CCTV help

[browna]

Hi,

I'm looking to have 4 night vision cameras around my house.

I have a small budget. Would you suggest buying the 4 cameras, and a storage hard drive, or buying the cameras and computer based software and store the footage on the computer?

Thanks!

browna

[Jim]

I think it generally depends on how much you want to spend. My general rule for buying such things (and this applies to PCs as well) is first, determine what would be best and second what would be cheap then find your affordable ground and try to spend toward the upper range of your budget. If you go too cheaply you will not be happy. Once you've decided what you really want within your range then find the best buy you can on it.

Any system is probably better than none. I just bought a 2 camera wireless system that could have been 4 camera (the receiver will take 4 cams). I found that the cameras overlapped my BT home hub channels and cam 1 booted all wireless PCs off the network (separate post). So keep in mind that if this is a wireless you want to buy, if it's in the 2.4Ghz range they may interfere with any wireless networks you may have.

If I had to give my opinion on what would be the best system for me then I would say it's at least a 4 camera wired with an independent DVR with a hard drive and a USB or video output. Then I would use it's output to feed back to my PC. The reason I say a separate DVR is that it can be placed somewhere like in a cupboard and hidden. If you only feed the info to your PC and someone steals the PC then you've lost the images unless it's set up to automatically download to the internet. The same can be said of a VCR set to record. What if the crime was breaking in and stealing the TV/VCR? Anyway that's my take on it. With a separate DVR feeding to the PC it would give me the best of both worlds. My PC could send images to the internet and my hidden DVR would be available for backup redundancy. My problem is my house belongs to a housing association and I can't do a lot of drilling for a wired system.

Also I found that the range for night viewing is not great so I may need a separate infra-red light source. Also the infra-red cameras won't operate through glass since it reflects back to the camera. They must be outside if you want outside surveillance. An alternative is to have infra-red cameras that don't have their own light source, mount them inside and then mount a separate infra-red flood light system. They're not expensive. I know this is generally common sense information and you've probably already thought along some of these lines as well.

What are your requirements or desires? Were you looking at a wireless system or wired? I'm not an expert but just trying to apply my own logic here.

[brian]

Good reply, Jim.

I think what you really need to focus on is how much you can get for your budget, ie, look at 2 or 4 camera solutions, the type of inventory you'd need for each system, and just how much each fulfills your original aims and objectives (ie, area to surveillance).

Then at least you can then look at your budget, and see whether you can afford to cover everything you need to, or whether you have to compromise on spend on target main areas.

2c.

[iStorm]

Your spot on Jim, The systems i install very much depend on the customers budget! The great thing about the pc system is the way you can optimise the video output from the video card in the pc, wire it to a modulator in the loft and you have the CCTV images on EVERY TV in your home, We find that its a major selling point for us! Coupled with a buzser fed from the alarm outputs on the video cards, you have a complete home cctv system! Dvr systems are great but i find them more suited to the commercial, industrial side of things, Pc systems are more user friendly when it comes to the end user, in my opinion anyway, So yes it sll comes down to budget, But if your planning on spending peanuts, you might as well not bother, how many times have you seen crime watch cctv images, and you cant see a thing? a waste of money! Spend it on other security measures.

[JoeMomma]

Stand outside with a flash light.... Atleast you can scare off the perps and have good night vision.. Plus its Cheap..

[homesec]

Originally Posted by browna

Hi,

I'm looking to have 4 night vision cameras around my house.

I have a small budget. Would you suggest buying the 4 cameras, and a storage hard drive, or buying the cameras and computer based software and store the footage on the computer?

Thanks!

browna

Hi Browna,

Early CCTV Cameras were expensive. But now with growing technology, their prices have come drastically down and they are well within the reach of the common man. Modern CCTV Cameras are available with wireless technology. They can also be connected to the USB port of computers and can produce digital images. CCTV images can be uploaded to the net and made available over long distances.

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.