My expereince using cheap Chinese import CCTV parts……Big Mistake!

OK – funny story, around 2005 Electronic Eye Security Inc. was looking for economical CCTV equipment to go with our entry level DVR line. Around this time we were installing a lot of camera and security systems for laundromats. I had designed an economical control/security system and software that could operate a laundromat without anybody having to be there and it had over 6 levels of protection. Because of the nature of the business (cash transactions), laundromats are burglarized very often, sometimes a couple of times in a week. To this day no crook as ever gotten away with much more than a gumball machine under my watch and that’s only because we don’t secure gum.

It was also at this time that I had given up all hope on local security distributors who were hiring derelicts to work behind the counter that did not know a mop handle from a security camera. So we decided to buy direct from a Chinese importer who had incredible low prices on equipment over the internet. Woo hoo! I ordered up samples and tested them out and thought, “Yes! These imitations will work perfect for our entry level systems.” Big Mistake!

I was excited as we closed around 3-4 CCTV deals the first week of offering these low price-busting cameras and accessories.

But this excitement soon evaporated after the first installation was completed. It started with camera connectors that would literally disintegrate upon contact, BNC connectors that would short out the video and camera lenses that developed cataracts around the lens within a day or two of installing. It wasn’t long before our installers were returning to the job site to replace these connectors and cameras, not once, not twice but three times a week. The cameras would work for about 2 or 3 days and after that the shoddy electronics would slowly stop working. Talk about a royal pain in the rear end and embarrassment!

Well, we took the high road and ended up replacing every connector and camera and chalked it up to a valuable lesson that has served us well through the years:

We only use equipment that can match our high standards of intelligent design, installation and guarantees. The rest of the “crap” can be purchased at Costco, Sam’s Club, eBay, Radio Shack etc.!

Stumble! for WP

Tags: Alarm System, CCTV, chaep cameras, surveillance