Common Sense Advice For Your Surveillance Equipment

When you install or use a surveillance system there are various practices that you can do to help keep your equipment functioning properly and to its full capability. Most of this advice will seem like common sense to some, but it is mainly intended to help the less technologically adept or first time surveillance users. All in all it is a quick reference article to make sure you don’t overlook simple answers and simple solutions.

Don’t Blind Your IR (Infrared) Camera

If you have a camera that uses IR (Infrared) LED’s, then DO NOT place it behind glass. People seem to run into this issue all the time, and they complain that when it gets dark the camera suddenly has a white picture. The reason for this is that when it gets dark out the LEDs will kick on and the Iris will open up as wide as possible to accommodate the maximum amount of usable light. The LEDs at this point are simply getting reflected off the glass, this in turn BLINDS the camera and turns the picture white. The simple solution is to move the camera from behind the glass.

Keep Your Security Camera Out Of Reach & Protected

The purpose of a surveillance system is to detour or to catch criminals in the act of vandalizing, burgling, or trespassing on your premises. So if we accept this as a general truth of surveillance systems, then why on earth would you place your security cameras in low lying areas where they could easily be vandalized or even stolen? As a general rule when you place your security cameras at your facility, you want to keep them out of the reach of the average individual. A good starting place is to mount them at least 9 feet or higher; this way even with a decent jump it will be difficult for someone to mess with your cameras easily.

Additionally to help further protect your security cameras you should place them under the soffit of your building (if you have one). This is a great protection against weather elements as it can help block things such as the accumulation of snow or rain on your camera. Even if your camera is weatherproof (which it should be if you’re using it outside), this is helpful because it doesn’t do much good if the camera can’t see because it has snow all over it.

Wireless Cameras NEED Power

This complaint is a very common and somewhat annoying occurrence. The seemingly simple truth is that even if your camera system is wireless IT STILL NEEDS POWER! This means that you have to have some form of power source at your security camera. Whether it’s the implication of the word wireless next to the word camera or something else; a lot of people just don’t seem to grasp that concept. So to put it as simple as can be, a wireless camera means it’s wireless in regards to the video cable, not the power cable! Therefore you will need some form of outlet near your camera or a power extension to provide it with power.

Battery Power Is A Temporary Solution

This will be the last common sense advice I will give in this article and it will be as short, sweet, and to the point as possible. Battery power is a temporary solution that is best served in mobile surveillance applications or temporary cctv systems. Most surveillance equipment uses quite a bit of juice and as a rule you will only get a few hours (give or take an hour or so) out of a standard battery back for your security camera.

Christian M Gillman has worked in the surveillance industry for over 7 years. Subscribe to our monthly newsletter, learn more about surveillance, and find great products at http://www.cu1.com

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