Help a newbie before I waste money one ebay (Shopping list)

[RichTJ99 0]

Hi,

 

I am a new member to this group & the amount of information is staggering. I feel like I have come home. I have purchased a new house (to me) a few months ago & have wanted to do a 6 camera setup for my home.

 

I am looking to use the cameras for some remove viewing and for motion detection. Speaking of which, are all cameras capable of motion detection & the PC DVR card / software controls the motion detection recording?

 

I would like the setup to record motion events and I would also like to be able to view the cameras remotely on the internet. I plan to use no TV for viewing (only PC's even when in my house). I have a dedicated PC picked out for this "project"

 

I am hoping to get some advice for my setup as I plan to buy most of the cameras from Ebay.

 

For my outdoor cameras I was thinking of using these for where it might get a little wet:

 

(1/3" Sony Super HAD CCD 36 IR LED Weatherproof Camera)

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5849765210

 

I cant find any model numbers so I cant be sure if this is the right thing for me.

 

______________________________________________________________________

This is the camera I was thinking of for outside but where it is covered:

 

(1/3" Sony CCD Day&Night Color Dome Camera 0.01Lux)

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5847383571

 

I am only thinking of using two, but these were the cameras I was thinking of.

 

______________________________________________________________________

 

This was what I was thinking of using for the inside:

 

(2512 COLOR DSP PIR HIDDEN CAMERA )

 

http://www.cctvimports.com/product_info.php?cPath=1_36&products_id=219

 

______________________________________________________________________

 

This is what I was figuring for the DVR card:

 

(8CH Real Time Pro 640x480 Hi-res. 240f/s. DVR Card)

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5850613910

 

 

The 240 FPS appeals to me since I will probably have 8 cameras at some point. the 240 / into 8 cameras = 30FPS.

 

______________________________________________________________________

 

That will be my full setup. I dont want to waste money by buying everything twice. I would like to purchase using paypal but a credit card is fine too.

[jisaac 0]

stay away from ebay!!!!!!!!!!

I promise you, you want to go through a established business.

Just so you dont think I am trying to sell you by saying that statement, go through some one in here that works for a surveillance/security business.

I am sure that someone in here will be glad to help you out before and more importantly give you the support AFTER the sale.

[CraigVM62 0]

I have installed a good handful of "budget oriented" CCTV systems for homes. To keep them within the homeowners budget, I have purchased many items such as your looking at on FleaBay. Some have worked out very well and were great values. Others were a waste of money and nothing I wanted to warranty or expect the homeowners to be happy with. Often I would order one item to evaluate before I would order the total needed for multi camera installations.

 

I have installed what looks to be the exact same dome cameras you are looking to place outside. Video was acceptible for things like outside entry cameras or to overlook parked cars very near the camera. I would also mount under eaves so rain could not get to them, bugs and dust would though. You really have to do a good job of sealing them so insects can't find even the smallest of openings to get in. A spider the size of a pin head looks like 300 lbs blure when its parked infront of the lens. The board camera within produces enough heat that they attract insects into the houseings. The cheaper plastic housings just had several little gaps that allowed them in. I switched to armored type dome houseing cameras which include seals for the dome lenses and gaskets for mounting.

 

The majority of the budget Bullet IR cameras had problems with condensation forming within and the light from the LED's bleading through around the glass forming a white halo around the edge of the image. They also never seemed to illuminate out near to the distance advertised. I eventualy just convinced homeowners to let me put a motion light near the camera if possible

I now am looking at higher dollar bullet cameras that have a built in heater to prevent the condensation problem and would use IR Illumination from a seperate unit

 

I have minimal experience with DVR Cards so can't comment there.

