Which Costco System?

B

Ben Cartwright

n3wb
Aug 15, 2015
14
0
U.S.A
Hello,

I don't know if this is the proper place to post this question or not. If not maybe the mods can move it to the correct place.

I am looking for some guidance on a couple of potential systems I’m strongly considering.

First some background information. We are under contract to sell our place to a developer who will ultimately level all the buildings (house and shop). We have to be out in 12 months and we are the last house to sell, meaning we will be the last to move.

I have good intel from other nearby developments and folks who have been through this process that the neighborhoods break down and crime goes up during this major transition process. Break-ins, squatting, vandalism, etc. Because of this and because the ongoing move means there will be times that our place will be unoccupied I want to temporarily install a video system to monitor the situation.

I’m am very pressed for time on this deal and I think that as much as I would like to research individual components and make the best purchase decision based on said research, the reality of the situation is I’m better off going with one of the complete systems from Costco. I would like to have the first camera (will monitor our private road and entrance to the house driveway) up and running by the end of next week.

We are long time Costco members and make good use of their liberal return policy when needed. I called them to confirm that the security systems were not considered ‘electronics’ (which have only a 90 day return policy) and as such are covered by their larger corporate return policy.

The install at this house (sold and have to be out in 12 months) will be quick and dirty. I will put the cameras where I want them and then tack the cables to the side of the house, bore a hole through the wall into my office and probably put the NVR in the office (I guess?) There will be no running cables through the attic, crawl space, walls etc. As near as I can tell, my longest run will be 145 feet.

I will use bullet cameras outside and will want at least one or two cameras inside my shop though I may be able to get away with using bullet cameras inside the shop for now and look at sourcing more appropriate indoor cameras when I get the next shop building?

When we move I will uninstall the system and if I’m happy with its performance keep it and install it on whatever new home we end up in, or return it to Costco if I’m not happy with it.

As an example this is one of the outside positions looking down my private road (I own it). The road is single lane dead-end with no official turn-around at the end. Anybody wanting to get to our place pretty much has travel past this point both coming and going. The camera will be mounted on the end of our fence either directly or inside a bird house or something. This location is good if plate numbers and vehicle make/model can be captured.

GMC%20front%20plate%20blacked%20out-M.jpg



This system is pretty pricey and I am aware it was just on sale, but I can’t really wait until it goes on sale again (which will probably be right after I purchase it) J
http://www.costco.com/Q-See-16-Chan...d-8-4MP-HD-IP-Cameras.product.100213199.html#

Also this system:
http://www.costco.com/Lorex-16-Chan...nd-1-720p-12x-Zoom-PTZ.product.100162999.html

Or:
http://www.costco.com/.product.1002...geHorizontalTop|PersonalizedClickCPInCategory

I don’t know, I’m all over the board here and need some help getting focused on the best value Costco system for my needs.

Thank you.
 
@Ben Cartwright Go with the first system 4mp...the second two are not IP...they are hd over coax CVI. if you want to capture plates at night you will have to dedicate a camera for that purpose...
 
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Thank you fenderman. I placed the order for the first system and it should be here within 5-7 days.

I now of course have questions about the install/set-up/operation of the system and I'm wondering if it's ok to continue with those questions in this thread or if forum protocol dictates the should be in a different section?

One that comes immediately to mind is I'm considering ordering one of these add-on dome cameras and I assume it would work ok with the system I just purchased?
http://www.costco.com/Q-See-4MP-HD-IP-Add-on-Dome-Camera.product.100220937.html#

In general, what type of application/location would one of these dome cameras be appropriate for instead of the bullet cam? I understand that this type of camera can scan and move to capture different angles and such but I'm just wondering what type of situations and what type of locations are these cameras used in? I do have a simple foscam (turret cam?) in the house that we use to monitor the dog when we are gone and it's very handy because with the one camera we can monitor the front and back door as well as the living room, dinning room and hallway.

I'm kind of thinking this type of camera would be more appropriate in my shop building than attempting to use multiple bullet cams. The shop building has two man-doors, one window, and three very large roll-up doors. And the shop is pretty cluttered with equipment and such that there are not many clear field-of-views to the doors. If my goal is to cover all the potential entry points I may need as many as three bullet cams and even then I don't know that a single bullet cam would have the field-of-view (width?) to cover all three of the those roll-up doors.
 
