New Wireless Camera 8 Channel System Help

[bhanson18 0]

Hello and thanks in advance to anyone that can help. I've been tasked by my friend to set up a CCTV system for his apartment building/management office. I have zero, zip, nadda, experience in this area, but being that I handle all of the IT for his business, this naturally fell into my lap.

 

I've done quite a bit of research on this topic and learned some things but at the same time there is a lot that seems a bit confusing. This is why I've come to you. So here we go.

 

What we need is an 8 channel system (front door, back door, laundry room, office, tool room, storage room and possibly a hallway or two). The building is an older, brick building that stretches 120 feet. The office, where we want to keep the DVR is going to be remodeled and moved in the next 6 months so the distance to the DVR will vary on a per camera basis in the near future. With this in mind (and the fact that my friend does not want to have people see the wires) we would like to go wireless. We do not need internet access to the cameras or the DVR. We just want a central DVR that all cameras talk to that I can output to the TV on the wall. Obviously we're trying to do this as inexpensively as possible. No real frills. The lighting will be a bit darker in some spaces and better in others. Color recording is not a must as long as we can get decent imagery from the black and white.

 

Ok so that's all that I can think of. Does anyone have any ideas of how to assemble (purchase) this system? I'm looking for either full system packages or separate cameras and DVRs. I've been given a $900 budget that I could probably stretch to $1000 if need be. I can also go with just the six cameras that I mentioned to start with and add more later.

 

If you need more input, please ask. Thanks again for any and all help.

 

Brent

[SectorSecurity 0]

Unless you plan on installing wireless access points all over the place and cabling them back wireless is not the way to go for this project. Since it is an apartment there are likely to be many other wireless devices that will cause congestion and wireless generally doesn't do well traveling through walls.

 

Is it your friend doesnt want people to see the wires or simply doesnt want to pay someone to run the wiring?

[bhanson18 0]

This is why I came here. I would have never thought if that.

 

He said it was because he didn't want the wires seen or cut. We can easily run the wires. The other issue was length of cables. Most systems seem to only come with 60' cables.

[the toss 0]

Adding to what Sector said , it seems that every person who is thinking of wireless is forgetting that they still need power. Unless you have an AC outlet beside every camera position there will be some wire running.

And a few tips - technically speaking you will receive a better quality picture with a B/W camera but of course you will miss out on colour information which can go a long way in IDing someone. B/W cameras also offer superior performance in low light conditions without the need for IR. Speaking of which it can be VERY difficult to get a useable picture when operating IR in an enclosed space. (small room . corridoor etc)

[SectorSecurity 0]

I would recommend against using the premade cables, they have almost no shielding and like you said come in lenghts that are almost never enough to use.

 

I would say use RG59 or RG6 with compression or crimp BNC connectors, or CAT5e or alarm wire with baluns.

 

The good thing about CAT5e is you are now futureproofed for IP cameras.

 

Also if you dont want them cut run them in conduit.

 

Running your own wiring allows you to run video and power at the same time.