guys hi

[Redd 0]

I dont see a business discussion forum, so if you dont mind I'll pose my question here?

 

I've been asked to research a cctv system for my uncles business. kids keep on breaking in an lobbing rocks through vehicle windows, it just isn't funny anymore.

 

I know that if we were to ask a firm to do it here in Ireland, most of the fees would be for them... its just the culture here. I know im capable of setting it up, so i figure I can spend the entire budget on equipment, it makes more sense in my mind.

 

Ok, so we'll say a budget of about a grand. If thats not realistic let me know, but it seems a good figure.

 

3-4 cameras with motion detection

 

he wants it to send a message to his phone if there's movement

 

 

 

heres a pic of the premesis from above. The front faces south (to the bottom of the pic) as we look at it.

 

 

the front is about 100 meters wide, fenced off by a 7 foot high steel.. fence.

its approx 300 meters long. In the back theres tyres, thats why its black.

 

I was thinking 1 or two towers, I can make them myself, with cameras, maybe a dummy camera and some flood lights.

however im no expert, and thats why im here.

 

is my general plan sound or could it be streamlined or added too?

 

could you guys recommend so hardware? i really dont know where to start, i know theres a difference between cmos and ccd chips, not sure which is better.. something with low light or night capability will be necessary

[AngleSecurity 0]

You want CCD, preferably Sony if you want better quality.

[CCTV_Tech 0]

I dont see a business discussion forum, so if you dont mind I'll pose my question here?

 

I've been asked to research a cctv system for my uncles business. kids keep on breaking in an lobbing rocks through vehicle windows, it just isn't funny anymore.

 

I know that if we were to ask a firm to do it here in Ireland, most of the fees would be for them... its just the culture here. I know im capable of setting it up, so i figure I can spend the entire budget on equipment, it makes more sense in my mind.

 

However, keep in mind that it will be a learning process. Some things are simple, and some things can be tricky, so a good installer will make it all work faster. For example, some of the common issues are making the network connectivity work properly, especially remotely. Also, beware that cheap equipment has a very high failure rate. Camera selection and placement is more of an art than a science, and outdoors is challenging with respect to everything from rain, to the glare of the setting sun, to spiders who feel your camera is the ideal spot to put a web.

 

Ok, so we'll say a budget of about a grand. If thats not realistic let me know, but it seems a good figure.

 

Here in the US you could buy a fairly good consumer-grade DVR and four cameras for around $500, and some low-end pro-grade system for around $800-1000. What creeps up on you is all the extra stuff...cables, cabinet, brackets, power supplies, surge suppression, UPS, etc.

 

3-4 cameras with motion detection

 

he wants it to send a message to his phone if there's movement

 

Hate to say this, but that can be really tricky to get to work properly. A stray cat, a bag blowing in the wind, or a pesky moth flying at the camera IR will be sending him alerts ten times a night. If you set the motion sensitivity too low, you won't get anything recorded at all.

 

heres a pic of the premesis from above. The front faces south (to the bottom of the pic) as we look at it.

 

 

the front is about 100 meters wide, fenced off by a 7 foot high steel.. fence.

its approx 300 meters long. In the back theres tyres, thats why its black.

 

The only tricky bit is lighting...where does the sun shine from sunrise to sunset across the lot? Bright setting sun on half the frame and a dark alley on the other will give you nothing.

 

I was thinking 1 or two towers, I can make them myself, with cameras, maybe a dummy camera and some flood lights.

however im no expert, and thats why im here.

 

Not sure what sort of towers...ideally if you can be sheltered from the weather a bit, like under the edge of the building, that would be better. Dummy cameras are a waste. Bad guys do stuff in front of real cameras and either don't care or put on the hoodie hood. It takes the same work to install a real camera.

 

is my general plan sound or could it be streamlined or added too?

 

Sound can be tricky, and most privacy laws make covert recording of audio illegal from a true evidence-collection standpoint. Since sound recording is not done all that often, there are very few weather-proof microphones, and things like iphone or android viewer apps (or web browsers) do not support audio monitor or playback. (the only way to monitor audio on a iPhone is using something like a SlingBox or SpashTop streaming device). Also, the quality of the audio in most of the DVRs is pretty poor, and you often end up having to use a microphone mixer to get the input audio levels correct...plus there's hum in the long feed line, but I digress.

 

could you guys recommend so hardware? i really dont know where to start, i know theres a difference between cmos and ccd chips, not sure which is better.. something with low light or night capability will be necessary

 

CCD is absolutely the way to go.

 

From a hardware perspective, I have used stuff from GE/Kalatel and Everfocus for the pro-grade stuff, Lorex, Q-See, and Gadspot for the home-grade stuff, and GeoVision and NetRome for the PC-based stuff. The pro-grade stuff is more reliable, but much harder to remote-connect or even get footage from, in general. At the other end of the spectrum, the PC-based stuff is cave-man, easy, but is typically less reliable. At home I run a 16 channel Everfocus DVR and loop the video inputs to a GeoVision DVR....best of both worlds.

 

The more you pay, the better the chance is you can get support or service if you need it. Also, the no-name units use dirt-cheap power supplies, their software is buggy, and the instructions are in Engrish.

 

Here in the states you can get a pro-grade EverFocus or a high-end consumer Q-See model used on eBay for a couple hundred bucks. The big joke on eBay is that about 80% of the GeoVision cards are counterfeit junk that only runs an ancient and unstable version of their software.