Home Security System/CCTV Advice Please?!

Lawros Tache

Hi All,

Apologies for asking questions that have been done to death but following a search I just find that most of the terminology is a little lost on me. Another problem is that I don't really know what I want so maybe some helpful boardsies could offer a little advice?


Basically i'm moving into a new house and want some sort of security system (it has nothing at present and isn't wired for anything, house was built in 1957)


Firstly I was looking at a wireless alarm system but it I now feel that I'd be better going with a cctv system (at least the footage might be able to help prosecute the b*****ds as well as act as a deterrent) Unfortunately I know nothing of cctv and would appreciate any help anyone can offer on the subject.

House is standard, block-built semi-detached.
I would need probably a 4-camera system due to shape of house (angles and corners) -1 on front, 1 on side, 1 on back of house itself & 1 on back garden.


I would obviously like good quality images (HD if possible- i presume people think it's necessary? Or is other quality good enough?) and Night Vision obviously would be essential.


The monitoring is not really important to me, I have no need to sit in front of TV watching the cameras (but would be a nice extra i suppose to view on phone if away).

Similarly I have no real need for long term hard drive recording (unless others tell me otherwise) -was thinking of simply having a camera with short term dvr facilities which could just be accessed in the event of something happening- I suppose 2 weeks to 1 month max to cover holidays, unless cameras are motion triggered.


I understand that quality is not cheap but would rather spend the money on better quality cameras and short term recording than huge hard drives and tv screens. I have no idea which makes are better than others, or which models are better than others or which film quality is better than which, and it is here that I would really appreciate some advice.


If somebody would be kind enough to link me to some good quality 4 camera systems then I'd be really greatful :-)


Or at least explain some of the terminology to me so I can make an educated decision. I dont want to ring up some alarm guys "cold" and get recommended something which I later find out to be rubbish.
I'd much rather pay extra now for a very good system than to pay "twice".



Thanks so much for any help, I really appreciate everyone taking the time to read and reply.

kub

Ok I am just going to explain it this way to you. How would you feel about your investment in a camera system if you arrived home from work someday and found that your house had been broken into?

So you say to yourself, great this is where my CCTV system comes in, you check the playback and typically you see a few guys with their hoodies on and heads down. They are also small on the screen as the cameras are covering a large area.

You call the Gardai, out they come and you present them with your evidence, sorry they say but that is of little use, or they say nothing, humour you and take a copy anyway just for the record.

I have said this time and time again, an alarm system will detect and activate while the crime is happening, CCTV is hopefully an after event item.

Please get yourself a perimeter wireless alarm system with a few beams as back up. Once that is fitted see how secure you feel and then think about CCTV.

martinr5232

What he said ^^^^ not much point getting home and finding your house broken into and your dvr stolen :-)

I just got an alarm fitted its a htc wireless system with six shock sensors and two motion sensors the whole lot installed was 1k.

I also fitted a set of cameras myself i got four dome cameras good enough picture night vision is not great unless the outside lights are on so have to sort out my sensor lights.
I got a 1tb harddrive which will record for about a month.
I also got an eight channell dvr so i can add upto four more cameras if i need to all that with cables and anything else for €390.00
I scoured the web for cameras and in the end the best price for what i wanted i found here in ireland.

Let me know if you want anymore info.

jpb14

martinr5232 wrote: »

What he said ^^^^ not much point getting home and finding your house broken into and your dvr stolen :-)

I just got an alarm fitted its a htc wireless system with six shock sensors and two motion sensors the whole lot installed was 1k.

I also fitted a set of cameras myself i got four dome cameras good enough picture night vision is not great unless the outside lights are on so have to sort out my sensor lights.
I got a 1tb harddrive which will record for about a month.
I also got an eight channell dvr so i can add upto four more cameras if i need to all that with cables and anything else for €390.00
I scoured the web for cameras and in the end the best price for what i wanted i found here in ireland.

Let me know if you want anymore info.

Any link to the camera kit?


+1 to both posts,a good alarm system 1st and then camera kit if you really want or need it.

martinr5232

jpb14 wrote: »

Any link to the camera kit?


+1 to both posts,a good alarm system 1st and then camera kit if you really want or need it.

I cant link as im on my phone but the website is cctvdi.com.

Have a look for the four camera kit i just got him to swop the four channell for eight channell dvr very easy to deal with and very helpfull.

Lawros Tache

Hi Guys,

Thanks to all for advice, very much appreciated.

I suppose I had been thinking that alarms were little enough deterrent insofar as I've lost count of the times I've heard them going off only to be roundly ignored by everyone. Obviously monitoring would get around this somewhat, but then surely i'm dependent on the response time of the Garda, which in these economic times are perhaps understandably getting worse and worse. In the mean time, Pal knows all this and is merrily filling his boots/swag bag/van.
I just figured that CCTV might deter as it would be basically less hassle to do the house down the road as there was a serious risk of identification albeit at a later date.

