4 Camera System Advise Please

[richard3009]

Im looking to install a four camera external system on my house, looking for a good quality 28 day DVR with monitor, a couple of questions where is the best place to locate the DVR for cable routes and the best position for the cameras to avoid lifting any floors for cable routing, is it possible to mount the camera at high level near the roof and route the cables out of the loft without drilling.

[emsgeorge]

all depends on what kit you specify.

 

Cheap tat from fleabay will see you not able to focus / zoom the cameras (will be fixed lens) and any with infra red will become useless at roof heights.

 

Not forgetting if you are looking over a driveway from the roof height of a house, you will only get the tops of peoples heads, not faces. If everyone comes to your front door and you can get face shots from there, not too much worry. If they just screw your car on your driveway then leave, then don't expect the police to be interested, as all you will have is the tops of their heads.

 

Look for 'choke points' on your property, places where people have to pass through, and aim cameras at there, nicely zoomed in, and with decent infra red lights (raytec are decent). Then you can have a roof height overview camera, and be confident their face will be on camera at your choke point.

 

You aren't looking to spend in the hundreds for a dvr and cameras. You are looking to spend over a grand to get something remotely decent. A decent IR led lamp will cost £300 plus.

[PeterJames]

couple of questions where is the best place to locate the DVR for cable routes and the best position for the cameras to avoid lifting any floors for cable routing, is it possible to mount the camera at high level near the roof and route the cables out of the loft without drilling.

Now there's a daft question if ever I heard one, as none of us have been to your house how are we supposed to work out cable runs for you, or know if you have any holes in your roof to run cables through? Mind you if you do have holes in your roof you would be better off spending your money on getting them fixed rather than CCTV

[datadiffusion]

Glad you said it, was going to sarcastically suggest some routes in great detail...

[al-yeti]

So if you have access to the loft ie no loft extention etc, then place dvr upstairs somewhere and all cameras at high level will give an overview of the area, and as said above wont give you any pictures of faces, providing they not hoodies doing you house in

 

as for then bring something to a lower level then you can take one or two cameras up the side of the building and use some kind of protection, wont look that nice but depends how you do it, you could use galvanised capping or fix cameras at first floor level and enter into the floor nearest an airing cupboard point to get through the loft and back into the room you want to place your dvr,

 

you will have to drill through the sofits at roof point of course to get cables in

 

thats just a few ways to do it,

 

money try and get a samsung 2080 theres still many about average cost maybe £150 retail each for overview and then maybe similiar version dome as lower areas, samsung dvrs are good aswell, forget about the smart phone viewing, thats only as good as what your broadband at the time might be, and just a gimmick overall

 

of course you could have no alarm either, open plan house they see your nice cameras and decide to break in just to nik the nice dvr you have in there aswell because you didnt have it locked up or the house secured in anyway

[PSE]

Mounting the cameras at high level will do nothing apart from give you the top of someone's head.

 

I usually install the IR Domes at bedroom window level, Drill into the cavity at 45 degree to the roof, then Super rod an external Cat5 to the loft 

 

This way leaves not even 1" of cable on show externally, Makes a fantastic finish to the job

 

Customers are still amazed to this day, they always say, Where is the cable. Its not on the outside or the inside.... How you done that.... Magic

[james.wilson]

Can you run cables in the cavity?

[PSE]

They say you cant run 25mm meter tails into the cavity,  Its still done to this day.   

[datadiffusion]

Eh? I thought tails were the ONLY exception, as unavoidable since meter boxes become the norm...

 

Certainly on new houses, the NHBC states, in Section 8.1 - S2, that no cables other than electricity meter tails are to be located in the cavity of an external wall. Where meter tails do have to pass through the cavity, however, this does not preclude the requirements of BS 7671, but I am certain that too allows for it with certain provisions for mechanical protection.

[PSE]

I may be wrong here, but I am sure that relates to electrical cabling and relates to mechanical protection etc.

I am not sure about SELV cabling. There is nothing in a video signal after all is there