jevs

I want to prewire for IP cameras in the eaves, but I am not sure where all I should plan for a camera to go. Anyone offer a service for just helping with optimal locations? I would like to run the wiring and put boards in for mounting ahead of time. We are about to install soffit and facia though.

I have been racking my brain on the best way to mount cameras on the new house we are building. Right now the whole house is bricked and all the soffit and facia are installed. The soffit is aluminum. The inside is unfinished still. We are wiring, plumbing etc still. I will probobly just go with some IR bullet cams for now with varifocal lens to compensate for my lack of CCTV experience (ebay no name cams most likely). I was also wanting to run them off cat 5 with baluns and power over the cat 5. This way I can always upgrade to IP cams if I wanted later. See any problem with this? I cannot decide how to mount them and prewire for them. What is a good clean way to mount them where the Baluns and stuff can look clean? The cameras I have been looking at do not seem to have ceiling mounts either (only wall). I would like to stay away from drilling in the brick if possible. Is aluminum soffit strong enough to mount a camera too anyway if I did get a ceiling mount or make one? Would the wind blow them around flexing the aluminum? How would you hide the wiring and baluns? The only thing I have seen in real life was on a brick restaraunt. They had some grey exterior boxes mounted to the brick and the camera was mounted to the lid. It's not the greatest looking, but ti did give a box that would hold the baluns and connectors. The bad thing is your locked to that location because of all the holes in the brick. If you do it in the soffit, you can always get a new piece of soffit and replace it easy. I can't find any good ideas on the net. Any tips are much appreciated, pics are even better. Thanks.

I am looking for a good 480 DVR. It must have 480/480 capability and record every camera at full resolution 4CIR or D1 (I think) at 30 fps if possible? It should have real time live display. It must also have network support for viewing over the net. I have seen a couple that said they were pentpex or something instead of triplex. If that's even a real spec I guess I want it This must be a stand alone unit and I don't want to go over $3000. It would also be nice if I could use it for IP cams as well later, but that may be asking for too much. 16 channel audio would also be nice, although i probobly won't use it until I upgrade to IP cams some time down the road, if I ever do. Now I will start reading a zillion posts on here to research it while you guys think about it.......

RG6 or RG59 better for residential cameras? I don't think any runs would be over 150' even if cabling is squared off to look nice.

I am using the Trimese wire (RG59U (95% copper), CAT-5e, and 18-2 in one bundle). I plan to use a single power supply ditribution box with 18 fused outputs. I am running 10 IR cams (specs say 350mA each). I will be using the RG59 for video and the 18-2 for power. The Cat 5 is for future IP camera upgrades, PTZ, or connect with 18-2 if more power is needed, or whatever could come up, etc. I have read a lot about problems with using passive baluns on cat 5 having ground loop problems with single power supply connections to multiple cameras. I was just wondering if this is a non issue if your using RG59 and 18-2? Thanks Now, on to pick a DVR and power supply.......

OK, I am now a dealer for intellicam. I went ahead and purchased a G4-16RTA-D1-W and I also bought a 1TB hard drive to add to it for a total of 1.25 TB. I will let you know what I think once it is installed and I try it out.

I am planning a huge install (automation, security, audio, intercoms, etc.). I am wondering if I would be better to get a rack mount power supply for my cameras, or a wall mount? I will have equipment in racks (Xantech amplfiers, MRAUDIO, possibly the DVR etc.) I will also have wall mount stuff (structured cabling, Omnipro II, expansion units, etc) If the DVR is rack mounted, it seems like having the power supply right above it or below it would be nice since my power and video are on the same cable. but maybe heat will become an issue? This is my first security camera install, so I am unsure what most people do. I seem to be able to find better prices on wall mounted units though. Right now I have 10 cameras planned 350mA each, but want to leave room for growth and possible switch to IP cameras later off same supply if not going POE for cost savings (power wire will already be there)

County population is 93,807. It is adjacent to St. Louis County (St. Louis MO.) Short drive from high crime

They have to go through a minimum of 2 camera field of views to get to the utilities hookup and I believe they will both be catching the actual CT transformer box on the side of their views. Due to the fact that pulling the meter would do nothing on my setup (other than Pi$$ off the electric company since it would stop reading my usage), they would probobly get shocked even trying to mess with it. There is no way to disable the power without actually cutting two live power feeds (this power system has two parallel feeds from the pole), and they are not small on a 600 amp service. I do believe the security would alarm if it sensed a power cut, and everything will be battery backed up. Also, keep in mind the crime rate is not that bad. I feel pretty safe with 10 cams and 7 motions sensors on the outside alone. Annual Stats for the entire county: Murders: 4 Rapes: 3 Robberies: 2 Assaults: 42 Burglaries: 152 Thefts: 560 Auto thefts: 50 Anyway, I have figured out the intial question I was asking on this post. Please take a look at my DVR question post, as this is the last piece I need to figure out now. Thanks

Read a zillion posts and still not sure what to get. I did find the Intellicam G4-16RTA-D1 . Is there anything comparable or better for the money?

I have decided to go with the Atronix R615DC1016CB. I couldn't find any decent no name brand rack mounts with adjustable voltage, so I think the extra money spent will be justified. If I have any voltage problems at the cams, (I shouldn't since I sized the power wire properly according to specs) there will still be some voltage drop I can make up for with this supply.

The second floor is just a 16x25 bonus room with a half bath off of it. I can punch right through the side wall from the 1st floor living room attic or something if need be. I am planning to have everything possible this house could ever want before it is drwalled. I have been planning for months already. I do have a dead space to go up through though if I need to. I pan to drwyall the basement at some point though, then I wll have some fun running a new wire

Basement in a dedicated electrical room 11' x 5'.

