New system for home business required

[fa57cmc 0]

Hi All,

I am looking for a solution for my wife's business ran from our home.

Basically we require a CCTV system to cover the kitchen door, lounge area, stairs, and bedroom, these cameras need to be as discreet as possible, just so they don't look unsightly. One possibly needs to be a covert camera or as small as possible.

 

On the outside walls I need cameras one looking down my driveway, one in the garage, and another 2 covering my back garden and entrances. With so may kits to choose from I am struggling to decide what to go for.

I have 4 computers all networked up in the house, and there is a tablet available to view from also. We may need to save part of the recording and document it.

 

They can be split up into 2 separate systems.

 

Please can someone point me in any direction of what to choose.

Thanks

[captainvideo 0]

I personally would stay away from the "all in one box" type systems .here is why .

One of the most important things to consider when designing a surveillance system is

Choosing the right camera for its location !

cameras come with different lens and focal lengths To give you a different field of view for each camera.

Typically , with an all in one box system ,you get 4 ,8 ,or 16 of the same exact camera's. So if your system

came with all 3.6mm cams ,they may work well at entrances for good facial recognition but not so well for

Longer shots .so right out of the gate some of your all in one box cams will be less than ideal .if your stuck

on an all in one box system ,make sure you get one with varifocal cams.these cameras generally have a 2.8mm

To 12mm range which should cover all your needs .the problem is that there are not to many all in one box

Systems that have varifocal camera's. No matter how good the price is at Costco or home depot,

I would find a local supply house not a big box store.it's not such a good deal when half your cams are useless.

And you will never find covert cams in an all in one box system .

I have installed dozens of these all in one box systems for people who thought they could do it themselves .I'm not saying that they are all garbage but generally with surveillance systems , you get what you pay for which will most likely include a cheap cell phone charger type power supply that generally does not last very long.

You generally get a dvr with not enough storage and a cheap hard drive that cannot be expanded or upgraded.along with cheap components and lame specifications. The pre-made cables in these systems are generally pretty cheesy too.

I would look for an hd-cvi or an hd-tvi dvr.then pick the appropriate cams for that dvr.then get a real hard wired power

Supply ,a box or two of siamese cable, a compression tool and stripper ,and the appropriate # of ends.then you will not be setting yourself up for failure.

If you are good with computers and Internet stuff you may want to consider an iP system but these are generally much more expensive than hd-cvi or hd-tvi.

Most important is to not rush into anything just because it seems like a good deal .

I like to use 123securityproducts.com for research .there is also a learning area on this site and you can email them with questions.

Or ask them here

Good luck !!!

[fa57cmc 0]

HI, Thank you for your reply, I wasnt looking for a package deal. I take it you can use all different cameras on a dvr? How big a hd would i need for 6 cameras, say for 30 day recording?

Thanks

[captainvideo 0]

YES,you can generally use most manufacturers camera's on most manufacturers dvr's.

BUT you have to use the same product technology .for example ,

If you have an hd-cvi dvr, you have to use hd-cvi camera's.

If you use an hd-tvi dvr.then you have to use hd-tvi cams. Hd-sdi dvr uses hd-sdi cams.

Some ip nvrs will only work with certain ip cams.

If you already had some cams&dvr in place, you could opt for an hvr. Hybrid video recorder which will work with cvi/960h/ip if it's an hd-cvi hvr.

If it's an hd-tvi hvr ,it will work with hd-tvi/960h/ip

 

Storage ;

It depends on several things .

1.what recording resolution ? 1080p ,720p ,960h etc

2.what frame rate are you recording at ? 30 frames per second, 15fps etc

3.how camera's are recording ? Always recording ,motion recording , etc

 

I have a 4 cam 720p hd-cvi system upstate at my brothers hunting kennel that records at 30 fps

On motion and his 1 terabytes hard drive saves about 8 days before recording over the oldest saved footage .

 

I also have 14 1080p hd-sdi cams at my brother in laws church recording at 15 fps on motion and his 2, 4 terabyte

Hard drives (8 terabytes total) save about 24 days before recording over the oldest footage .

 

Extra terabytes are so much cheaper today than they were just a year or two ago so I would recommend getting

As much as you can afford .i would shoot for at least 2 or 3 terabytes if the dvr can accommodate more than one

Hard drive ..if it can only handle one drive , shoot for 3 or 4 terrabytes.

It's cheaper to go with additional terabytes in one hard drive than to add additional hard drives .