How to Plan a Home CCTV Camera System

Planning Your Home CCTV System

• 1). Make a map of your property using pencil and graph paper. Making a map of your property will give you a smaller-scale image of your property and assist you in planning your CCTV system. Be sure to include roads near your property and any fences or gates that border your property.
  
  
• 2). Mark all of the access points to your property. Access points are gates, unfenced areas, or paths into your property. These marked areas represent possible points for intruders to access your property. Be sure to place "This Property is Monitored by CCTV" signs at all of these points to deter intruders.
  
  
• 3). If you are on a budget and cannot afford 360 degree CCTV monitoring, decide which access points are the least secured. Alleys and fields that border the rear of your house are one of the most important areas to monitor. On the other hand, front doors that face busy roads or streets are less likely to be accessed by intruders.
  
  
• 4). If you have large areas of unsecured access such as, fields or forests, find a point that will provide the widest angle for the camera to view. Place this camera as high up as possible -- either on a pole or part of the house.
  
  
• 5). Decide what time of day your property is most vulnerable. Deciding what time your system will be monitored will assist you in choosing the camera type your CCTV system will need. Is your neighborhood experiencing problems during school or business hours? Is your neighborhood experiencing theft or vandalism at night? Night hours require infrared or night-vision cameras. Day cameras are much cheaper and have a higher product selection.
  
  
• 6). For nighttime monitoring select a night-vision or infrared camera system. Night-vision cameras amplify the available light in the area to produce an image. Infrared cameras use infrared (or heat) to produce an image. Night-vision can be obscured by a light source such as headlights or lamp posts. Infrared cameras can only be obscured by a heat source.
  
  
• 7). Select a room in your house to install the monitor station. A monitor station is the point where all of the feeds from the individual cameras can be viewed from. Home offices or bedrooms are the most common room to install a monitor station.