DIY Home Security Employing Home Security Camera Monitoring Software
Friday, August 3rd, 2007 Subscribe To Our Feed
Tips on DIY Home Security Systems
Before you start out in the market for a DIY home security system you have to decide which features you need, what budget you are going to set, and how easy the system should be to install. Not everyone is a DIY genius.
The market for DIY home security systems is huge. Most relevant retail outlets will stock everything from straight forward alarms to elaborate video surveillance systems. As you can imagine, setting out without a clear goal and budget in mind might get overwhelming very quickly, so that is what we are going to help you achieve on this page.
First of all, the installation of door and window contacts is faily easy, requiring no more than rudimentary knowledge of low-voltage wiring. We assume you are able to wield a few hand tools and an electric drill. DIY home security can include CCT (closed circuit television) which comprises cameras, monitors and a recording platform such as a videocassette or DVD recorder to document activity such as the MicroEye Digital Video Capture Camera, the Optex wireless visitor announcement system or the CHF-650 Hands-free Day and Night Video Intercom System. More recent additions to the market include systems that hook webcams up to your Mac or PC to monitor the rooms in your home, such as the HomeCamera system which is currently in Beta or the Livewatch interface for the Simon G3 system. Installing the home security camera monitoring software can sometimes take as long as installing the cameras themselves.
It goes without saying that web-cams and cameras should never be placed in areas where family members or visiting guests expect privacy such as bathrooms and bedrooms. Mounting DIY home security video surveillance equipment in social areas of the home like the lounge, dining-room and kitchen as well as outside are accepted as necessary evils in this crime-ridden age. However, videotaping may result in legal action against you due to privacy violations, even in your own home. The laws governing this vary from state to state, so it might be worth checking the law at your local library or government office first.
Wireless Security Systems
Many devices, available as part of a DIY home security system, are available in wireless format. Although they can be heavier on the wallet, installation is much easier and faster as there are no cables running through the house to install and hide. Wireless cameras can be mounted outdoors without having to drill holes through the shell of your home or pack yards of cable under the eaves. There is a lesser chance of the installation going wrong. If your time is valuable, the extra cost is easy to justify.
Although hooking your system up to a videocassette recorder employs old technology, it is relatively cheap and it is a simple system: all the glitches have been ironed out over the years. There is also no home security camera monitor software to install. You will need a time-lapse VCR which is capable of saving 24-hours of video on a single T-160 tape. This means you only have to change the tape once a day. You should also store at least one-week’s worth of video, so you’ll need seven or eight tapes. Sometimes it takes longer than 24 hours to discover that someone has broken into your home, so it’s a clear advantage to able to run recordings up to a week old.
Modern DIY home security systems are more efficient with space and time - no more turning over half a room to house the hardware, and no more turning over a videotape once a day. In fact, a modest 600 MB hard-drive will record information from 4 cameras for 30 days before it begins recording over previous images. Because it’s digital, you can send images to friends or law enforcement agencies over the Internet as well as print out anything that you think warrants it. This means you can use your DIY home security system to capture events like your child’s first bike ride without stabilisers, or the cat playing with a water balloon until it bursts. Capturing priceless moments in a natural way can more than recompense for the price of purchase and installation.
Technorati Tags: CHF 650 Hands free Day and Night Video Intercom System, diy home security, home security camera monitoring software, Livewatch interface for the Simon G3 system
Related Tags: No Tags
Possible Related Posts
August 22nd, 2007 at 12:51 pm
[…] Finally, the big advantage of building up a wireless home security system is its inherent flexibility. You can add, reposition and take away different components such as motion sensors or webcams without having to rip out lengths of wiring. As the hardware becomes more readily available and commonplace, it is falling in price. Upgrading your entire home would have meant employing a team of professionals just five years ago. Now you can get down and dirty with DIY home security after a brief and relatively inexpensive trip to the mall. Nervous about your home security? Give your own central nervous system a break; give your home its own central nervous system. Get Social, Bookmark Us!!:These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. […]