Home surveillance kits

[Oob]

So I am in the process of building a new home. Everything has been signed and now just waiting on the city to give us a permit.

Anyways, My wife and I are tossing around the idea of putting in a home surveillance system. Nothing fancy just a few cameras by the three doors. I have been looking around the web to find some more info but am at a lost, there does not seem to be much info anywhere that I can find.

I am looking for a full kit. Something like this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16881338014 Like I said above, I can not find info or reviews of surveillance kits or am just dumb (probably the later).

I do understand the more money I spend the better stuff I can get. However I would like to keep this around the $500 mark. The only real other "requirments" is for it to beable to stream to the net, have outdoor camras, and be able to work in light and dark.

Does anyone know of a good place to get more info on home surveillance systems?

Thank you for anyinfo!
Tony

[creakndale]

Tony,
Check out the information, tutorials and PDF's at this site:
http://www.aventuratechnologies.com/

I went through a similar Surveillance study about a two years ago and purchased a four channel unit about a year ago. Suggestions from my experience:

1) A standalone DVR that can RECORD at D1 (720 x 480) or 4CIF (704 x 480) resolution.
2) Pre-trigger recording with Motion detection.
3) IR cameras with 480 or greater Horizontal resolution (aka. 480 TV lines)
4) Use the highest "Bitrate" (lowest compression) setting the DVR has available.
5) Use a low "Frame Rate". Four images per second or less.
6) Learn to live with the limitations.

creakndale

[redwudz]

A place I use a lot is SuperCircuits. They have a lot of equipment and are well rated. http://www.supercircuits.com/ They took their law enforcement equipment off the main page, but that's some interesting stuff. Surveillance equipment has come a long way in the last few years.

But I would generally agree with creakndale. A few tips. You do need lighting. Quartz halogen is very good. Cameras work with infrared lighting, so you need a source or IR. Florescent or mercury vapors won't work well as not enough IR. You can get cameras with LED IR illuminators, but they are more expensive and have very limited ranges unless you go with the higher end ones.

Quite a few of the newer video recorders have the ability for access over the net, look around at bit in the specs. You can often buy a bare unit and add your own hard drives and save quite a bit. Easy enough to install them. Motion detection is fairly standard now and saves you from just recording blank video all the time. Most can also be hooked to other types of sensors on doors or perimeters. You can also set up some units to alert you by phone, etc., if there has been a intrusion.

[Oob]

Thanks! I will take a look at the sites.