Setting up a home surveillance camera?

[briteney]

I'm planning to set up a security camera for my own, just for general security surveillance.

Thing is, I've never set up one before.

What do I really need to have before I buy to make sure I get the most out of my purchase?

[LyricB]

I'm just curious if you're doing one of those "Nanny Cams" that's hidden inside a teddy bear or something like that?

[brian]

I think what you really need to look into is what level of surveillance you're actually looking for - a discrete surveillance system, or a heavy duty CCTV solution.

In either case, you're probably going to need:

cameras
tranmitter
recording device

A kit will often come with the transmitter, but make sure you have a clear idea of what you want to record to - DVR is pretty popular these days, especially a DVR PCI card so you can simply record direct to the harddrive of your PC.

Either way, always ask the vendor a few questions first if you're not sure what you may need for the security system of your choice, and then have a think about that.

Hope that helps.

[ninikins]

what type of camera are you going to use? a hidden one? Good luck setting one up and it wiould be interesting fi you could post how it went, for other people wanting to do just that

[OneofaKind]

I don't that much about this, but are there any legal considerations that need to be taken before doing this - specifically from a data protection perspective?

[Security]

I don't believe there are any data protection implications, because you're not actually taking private information - ie, names, addresses, phone numbers, etc - but you are certainly right that not all security measures may be legal.

A case in point is the use of barbed or razor wire around a property - I believe in the UK at least it's must be no lower than around 10 foot from the ground.

[guard3725]

If your camera is recording the outside of your house then you must display warning signs and have the system registered with your local council for anything recorded to be "usable" by the police. However after speaking to a local copper after my locks kept getting glued he said that if I had it on tape and they knew of the person they could have a quiet word with them. It worked!
If you live in a flat your front door is about your only access point and i would recommend a peephole camera from b&q for 30 quid. it's only black and white but because they think its a standard door peephole most wont bother to try and hide from it. Also recommend it for bogus callers.
For a cheap recorder buy a grand x guard recorder form CPC. this is a pci card that goes into your pc and allows you to connect upto 4 fixed b/w camera's to it. It's only about 30 quid.

[Numenius]

Hi - I set up a system that I'm really pleased with. I got the cameras, cable & card for my PC all individualy from ebay. Cameras cost me about £23 each, cable £10 for 20m runs with all plugs ready fitted. The card for my PC cost an amazing £16! I have seen EXACTLY the same bits of equipement for sale here in the UK for massively greater prices. I saw excatly the same camera as one of mine for an astounding £86! It costs £23 DELIVERED direct from china! Now having a markup is fair enough, but pushing 400%.....? Anyway, only thing to watch for is that the cards come bundled with Pico 2000 software - it seems that invariably it is pirated and was anyway made for Windows 98 - it caused a lot of crashes on my PC for the first couple of days till I worked out the problem. You can get the genuine licensed 2000 or XP suitable Pico2000 software for about $30 (thats £16 today). From http://www.centerlink-international....chase_4cam.htm - this is a U.S company. Only problem so far is that I've paid them but they still have not sent the key code to make the free trial version permanent! It should have been sent by return but it has not. I've sent them an email advising, so I'll let you know how I get on in that respect.
The system by the way is excellent - I am amazed at the quality of the cameras (daylight - then they go to Infra Red with IR illumination built in at night!) and the features of the card for so little money. The features for your money are astounding - more than I've seen on some commercial systems. You can set timed record, different times for different days, alarm record (i.e records when an inturder alarm is triggered), or motion detect alarm (it even can then be set to record the moments BEFORE it detected motion as well - don't ask me how it manages THAT!) You can even set the card to email you if there is an alert (if you have motion-sensing set up), or to alert you if an alarm goes of in your house - OR to trigger an alarm or whatever! You can also view it from another computer elsewhere. Multiple screen display or full screen, timed recording, circular recording (so it does not fill your hard drive) etc etc - amazing for £16! We have them set to motion detect - so if anything moves in parts of the picture I've chosen (I deselected where there are plants etc that move in the wind), it records - otherwise it does not, so mostly there is nothing recorded, so no need to run through hours of footage. We are well pleased with it.
Whats amazed me also is that in my job I often see CCTV footage from shops - often they've paid thousands for their system and the quality is poorer than I have at home for under £100 all in.