Video Surveillance For Condo Complex--total newbie

[villageidiot 0]

Greetings,

 

I wondered if I could get some advice on video surveillance for our condo community. We've been having issues with residents actually using their cars to push our front and back gates open with their cars (at considerable repair expense)--if you can believe it. We've also had many break-ins.

 

So...I'm helping the board members research the possibility of installing video cameras by those gates. Unfortunately, light and power are going to be the limiting factors. I guess my questions boil down to these:

 

1. How do I assess whether we have enough light to even consider a camera?

2. How are most remote/outside cameras powered?

3. Do they record onto their own hard drive or is the data sent wirelessly to a computer/etc.?

4. What price range are we looking at?

 

Sorry for the dumb questions. Any websites or keywords you can direct me to start my research and investigation into this would be greatly appreciated!

[Numb-nuts 1]

I understand just how difficult CCTV can be for a novice and knowing what is possible enough so that you can asses the job that needs doing. My advice to you would be to have a CCTV professional look at the problem for you becauise the likelyhood is that he/she will have tackled something similar before.

 

Question? How does one skin a cat? Answer: There are many ways to skin a cat. (if you are so inclined)

 

All those things you mentioned are possible, and a thousand other possibilities aswell. My advice would be don't rack your brains over it, get professional advice from a local CCTV Guy. Ask if he's/she's got any jobs he's done similar to what you need, that you can view locally. If they are any good they will have something similar to show you. Photos are also okay but there's nothing like seeing the real thing.

 

Question: do your management want to prevent the damage happening again or do they want to catch those that are doing the damage? Have the answer to this question ready when you speak to the professional. Let him deal with the technical issues.

 

By the way two of the best professional installers I know, are female (Just thought I'd mention it).

[Soundy 1]

We've been having issues with residents actually using their cars to push our front and back gates open with their cars (at considerable repair expense)--if you can believe it.

That's messed up - you need to put big spikes on the fence to drag along the sides of their cars when they push through.

 

So...I'm helping the board members research the possibility of installing video cameras by those gates. Unfortunately, light and power are going to be the limiting factors. I guess my questions boil down to these:

 

1. How do I assess whether we have enough light to even consider a camera?

The right cameras will do extremely well with very little ambient light. Generally, in a (semi-)public space like that, if there's enough light that people can move about safely, there should be enough for the proper cameras to work with. If there isn't, you might want to worry about liability issues if someone trips in the dark.

 

2. How are most remote/outside cameras powered?

Cameras should always be hardwired for power and video if at all possible. Even "wireless" cameras still need to get power from somewhere. Battery packs still need to be replaced or recharged regularly, which most often means large solar panels.

 

3. Do they record onto their own hard drive or is the data sent wirelessly to a computer/etc.?

There are a couple models of cameras that record to internal hard drives... several more that can record to internal flash memory (SD card). Most types record to a computer or standalone recorder, and again, most often it's hardwired, not wireless.

 

4. What price range are we looking at?

That's kind of up to you. There may be solutions ranging from $1000 to $10,000 and up. It depends on a wide range of factors, including how many cameras you'll actually need, what level of quality they need to be, how much light there is to work with, distances involved, ability to run wires for video and power...

 

Any websites or keywords you can direct me to start my research and investigation into this would be greatly appreciated!

You're already here

 

My advice to you would be to have a CCTV professional look at the problem for you becauise the likelyhood is that he/she will have tackled something similar before.

Words to live by.