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    Security Cameras

    Hope this is the right place. I have seen some posts but I am still lacking some answers. Recently we have been seeing a rise in crime in our area and the wife gave me the green light to install cameras. My concern being that I need it reliable and as easy as possible to install and it seems both don't really go together. Looking for some feedback on what you have done. I know I want an appliance that I can tie into vs a server to make sure outages are minimal and would like wired but know that will be tough. Was considering Poe and using power adapters for the network but not sure how well that works.

    What have some of you done and how easy was it?

    #2
    Originally posted by waynehead99 View Post
    Hope this is the right place. I have seen some posts but I am still lacking some answers. Recently we have been seeing a rise in crime in our area and the wife gave me the green light to install cameras. My concern being that I need it reliable and as easy as possible to install and it seems both don't really go together. Looking for some feedback on what you have done. I know I want an appliance that I can tie into vs a server to make sure outages are minimal and would like wired but know that will be tough. Was considering Poe and using power adapters for the network but not sure how well that works.

    What have some of you done and how easy was it?
    You can find lots of good info and recomendations at:
    http://www.cam-it.org/

    I used some of the Hikvision mini-domes, wired with POE, and use Blue Iris to record/monitor them. They've been installed over a year now and have been trouble-free. Be aware of the various focal lengths available. You'll want different ones based upon how wide your field-of-view needs to be for each camera location. Again, lots of good info over at cam-it.

    Pulling the wire was a pain [well, not my pain - I paid somebody to do it ], but using POE you only have to pull the one ethernet cable to each camera. I'd suggest using a different network switch with poe just for the cameras, then tie that to your existing router or switch. That keeps the camera traffic off your main lan.
    Fred

    HomeSeer Pro 3.0.0.548, HS3Touch, Zwave 3.0.1.252, Envisalink DSC 3.0.0.40, WeatherXML, Z-stick, HS phone, Way2Call

    Comment


      #3
      I put up four cameras, two were PoE out of the box, and the other two (light fixture style) were not.

      I paid a company to run ethernet to those four locations, cost me about $250 per run. In three of the four locations, the installers put in some sort of gang box thing, but without a back, which makes it easy to push all the excess cabeling into the wall and screw on wall plates. I ended up using these:
      http://www.homedepot.com/p/CE-TECH-F...6-WH/204849511

      The fourth location, on the garage door frame, was a pretty thick solid wood area, so they just drilled a hole to fit the Ethernet through and I installed an outdoor power outlet cover next to the camera to tuck away all the cabeling.

      For the two cameras that were not PoE out of the box, I bought a couple PoE adapters from Foscam. No issues there.

      I'm also using BlueIris on a dedicated mini-pc, as well as the BlueIris phone app. Then I'm using the TinyCam Pro app on a fireTV USB stick displaying the live feeds on TVs.

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        #4
        You guys using blue iris. Is it dedicated or shared on the pc and what is the reliability? This is one system I just want to work with no issues. I can handle my homeseer going down, but the cameras still need to work

        Comment


          #5
          I like blue iris a lot. Never issues. Just works.

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by jayman13 View Post
            I like blue iris a lot. Never issues. Just works.
            Same here. If you're going to have a lot of cameras, you'll probably need to run it on a dedicated PC, not the same as your HS machine.
            Fred

            HomeSeer Pro 3.0.0.548, HS3Touch, Zwave 3.0.1.252, Envisalink DSC 3.0.0.40, WeatherXML, Z-stick, HS phone, Way2Call

