Connecting POE cameras to HS3

[nfrobertson]

I'm new to connecting a CCTV setup to HS3. I began searching the forums here and elsewhere to see what was available. Like many, I don't think I'm terribly happy with a DVR/NVR "kit" from Costco or Wal-Mart.

I found this excellent site VueVille. On that page Daniel shows HS3 as the home automation controller. He's also using a QNAP TS-253A NAS and the QNAP Surveillance Station (4 IP camera licenses included) All the hardware details are on that page. At that point I was looking at Hikvision cameras. With some additional research I found his Best Outdoor IP Camera 2018 Recommendations and am now looking at some inexpensive Reolink fixed cameras for my initial venture into adding this to my system.

So, I think I'm set to go with a QNAP TS-253A, a pair of WD Red 4Tb NAS rated hard drives, a PoE switch (see VueVille's list of hardware) and a few inexpensive Reolink cameras to start. Any comments on this setup?

I am curious what plugin(s) that VueVille/Daniel might be using with HS3 to provide the MotionDetection virtual HS3 devices show at the page in the top link? What are the best plugin(s) to use in HS3 that would be compatible with the QNAP Surveillance Station?

Thanks
Nathan

[tome10]

I like Blue Iris. It has Geofence, and I have some wall mounted tablets integrated for interior away viewing.

[Pete]

Here continue to utilize Zoneminder (many years now).

You can do anything with the Open Source Zoneminder program.

Relating to motion detection have always utilized hard wired PIR's to my alarm panel.

Outdoor motion sensing is difficult even with hard wired sensors. (wired Cartel, Optex outdoor sensors plus RFID for personal automobiles.).

Motion detection based on video algorithms is getting better these days but not soup yet for outdoor motion detection.

As mentioned above and relating to Homeseer there is a plugin for Blue Iris that many folks utilize.

Most if not all store purchased CCTV systems utilize propietary firmware (linux) and these companies do not publish their APIs or an SDK for software incorporation.


There is no Homeseer plugin today that functions as a CCTV DVR or any specific IP HD POE camera plugin.

That said today IP cameras are much faster than their predecessors. They are not all the same. There are now standards that have been agreed upon and we are now finally seeing these standards being utilized but the cameras sold today are still very propietary and each mfg makes them different and still pushes their own camera OS and hardware.

There are popular cameras with good support and reasonably priced.

Look here for suggestions of different cameras and software.

CCTV forum

IP/Megapixel Cameras and Software Solutions

[nfrobertson]

Thanks Pete and tome10. I appreciate the help. I'll start with the QNAP Surveillance Station and see what I can get done with that. I see a plugin here for that but not clear exactly what it'll provide above/beyond what QNAP SS provides.


Nathan

[danielross]

I lurk around here quite a bit, but never signed up. I did today so that I could post more details of how I connected QNAP Surveillance Station to HS3. It is possible and actually its quite easy once you know how

I just posted a quick guide and details here: https://forums.homeseer.com/showthread.php?t=196636

I am very pleased with the level of integration I have now: 2-way instantaneous local communications (no IFTTT or cloud nonsense) between my NAS and HS3. This means I can continue using the super energy-efficient NAS as my DIY NVR and my super energy-efficient fanless Acer laptop for HS3.

My overarching goal for our smart home is to make it as energy efficient as possible.

I avoided the tradtional DVR/NVR route because I knew I wanted to integrate CCTV with home automation, and that no standalone (aka non cloud-reliant) smart home hub could manage cameras directly and work as an NVR. Also HS3's camera support is pretty woeful compared to Vera. Yes I now about paid plugins but they are still not going to replace a dedicated NVR. The only energy-efficient option left was a NAS that can work as an NVR.

While all the other ideas suggested by tome10 and Pete are great, they involve running a high power machine whereas with my setup the cameras perform the motion detection. So you don't need a powerful energy-sucking computer running 24/7. I did consider Zoneminder briefly but I am not great with Linux so didnt get far.

With Imperihome, I have wall mounted/tabletop tablets switching to specific cameras when motion is detected on that camera. I can also use HS3 for geofencing & arming the cameras (I haven't done this yet, but it is trivially easy).

I am not saying my setup is the best for everyone and there are several drawbacks - the main one being it cannot detect the advanced motion detection methods that Hikvision & Dahua have such as line crossing and intrusion detection. I am sure some smart chap/gal will create a plugin for that soon enough so I can wait for that.

[socalsharky]

I'm new to connecting a CCTV setup to HS3. I began searching the forums here and elsewhere to see what was available. Like many, I don't think I'm terribly happy with a DVR/NVR "kit" from Costco or Wal-Mart.

I found this excellent site VueVille. On that page Daniel shows HS3 as the home automation controller. He's also using a QNAP TS-253A NAS and the QNAP Surveillance Station (4 IP camera licenses included) All the hardware details are on that page. At that point I was looking at Hikvision cameras. With some additional research I found his Best Outdoor IP Camera 2018 Recommendations and am now looking at some inexpensive Reolink fixed cameras for my initial venture into adding this to my system.

So, I think I'm set to go with a QNAP TS-253A, a pair of WD Red 4Tb NAS rated hard drives, a PoE switch (see VueVille's list of hardware) and a few inexpensive Reolink cameras to start. Any comments on this setup?

