Beginner with some questions on residential install

[techgeek 0]

All-

 

New to the forum but have been lurking around quite a bit. I am somewhat of a newbie when it comes to ip cams and surveillance as a whole. Currently I have some older Lorex analog cams and want to upgrade my system to ip. Features I would like to have is PTZ (for the driveway cam), POE, and good at night. Right now I am about at my wits end because our current setup is pretty much useless at night. I can’t see hardly anything!

 

I do know that POE is most likely the way to go and I will not be doing wireless (want a constant secure signal). I also have an older pc laying around that I will be converting to a NVR due to a lot of the components were given to me. I was planning on running some software such as Blue Iris and recording the data on a 500GB HDD. I will be attaching pics to this thread so you can see first hand of my exact situation.

 

First pic will be of the driveway that I would like to cover the back of the house all way around to the front of the garage where the personnel door is located. I was thinking of a PTZ cam for this situation so I don't have to have 2 separate bullet cams for this location? Second pic will be of the front porch that is fully covered and protected quite good from the elements other than the birds…LOL. I was thinking of just replacing with a bullet cam since I only need to cover the front door and some of the walkway leading up to the front door.

 

Driveway Pic:

 

 

Front Porch Pic:

 

 

Thanks for any assistance you can provide!

 

Michael

[Soundy 1]

Sounds like a good plan... only drawback with a PTZ is, it still only sees one direction at a time, and while you're moving it to watch one area, it will miss the other area. Considering they tend to cost a lot more in the first place, I think you'd be better off just using the two separate cameras there.

[techgeek 0]

Sounds like a good plan... only drawback with a PTZ is, it still only sees one direction at a time, and while you're moving it to watch one area, it will miss the other area. Considering they tend to cost a lot more in the first place, I think you'd be better off just using the two separate cameras there.

 

Soundy-

 

Thanks for the advice....after thinking about it for awhile, the PTZ may not be such a good idea because of expense and also it involves moving parts which theoretically could be a potential weak spot over time with breakage. Also like you said the monitoring aspect of it all.

 

I think I will just stick with 3 separate bullet cams for the areas. I may need to slide the back of the house cam down a little bit anyway to get a good view of the doors I need to cover on the back of the house. So at least there won't be two right on the corner of the driveway (eyesore).

 

Also, any suggestions from anyone on a good overall IP cam (with POE, good night vision, somewhat affordable)? Currently looking at the Acti ACM-1231 and the Axis M-1114-e (although the axis is most likely going to be out of the price range). Anything else to consider....

 

That question not only goes to Soundy but also anyone else knowledgeable about the subject:)

 

Thanks,

Michael

[Soundy 1]

Sounds like a good plan... only drawback with a PTZ is, it still only sees one direction at a time, and while you're moving it to watch one area, it will miss the other area. Considering they tend to cost a lot more in the first place, I think you'd be better off just using the two separate cameras there.

 

Thanks for the advice....after thinking about it for awhile, the PTZ may not be such a good idea because of expense and also it involves moving parts which theoretically could be a potential weak spot over time with breakage.

Only really an issue with cheap PTZs... the quality ones are well-designed and well-built to last for years with no maintenance. Of course, those also cost substantially more than the cheap ones... as with most aspects of this industry, you do get what you pay for.

[techgeek 0]

Only really an issue with cheap PTZs... the quality ones are well-designed and well-built to last for years with no maintenance. Of course, those also cost substantially more than the cheap ones... as with most aspects of this industry, you do get what you pay for.

 

Thanks for the info about PTZ cameras cheap vs. expensive and there durability. Any comments suggestions for camera choices as mentioned in previous post?