From Cocoon to Techno-Fortress

[upstatemike]

I am starting to do research for my CCTV camera project scheduled for the Spring. I am looking for recommendations on a system to do the following:

10 or more outdoor cameras. 2 on each corner of the house plus 2 door cameras.

Must be good to 20 degrees below zero. (I don't know how some of these camera that are only good to 15 degrees above can be legitimately call "outdoor")

Must work with IR illuminators. I don't care if I have to use enough IR illumination to make my house detectable from space as long as I don't have to use visible light. I don't want to mess up my view of the night sky with any outdoor lighting.

I would like to view my cameras 4 to a time on a single screen split 4 ways.

I would like the switcher to be controlled by video motion such that the 4 cameras that most recently saw motion are displayed. When a camera detects motion the view should replace oldest view on the display and not be tied to a specific display quadrant.

I don't plan on a video recorder at this time. (I don't think I want a video record showing the fate of any prowler I catch)

 

[Spanky]

I saw a demo on Panasonic cameras. They are not the least expensive, but they are really good. You might check into them.

 

[BraveSirRobbin]

upstatemike;

I'm assuming money is no object here!

With a system that you are descirbing I would take a serious look at some "canned" solutions from D-Link. They have IP cameras with IR capability plus some are mounted on a pan and tilt. They also have some wireless options.

D-Link also has a "canned" software package that offers a lot of view options that I believe you are describing. Be aware though that their software only works with their cameras (at least that's what the guy at CES told me).

Take a look at my D-Link CES Report for more details.

BSR

 

[upstatemike]

Panasonic works down to 4 degrees below zero... right on the edge of usability. D-Link is only rated down to 32 degrees above zero. Not sure I can use them in this climate.

 

[jeffx]

Check with the guys at cctvforum.com. They are very knowledgeable on this topic.

 

[electron]

The visiontech cam I have (model # is in my nHome thread) works fine no matter how cold it gets here in Central NY, but they aren't the cheapest. It has IR illumination as well, but I think I would switch to external IR pods or something, making it easier to pick a camera. I am definitely interested in seeing what solution you come up with, so keep us posted.