible? Where should I start looking?

Any help greatly appreciated!

[Jim]

I've posted on my wireless experience if you want to find it for more detail. I'm also a newbie and should have listened more to Istorm at the start.

Basically though, wireless cameras can interfere with other wireless networks like your BT home hub, wireless network or laptop. If you don't have any other system then it's up to you.

What I've found is that when recording with motion detection the wireless units pick up so much static interference the system will end up recording all the time thinking the interference lines are motion. And the stand-alone recording unit (DVR) choices aren't as varied as the ones for wired. I thought the same as you on the ease of setting up wireless but have found it too fraught with problems and have completely changed my mind on it and have hard wired my cameras in.

You may be surprised but for under £200 you can get a four camera wired system (with night vision) and a stand-alone recorder with 160gb hard drive. Try Ebay and see. These units are not bad at all. They can be set to record non-stop, timed intervals or on detecting motion. They're not top end systems but they will function very well and the price is getting better all the time. For under £300 you can get a wireless system with door alarms and two night vision cameras but the DVR can only record to a Sd memory card so would fill up quickly. Once again the wireless systems don't have all the choices of wired ones.

I started out with two wireless cameras (and still only have the two) but have hard wired them into a 4 channel USB adapter attached to my PC. It works okay but a stand-alone is still the best option in my opinion. I would be able to turn it on and leave it 24/7 where the PC is beside my bed and too noisy to keep on all night. Plus when doing things with the PC it sometimes misses motion etc. as well as slows the PC down even though I have a fairly high-end PC.

For the night vision I have also gotten one and am waiting on another 140 LED infra-red flood light to make the cameras see better at night. These can also be bought under £50 each and work great. I cut a diffuser made for a fluorescent light to fit the front to spread the beam out (it was too center focused like a torch) and the little cameras see quite well in darkness.

It's up to you and what you desire, but my suggestion is to drop the ease of wireless (unless you're in a very clean signal area which is doubtful) and go with wired and a stand-alone DVR with it's own hard drive. You will be happier in the long run. Get wireless if you desire but expect interference with everything else in the 2.4ghz range because it will happen. Let us know what you end up with and how it works for you.

[iStorm]

Jim is dead right, If your looking at spending £400.00 MAX! Then stay away from wireless, only the high end wireless stuff works properly! if you have a look at iview cctv you can a buy a 3 camera system from there inc: 3 Day and Night camera's (turn from colour to black and white at night) a Dvr with 160gb Hard drive all the cables power supplies for less than £300.00 add a monitor for £90.00 and you have a system for your budget! Happy hunting, let me know how it goes

[spaceman99]

Originally Posted by iStorm

Jim is dead right, If your looking at spending £400.00 MAX! Then stay away from wireless, only the high end wireless stuff works properly! if you have a look at iview cctv you can a buy a 3 camera system from there inc: 3 Day and Night camera's (turn from colour to black and white at night) a Dvr with 160gb Hard drive all the cables power supplies for less than £300.00 add a monitor for £90.00 and you have a system for your budget! Happy hunting, let me know how it goes

Many thanks for the advice guys! You've probably saved me a lot of pain :-)

[homesec]

Originally Posted by iStorm

Jim is dead right, If your looking at spending £400.00 MAX! Then stay away from wireless, only the high end wireless stuff works properly! if you have a look at iview cctv you can a buy a 3 camera system from there inc: 3 Day and Night camera's (turn from colour to black and white at night) a Dvr with 160gb Hard drive all the cables power supplies for less than £300.00 add a monitor for £90.00 and you have a system for your budget! Happy hunting, let me know how it goes

We know modern CCTV Cameras are available with wireless technology. They can also be connected to the USB port of computers and can produce digital images, also CCTV images can be uploaded to the net and made available over long distances.

I can't give you exact calculation in Pound but initialy installing a CCTV surveillance system in a small office, with four cameras and a monitor, may cost about $750. Prices fluctuate depending on the company and sophistication of the equipment - happy hunting ...