Im looking to buy a cctv camera to watch over my driveway at home, the cam will have to be an external one, I need your help and experience to choose which will provide the best picture quality and motion detection.
The camera will be placed in the back centre of the driveway,
which is 10mtr X 10mtr.
I would prefer to have a wireless connection unless the drawbacks weigh heavily against it.
The option I am struggling most with is whether to have night vision
or black & white/colour with a security light, or both but then im guessing a security light would work against the night vision.

thanks for your help.

Here's a couple of thoughts to get you started, first of all, what is the purpose of the camera? Are you concerned about crime deterrance or documentation, or simply looking to cover blind spots from your windows. Do you have a history of vandalisms, thefts, or other misconduct at your house that would require a more covert instillation?

Wireless - I believe that there are a few strings associated with wireless cameras and IP cameras that will help you zero in on the pros and cons, however as a general rule, wired cameras are going to be better if it is to be attached to the structure that you are going to monitor it from. If you want a camera mounted on a fence or something far from the house, then wireless may provide some benefits, but don't forget that you will still have to power the camera somehow. I have seen a temporary install with a wireless transmitter and camera inside a housing then the power out to a vehicle booster pack (jumpstart kit). It worked, but if anyone ever saw it, they could have just walked over to it and picked it up and walked away with it.

Lighting - Motion activated security lights are great for theft deterrance. They are also much less expensive than a lot of other technical solutions. Some things to weigh include having to worry about the PIR detecting motion that you don't care about and making you check the window every time the light kicks on. Choosing the right light can help reduce false alarms.

Black & White vs. Color - This one gets back to the intent of the camera. Color provides more vivid, familiar representations where as black and white, in general, provides higher resolution. Ultimately, this decision relies on what method of monitoring or recording you intend to use.

Hope that gets you started, I'm sure someone else will pipe in with some actual camera suggestions

Thanks for the reply, it helps a lot.

We need the camera because of attempted thefts on our cars over the years.
The camera would be placed high up (well out of reach of anyone without a ladder).

We would prefer colour cctv, and a security light would be a good detterent, (or provide the thieves with enough light to make their job easier :lol: ).

The main point is having good motion detection so the light won't come on unnecessarily or turn off just as the thieves reveal their faces!

I should add we are looking to spend around £150.

You might want to use vandal-proof/resistant cameras, more particularly domes. You don't want the bad guys coming from the side yanking the mounting bracket off.

Although that is still doable with the VR domes, it is a bit harder. You can find some generic brands in different stores at about $100 USD each.

Make sure you run your wires inside the walls and nothings hangs outside so it can be cut. If you have to run wires along the house, make sure you use some type of cut-resistant flexible or rigid conduit (not PVC) and tuck it away.

A few more questions for ya;

Does anyone own or have experience with solar powered cctv?

What picture resolution should I be looking for? ,bearing in mind if some thievery does take place I will be trying to identify the scum, is 625 x 582 any good for cctv?

Can anyone recommend a good security light to accompany the camera?

cheers

Carl,

Security is not just about cameras! Lighting should be taken into consideration. We just did a job in Tacoma where they had a lot of vandalism and two dinky lights.

We had them trim some trees and bushes, cut down one tree that was a huge obstruction and replace the dinky lights with motion sensing halogen lights.

It was a total make over for the place in addition to the 32 cameras we installed.

Bottom line is that cameras are not always the be-all-end-all answer! :shock:

Its something I am toying with, I have a couple of solar panels, and am looking into knocking something up when I get some time.

It does not look like a cheap solution though, to power cams and a transmitter you will need a decent size (therefore expensive) solar panel, and a battery.

The battery is required as solar panels are not very effective at night, or during bad weather, due to lack of sunlight. No light equals no power, so you need to use the solar panel to keep a battery charged up, and its the battery that powers the camera.

The solar panels put out a variable voltage and current depending on the sunlight available, so you will need a charge regulator to supply the battery with a suitable charge, and to cut charge when the battery is full.

Just connecting a solar panel (with a diode so the battery power does not flow back into the panel) to a battery is not good for the health of the battery as the voltage and current are not constant nor monitored.

Most solar regulators also disconnect power to the device under power if the battery capacity is exhausted past a certain point - which means you could suddenly lose the camera picture without notice. It does this to protect the battery from being over discharged, which can damage it. So you need to find a part that is designed to protect a battery, but that does not protect it - going to be hard to find of the shelf, you may need a custom circuit.

Batteries are also likely to need replacing every few years, and the whole thing would be fairly large, what with a decent sized solar panel, sealed lead acid battery and regulator.

The whole thing needs to be well designed also, to make sure that the solar panels have enough output for your location to be able to keep the battery charged up enough to power the cam (even during bad days where there is little light), this means a nice powerful battery, and a solar panel to match.

Certainly not a cheap way to power cams...



How you set the system up is more important than the resolution in most cases. A world of difference exists with different lenses, the field of view that is captured depends on the lens, to wide a field of view making a object to far away/to small, will not produce evidential quality stuff.

Position the cams to point at strategic places, places a intruder is going to have to pass by, choose lenses that give a nice clear picture of that area, and no more than is needed, use the available resolution to capture important stuff, not a wide area.

Wide angle lenses are great for a overview, so you can see what is going on, but you need closer shots to get real close up detail, unless you go multi-megapixel by spending silly amounts of money.

Lighting, even camera set up, all plays a important role, cams work better with plenty of light, and most cameras work better if they are adjusted fully according to their use, rather than just plugged in and used 'out of the box'.

Lots of good info here ...

Just to touch on a couple things ...

$100 Vandal Domes are not worth even looking at .. if you go vandal domes you will need to spend some alot more $$ to get something decent .. otherwise just stick with bullet cameras ... they tend to blow dome cameras away in the budget pricing level.

Also, resolution does still matter, but resolution of the camera matters as much as the setting in the DVR... most important thing to look for in resolution, or other than resolution, are the Picture Elements.

Solar ... I lived in the UK and the sun didnt shine much .. i kinda feel maybe its the wrong place for solar ... but thats just me .. we got too much sun here .. i wish I could send you guys some .. :lol:

For out door use I recommend couple of wired cameras for under or about $100 which have worked real well for us in past and I think they should work well for your home application. Vandal/Armor camera iVandIR420SN and for bullet try iIR420SN you can check the quaility. http://www.ilinkpro.com/demo/demo.asp?nav=demo&pg=demo Demo 1 camera 14 is iIR420SN and on Demo3 camera 1 is iVandIR420SN. I recommend you check out the demo which will give you good understanding on what you may or maynot want.

Regards,
Sajaan

You know larry sells ad space here sajaan458, you might PM him.

Have you considered a PC based solution? There are some really good products out there at a more reasonable price. Lots of installers are starting to pick up these products too.

Interesting comment...

What about a "regular" dome, not VR, how would they compare to a bullet cam?

I'm just finishing up a labeled overhead view of my house, with potential cam locations, distances, problem spots, etc... For walkways up to entrances, I was thinking a B&W dome, for both resolution and low profile, seems it wouldn't be quite as noticeable as a bullet cam?

And for you, "budget" pricing level would be?