Need Help with Security Cameras

[firefighter9208]

I ordered a DVR from CCTV SecurityPros.com Wednesday. They said it would go out that day. Got a call from them Thursday, turned out they were out of stock, new units are "held up at customs". They think they can get it out Monday. I brought other stuff in 2nd day shipping for the project....

I'll post if it gets in on time and I hope you get yours on the 14th .

Pete

UPS tracking shows that it's in Montgomery, AL. That means it will make it to Birmingaham today and then be out of the truck for delivery on Monday. No Saturday delivery where we live.

Chris

 

[BrierPatch]

I think you got a good unit. I don't own own one, but when I did all my "madding research" it was between GenIV (yours) and the one I ended up getting (Rayvision RVH1008,ussscctv.com). I think you have the right idea of, wait and set it up and see how you like the camera images and then decide which direction to go with 2 more. The motion sensing will go off alot with cameras looking outside. Things as simple as the sun coming up or a cloud passing over will set them off. If you turn down the sensitivty to the point you are not getting false triggers you may miss recording movement you wanted. I ended up just letting mine record 24/7. You can still use the motion triggers as a search tool to try and find where in the recording the action happened. I get almost 1 month worth of recording out of a 1T hard drive and 4 cameras at full D1(720x480)@15fps each. So I would guess you would get close to the same with 2 cameras and a 500G hard drive. The hard drives are easily replace in most of these units. I even bought mine without one and got my own and put in it. You can get a really good 1T Western Digital Audio/Video hard drive for around $75 from Newegg.

 

[WBWI]

You guys are giving me the camera bug now. My house is in a country subdivision and I'm failry secluded on a 5 acre lot. In the summer my house is completely shrouded by trees so you cannot see it from the street. We like the privacy BUT no one can see what is happening there. Someone could back a big panel truck to the garage and empty it. I know cameras wont prevent theft but maybe they could catch important details otherwise missed. Security systems would only deter the casual thief and who knows what the police response time would be.

 

[dcyrilc]

The greatest thing I have learned from my system is that if you can't regognise a face and read a plate, you wasted your money. Probably better in smaller communities, but here where I am with 2 million people in the greater Seattle area, a plate is a must if you want any chance of catching someone.

 

[BrierPatch]

Costco has some systems that are reasonably priced and you can easily return them if they are not working out. I have almost bought one several times, still trying to decide how much of system I want.

This is one that I am looking at buying possibly.
Costco - Q-See 8 Channel Full D1 Resolution Security System 4 Day & Night High-Res CCD Cameras

That actually seems like a pretty good unit. Especially the fact that you can return it if you don't like it. I like it being an 8 channel. I started with a 4 channel and after several years now upgraded to an 8. I wanted to add some cameras at my pole barn, we have had a few break ins in our area lately. It's really hard to determine how these systems are just by the specs on the internet. Being able to test it and see it in person is very benificial to see if it will meet your needs. One of the big differences in prices is support. If you can take care of it on your own and don't expect a lot of help from who you buy it from then some of the lower cost high volume store units should be fine. You still have to weed thru them to find which ones are the good ones still.

 

[powerstroke444e]

We have camera systems at all the farm locations. Caught a van backing up to garage door and guy getting out when he seen the camera got in the van and left. Van had no plates or markings. A well system will deture most and help catch the others.

 

[Michelle K linnane]

I did not see this, but did anyone think to ask about an internet camera
that is motion activated that can view thru a web site? Sorry if they already did.