grg4x4 0 Posted January 28, 2008 Hi there folks! I'm researching for a good system to be installed outside my home. My car has been vandalized and I want to protect my family. I'll be looking forward for recommendations and will be searching the archives as well. My budget will be around $500, is this a good price range? Thanks again!!! George Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
scorpion 0 Posted January 28, 2008 $500.00 ?? NO. If security is of the essence then you will need to spend more. There are products out there that will meet your budget, but they are hobby devices, and they have their limitations, and you will really have to do your homework before you buy. Cheap means someone buying in bulk in China, and reselling it to you, and passing the savings on to you. Savings mean that they do not hire people to answer the phones, they do not hire people to work a help desk, they do not hire people who are technitions that can answer tech support questions. If you go this route then you become your own distributor, and you provide your own tech support. At cheap prices if something fails then you can afford to buy another one. What is good for you? You need to study lens selection, and you need to understand how cameras work. DO NOT BUY A CAMERA, AND MOUNT IT ON YOUR HOUSE!!! You will soon become angry as you have the wrong lens, or the camera is performing a job that it was not designed to do, and you will feel that you have been ripped off. You must look at the job of the camera, and then match a camera designed for that application that meets your budget. 3.8 or 4mm This means that we will pull in more left, and right periphereal vision. We are sacrificing distance, and will not be able to distiguish faces from far away. There is a distortion with wide angle lenses. Things in the distance will look farther away in the video then they are in reality. 6mm This is a good lens. You do not get as much left, and right periphereal vision, but you do not get the distortion in the distance that you get with wide angle lenses. If you are trying to get facial recognition at 30 -40 feet from your house then you will need a 25mm lens or higher. _______________________________________________________ Choose IR bullet cameras carefully. Measure from where you will mount the camera to the area where you are going to be watching. How far is this? Now double it for your IR distance. Most cheap bullets are going to be listed at 30 feet of IR. This means you will want to watch an area about 15 - 20 feet from where the camera is mounted. At nighttime all you are going to see is a black screen unless you light it up with IR, or hire an electrician to install lots of lighting. Look how much they spend lighting up a mall parking lot!! If the area that you are watching is 30 feet from your house then you will at a minimum need a 60 foot IR camera. Have fun converting meters if the camera is listed this way! How to run wires from an attic with drywall walls. http://www.cctvforum.com/cms_view_article.php?aid=48 How to trouble shoot camera problems! http://www.cctvforum.com/cms_view_article.php?aid=42 Here is how to fix your video source problems! http://www.cctvforum.com/cms_view_article.php?aid=41 Camera info http://www.cctvforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=6122 What do you think? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
grg4x4 0 Posted January 30, 2008 Thanks Scorpion, I guess you have answered all of my question, summarized and explained detailed for a newb to understand. Regards, George Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
scorpion 0 Posted February 1, 2008 I enjoy helping people, and I am glad that I can take techno jargon, and make it somewhat understandable. We as installers have our own list of cameras that we stick to for camera installations. Camera that have great specs on paper never make it to the list after we try one, and find that it does not meet what it says it should. There are cameras on my list that do not belong on that list by it's written specs, but OH Boy do they work! It nice to have those "hidden" gems that can save money, or perform where one would not think it could perform. As a DIY yourself it is difficult to design your own system. It is pretty much just like buying shoes. What is the difference between the $100 pair, and the Wally World $10.00 pair? Ever buy a pair of shoes and the sole just came off? The glue did not stick? When did they start gluing soles with glue? Ever bought a pair of bargain shoes that fit so good, and you have never seen them for sale anywhere now that you want another pair? I would never meet Donald Trump with a pair of cheap dress shoes, and I would never go digging trenches in Gucci loafers!! LOL! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
