Home CCTV help???

tony58_3

hi
i live near a school, and want to install 2 cctv cameras (cos its a corner plot) around my house.

the wireless camera look pretty appealing, are they reliable?? would the intefer with any other equipment in the house?? what makes should i avoid? or look to??

what is the best method??

thanks

bobhawke

I'm not sure about best method, but the cheapest and probably easiest method would be to use a webcam and motion detection software

http://lifehacker.com/5233052/motion-detection-is-an-effective-dead-simple-security-camera-app

tony58_3

yeh but i cant use a webcam for outside can i?? and if i can im guessing, my pc needs to be on all the time, thats not something i want to do!

sharkie

all perminent cameras need power, so they are wired that way. Wired cameras usually give a much better pic per £. Some wireless cameras can attach 'directly' to a network, but generally cost more £.

Generally the area viewed is better on a webcam, but clarity and motion and light fuctuations are often better on surveillance cams.

If you are using motion detection, birds, car lights, flashing police lights, snow, rain, cats, litter, light reflection, smoke and air currents, air particles will trigger it.

IR is great for night time viewing. do not put an ir light indoors pointing out a window as the light will reflect back into the lense.

For day time viewing, a decent webcam in a pringles, or some other easy recognisable box that is easy dismissable works wonders.

The best method, depends on what and when you want to capure it, the area you need to cover and the definition/recignition of the item/person.

USB personal ones, the IR only works for up to 1m, had to stick my face 30cm or less infront to get enough light from the 8 led. The clearest one I ever bought was a Logitech pro 9000, however it had to be a bright day, needed a fast pc. The 2mp one i bought had a poor picture, the 4mp one lasted 2 weeks befor it died, the picture was not brill even though it got a 5/5 star rating. The 12MP picture was marginally not as good as the 9000 above, but was very much better in lower light - like miserable winter rainy days

Axis do apparently quite a fair camera for about £1200 (213 PTZ), but on ebay for around £20 for somthing that may work.

Some systems will ring alarm, play the sound of barking dogs, and can be viewed on you mobile too.

If you get an IR one that can view upto 15m, then don't expect clear facial recognition much past 5m.

If you want to record, pc is quite a good choice. Emailing will tend to fill inboxes fairly quickly.

Do not expect these cameras to take (a) a picture as good as an old tv, (b) a photo with a quality of a normal camera, as you will be VERY dissapointed, unless you are paying big money.