cctv best way of recording 4 cameras

[worried]

just installed 4 cameras the guy i bought them off suggested i buy a 500 gb hard drive dvd r of him i thought it expensive at 800 euro. what does anyone think any other good options,

thanks

 

[tomd84]

You can get your own 500GB hard drive for a lot less then that! try ebuyer.com! If your hooknig them up to your computer that is really the only answer get a big hard drive for storage, but you can get some devices that will record the camera to its own hard drive (just like a pvr) and allow you to view it back via your TV. What type of connectors do the CCTV camera have?

 

[worried]

thanks just getting back. im not an expert the best way i can describe them is like the ordinary tv connection.

 

[graham.myers]

sounds like thye're designed to back to a pvr rather than being network capable.

You will need a pvr that has four inputs. I looked into that but found them all expensive. You usually match the pvr make to the same make as cameras - thats probably what he was selling you, not just the hdd.

I went with network cameras and built a linux server to poll the cameras for images.

The other thing you could do is buy a card for a pc with 4 inputs and then use that to record the images

 

[hornydragon]

there are several options

1: BASIC CCTV DVR £100 + Harddrive http://www.maplin.co.uk/Search.aspx?criteria=L20AZ&DOY=

2: Better CCTV DVR £300 with 500GB HDD http://www.henrys.co.uk/cctv/dvr.htm#782C

3: PC solution £??? Reliability???

4: IP adapter £90 http://www.digidave.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=105&gclid=CMDrxtPGo5MCFQFaMAodKkr0oA

 

[Supersonic72]

That maplins box looks good for the money. Guess there must be a catch though.

Anyone got one?

Is it possible to set up motion triggering, so it only records when something kicks off? Im still getting to grips with how this is made to work.

 

[nwatson6]

I use an old PC (3Ghz P4 2Gb ram) with a Geovision card, two hard drives, one for windows and software, other used for video storage. Both drives are 80gb and I get plenty of video recorded, so not sure why you would need 500gb, I can see a need with lots of cameras (I have 4). I access the PC wirelessly via ultraVNC, reliability is very good.

 

[hornydragon]

That maplins box looks good for the money. Guess there must be a catch though.

Anyone got one?

Is it possible to set up motion triggering, so it only records when something kicks off? Im still getting to grips with how this is made to work.

In that case go for the £300 unit it has all the nice bits cut from the £99 box which is more like £150 once you add a drive so the more expensive unit is the better value.

 

[wildy01]

Hi

I have just installed 4 cameras and went for this after doing a bit of research.

http://www.microdirect.co.uk/(23372)CCTV-AVTECH-AVC760-DVR-4-channel.aspx

and added a 250gb hard drive for £29.00

The DVR is great, good picture, is fully networked and the motion detection is 1st class.

This DVR is the same as the one in maplin for £299 !!!

Hope this helps

 

[DiviD]

Cheapest way out for me was using an old PC ( someone you know MUST be upgrading soon ) - Buy a DVR Card from fleabay I got a decent 8 channel DVR for around £50 ( the sellers in HK usually offer the better deals if you are prepared to wait the extra few days ).

I use Logmein ( logmein.com free version ) to access the PC remotely. You can even control the Pc's mouse to send emails from that PC to yours - never tried it but i'm sure youd be able to compress a video file ( if not too big ) and email it to yourself, etc..

Loads of options here, good luck.