Do alarms really deter the "smash and grab" thype of burgular who's in and out in seconds if not minutes? Please don't get me wrong, I'm not throwing the advice back, I actually am very grateful for the opinions and am seriously rethinking my optons and leanng towards the alarm system.
The doubling up of alarm and cctv in particular does appeal to me, definitely worth thinking about.

@Martinr5232 - If you wouldn't mind pm'ing me some details of the company you used for your wireless system (or even a website linking to the equipment involved) I'd really appreciate it, thanks very much.

@Kub - excuse my ignorance but what are "beams as back up" -Are they motion detectors inside the property?

Thanks again to all :-)

kub

Lawros Tache wrote: »

Hi Guys,

Thanks to all for advice, very much appreciated.

I suppose I had been thinking that alarms were little enough deterrent insofar as I've lost count of the times I've heard them going off only to be roundly ignored by everyone. Obviously monitoring would get around this somewhat, but then surely i'm dependent on the response time of the Garda, which in these economic times are perhaps understandably getting worse and worse. In the mean time, Pal knows all this and is merrily filling his boots/swag bag/van.
I just figured that CCTV might deter as it would be basically less hassle to do the house down the road as there was a serious risk of identification albeit at a later date.

Do alarms really deter the "smash and grab" thype of burgular who's in and out in seconds if not minutes? Please don't get me wrong, I'm not throwing the advice back, I actually am very grateful for the opinions and am seriously rethinking my optons and leanng towards the alarm system.
The doubling up of alarm and cctv in particular does appeal to me, definitely worth thinking about.

@Martinr5232 - If you wouldn't mind pm'ing me some details of the company you used for your wireless system (or even a website linking to the equipment involved) I'd really appreciate it, thanks very much.

@Kub - excuse my ignorance but what are "beams as back up" -Are they motion detectors inside the property?

Thanks again to all :-)

Hi Lawros,
Your point about alarms going off and being ignored is indeed very true, it is probably more of a reflection of society these days. Therefore that is why I always advise my clients that monitored alarms is the way to go, alarms ringing on walls 25/ 30 years ago would have created a wow factor from neighbours, expecting a James Bond type character to pop out a window being pursued by armed officers. But alarms have become too prominent over the years and unfortunately some people do not get their own ones serviced and maintained properly and care less about their neighbours who have to listen to it while they are absent.

Just on your point about Garda response times, well no installer will ever tell you how long it will take for them to get somewhere because God knows they have it tough. But a change happened in 2005, that was they will only respond to verified burglar activations, this basically means that 2 alarm sensors (whether they be inertias, contacts or beams together or separately) have to detect something before the monitoring station call the Gardai. Obviously this does not involve Panic Buttons and in the case of Fire activations the Fire Brigade. The Gardai love nothing more than getting a call stating that there is a crime in progress, nothing like catching the criminal at the act.
Therefore the proposed system design has to reflect this verification requirement, that is my reference to 'beams as back up'. Alarms now can send very detailed reports to monitoring stations so they can tell what detector is activating etc.

Of course the smash and grab merchants are around and do indeed have a go at alarmed premises. But this is where common sense prevails, they will of course break in if they look in a window and see something in there that they want and simply smash their way in and grab it and go. So the bottom line is, don't leave those expensive electronic goods/ cash/ jewelery/ whatever exposed.

Also as economic times are tough quite a few installers out there are installing systems that are cheap and do not fully do what is necessary, so please ensure you get full system design proposals from them and make sure and study them. The cheapest is usually that way for a reason.

PeteK*

martinr5232 wrote: »

not much point getting home and finding your house broken into and your dvr stolen :-)

That's what I always imagine!

Would I be correct in assuming that cloud backup is used to remotely store recordings? Cloud is mentioned here but it's not very clear, to me: http://www.usee.ie/ KoolKid might know.

KoolKid

I would normally secure the DVR in a more secure location.
CCTV monitoring is one option, here images would be backed up in the event of an incident. But using good quality CCTV could use a couple of TBs a month.
Thats a lot of cloud storage & a lot of your bandwidth.

jpb14

KoolKid wrote: »

I would normally secure the DVR in a more secure location.
CCTV monitoring is one option, here images would be backed up in the event of an incident. But using good quality CCTV could use a couple of TBs a month.
Thats a lot of cloud storage & a lot of your bandwidth.

Where would you rekon would be a good location?
Not downstairs anyway no?

KoolKid

jpb14 wrote: »

Where would you rekon would be a good location?
Not downstairs anyway no?

In a press or wardrobe that can be locked in some way. Upstairs is generally easier for wiring anyway.