I am curious what plugin(s) that VueVille/Daniel might be using with HS3 to provide the MotionDetection virtual HS3 devices show at the page in the top link? What are the best plugin(s) to use in HS3 that would be compatible with the QNAP Surveillance Station?

Thanks
Nathan

Nathan--

Did you get the cameras set up? I took a look at Daniel's VueVille blog and like you, I am intrigued. Really curious on the Homeseer integration/functionality.

[Pete]

Been testing a new CCTV application called Shinobi.

Note that I have been using Zoneminder now for over 10 years.

This is a copy and paste from Cocoontech Shinobi simple CCTV and NVR solution

It is offered as an open source solution and as a pro solution with a monthly fee. (Community edition and Pro edition - similiar to PFSense).

Shinobi is the Open Source CCTV Solution written in Node.JS. Designed with multiple account system, Streams by WebSocket, and Save to WebM.

Shinobi can record IP Cameras and Local Cameras.

Some features of Shinobi

• Time-lapse Viewer (Watch a hours worth of footage in a few minutes)
• 2-Factor Authentication
• Defeats stream limit imposed by browsers
  With Base64 (Stream Type) and JPEG Mode (Option)
• Records IP Cameras and Local Cameras
• Streams by WebSocket, HLS (includes audio), and MJPEG
• Save to WebM and MP4
  Can save Audio
• Push Events - When a video is finished it will appear in the dashboard without a refresh
• Region Motion Detection (Similar to ZoneMinder (http://zoneminder.com) Zone Detection)
  Represented by a Motion Guage on each monitor
• "No Motion" Notifications
• 1 Process for Each Camera to do both, Recording and Streaming
• Timeline for viewing Motion Events and Videos
• Sub-Accounts with permissions
  Monitor Viewing
  Monitor Editing
  Video Deleting
  Separate API keys for sub account
• Cron Filters can be set based on master account
• Stream Analyzer built-in (FFprobe GUI)
• Monitor Groups
• Can snapshot images from stream directly
• Lower Bandwith Mode (JPEG Mode)
  Snapshot (cgi-bin) must be enabled in Monitor Settings
• Control Cameras from Interface
• API
  Get videos
  Get monitors
  Change monitor modes : Disabled, Watch, Record
  Embedding streams
• Dashboard Framework made with Google Material Design Lite, jQuery, and Bootstrap

Smart Phone Access to Shinobi

iOS (iPhone and iPad)

• Open up Safari on your iOS device.
• Navigate to the Shinobi panel that you want on the home screen.
• Tap the Share button on the menu bar.
• Tap on Add to Home Screen.
• Set the display name for your Shinobi icon (launcher).
• Tap on Add in the upper-right corner to add the shortcut to your home screen.
• The icon will appear on the home screen.

Android (Google Mobile OS)

• Launch Chrome for Android.
• Navigate to the Shinobi panel that you want on the home screen.
• Tap the menu button and tap Add to homescreen.
• Set the display name for your Shinobi icon (launcher).
• The icon will appear on the home screen.

Windows (Windows 8)

• First, open the modern Internet Explorer browser.
• Navigate to the Shinobi panel that you want on the home screen.
• Pull up the app bar — for example, by right-clicking or swiping up from the bottom of your screen
• Tap the star icon.then tap the pin icon.
• Set the display name for your Shinobi icon (launcher).
• Click Pin to Start.
• The icon will appear as a tile on your Start screen.

[socalsharky]

With Imperihome, I have wall mounted/tabletop tablets switching to specific cameras when motion is detected on that camera. I can also use HS3 for geofencing & arming the cameras (I haven't done this yet, but it is trivially easy).

Daniel--Would this also work on a tablet that is running HS Touch? I would like to have a system that would allow viewing HS Touch under normal circumstances, but switch to a camera view when motion is detected. I also see that there is a Surveillance Station plugin. Could your setup take advantage of that?

[danielross]

Daniel--Would this also work on a tablet that is running HS Touch? I would like to have a system that would allow viewing HS Touch under normal circumstances, but switch to a camera view when motion is detected. I also see that there is a Surveillance Station plugin. Could your setup take advantage of that?

Hi, I had posted how to replicate my method of using QNAP Surveillance Station feature to connect the security cameras and HS3 in detail here: https://forums.homeseer.com/forum/ca...eseer?t=196636
Please feel free to ask questions if any.

To be clear, this is not just an idea, it actually works with 100% reliability.

I do not use HSTouch so can't comment.

[P Dawson]

I'm completely new to cameras, and have become very adept at HS3 and creating hundreds of events in my S6-Pro hometroller. I've just purchased a FOSCAM R2V1 camera, and hard-wired it to my net. HS3 has recognized the camera, but I have no idea how to view it in HS Touch designer.
I have a full set of screens already functioning well with several devices deployed to my android cell phone. Can anyone tell me how to simply set up and "view" this camera in HS Touch? I don't see it as a "device" or any method of creating a box for the picture to reside in. I have searched many forum threads but don't see any that contain a "simple" description of the steps to take.
Thanks in advance,
Peter
New Hampshire