            Comment


              #7
              I've got Blue Iris running on a virtual machine (all my machines are virtual, running on a single large rackmount server). I've been running Blue Iris for about a month with zero issues. It has been very stable for me. I'm running it on Windows Server OS. The virtual machine it's running on is dedicated to Blue Iris only - no other applications run on it.
              HS Pro 3.0 | Linux Ubuntu 16.04 x64 virtualized under Proxmox (KVM)
              Hardware: Z-NET - W800 Serial - Digi PortServer TS/8 and TS/16 serial to Ethernet - Insteon PLM - RFXCOM - X10 Wireless
              Plugins: HSTouch iOS and Android, RFXCOM, BlueIris, BLLock, BLDSC, BLRF, Insteon PLM (MNSandler), Device History, Ecobee, BLRing, Kodi, UltraWeatherWU3
              Second home: Zee S2 with Z-Wave, CT101 Z-Wave Thermostat, Aeotec Z-Wave microswitches, HSM200 occupancy sensor, Ecolink Z-Wave door sensors, STI Driveway Monitor interfaced to Zee S2 GPIO pins.

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                #8
                I just went through this process. I decided to go with a dedicated POE NVR and dome style 3MP IP cameras. I wanted to go with an NVR for the appliance aspect of it, rather than screwing around with another computer and all the associated hassles. This keeps the security system on its own network. I wanted to keep costs down so I did all the installation myself, and it really wasn't that bad. I did five exterior ethernet runs, although I may do more if I get motivated down the line. I researched this up down and sideways and decided to go with Dahua cameras and NVR. They are a Chinese manufacturer but they make a lot of the brands you will find at Costco etc. I think if you are going with an NVR you should stick with the same brand cameras. The cameras I went with are Dahua Ipc-hdbw4300e-as 3mp and the NVR 4208 NP. The NVR was about 265.00 without HDD, cameras about 120-150, although you can get them for less if you are adventurous by ordering from China directly. Software may be in Chinese though. I also have one interior camera IPC k200A. Another common brand is Hikvision. You can configure the NVR to interface with HS but I don't see much advantage to doing that at this point. There is a mobile app for Android and IOS that works pretty well and is easy to configure. There are a lot of good resources for researching this ipcamtalk.com cctvforum are ones that I found helpful. My one criticism is that the fans in the NVR are loud. I have the NVR in a separate electronics closet so it is not a problem, but I bought some aftermarket fans and I plan to replace the 2 fans in the NVR when I have time. The web interface does not work in Chrome, but Firefox works fine.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by tbever View Post
                  I just went through this process. I decided to go with a dedicated POE NVR and dome style 3MP IP cameras. I wanted to go with an NVR for the appliance aspect of it, rather than screwing around with another computer and all the associated hassles. This keeps the security system on its own network. I wanted to keep costs down so I did all the installation myself, and it really wasn't that bad. I did five exterior ethernet runs, although I may do more if I get motivated down the line. I researched this up down and sideways and decided to go with Dahua cameras and NVR. They are a Chinese manufacturer but they make a lot of the brands you will find at Costco etc. I think if you are going with an NVR you should stick with the same brand cameras. The cameras I went with are Dahua Ipc-hdbw4300e-as 3mp and the NVR 4208 NP. The NVR was about 265.00 without HDD, cameras about 120-150, although you can get them for less if you are adventurous by ordering from China directly. Software may be in Chinese though. I also have one interior camera IPC k200A. Another common brand is Hikvision. You can configure the NVR to interface with HS but I don't see much advantage to doing that at this point. There is a mobile app for Android and IOS that works pretty well and is easy to configure. There are a lot of good resources for researching this ipcamtalk.com cctvforum are ones that I found helpful. My one criticism is that the fans in the NVR are loud. I have the NVR in a separate electronics closet so it is not a problem, but I bought some aftermarket fans and I plan to replace the 2 fans in the NVR when I have time. The web interface does not work in Chrome, but Firefox works fine.
                  Thanks for this. Yea I am a little overwhelmed trying to make sure I get the best ROI on this without getting crappy equipment. I found this NVR based off what you said, and looks like the bullet cameras are about 80 bucks a piece

                  http://www.amazon.com/Dahua-NVR4216-...ords=dahua+nvr

                  Do you have any PTZ or just using fixed? How is the night vision on these cameras you have?