[RVRBOY420007 0]

DEFINATLY STAY AWAY FROM E-BAY. IF YOU WANT TO USE YOUR PC FORGET THE CARD JUST GO ALL IP!! TOSHIBA HAS SOME INEXPENSIVE MODELS BUT VIDEO ISN'T THE BEST. I RECOMMEND SONY SNCRZ25N YOU COULD PUT 2 OR 3 UP AND COVER THE WHOLE BLOCK SERIOUSLY THOUGH JUST GET SOME IP CAMERAS AND SOME GOOD SOFTWARE AND STAY OFF E-BAY CCTV.

[RichTJ99 0]

Is there anything wrong with the GV-800 cards on Ebay? They look closer to an OEM card than a retail package but who needs all the packaging?

 

If they are copies (which at those prices I guess they might be) whats wrong with using them (from a technical standpoint)? If they work & work with the Geovision 7.0 software isnt that OK?

 

I can see that you might not be able to upgrade the software, but from what I have seen, the card should still work (maybe not without all the new features).

[rory 0]

the clones dont work with 7.0, last time i checked. In fact, they only work 50% of the time. There's a huge difference between a clone and the real thing, quality of the image for starters, only records in 640x480 tops, no recent codecs, and to install the software and especially the drivers, you have to be a genuis. Expect a week at least before getting it up and running, then expect no tech support at all, along with no software updates ever.

 

So in the end, its suggested to by a legit card, and if you cannot spend on the Geo or other card like that, then there are cheaper Legit cards out there with full tech support and software updates.

 

Fill you in on Geo, basically, Geo writes software, a Korean Company makes the cards, and those cards are great. Now, that same Korean company woulnt be selling them to the Chinese guys that are hacking them, at this point they would know who it is, since its been out a while. And if the chinese guys are making them themselves, then they arent the same cards. Im not saying the Chinese cards arent good, in fact there are some really decent ones out there, just in this case they dont call it like it is.

[martins 0]

Well.

 

Ebay is NOT bad. Ebay is like wild wild west - if you manage to know the rules + tehnical CCTV expierence and get a little luck - you may succeed and really cut some costs.

 

I buy on ebay frequently and i cant really rant on ebayers. You must know the rules and tehnical details.

 

You can build pretty good home monitoring with 4 cams and PC dvr under 200$, YOU cant equip fort knox with ebay stuff on second thought. Ebay is good for small and not-so-professional projects, and there is anyways risk too. Plus. Ebay is full of cloned DVR cards and software. Be aware. Talk to sellers. Ask them, take a look on their history.

 

So conclusion:

1) YOU need to know ebay rules, tips and tricks

2) YOU need to know atleast basic tehnical details(forexampl. what is diff. PAL with NTSC or what is lux or view angle)

3) NEVER buy ALL equippment on ebay, just some parts

4) think twice

[CraigVM62 0]

Something I have done in the past with auctions of hardware I am looking at. I check the sellers feedback history and bring up the transaction which will give the buyers name. Often I will contact the buyer and let them know I am also looking to buy the same product and ask for a quick review. Most are more than helpful in shareing their thoughts. Like Martins mentioned, it comes in handy to be familar with some of the quirks of FleaBay.... You can't always judge the quality of a sellers products by the amount of positive feedback. Many times I have received an item and it was not near the quality I had hoped for. If I leave negative feedback expressing that, they will in return leave negative feedback towards me. Since I occasionaly sell items on Fleabay, my 100% positive feedback history is important to me and don't want to have any negative feedback. It is something of a double edge sword in that if you complain, you also pay a price. Many sellers will not be to first to leave feedback and only do so after you, the buyer have left yours for that reason. Because of this, I would only leave negative feedback as a buyer, if they just didn't ever ship product, or blatantly lie in the discription of the item.

Is a stand alone DVR completely out of the budget ?

[RichTJ99 0]

Well, the short version is that I also sell on ebay & have some $$ in a paypal account. I get hit with a % surcharge from ebay when selling shirts, then I get hit by paypal for another % for accepting paypal. To send the money to my bank account is another %. So, I would rather just spend the paypal money on ebay then put it on a visa card.

 

I know that might be a little pennywise but oh well.