Spec me a CCTV System

[Simon42]

Hi guys,

I'm looking to fit CCTV to my house. In my mum's I fitted pretty inexpensive Amazon specials, using PoE and into BlueIris.

It's been almost 10 years and I'm still super happy with that setup although I expect tech has moved on and it can only be better now

I have a home server running 24x7 - what cams would you recommend? Really don't want to break the bank.

I stick to Hikvision and Dahua but the key thing for overall picture quality especially at night it sensor size, see my post here:

Spec me a CCTV System

Hi all. Seems like everyone has a great depth of CCTV knowledge on this thread so I thought why not ask you guys. I have three Reolink RLC-810A cameras sitting and waiting to be installed at my new home. I want to put two facing the front and one facing the garden. I would like to use the...

forums.overclockers.co.uk

Don't be overly keen to go for 4K (8MP) unless sensor size compensates for this and you really need that extra definition despite the extra storage and processing overhead. Similarly colour night vision while a real eye candy feature is good only if you've got some background lighting at all times when dark (for example streetlights where I live shut down 1am to 4am) or you're happy with the integrated white lights being on or get one that also has IR illumination. Also colour night cameras often only have sharp focus from 3 or 4 metres away (and worse on narrower angle lenses) from the camera which can be important for some areas.

 

[RetiredGreyFox]

I stick to Hikvision and Dahua but the key thing for overall picture quality especially at night it sensor size, see my post here:

Spec me a CCTV System

Hi all. Seems like everyone has a great depth of CCTV knowledge on this thread so I thought why not ask you guys. I have three Reolink RLC-810A cameras sitting and waiting to be installed at my new home. I want to put two facing the front and one facing the garden. I would like to use the...

forums.overclockers.co.uk

Don't be overly keen to go for 4K (8MP) unless sensor size compensates for this and you really need that extra definition despite the extra storage and processing overhead. Similarly colour night vision while a real eye candy feature is good only if you've got some background lighting at all times when dark (for example streetlights where I live shut down 1am to 4am) or you're happy with the integrated white lights being on or get one that also has IR illumination. Also colour night cameras often only have sharp focus from 3 or 4 metres away (and worse on narrower angle lenses) from the camera which can be important for some areas.

I'm quite impressed with the colour & spotlight

 

[Simon42]

I'm quite impressed with the colour & spotlight

Yes it can be very good, but moving images can suffer due to low shutter speed. For example Hikvision ColorVu default to 1/12 second whereas similar IR cameras (I do have two ColourVu cameras for test) default to 1/25 and I use them at 1/50 or faster at night even with their built in IR. ANPR is also a tricky one where colour is good at night, low shutter speed IR is bad (white out) but higher speed shutter on IR is also good and works in zero visible light.

I have a lot of cameras outside (double figures) so I don't want all the white spotlights although I do have 4 standalone IR lights to boost the IR camera pictures and illuminate areas that natural/street light never could. It's all a compromise and every location is different but my point was very high resolution and colour 24x7 is often over hyped compared to other important features.

 

[RetiredGreyFox]

I have a lot of cameras outside (double figures)

Wow

Have you worked out how much each camera connected to a mains is costing you?

 

[UberTiger]

Have you worked out how much each camera connected to a mains is costing you?

I checked this on my system a while back and posted this:

I just checked the PoE status for my switch and all the active ports are only drawing about 3-5W each and they all record 24/7 in 4k at max bitrate. Each standard POE port has a max draw of 15W, which should run most PoE cams. Some of the bigger PTZs need 30-60W.

Even with the built in LED at 100%, power draw only went up to 6W.

According to my UPS, the Blue Iris PC itself is pulling about 70W

 

[RetiredGreyFox]

According to my UPS, the Blue Iris PC itself is pulling about 70W

Sorry to be a bit thick but what is that in money terms per year for that one camera?

 

[UberTiger]

Depends what your cost per kWh is.

I have 9 cameras at the moment, so draw is approx 70 + (9x5) = 115W power draw.

Using a rate of 34p per kWh which seems to be a " UK: Price Guarantee (October 2022)", that works out at 94p per day.

Electricity Cost Calculator

Use our simple energy calculator to see the running costs of any electrical items using a range of electricity tariffs

www.sust-it.net

 

[RetiredGreyFox]

Depends what your cost per kWh is.

I have 9 cameras at the moment, so draw is approx 70 + (9x5) = 115W power draw.

Using a rate of 34p per kWh which seems to be a " UK: Price Guarantee (October 2022)", that works out at 94p per day.

