CCTV System for Home

[troglodyte]

I'll try to be brief...always a struggle with me.

My dad has Alzheimers and my family lives with him. Generally he gets along fine. Wife and I work about a block away (school), oldest son in college (about 6 blocks away) and is in and out most days, youngest son is at school with us.

Here's the rub. He may leave the front door open during the day while he is napping or take off for a walk and leave it open. Sometimes he invites in whoever knocks at the door, regardless of if he knows them or not. He may also lock himself out of the house (forgets key occasionally). And lastly, this is a degenerative disease (and he's 77) and I'd like to be able to visually check in on him during the day.

So I am considering a CCTV system for the house. 1) To keep an eye on him, 2) to keep and eye on the house, and 3) to have a recording of what happen that day (so maybe I can see where he left his glasses today).

I know a little about CCTV but I was hoping someone had some personal experience, advice, or recommendations. I'd like to install it myself. Specifically I would like to find a company to order from. I see a lot of names that I don't know.

BTW, an alarm system is out of the question. Dad would never know how to use it and would set it off all the time. If I have the CCTV then I at least have a chance and a recording. Maybe not the best solution but about the only one I have at the present.

I'm thinking an 8 camera system, stand alone dvr (mainly for simplicity), remote viewing, playback-record-real time, 5 indoor domes, 3 outdoor bullets, motion detection, audio would be nice (on a couple of cameras), and something I can record about a week or two. I don't need a lot of whistles and bells but want good Res and playback. Typical 1950's ranch home. Some bright areas, some not so bright.

The $2000 mark seems to be about the standard for a DIY from what I have researched.

Any help will be appreciated and will save me a lot of time.

[KBCraig]

Instead of CCTV and a DVR, you might want to go a different direction: IP cameras connected to your home network. As a bonus, you can view them from any internet-connected computer; just log in using your password.

I'm no expert in this, but I've read enough to know that's the route I would like to take.

[chewy555]

Check out http://www.supercircuits.com i have been looking at them to set up a system in our house and lawn mower shop. They have all kinds of items and the prices are not bad.