The dome will work with the NVR..its its NOT a ptz, its a manual adjust at the time of install...also it cannot be wall mounted without a bracket because its only two axis adjustment...you need to ceiling mount it...
Forget about PTZ, unless you plan on monitoring the cams 24/7 you are way better off with more fixed cameras and have coverage 24/7.
 
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Ok thank you. I will hold off on that cam.

If I locate the NVR in my home office (aka 'the computer room') where the router for our home intranet (both hardwired and wireless) is located it appears my longest cable run is about 145 feet. The system comes with 100' cables. What are my options for adding a length of cable to that supplied 100' cable?
 
Ben Cartwright said:
Ok thank you. I will hold off on that cam.

If I locate the NVR in my home office (aka 'the computer room') where the router for our home intranet (both hardwired and wireless) is located it appears my longest cable run is about 145 feet. The system comes with 100' cables. What are my options for adding a length of cable to that supplied 100' cable?
Click to expand...
You dont want to add cable to supplied cable...buy a roll of cable...make sure its copper and not CCA or copper clad aluminum...
 
fenderman said:
You dont want to add cable to supplied cable...buy a roll of cable...make sure its copper and not CCA or copper clad aluminum...
Click to expand...
Ok. This 145' run is the only one that is going to be directly exposed to the elements as it runs across the top of the fence for 45 feet. Sun and Rain are the extent of our weather here. The rest of the runs while on the outside of the house will be well under the eves.

I take it that an RJ45 butt connector between the 100' cable and a purchased length of cable with the ends already on it is considered bad practice? Maybe due to signal loss? Maybe ok for this temp installation??

Should I order a 150' pre-made cable for this run?

I do have this partial roll of cat5 cable (though not exterior rated) and these tools that I used to make all the cat5/RJ45 runs in the house for the intranet years ago.

Also, it looks like the cable to NVR uses the RJ45? And what type of connector is used for the camera end of the run?

IMG_4045-M.jpg
 
The couplers will oxidize and also attenuate signal and poe power on longer runs.You can use premade cable if you wish, they are all stranded vs solid...but should be fine on 150f....
All connections are rj45.
 
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Ok. Would mail order or local alarm store be better? I suspect but don't know for sure that mail order would be less expensive. The only caveat would be I'd like to be able to have it in 5 days or so.
 
Ben Cartwright said:
Ok. Would mail order or local alarm store be better? I suspect but don't know for sure that mail order would be less expensive. The only caveat would be I'd like to be able to have it in 5 days or so.
Click to expand...
for cable, use monorprice.com.
or via amazon look at cables to go and cable matters.
 
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fenderman said:
for cable, use monorprice.com.
or via amazon look at cables to go and cable matters.
Click to expand...
Thanks.

I'm not finding any pre-made cables on mono but that site is a bit overwhelming with amount of items they have.

I take it that there is only 'direct burial' 'outdoor' cable. There is not a more inexpensive just 'outdoor' cable on the market?

I found this one on amazon, 150'. The 200' version is only $10 more.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002HFEPLG/ref=olp_product_details?ie=UTF8&me=
 
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Ok thanks, I'll get the cable ordered after this next question (which may add an item to the order). I 'think' the other runs will be satisfied using the included 100' cables but in all honesty I haven't measured them out yet.

My next question involves the cameras that will be installed on the outside and inside of the detached shop building.

As I mentioned this shop building is right next door to the house and I ran some conduit underground that carries power, cable tv, low voltage, and one cat5 from the house to the shop.

The one cat5 originates at the intranet wired/wireless router that serves the various wired and wireless devices we have on the fios. This router is in the computer room/office of the house which is were the NVR will likely end up being located. This cat5 to the shop is currently providing wired internet for the shop desktop PC. Said PC is not a priority and could likely run off the wireless signal coming from the house of needed.

So bottom line is I want to install two cameras outside and two maybe three inside the shop building, but there is only one cat5 cable serving that building from where the NVR will be located. Does each individual camera need to be supplied a dedicate cable back to the NVR? When all is said and done does each camera end up with its own internet IP address?

Is there maybe some sort of switch available that would allow this one cat5 cable from the NVR to service the five cameras in the shop?
 
For the cables, check cablesandkits.com, good prices most of the time. You can run one cable to the shop and then put a PoE switch there to connect the cameras. You can get an 8-port PoE switch for about $50.
 
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No only 4 POE, that's why it's cheap.
 
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Yep, the 8 port PoE gigabit version is kind of pricey as shown HERE. Would be cheaper to order two of THESE. Personally, i would just order the 8 port PoE gigabit switch and be done with it. :)
 
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