Home CCTV

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Can anyone recommend a home CCTV system?

We have some cameras up that record to an ancient noisy hard drive system in our loft but it keeps turning off so we want something reliable but also doesn't cost the earth.

Extra cameras that record in the dark would be ideal too (Can you get IR flood lights that work).
 
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IP cameras are the way to go now. You just link them to a router via wifi, or better LAN cable, then you can do what you like with the video stream.

You can feed it via the router to the Internet, so you can view it from anywhere in the world. You can run a local PC, with something like Ispy installed on it, able to watch for movement on any camera, or configure it to watch for motion in just a small part of the picture.

Most modern cameras have IR capability, with a ring of IR LED's around the lens which can be set to come on automatically at night. You don't want them on if the cam is looking out through a window, because you just get a reflection of the LED's from the glass. You can also install extra IR lights.

I use an IP cam looking out through a window, which is steerable - I can remotely turn it left/right, up down.
 
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"Doesn't cost the earth" is a vague term. Some of our customers would balk at anything over £100, some will happily pay the going rate for a good system, well installed with quality equipment. Do you have a figure in mind, as it can be difficult to recommend anything without a budget.

What cabling does the existing system use? If coax based, you'll be able to use Hikvisions Power over Coax cameras and DVRs. It's pretty much plug and play but does need proper RG59 coax inplace ideally.

If you want to spend a bit more then an IP based system of 5 megapixel cameras connected to an NVR will future proof things nicely and keep things self contained.

Depending on the manufacturer chosen and the setup, the chance of someone being able to hack into your camera system is pretty much zero. Common sense rules apply with the setup (strong passwords, change default ports if using an external IP to connect etc)
 
The cheapest possible solution I found is to fit trail cameras, these are limited but very cheap (unconnected) and you have to recover the pics manually.

Not sure if this will suit your needs I think you need to be more specific so that the experts can chip in.
 
£300 is a rough budget and the cameras currently have a 5v (I think) power going to them and a single lead (Coax?) with a yellow plug on the end that plugs into the camera.

Running cables isnt an issue as about to have a loft conversion and the cable runs will be done at the same time.
 
Hikvision TVI cameras ....dvr about £60 hard drive £50-£120 1tb to 4tb cameras about £50 each 5mp....buy POC , power over coax ,no need for a psu
 
I use old iPhones with the Presence app. View anywhere, audio, motion sensor, and can be set to operate whenever your phone leaves home.
 

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