Re: Selecting a remote surv system

[I use solid wire <solidwire@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Wed, 17 Jan 2007 16:00:46 -0500, "John" <John-hates-spam!> wrote:

>We're trying to get a 4 or 5 channel remote system for under $2500. The
>inside of the deli has rooms roughly 10'x10', 12'x10', 15'x10', and a camera
>at the back door where the dumpster is about 20' away. The rooms are lit by
>regular incandescent lighting. No storage requirement is needed at this
>time. A POS interface is not required at this time. The only things I would
>see expanding in the future are the storage and POS interface. I hope that
>covers it. BTW, thank you for your time and help.

DVR's inputs are sold in multiples of 4 usually, so you'll need an 8
channel DVR for 5 cams.  The brand I recommend for a budget conscious
customer is Nuvico.  It has an embedded Linux OS so you won't need to
deal with security issues like you would with a Windows based machine.
It comes with free dynamic dns service, which will help when the DSL
IP changes.  It has support for POS should you decide to add it later,
you can also upgrade the HD yourself if need be.

Here is one for $1400
http://www.123securityproducts.com/nv8chdvlidi.html

Specs are here:
http://www.nuvico.com/upload/doc/DV3%20Series%20DVR.pdf


The camera selection consists of four major things:
1> housing
2> lens
2> lighting
4> resolution

The housings for cams can be had in bullet, dome, box, and covert
(hidden in smoke detectors, clocks, thermostats etc..).  If all the
cams are going to be inside then the housing will be more of a
aesthetic choice more than a functional one.

The lens choice is basically choosing the focal length in millimeters.
A wide angle lens is 4mm where a 9mm lens will be a much tighter shot.
So you plan your shots ahead of time based on where the cam is to be
mounted.  For instance, a cam right over the cash register may use a
8mm lens to get a close up of the bills, while a cam in the dining
room may have a 4mm lens to get an overview of the whole room.  If you
want the greatest flexibility I'd recommend buying cams with
vari-focal lenses as opposed to fixed, so you can adjust them as
needed.
Here is a bullet cam with a 3.8~9.5mm Lens:
http://www.nuvico.com/product_detail.asp?strCategoryCD=CC001&strModel=&prod_cd=NP0041&Page=3


Lighting is very important.  Since the fluorescent's are going to be
on, that is good.  Just don't point the cams right at a light or a
window with direct sunlight.  If you are only concerned with
monitoring the store during operating hours (while the lights are on),
a standard camera will suffice.  If you want them to 'see' in the dark
get 'day/night' cameras.  They have a photocell in them that detects
low light and turns on IR's then switches to black and white mode.
Don't believe any manufacturer when they list an IR range, for
instance, the link above lists IR range of 100' -- the useful range is
more like half that.


The camera's resoulution is measured in TV lines.  The higher the
better.

--

-G