CCTV newbie needs some help designing a home CCTV system.

[anthropomancy 0]

Hi all. Thanks in advance for any help you may be able to offer.

 

So, here’s the deal. I just moved to a new neighborhood and I am having some neighbor issues. Long story short, I’m worried the neighbor might poison my dog and there is a kid I am worried might try to vandalize my property. I had an elaborate security system installed last week to monitor windows/doors/motion but I am still lacking CCTV.

 

A few weeks ago we had an incident which involved trespass resulting in no property damage. I spoke with the individual regarding staying off of my property and it didn’t go over very well so the RCMP became involved. They spoke with the individual and advised me that in the future they will require evidence. Queue CCTV system.

 

The objective is to capture people approaching the property and any subsequent trespass or vandalism which occurs in addition to monitoring my fence line in the event that my dog be given a “treat”. Night time optics and identification (day and night) are definitely important to me. I will be mounting the cameras in my eves which are two stories up.

 

I have been obsessing on tigerdirect’s website and costco’s website figuring I could get a quality CCTV system “bundle” at a reasonable price. My research in these forums has lead me to believe otherwise. That having been said, I am here to ask for your help….

 

From what I gather, the best economic option as far as cameras go would be to go with CNB VCM-24VF –which I have found on ebay ranging in price from $100 to $200 per unit.. However, I have not seen much with regard to what DVR would be best. I would like to avoid going the PC route for a number of reasons I wont bother getting in to.

 

So I guess I am asking for some input from the community with regard to building a system. Is the CNB VCM-24VF a good candidate for capturing quality video feeds from the height I am dealing with? Are they reliable cameras etc? Do they “zoom” or something? I keep seeing “variable focus” mentioned.

 

What DVR should I go with? I am thinking I will install at least 6 cameras but that number could go as high as 12 in the future, so it would appear an 18 channel DVR is in order. This is ideally what I would like to get out of the DVR:

 

-Ability to add one or two PTZ cameras

-Ability to expand from 6 cameras to double that or more in the future.

-Ease of use and ability to be controlled 100% of the time from a remote computer (over the network). I plan to hide the DVR in a closet and (hopefully) not ever have to hook up a monitor.

-Storage space is very important. An installed 3tb drive would be great, with the ability to add an external hard drive.

-Audio inputs would be great, should I choose to add audio functionality.

-I’m also hoping to be able to somehow tie-in a wireless camera somehow……

 

What is the best approach to wiring the system? I am competent with electrical installation and have pulled my share of wire. Although, I have never worked with CCTV. My plan is to mount the cameras on my soffet in the eves of my house and pull cable through the attic and down in to a closet where the DVR would be located. A few questions regarding wiring:

 

-What is the best option to go with for wire? Ideally, it would be nice if I could run the data and electrical through the same cable. That being said, I have seen a number of people mention CAT5. It would appear that there exists the possibility to power the cameras with the CAT5 and simultaneously feed back the data stream from the camera in the same cable. Am I missing something here?

-If CAT5 is the best choice, should I just buy a 500ft box of cable? What special tools would I need to terminate connections? What special fittings would be involved? Is there a guide somewhere?

-In the above scenario, does the DVR provide power to the cameras through the CAT5?

 

CNB VCM-24VF/camera questions:

 

-Is there a better camera out there for the same price?

-How is this camera’s performance at night?

-Has anyone had these cameras fail within a year or so or are they pretty reliable?

-Is there special mounting hardware I need to buy in addition to the camera or do they normally come with it as a “kit”?

-Can anyone recommend a decent sub-$300 PTZ camera?

 

 

 

My budget at the moment is about $1500 CAD. Being said, I will be able to afford to add to this system later on. At the moment, I would like to get a half decent/good system that will operate reliably with little to no maintenance.

 

I understand that I have asked a lot of questions. Allow to me to express my profound gratitude in advance for your patience and any assistance you may be able to offer.

 

Kind regards.

 

Joe