Looking for a CCTV security system

[SandEagle]

interested in setting up cctv surveillance around the home. anyone know where i could find a good system without spending too much money? the ones at sams club are crap.

specifically looking for a H.264 system, 4 Channel with Internet connectivity.
i'm thinking 540TVL sony 1/3 cameras with IR. or would 420/480TVL suffice?

any suggestions appreciated. thx

 

[akugami]

What's your budget? Are you looking for a computer based system or a DVR styled all-in-one box. Not much difference in quality between those resolutions. More important would be the quality of the capturing device and cameras. Is there a reason you need IR? Assuming it's in a well lit place, IR won't do you much good.

 

[skyking]

I have installed zoneminder at a couple of business clients. It has worked well and has a wealth of features if you are linux-comfortable. I have a mix of IP and analog cameras, 19 in all at one location. That one is a busy 24-7-365 place and with motion recording I get 5 weeks on a 500GB drive. A typical setup of a few cameras will work on a P4 and a gig of ram, and as much disk space as you want. The big system has a 6600 and a couple gigs, and 64 bit OS.

 

[SandEagle]

Originally posted by: akugami
What's your budget? Are you looking for a computer based system or a DVR styled all-in-one box. Not much difference in quality between those resolutions. More important would be the quality of the capturing device and cameras. Is there a reason you need IR? Assuming it's in a well lit place, IR won't do you much good.

looking for a good DVR-based one for under $800 if possible. it's specifically for outdoors only, thus the reason for IR. i've found a few, but they come with the 420/480tvl cameras, which is what i want to avoid.

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: SandEagle

Originally posted by: akugami
What's your budget? Are you looking for a computer based system or a DVR styled all-in-one box. Not much difference in quality between those resolutions. More important would be the quality of the capturing device and cameras. Is there a reason you need IR? Assuming it's in a well lit place, IR won't do you much good.

looking for a good DVR-based one for under $800 if possible. it's specifically for outdoors only, thus the reason for IR. i've found a few, but they come with the 420/480tvl cameras, which is what i want to avoid.

IR may be good for monitoring, but most home installs are looking for cameras for identifying perps and are not actively monitoring.

You really want a well-lit area surrounding your home as this is probably the biggest bang for buck in security.

homesecuritystore.com has a nice forum.

 

[slocoach]

Has anyone deployed POE cameras and have experiences with them they want to share?

I'm just now starting to research a home system, 4 perimeter cameras and a couple inside wall units. Being a novice and not wanting to deal with electricity, I was thinking POE would be an excellent deployment strategy - just 1 CAT5 cable since we're IP based (less of a novice here) anyhow. I figured I'd run back to a home server, hopefully via OSX - no clue about the software yet, and I'd be able to see the video channels on any given home TV(via PC video out) and also have a hotline on my SIP phone that will give me two-way audio capability with the front door camera(it'd be nice to deal with solicitors from my office instead of face to face).

I'll take a look at the forum alkemyst suggested as well, the site appears to have all the gear one would need - but I'm approaching this from a DIY project perspective I can tinker with.

 

[alkemyst]

POE is great stuff, the units usually handle it, but they have adapters to retrofit.

Those forums have a lot of DIY guys on them.

 

[akugami]

I've never used POE cameras. For the OP, you're probably better off going with a pre-built system after thinking about it.

I usually buy stuff from cctvimports.com but you should probably look around to see what other prices are.

Generally for our cameras I use siamese cables which have the coaxial cable as well as a power line all in one roll. For those that need to control their cameras there are cables that have the coaxial lines, power lines as well as a ethernet line all in one bundle so you don't have to roll multiple wires.