                  Comment


                    #10
                    I looked at that NVR which is similar. I think there is a bandwidth limitation that you have to look at. The 8 port unit and 16 port units both have a 200 MB bandwidth max. Depending on the number of cameras you have and the resolution you are recording, you can hit the bandwidth cap with 8 three MP cameras. If you need more cameras you would be better off with 2 eight port NVRs rather than the 16 port NVR, unless you go with a (much) more expensive unit. There are some threads about this. You have to bit careful about the sellers on amazon and get a US/English version.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Thanks for the help. I ended up ordering the identical stuff you did (aside from the inside camera). Now to run cable which is always fun.

                      Also i do want to find a way to tie into homeseer, at the very list to be able to trigger off events to display the cameras on my HST panels around the house.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        dome camera field of view

                        One thing about the dome cameras: other than the different lens focal lengths, the mounting location will affect the region you are going to monitor. You can change the angle of the lens but I think it still tilts only about 45 degrees or so. I have all my cameras under eaves, and in order to look more horizontally I used the following angled mounting adapters to angle the dome cameras essentially parallel to the eaves. They are made for Hikvision cameras but they fit the Dahua dome cameras with a bit of effort.

                        Hikvision DS-1259ZJ Angled mounting bracket made for DS-2CD2132-I DS 2CD2112-I Made in Plastic with a Conduit thread

                        Also I drilled a small hole in the plastic adapter to accomodate a microphone since the cameras do not have one, but they do have audio capabilities (ie it will incorporate the microphone input into the feed). It may or may not be important to you.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Waynehead99,
                          Which Dahua DVR did you buy. How's it going. Any "Cons" to buying it.
                          Trying to figure out if I should stick with the capture card option I had originally planned or "just works" dvr like you did.
                          Thanks

                          Originally posted by waynehead99 View Post
                          Thanks for the help. I ended up ordering the identical stuff you did (aside from the inside camera). Now to run cable which is always fun.

                          Also i do want to find a way to tie into homeseer, at the very list to be able to trigger off events to display the cameras on my HST panels around the house.
                          Tom
                          baby steps...starting again with HS3
                          HS3Pro: Z-NET & 80 Z wave Devices,
                          HSTouch: 4 Joggler (Android Kitkat), 2 iPhone, 3 iPads
                          Whole House Audio: 5 SqueezePlay Jogglers w Bose Speakers
                          In The Works: 10 Cameras Geovision, new Adecmo/Envisalink Alarm, Arduinos
                          System: XP on Fanless Mini-ITX w/ SSD

                          Comment


                            #14
                            This is the NVR I bought:

                            https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

                            It doesn't include HDD, but has room to install 2. I have one WD purple 3 TB HDD.

                            It's an easy set it and forget it system. I think the software is pretty standard and allows easy connection to an android or IOS device. I am in the process of setting up 3 wall mounted android tablets (Lenovo Tab 2 10 inch). I did not leave it open to remote internet access but mobile device access is fine. If you look at the Amazon reviews, the security on the NVR is poor.

                            Downside: the fans are really loud. You would have to leave it in a closet or in the basement or something. (I have it in a security system/wiring closet). I did get 2 smaller fans to replace the existing ones but I haven't had the time. I have not tried to integrate it with homeseer but you should be able to pull static images to HS touch. I use the Dahua mobile app which works fine.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              We have a Synology box for some other things (actually an ioSafe box, but it is basically a Synology box with fire and water hardening). The surveillance station software that comes with it is pretty slick. At once house we have three cameras, and at the other four. All cameras are Acti B95/96. (Although Synology supports a huge amount of cameras)

                              It has the requisite mobile apps, and so on. It records when motion is detected, and nicely for our situation, one server is the primary box, so you can connect to that one to access the other box's recordings.

                              I'm using the boxes as BTSync replicas, and also as backup destinations and Time Machine destinations (MAC), FWIW.

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