Hi Folks!
Please excuse this rambling, albeit abbreviated post!
I help out with a variety of tasks and projects at my non-denominational Christian church. A couple of years ago our lead minister bought a Lorex CCTV system on sale at a wholesale club which sat around for months. He asked me to install it last year -- I never did anything like it before, but was game for it. Installing that system (indoors) was quite an experience that I don't want to duplicate. It's not a very good system, but is passable (we haven't had any incidents to test it).
Now he wants to add outdoor cameras, plus more indoors, without spending much money. I am certain that I will want to spend 2-3 times what he wants to spend. We're looking at covering the building exterior and parking areas -- a lot of ground to see clearly. The lead minister already stated how many cameras we need outside (four; at least 2 fewer than I think we should have). I felt that we shouldn't go with some big-box package based on what I already experienced. Cue weeks of searching, research and learning. Thank God I found this site. Sure, it's a bit overwhelming but very informative. Almost everything else I found online was from security companies and manufacturers -- not exactly unbiased -- but marginally helpful.
Thank you all for your insights, experiences and opinions. Some of you have put a lot of work into this site to help other people, and I appreciate it! I've read through the Cliff Notes and other key posts a few times already to grasp things and my head is still swimming.
So far, I have decided to push for a PC-based, Blue Iris, POE+ system. We have a great gaming level PC that a member donated which more than fits the bill. Now I'm sorting through all the camera options for the exterior cameras.
Adding to all this, a forum discussion of Iluminar lighting caught my eye because of our 35+ year-old security lights, some of which don't even work. They're going to be a hard sell due to their cost; ROI looks to be over 5 years so far. Having them would greatly improve the quality of nighttime video.
This week I'll be measuring the building exterior to help make good decisions on cameras and lighting (including placement), and to make my case for what we should buy. Then I will create the layout in MS Visio (after having found a very good price for it from a place that provides great discounts to non-profits). All we have right now is a copy of the original blueprints -- no measurements or updates that have been made since the church bough the building over 25 years ago. It originally was used for jewelry manufacturing and has an approximately 200' by 75' footprint.
You might have guessed that this has turned into a much bigger project than my minister thought it would be -- I want to do it right. Fortunately, having a 40+ year career in IT, with a penchant for analysis & research makes this doable.
I'm sure I'll have questions for you and will share what I propose and is approved. Setup and tweaking will probably be a whole new experience for me. This won't be a set-it and forget-it deal.
Oh yeah, we also want to upgrade and install a new keypad door access system with modern features. More fun!
Feel free to ask me questions about this project, decisions, etc. Hopefully I can help someone else from this new adventure...
Gary
Please excuse this rambling, albeit abbreviated post!
I help out with a variety of tasks and projects at my non-denominational Christian church. A couple of years ago our lead minister bought a Lorex CCTV system on sale at a wholesale club which sat around for months. He asked me to install it last year -- I never did anything like it before, but was game for it. Installing that system (indoors) was quite an experience that I don't want to duplicate. It's not a very good system, but is passable (we haven't had any incidents to test it).
Now he wants to add outdoor cameras, plus more indoors, without spending much money. I am certain that I will want to spend 2-3 times what he wants to spend. We're looking at covering the building exterior and parking areas -- a lot of ground to see clearly. The lead minister already stated how many cameras we need outside (four; at least 2 fewer than I think we should have). I felt that we shouldn't go with some big-box package based on what I already experienced. Cue weeks of searching, research and learning. Thank God I found this site. Sure, it's a bit overwhelming but very informative. Almost everything else I found online was from security companies and manufacturers -- not exactly unbiased -- but marginally helpful.
Thank you all for your insights, experiences and opinions. Some of you have put a lot of work into this site to help other people, and I appreciate it! I've read through the Cliff Notes and other key posts a few times already to grasp things and my head is still swimming.
So far, I have decided to push for a PC-based, Blue Iris, POE+ system. We have a great gaming level PC that a member donated which more than fits the bill. Now I'm sorting through all the camera options for the exterior cameras.
Adding to all this, a forum discussion of Iluminar lighting caught my eye because of our 35+ year-old security lights, some of which don't even work. They're going to be a hard sell due to their cost; ROI looks to be over 5 years so far. Having them would greatly improve the quality of nighttime video.
This week I'll be measuring the building exterior to help make good decisions on cameras and lighting (including placement), and to make my case for what we should buy. Then I will create the layout in MS Visio (after having found a very good price for it from a place that provides great discounts to non-profits). All we have right now is a copy of the original blueprints -- no measurements or updates that have been made since the church bough the building over 25 years ago. It originally was used for jewelry manufacturing and has an approximately 200' by 75' footprint.
You might have guessed that this has turned into a much bigger project than my minister thought it would be -- I want to do it right. Fortunately, having a 40+ year career in IT, with a penchant for analysis & research makes this doable.
I'm sure I'll have questions for you and will share what I propose and is approved. Setup and tweaking will probably be a whole new experience for me. This won't be a set-it and forget-it deal.
Oh yeah, we also want to upgrade and install a new keypad door access system with modern features. More fun!
Feel free to ask me questions about this project, decisions, etc. Hopefully I can help someone else from this new adventure...
Gary
