Guide to Digital Surveillance Systems
What you'll need to know - but they don't tell you

In the towns where I have car washes, the Police are astounded at the quality of the video clips I give them. But it wasn't always that way. In fact, ten years ago they weren't interested in looking at any video evidence I had because they said that the pictures were so poor that it wouldn't do them any good to look at them.

Things didn't improve much when I put in my first Digital Surveillance System seven years ago. The technology was brand new, the system was plagued with problems, and getting video clips off of the machine to give to the Police was problematic at best, and took hours to accomplish.

Now, after many years and 5 digital systems later, I have learned what to look for and what to avoid. There are literally reams of data that I have collected that can help you find a good Digital System, but to keep it short and simple, I will attempt to cover the most important aspects to look for so that you can make sure you end up with a system that will be worth what you paid for it.

Here is the #1 lesson I have learned: Shopping for price alone can end in disaster!

On the Internet, you can find complete Digital CCTV packages of 4 to 16 cameras, including a monitor and Digital recorder. Often they look like great deals - but the wrong system can deal you untold grief. Many Dealers will put together low-end packages to try to lure price-conscious shoppers - these systems suffer from lower quality, shaky reliability, and will not last for years and years the way higher quality systems will. Low-quality components and a lack of support combine to create an offer that can do more harm than good to your business.

To avoid getting cheap consumer-grade junk, take a closer look at the actual specs of the individual components. If the specs aren't offered, ask for them. If they are vague and the answer is not satisfactory, or they won't give them to you at all, move on to another supplier.

How to Choose Quality Cameras -

The best cameras consist of two basic, but very crucial elements - the quality of the image sensor and the quality of the parts and engineering of the camera components themselves. Listed in the specifications of each camera, you will find out who makes the "guts" of the camera. In other words, what name brand chipset is at the heart of this camera? There are numerous brands out there, but the top two are Sony and Panasonic. Both of these brands will give you an excellent picture and the longest life. Both Sony and Panasonic offer several levels of chipsets, so always look for these minimum performance parameters, no matter what type or style of camera used, or who's name is on the outside:

Where each camera will be located at your wash will determine what type or style of camera to use. For example, here are a few tips for various mounting locations:

Equipment rooms -

For general views of the equipment room almost any type of camera will work here. However, if you turn the lights out when you leave, then a Day/Night Infrared camera that displays a color image under good lighting, then switches to black & white with Infrared illumination to see in the dark, is a good choice. If the equipment room is always well lit and you don't want anyone to see the camera, then a disguised PIR (Passive Infrared) motion detector style camera with a pinhole lens is a common choice. Pinhole lenses still give good clear views, but because of the small surface area of the lens and decreased ability to gather light, the rooms' lighting needs to be bright.

Changer/Vending Areas -

Since mounting locations around this area tend to be lower, a vandal-proof dome is a wise choice. Cameras mounted lower that are supported on a stalk type of mount can be hit with a stick to turn the camera away from the area, or covered with a cap or rag so that the thieves can work unmonitored. These types of domes are extremely rugged and have no exposed wires that can be cut, and also have security screws that make it difficult to steal or disable the camera.

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Allen Spears has been in the Car wash business for more than 15 years, and currently owns 4 washes in Texas. Allen is also the Chief Engineer at CarWashCameras.com (a division of Rugged CCTV), for the past 12 years, and has designed systems for over 1600 car washes during his career. He can be e-mailed at allensp@carwashcameras.com, and can be reached at 1-866-301-CCTV