Need basic home outdoor system recommendation

[Jersey Joe 0]

Hi All...I'm a computer guy but know nothing about cctv systems. We are having a vandalism problem on our culdesac that I need to address. My plan is to setup one or two cams to record the area in question. I don't care if its standalone or PC based but I don't have a big budget for this. I'm thinking it would be more cost effective going the PC route as I already have a few doner systems at my disposal. So...any recommendations on system/camera would be appreciated.

 

BTW...wireless would be preferred but from what I gather, the consumer level units leave a lot to be desired.

 

TIA

 

Joe

[C7 in CA 0]

This post sounds like good advice for what your are doing:

 

http://www.cctvforum.com/viewtopic.php?p=76142#76142

 

Your big challenge is with the cameras. You will get better suggestions if you give a little info like lighting conditions, how far will the camera be from the subject, how far will the camera be from the DVR, and what do you want to record?

 

If you just want to see what happened, that can be done on a tight budget. Do you want to convict the guy based on the video? If so that is a challenge. You may need to get the punks to walk through a choke point like a gate or doorway were you can setup a proper field of view for the camera.

[Jersey Joe 0]

The distance of everything depends on what I can actually do with the camera I guess. If I could zoom from my bedroom window than the cam will be close to the PC. The distance to subject area would be about 250'-300' though. I can mount an outdoor cam closer, say in my mailbox, and that would put the cam about 70'-100' to subject and about 90' to the PC if I put it in my garage. I know nothing about the cameras though, are they fixed length, zoom, something else? I'm guessing the answer is YES(any config on earth) depending on how much I want spend. I do not want to prosecute just find out for myself and neighbors who is doing it. Thanks for your reply.

[Jersey Joe 0]

Costco has two systems for $280 and $300...good enough for what I'm doing?

[thewireguys 3]

Remember wireless cameras still need power. So your going to need an outlet or a lot of batteries for the camera. Is this a night time or day time problem?

[Jersey Joe 0]

Daytime mostly. It's a dark street with no lights so surveillance at night would require a high end night camera I would think. But it mostly happens while everyone is at work.

[CottyGee 0]

Wow! I had to check to be sure I didn't write your first post! LOL That's pretty much my situation. I live in a cul-de-sac, and a neighborhood kid is egging one of my cars (and throwing raw hamburger on it and writing obscenities on the car w/shaving creme, etc.). I've been told who it is, but I'd like to have "proof" before I go making accusations. (Plus, I promised to protect the source, who would be identified immediately if I confronted this kid and his parents.)

 

I've currently got a camera installed and a time-lapse VCR recording - 24 hrs/day (one T-120 tape, so maybe a frame/sec??). Oh - and it's just my ~30'X25' driveway I'm recording, using the "coach lights" for night.

 

Anyhow, I'll keep an eye on this to see what's recommended. Your situation sounds harder than mine, in terms of the solution - i.e., you need AMAZING resolution, like what you'd get from an 8 megapixel photo or something... (Wish somebody made something as simple as a high-resolution digital camera that would fire off ~3-4 shots/sec for a few minutes when triggered by motion...)

[C7 in CA 0]

for 70-100 feet I'd say you are looking for a camera with a about a 50mm lens. Check out this great post that shows a sample of what you get with different focal length lens:

http://www.cctvforum.com/viewtopic.php?p=76184#76184

 

Regarding the Costco cams... I don't know the product, but my guess is you won't be happy with a $300.00 system. You could spend 300 bucks on the one camera alone for the shot you are looking at. And that's if you can find the cable locally sold by the foot instead of buying a whole reel.

[Rebco 0]

Hi Joe, I had a customer of mine spend $1500.00 on a Cosco system, and could make out a person 10 feet in front of the camera. I would suggest you use a low light box camera with a 5 to 50 MM lens like C7 in CA said

 

Make sure the lens is day/night also... i can suggest a good camera if you want..

[ipman 0]

 

for 70-100 feet I'd say you are looking for a camera with a about a 50mm lens. Check out this great post that shows a sample of what you get with different focal length lens:

 

 

In addition to that there is a visual calculator for focal length (30 days trial). I found it very useful during planning of my video surveillance projects.

[ipman 0]

But personally I would use network cameras only.

[Jersey Joe 0]

Hi Joe, I had a customer of mine spend $1500.00 on a Cosco system, and could make out a person 10 feet in front of the camera. I would suggest you use a low light box camera with a 5 to 50 MM lens like C7 in CA said

 

Make sure the lens is day/night also... i can suggest a good camera if you want..

 

OK Mr. Rebco...Please recommend a good cam or two. Thank you.

 

BTW...I lost an auction for a Pelco CCC1380UH-6 that I was impulse buying

[Rebco 0]

But personally I would use network cameras only.

Unless things have changed i don't see any Ip camera that can handle low light yet, Ip cameras are good but not in low light apps. But i can be wrong once a year.

 

Joe send me a picture of what you want to cover.