Hello all,
I have been doing low voltage wiring for some time now and over the past few years some of my commercial customers have wanted surveillance work done and I have done about 10 analog installs. Currently I am dealing with a nursery which has a greenhouse, large metal warehouse, contractor sales trailer, and a brick office building. They use all the buildings and were renting the bottom floor of the office building to another company. The bottom floor is now going to be a gift shop owned by them and this is where they want to expand the current system to. Keep in mind the current system is going to be completely replaced over the winter or the following winter dependent on construction permits. In the future I see a linked system with upwards of 16-24 cameras.
Current System:
- Cheap PTZ that runs a route on repeat and covers the majority of the outdoor grounds.
- 2 cheap bullets that watch the entrance and exit to yard/lot
- 1 cheap dome camera that can't decide if it wants to be in day or night mode in an entrance way that is lit 24/7
- The DVR is standalone 4 ch and is okay (cant remember make)
Expansion needs:
Budget - $1000- hopefully i can push them more towards 2k for surveillance equipment alone.
Going to be 6 (minimum) cameras to cover the new gift shop area to deter/ prevent theft. Anything over that from one of the kit options is a bonus.
Options:
Either a new standalone (for some reason if it is that much cheaper they don't care) that comes with cameras like the QSEE kits or the Lorex kits from Costco. As you can imagine, I hate this option, but the QSEE Elite cameras from Costco seemed pretty decent. 4 dome cameras with 600TVL & 8 bullet with 650TVL and a 2 TB D1 DVR. The DVR can support the 4 current and the 12 that come with it but can handle up to 32. Either way the bottom line is it is $1700 and available and would give them what they want from their standpoint. The cheaper version (non-elite) goes for 1k and comes with 15 bullets and a ptz. Looks like junk to me on the cheaper model.
Second option is to get a QUALITY DVR or NVR that will support the 4 current analogs and some new quality IP cams. First issue is I do not know if this is possible and if it is I don't know what products offer that flexibility. Don't some NVR network other DVR into their control? This would be my first IP install. I do their network, POS systems, TV, and phone lines so I am confident it wouldn't be a difficult install for me.
The bottom line is I would like to start using IP cams from what I hear and would like a hybrid system that can incorporate the current analogs and the new IP cams if possible. I would prefer a standalone DVR/NVR unless you really recommend a PC. Any advice or arrows in the right direction are greatly appreciated and I look forward to continuing to learn (been a ghost reader a while) on this great site. Remember I would need 6 IP cams and a DVR/NVR for 2kish. Thanks again.
Dan
