Home cctv installation

[Guest deefadog]

Hi, I want to install 4 colour day/night camerers around the outside of my house.

I have been searching the web and have found several companies including flea bay, but these are not cheap and i wnat to make sure i get a decent quality camera.

I have a tight budget of around £250 - £300, any recomendations on what i need to avoid and waht specs i will need?

I found this one - here

Is this a good one to go for?

Also i found these on - Fleabay

As for useage, i would like to view these via coax (maybe using the scart convertor), so that i can distribute the signal to all my tv's around the house and have each camera at a different frequency/channel! - Not sure if this is possible, but hey that's why i am here

As for recording i am going to just get a dvr card and use a spare pc i have!

Just wondering as i write this if are the 2 options i want doable together, i guess i would have to split the signal, one for the dvr card and one for the coax?

Any help much appreciated

[baywatch]

I wouldn't touch wireless unless you have to.

On the RF components site you will find some waterproof cameras with built in IR lighting.

I would suggest you telephone RF for advice.

To put the images on a TV channel you will need a modulator or similar.

System Q make a good 4 camera unit that you can control with a keyfob from anywhere in the house.

I don't think you will do all you require for your budget.

[Guest]

To get the images from 4 different cameras onto seperate channels you need 4 RF modulators.

Looking at what you want and the budget you have I'd be hard pushed to get the materials alone for anywhere near that. I think you may want to reconsider the amount you spend on this. If the budget is limited then maybe do the job in phases?

[Rich]

Look to be spending around £170 per camera, including PSU.

£120 on a card for your old PC.

Cable £30

So around £800 just for the components.

Plus any RF Convertors

Then expect to spend another £350 (ish) in 3 months time on a stand alone networkable DVR when you realise your pc and capture card aren't really what you expected and constantly fail.

you should start by deciding what you want from each camera, are they just to monitor whats going on outside when your indoors? Or do you intend to use them as a security system?

[Guest deefadog]

Thanks for the replies!

I think i will start with just one camera and work up, due to my budget.

Basicaly they are just to monitor the outside of the house, in or out!

Maybe the dvr route is not within my budget, i have seen automatic recording boxes that plug into my existing vcr, there about £40 and there is a switch for around the same price - will these do?

So what about the camera then, £170 per camera is well out of my budget! Was the one from rs concept not any good?

I currently have one of those £30 b&w cameras from macros, the scart socket on that just plugs into a modulator in the attic and is coaxed down to all the tv's in the house, so when there is someone at the door we can just turn to channel 8 (or whatever channel) and see who is there!

Then i just record this on LP on my vcr before i go to work and before we go to bed!

It's rubbish quality but at least we can monitor the out side!

I just wanted to improve things and have the cameras just record when movement is there, I could then record at SP and improve the quality of the recoding and a 4 hour tape would last a week or more!

So can i have seperate pir's (to cut cost)and have this switch choose which pir and camera is being recorded? - does that make sense?

[Rich]

Thanks for the replies!

I think i will start with just one camera and work up, due to my budget.

Basicaly they are just to monitor the outside of the house, in or out!

Maybe the dvr route is not within my budget, i have seen automatic recording boxes that plug into my existing vcr, there about £40 and there is a switch for around the same price - will these do?

So what about the camera then, £170 per camera is well out of my budget! Was the one from rs concept not any good?

I currently have one of those £30 b&w cameras from macros, the scart socket on that just plugs into a modulator in the attic and is coaxed down to all the tv's in the house, so when there is someone at the door we can just turn to channel 8 (or whatever channel) and see who is there!

Then i just record this on LP on my vcr before i go to work and before we go to bed!

It's rubbish quality but at least we can monitor the out side!

I just wanted to improve things and have the cameras just record when movement is there, I could then record at SP and improve the quality of the recoding and a 4 hour tape would last a week or more!

So can i have seperate pir's (to cut cost)and have this switch choose which pir and camera is being recorded? - does that make sense?

70324[/snapback]

The camera you quoted would require a power supply and a housing should you want to use it out doors. The cameras that have been reccomended, and the ones Im quoting are day/night cameras, with a built in IR lamp for night and are waterproof.

the cheapest option for you maybe be to use an analogue cctv quad (from ebay) with a time lapse vcr, you should be able to get both these items for under £100 second hand, some multiplexers also had motion detection, and these would priorotise the camera recording for which ever camera detected motion.

Mux

Time lapse VCR

4 x external cameras

That sort of set up.

[Guest deefadog]

Thank you Rich, The MUX link did not work btw

I understand now about the camera, I can't quite see where the camera on the link has a power supply? also will Horizontal Definition: 320 lines be goos quality picture?

Also how does the time lapse vcr work|? does it recorde when the pir is actibated on the camera instead of using an exteral box?

sorry about these basic questions, i have tried searching scan line on google but nothing made much sense!

[ian.cant]

320 lines be good quality picture?

No. That would be a

low resolution image, but if your going to use a bog standard TV then a higher resolution camera wont be noticible on your TV.

However it will make a difference on the quality of your recordings but not much point with the TV again though.

One other noteworthy point regarding some of the CCTV tat on Ebay, dont buy a CMOS camera, they're **** in terms of image quality, make sure you buy a CCD camera.

Also how does the time lapse vcr work|? does it recorde when the pir is actibated on the camera instead of using an exteral box

A PIR can be used to activate a T/L VCR, relativly easy to do if you know what your doing, and can be programmed to record at various speeds and durations.

[JB_]

Thank you Rich, The MUX link did not work btw

I understand now about the camera, I can't quite see where the camera on the link has a power supply? also will Horizontal Definition: 320 lines be goos quality picture?

Also how does the time lapse vcr work|? does it recorde when the pir is actibated on the camera instead of using an exteral box?

sorry about these basic questions, i have tried searching scan line on google but nothing made much sense!

70354[/snapback]

Most of the connections to RFconcepts camera you posted would be on the rear of the camera, so you'd be unable to see them, checking the table of techincal details for that camera it says 'Power source DC12V' so you'd need a power supply to convert mains into 12v DC. Again extra cost for you.

320 lines is well on the low side but but if your on a budget would suffice to give you a picture, if not the most clear picture around. Typicaly if you we're looking at something profesional you'd look at 480 lines+.

One thing everyone's missed though. The camera you posted from rfconcepts is exactly that, despite the piccy it WON'T come with a lens so don't forget to price for that too, and your looking at another £50 (acording to rfconcepts) for the lens.

[JB_]

Oh yeah, you could be buying a real lemon if you get hold of a VCR from ebay, with them running non stop continuously for months on end they need maintaining every 10000hrs which can cost upwards of £200 otherwise they just pack up when the heads wear out, quite often as an engineer we goto site and find video's that have been running 30000+ and been recording absolutely nothing for months, who's to say you won't end up with a VCR like that?