I guess a should mention this is residential and no runs over 200'.

To Rebco. I doubt cameras will make your family safe. It might just catch them in the act so you can view it later. The rest of the security system will handle the safety part more effectivly (which I am going overboard on). Seeing cameras is just a deterent, so really even fake ones would do the same job for that. I am leaving myself room for upgrades and just getting something decent going for now. FYI, I bought 10 cameras I will be using. They are basically the same as the Hawk-I HAWK-365VIRCDW, but with slightly better specs (540TVL versus 500, of course same pixels, so who knows if it is true). They went on sale for 138 each this weekend. Now I just need to figure out the power supply, cabling, and DVR to use. I have pretty much decided running the power over the Cat 5 is too risky, so I may run Cat 5 with baluns and seperate 16-2 for power, or Cat 5 and Siamese RG6 w 18-2, and just have the Cat 5 for later IP's. Any more advice is appreciated.

I am just getting into this market. I already have a business license setup and dabble as a builder/landlord on the side. I am setup with a couple companies and yes "W" is one of them I am using my own home to learn on and we will see where it goes from there, that is why I am decking it out with just about everything I can think of. By day I am a Manufacturing Engineer, but my degree is in electrical engineering. I think the market is pretty untapped around here, so there is some potential. I don't know anyone with any kind of automation around here. The builders, contractors, and electricians I know really aren't doing anything with it either. By the end of this current project I should have a pretty good idea of what it takes to do most of it.

I am using Xantech for the audio and an HAI Omnipro II for the base of the automation. As for the DVR I was looking at the Speco 16 Channel DVR-16TT/750. But at 3017.33 wholesale I think I am going to at least research some other options. I won't go any less than 16 channel, or 480 frames per second, etc. I don't want to skimp on the DVR unless I find something equal or better for less money. I guess if those cameras on ebay are junk then I need to find something else. Any suggestions in that price range? I can buy wholesale, but the people I normally buy from just carry Speco, Hawk, Panasonic IP's and some GE stuff. If need be I can get an account elsewhere. I think I am going to need 10 cameras outside for optimum coverage of everything, the house is pretty cut up shaped. I want to be able to log on anywhere and see pretty much everything around the house, including out in the yards. The quantity of cameras is what is keeping me from getting too expensive with them.

How do these mini domes attach? I would guess you just cut a hole and then they mount like a ceiling speaker or something with slide out tabs or something? Will the aluminum support this, or would I need some other fastener in the hole up to a truss tail or something? If I had seperate IR, can I still power that off the one Cat 5 or 6, or would it need it's own seperate home run? I did see domes with built in IR.... Would something like this work or is it crappy? It looks like it wouldn't flush mount nicely with those screw tabs hanging off the side. it looks like the mount is for wall mounting. It does have built in IR though and the specs sound good. I can't post a link yet, but the item # on ebay is 180231865917.

So, using baluns and cat 5 doesn't work? $150 cameras don't work? I guess I need more info on that.... I have not done a security system before now. Reguardless of those questions, I still need to know the best way to mount a camera under my soffit. Even if I buy a $10,000 camera I still have the original question of how to mount it nicely when the soffit is aluminum. I had originally started looking at the panasonic IP cameras, but when the total would be like $6000 just for cameras, I just can't spend that much. And then recording them seemed to be an issue using a stand alone DVR ( I was looking at Speco stuff at the time). I am not rich and the only way I am affording this house is that I am building it myself and just hiring people on the side to help me. With all of the extras I am doing already, it is pushing the budget way out there. heck I spent $4000 on LED can lights already! That one thing is 1/3 the price of the cost to build report that had $13,000 for the total electrical job HVAC is $22,000 over budget as well, with the Geothermal stuff. I could go on and on, but to make a long story short the chances are these cameras will be more of a novelty for me to look at online than actually saving anything since the rest of the security is crazy. I think I have 60+ security zone things going on with all the motion sensors, window and door switches, glass breakage sensors etc. 7 of those being exterior motion detectors. The house is also in the country in an area with hardly any crime happening. I could probobly scrap everything and get by with one fake camera on the corner of the house LOL. There are much easier targets in the neighborhood. I am just building my "dream home" and want all the cool stuff in before the drywall goes up. My idea was to have the Cat 5 there, so I could upgrade later when the money isn't so tight, or maybe I will be perfectly happy with analog cameras. Baluns on Cat 5 sounded good. All of that said, I do still want the cameras to perform decent. With my lack of first hand usage of camera's, I can only go off specs and such to make my evaluations. So, any advice is appreciated. I just have to keep my spending realistic.

At $550 + each for exterior IP cams I can't really justify the expense right now. I am looking at cameras for around $150 each and a decent stand alone DVR for networking etc. I am already spending too much with the home automation, whole house audio, full power blinds, whole house point to point intercoms, Geothermal HVAC & Zoning, LED lighting etc. I figured if I ran the cameras off Cat 5 or Cat 6 I could always go to IP cameras later if the price gets more reasonable and they come out with more options for recording etc. I really don't want to use a computer. I hate dealing with computer issues and windows instability. My main concern is how to neatly mount the cameras, I could do dome cameras, but I have not found any that are 540 TV lines, Varifocal lens, IR, & rated for outdoor for the price of a bullet camera. If you know of any for around $160 or less, let me know. I also heard Dome cameras aren't as good if the IR is built in as the the bullet cams? So, how do you mount bullet cams on a house like mine? Keep in mind they will have baluns at the ends to deal with if using cat 5 or cat 6. So far the only idea I have found on the net is mounting a box on the brick and then mounting the camera to the lid. If this is my only option I can do it, but I would rather mount to the underside of the soffit somehow to stay away from drilling the brick, in case I want to move the cameras later or something.