heckufaguy

Lets face it, if someone is intent on doing damage, they'll just do it. And then come in and destroy or take the DVR. FTP be dammed, I'd disconnect phone/cable first. So anything, can be defeated. Now, since most of these bullet cameras all but disappear under the eave, I'd go with a 3.6 mm lens on a bullet style cam. I also have dome style cams, but they can get tricky to mount/point in the right direction. Can be done , just not as simply as the bullets. Every single one of my cameras see's another one. Ie: you could not disable one, without being in the view of another. This is fairly practical for most residential setups. Keep the camera under the eave, weatherproofing aside, rain drops on a lens distort. Also, keep a broom/dust wand around. The IR elements will get you spiders in the warm months. Spider webs are invisible by daylight to the camera, but at night under IR they will really mess with your view. If you've got a highly sensitive area you MUST see at night, disable or put in a camera without the IR, and use a separate IR flood.

If it's a PTZ dome camera, it doesn't matter where it's actually looking, it's going to appear to be looking everywhere. If it was me, and if you park on public property (street) then I'd put a wifi camera in my car. They cannot regulate your camera since it's in private property in a public roadway. Short of that, you could try and hide the camera, but then any evidence gathered with it could lead you into a path of trouble.

I bought one camera from gadspot. Dome style, 700 lines I think. Stated it was a chip camera. After I received it and plugged it in I realized it was cmos. (obvious color deterioration) I called them, raised hell, they changed the web site and then offered me a return. Since I had the camera in service already I just never sent it back. I use it now, it's about the 'best' cmos I've run across, but I won't buy from them again. (A camera anyways). I also have one of their 4 channel dvr's and I quite enjoy it. It overs prealarm recording on motion detection, something not found in most low end DVR's.

I also found that I went to the schedule screen and clicked to clear all recordings first, then clicked to schedule motion recording. Mine seemed to come set to record 4 channels 24/7.

I have a Clinton Electronics (that name, with www before it) VF1000IR I use to see a neighbors yard from approx 100 yards away. I see his yard better at night, than in the day. IR Leds light that far, no overpowering, ghosting or hotspots. They also make a 775 with a wider lens (2.8-12mm). The 1000 is 5-50mm. I can get a face shot from that distance, if I zoomed in. (Not practical, but possible). btw, it's a mutual "I watch your place, you watch mine" setup. He can log into my system, and only see his camera. This allows us both broader views of our properties, as well as one camera that won't get snatched if they actually gain entry.

If these are your typical bank ATM's and not the dime store variety, they have room for a standard box camera inside. I'd use something like an axis210 inside, 3-9mm varifocal autoiris lens.

So any of you with the qt-428, I have a question. I currently have a qc-444. When setting up recording, under scheduling of motion recording I can set a pre-alarm time. This feature is great, and allows the clip of motion recording to go prior to the motion being detected and save it in the clip. If I set it for 10 seconds, I get 10 seconds prior to motion detection included with my clips. Is there a pre-alarm feature on the qt-428? primarily someone running the latest firmware could answer?... Thanks!

I actually just set up a system at my house, and a few months later the neighbor asked about one at his house. Since we're about 100 yards apart, we just both have a camera on eachothers system with a general overview of the others property. Using a CE VF1000IR, I have full night view (better than with floods on) and at least if someone runs off with my system, I'll have footage. Not ideal, but a nice backup. I also 2nd an alarm system. Starts the clock ticking, last thing they want is to be seen or get caught. LOTS of noise, lights, whatever you can turn on.

I would suspect at minimum you'll need to have a business license, since you're receiving money for goods. I've seen a few computer companies in Michigan doing cctv work under the disguise of network security, and they don't have a burglar alarm license within the state. Try this link. Seems you'll need a license. http://tn.gov/commerce/boards/asc/FAQ.shtml#Q1

Keep in mind, that depending on the camera, 12vdc cameras will draw up to twice that of what they will on 24vac. (.5 am on ac, vs 1 amp dc). As you add cameras, if they'll run on both, AC tends to be easier to deal with.

Yellow pages will find you professionals. Camera systems as a homeowner are easy. Many of the 'kits' come with cables, easily tucked into siding or under shingles, etc to hide them. Hardest part is having a whole big enough to get the cable into the house. Alarm systems are a little harder to wire, but much of the wireless stuff is pretty good. (Professional grade) If you've never wired anything in a house, and are trying to get the wires completely concealed, I can tell story upon story of people drilling into pipes, electrical, windows, etc. These things are not tough, but then again, I've been doing it for over 25 years. Good Luck.

Eh, the beauty of CCTV is not advertising it. Often, when completing an install, homeowners are amazed how their overt system is almost invisible to the eye without being told what to look for. Eaves and overhangs make for great camera locations, are often in the shade line, and don't make things look ugly. This guy could have been more discreet, maybe tucked the wires up and out of the way, and nobody would have been the wiser. He's got rules he needs to follow, just be a little smarter next time.

I've been a 'professional' at this a long time. But having a system in my house was always on my to-do list, but never done. I purchased q-see 4 channel dvr on ebay with 500GB for 115 bucks US shipped. It took some hunting, and a lot of product review, but it's out there. and the dvr works great! Good Luck! (And stick with ccd chip cameras, inexpensive cmos cameras tend to not be as nice)

I can't remember when I didn't wear steel toed boots. I buy high dollar, and they typically last me 3 years, until the appearance requires replacement. (Gotta look good for the customers!) I have a hard hat, rarely wear it as I'm not often in new construction anymore. I too have enough nail scrapes on my head for a dozen guys. I wear glasses, always have. Thought about contacts once, but dust in my eyes is bad enough without a contact lens in there too. For safety when needed, I wear goggles. I'd also gotten to wearing some hearing protection on construction sites, mainly to drown out the high volume of noise going on. I'd consider a cap if I had longer hair. Had a kid working with me years ago had the flex bit bent, pulling out of a window sill, and it was arced over his head. It grabbed his hair when he spun the drill. 10 years later, that hair is still gone lol

The quality will be better with IP cameras. However first off you'd need a NVR. (Network Video recorder) not a DVR. They aren't cheap. Most IP cams I've seen do not have any sort of video output on them , it's all done via network. They are also considerably more expensive than a CCTV camera. The difference is nice, but it's really going to depend on what you're trying to see. You get much higher resolution on a IP cam typically, but is it really important to see how many whiskers the cat has? Or just see the cats color, size etc. D1 with 540 tvl will be pretty nice. Keep in mind not all DVR's will do D1 on all channels. And, if they do they drop the frame rate considerably. At home I use a qc-444 (q-see) all cameras at D1, with the max frame rate being 7ips. The fluidness of the pictures is fine. Welcome, I'm rather new here myself. John