Advice on setting up a relatively cheap home security system?

[jibo82]

Hi Guys,

I wan some advice on how to setup a ad hoc home security system. This will be used for outdoor monitoring.

Requirements:
1) 2 outdoor security cameras, must have okay nightime visibility, quality capturing at a good distance.
2) Infra red if cost effective, else wired
3) must be able to record to computer or other device atleast 24hrs of recording
4) relatively easy to put together
5) must be low on power consumption since it will be on 24\7
6) 24\7 monitoring capability

 

[Viva]

a dog

EDIT: Just kidding!

 

[Pilgrim]

Hi bijosn, I have also wondered about cameras and I see Scoop Distribution recently got stock of some very interesting hardware: http://www.scoopdistribution.co.za/index.php?cPath=106

You can maybe contact them and find out how it works, I am itching to get my hands on one of those Network Video Recorders and 2 or 3 cameras

 

[davemc]

Don't waste your time with night-vision (I-R) camera's.
Install a motion detector activated light and mount a normal camera near the light, the idea being that the motion detector will light the area being filmed.
I found that the IR "light" is pathetic, too many features of the image being recorded on IR are not clear enough to be useful, the cops just laugh at the imagery.

Then, try to let the camera recording be triggered by the light's activation, the software tries to be clever, but, that cleverness is really a waste of time, hours of footage of a spider making a nest over the camera's lens is just a waste, you want to have no more than 2% false alarms, otherwise the camera system is just ignored in the end.

 

[jibo82]

a dog

EDIT: Just kidding!

Hi bijosn, I have also wondered about cameras and I see Scoop Distribution recently got stock of some very interesting hardware: http://www.scoopdistribution.co.za/index.php?cPath=106

You can maybe contact them and find out how it works, I am itching to get my hands on one of those Network Video Recorders and 2 or 3 cameras

thanks mate, they are pricy though

Don't waste your time with night-vision (I-R) camera's.
Install a motion detector activated light and mount a normal camera near the light, the idea being that the motion detector will light the area being filmed.
I found that the IR "light" is pathetic, too many features of the image being recorded on IR are not clear enough to be useful, the cops just laugh at the imagery.

Then, try to let the camera recording be triggered by the light's activation, the software tries to be clever, but, that cleverness is really a waste of time, hours of footage of a spider making a nest over the camera's lens is just a waste, you want to have no more than 2% false alarms, otherwise the camera system is just ignored in the end.

I have been wondering about the usefulness of ir cameras, thanks for clearing that up for me. The only problem is getting the camera to sync with the light\sensor.