antigon

I appreciate the responses. Of course there are other systems installed to detect problems. The CCTV is extra. There will be eight cameras in the engine space and one watching the stack above deck. The ship owners are paying for it. I talked to Geovision today and it sounds like what I am looking for. I like the idea that it is easily expandable by plugging in another IP camera. It has other nice features too. I will need some good high definition color cameras to be mounted inside cases with an internal blower fan to help cool it. Does anyone have any suggestions for cameras that would be reliable in an environment that gets over 100F during the summer?

Thank you for your reply. Cases for the cameras probably would be a good idea te keep out the dust and oil. There are areas where explosion proof, "intrinsically safe", equipment is necessary but this is not one of them. The engine room is a large area covering three decks. The reason we need the cameras is because the space is not manned at night. But since most people are asleep at that time having monitors in the decks above is not very useful. I have seen monitors on the bridge turned off at night because it interfered with the mates night vision. I am wondering if a pc based dvr might be a good solution. I have seen on some websites that an alarm can be activated when there is a change in the video display. That would be very useful. I wonder if it could detect fuel spreading across the floor for example.

We need to purchase a CCTV for a ship. The cameras will be installed in the engine room to primarily monitor for fuel leaks when the engine spaces are unmanned. The engine room tends to get very warm in the summer time. We need a the capability of remote control and monitoring from the bridge which is eight decks up and a few hundred feet away and possibly to a few other areas between the two. It would also be convenient to use a modulator to broadcast the video over a TV channel on the ships entertainment system. We also have digital set top boxes attached to TVs so IP CCTV may be possible. There are a large number of options, color vs BW, switches vs matixes or multiplexers, vcr vs dvr, ip vs analog. I do not want to run a large number of cables to the bridge. Simplicity and reliability are important. Any advice or opinions would be appreciated regarding system design, type of equipment, suppliers, or pitfalls to be avoided. Many Thanks steve