Electricity Cost Calculator

Use our simple energy calculator to see the running costs of any electrical items using a range of electricity tariffs

www.sust-it.net

Thanks for that

 

[Simon42]

Wow

Have you worked out how much each camera connected to a mains is costing you?

Yes ands it's not too bad in the grand scheme of things - see my posts in the background energy usage thread.

I used to work in security/CCTV so like my security kit and its not even doubling my usual network and servers power usage (I work in software dev these days) so I can live with that. My 99.9% idle shredder was using almost the power of two good CCTV cameras which was a surprise!

 

[steinooo]

@WJA96 do the dahua IP cameras like tioc allow power Injectors if you've not got a Poe switch?

 

[UberTiger]

Most have a separate 12V Power cable if necessary.

See this vid of a tioc:

Dahua 4K Camera Original IPC-HDW3849H-AS-PV 8MP Full-color Active Deterrence WizSense Item Display

This video shows IPC-HDW3849H-AS-PV, which supports sound and light alarm, very useful in monitoring, recommend!Welcome to our store: https://www.aliexpress....

www.youtube.com

Same with most of the Hik ones too.

 

[steinooo]

Most have a separate 12V Power cable if necessary.

See this vid of a tioc:

Dahua 4K Camera Original IPC-HDW3849H-AS-PV 8MP Full-color Active Deterrence WizSense Item Display

This video shows IPC-HDW3849H-AS-PV, which supports sound and light alarm, very useful in monitoring, recommend!Welcome to our store: https://www.aliexpress....

www.youtube.com

Same with most of the Hik ones too.

Thanks for that. I saw on the video that there's a barrell connector for a 12V input and that's what I'm not a fan of. I wondered if I could inject power into just the cable that's running to the camera from inside the property, using a Poe Injector

 

[UberTiger]

Oh right, of course. Yeah, pretty sure you could use an injector on any POE cams if you don’t have a Poe switch.

 

[Deleted User 298457]

Thanks for that. I saw on the video that there's a barrell connector for a 12V input and that's what I'm not a fan of. I wondered if I could inject power into just the cable that's running to the camera from inside the property, using a Poe Injector

That's exactly what I've been doing in my mums attic for a decade or so now:

Edit: injectors top left.

 

[ChrisD.]

@dLockers no problem running that desktop over summer with the heat?

 

[Deleted User 298457]

@dLockers no problem running that desktop over summer with the heat?

Made a thread here:

Retiring my ESXi Whitebox + Home Server + ZFS

Cross-post from Home & Garden as this was as much of a man-job as a techy job. Lesson learned for you all: KEEP IT SIMPLE. This device was a pet project in learning ZFS and quickly became mission critical. When I moved out, my mum relied on internet and fortunately whilst PfSense was rock...

forums.overclockers.co.uk

That bad boy ran faultless for 10 years, although it was decent quality hardware (Xeon 1230v3 IIRC and an Intel Motherboard). I only swapped it out because it was getting treacherously old and too complex for me to fix as I forgot all of the implementation details lol. It's now a tiny Dell OptiPlex which has managed this year so far so good.

Edit: It's worth noting one of my oddest (but key requirements) was to get that whole thing running on a single plug. So all of the Netgear switches run on molex adaptors from the PSU as well.

 

[WJA96]

@WJA96 do the dahua IP cameras like tioc allow power Injectors if you've not got a Poe switch?

Yes, as has been Mentioned by others there are several power options from 12 to 54V.

 

[steinooo]

That's exactly what I've been doing in my mums attic for a decade or so now:

Edit: injectors top left.

See I am torn as to whether to just go for Poe Injectors like that Vs a proper switch. I guess they're about £10-15 and stick with a standard non Poe switch, as I've only got one camera required (at the moment) and that'll keep energy usage down rather than having a Poe switch 24/7 powering just one cam . HOWEVER I do need a new switch as I've not enough ports as it is.

 

[WJA96]

Bear in mind that the cameras will only be 10/100Mbps so you can get away with a cheap PoE switch. Much cheaper than several PoE injectors.

 

[Deleted User 298457]

See I am torn as to whether to just go for Poe Injectors like that Vs a proper switch. I guess they're about £10-15 and stick with a standard non Poe switch, as I've only got one camera required (at the moment) and that'll keep energy usage down rather than having a Poe switch 24/7 powering just one cam . HOWEVER I do need a new switch as I've not enough ports as it is.

I'd go a switch if I did it again. I grew the system organically from bits I had lying around - I had pinched a couple of D Link PoE adaptors that failed so acquired those 3 over a fair while.

I see TP Link do a £26 5 porter which should be fine.