Maintenance Tips for CCTV Systems

CCTV systems represent a significant investment in securing your business, so it makes sense to spend a little time maintaining your CCTV equipment. A little bit of care – taking just a few minutes at a time over the course of a month – can help prolong the life of your surveillance system. Some vendors offer a maintenance contract when you purchase their systems, but if you buy and install your own CCTV camera and system, that may not be an option. In most cases, these simple tasks are easy enough for you to perform them yourself on a monthly or quarterly schedule.
Check All the Connections
Check the connection where each security camera feeds into the DVR to make sure that they have not worked loose or become brittle. Loose connections are among the most common causes of image loss on the DVR.
Check the Power Supply Box on Your Security Camera
If your system is an older one, check the power supply on each CCTV camera. Older power supply boxes often have individual fuses on each surveillance camera. Modern systems carry a non-fused resettable power supply. If your cameras are the older type, this is a good time to go shopping for a new system. CCTV systems have never been more affordable – or easy to install.
Break Out the Duster
Dust gathers everywhere, including on the lens of your security camera. Dust on the camera lens can distort the image, or simply make it hazy and difficult to see. The solution? Break out the duster and gently wipe the lens clean periodically to keep dust from causing problems.
Check the Housing on Your Outdoor Cameras
If you have an outdoor security camera, give the weatherproof housing a good going over every few months. Check the seals and the bushings that make it weather-tight. If they seem dry or cracked, or if they don’t fit correctly, look into replacing the housing. Damaged seals can allow moisture and humidity to get into the camera, causing damage. Wipe the seal down with a dry cloth if it looks dirty.
Reboot Your System
Like any computer-based system, most CCTV systems benefit from a regular reboot to allow the system to cool down. Reboots also provide the opportunity for your system to install firmware updates and restart in order for those changes to take effect.
CCTV systems don’t require a great deal of routine maintenance. These few simple tasks can help prolong the life of your security system with very little effort on your part.

CCTV Systems – Working with Your Television Set

CCTV systems are among the best ways to provide video security and surveillance to your home, but top of the line equipment can be expensive. One way to save money on your system is to use your television as a CCTV monitor or playback device. There are a number of different ways to connect your CCTV camera to your television, each of them best in specific situations. The easiest way is to use a coaxial cable or RCA cable, both of which are easily available at any electronics store. It’s not a complicated process. Here’s how easy it can be to set up CCTV systems using your existing cable lines and televisions with a CCTV camera.
Single Camera On One Television
The easiest configuration for hooking up CCTV to your television is to connect a single camera to a single television set. Depending on the connections available on your television, you’ll need either an RCA cable or a coaxial cable, and the appropriate adapters to connect the cable to your security camera. Simply connect one end of the cable to the output jack on the surveillance camera and the other end to the input jack on the television set.  Again, depending on your television, you may have to select the right input through your onscreen menu in order to view the feed from the CCTV camera.
Connecting Your CCTV Camera through a DVR
If you also intend to record the surveillance videos as well as monitor them, you’ll want to connect your security camera to a DVR and a television. You’ll need two sets of RCA cables, the security camera, a DVR and a television set. Plug one end of one RCA cable into the output jacks on the CCTV camera, matching the colors between connectors and jacks. Plug the other end of that RCA cable into the input jacks on the DVR. Connect one end of the second RCA cable to the output jacks on the DVR, and the other end to the input jacks on the television. The DVR will now record your surveillance videos, and you will be able to monitor the feed via the television.
Add Security Cameras to Your DirecTV System
The DirecTV DVR has a built-in hard drive to capture video and audio signals (so do most other cable and satellite TV DVR boxes, for that matter). That means that you can add a security camera to your DirecTV setup and incorporate it into your CCTV system. All you need are coaxial cables for each camera and one to connect between the DirecTV system and the switch box, and a video switch box. Connect a coaxial cable to the RF output jack on the back of each security camera. Screw the other end of each coaxial cable into one of the RF inputs on the back of the video switch box. Connect the last coaxial cable to the RF output on the video switch box and the RF IN jack on your DirecTV DVR box. You can now cycles through the cameras by using the switches on the front of the switch box. The DVR will record whatever is being show on the television.
There are many ways to incorporate CCTV systems into your existing video and audio equipment. These are just a few suggestions. A professional consultant can help you figure out the best options for your home.