CCTV system

Project #346 at the theater is the purchasing and installation of a CCTV system. Its purpose is twofold: 1) to provide a security video feed (and subsequent possible reduction in insurance premiums) and 2) To act as monitors for performances. Long story short, this theater is a black box. When we do musicals here, the pit orchestra is usually in the shop and has no way of seeing the stage (and vice versa). In these cases I need to be able to put a monitor in the theater so the actors can watch the conductor, and one in the shop so the conductor can take his cues from the action on stage.

Needs:
HD or near HD quality
wireless preferred given the difficulty of running cables across the facility
if not wireless, it can't be regular analog video. The massive amount of dimmers and high-amperage lighting makes regular video a joke. I tried it.
I need 5 channels, but it should be expandable to 8 or more.
DIY installation (between my technical knowledge and the pool of IT resources on my board, we can make it happen)

Suggestions on types, brands, models, etc?

In reply to curtis73:

Talk to CWH here, he set me up with a security camera system for our place a couple years ago & we're happy with the results.

Second the CWH recommendation and for the same reason. I think you'll have to go wired or add in wireless relays (LOCO M5).

CWH here. E-mail me your contact info. There should be no problem putting together a system for your needs. We have very high def systems that will handle this. Casino grade. I will always suggest wires, (CAT5) whenever possible, but the LOCO M5 is a very good Wi-Fi solution. Hess has that. Only caveat is line of sight is needed, but with a clear LOS, you are good up to 9 miles. My systems have gone into some very high risk locations with complete success. Thanks for the nice words, guys!

The GRM solution would be a PC running blue iris and some IP cameras (I like Hikvision).

For a job like this, I will suggest a dedicated Network Video Recorder. Much superior to a PC, but not any more costly. HIKVision is a low end Chinese system that has durability problems. Good for basic, but with the challenges that Curtis is going to have, a higher end system will be necessary. My biggest concern will be EFI. But, I have people. This is going to be a fun job.

PM sent.

Thanks for the good info. The HD is not a requirement, it would just be very nice. The black box theater is 50' x 60' with a 25' ceiling (about 17 feet to the lighting grid). If I hang a 55" monitor at the back of the audience for the actors to watch the conductor, it just seems counter-intuitive to give it a 480-line resolution. On the other end, the conductor just needs a 32" monitor or something sitting by his music stand to be able to watch the action.

I should have mentioned that IR/night should be something the cameras have. First, obviously for security at night, and secondly so the conductor can still see the stage during a blackout. Sometimes a conductor's cue is something like "begin overture when the curtain opens" but its still dark.

I have a truckload of cat5 in this building. Our old landline phones had been all wired with cat5. So every room has two cat5's going to it; one for data and one for phone. We ditched the landlines for voip, so I have bundles of probably 15 unused cat5's spanning 300 feet across the building. Its safe to say I have some cat5 to play with. And its already hanging.

Responded to PM

4mp Bullet style camera- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLUfP26oJ70

PTZ Dome- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7SRkWCIGKk

Good stuff!

Holy moly... the optical zoom on that dome is NICE

That is a world class camera. 1200.00 worth of class. The bullet is under 150.00.

Ok, so this is a zombie. But are you still recommending wired over wireless cwh?