Spec me a CCTV System

steinooo said:
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.
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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.
 
Looking for advice after a failure today.

I bought a Lorex system from Costco around 3 years ago and it has worked great up until now. The NVR stopped working today and after some investigation it looks like a resistor near the fan header on the board has went pop. There are 7x 8MP 15fps cameras attached to it. My understanding is that the Lorex kit is rebranded Dahua. 6 of the 7 cameras have audio and ‘active deterrent‘ which is a small light and the ability to alarm. I don’t use the active deterrent feature but the audio recording ability has come in handy.

I have a couple of options.
1. Buy a new NVR.
2. Repurpose a spare PC as an NVR.

Option 1, buying a new NVR, I‘m guessing it would be best to go for a Dahua branded model that supports 8 channels at 4K. Are there any particular models which will or will not work better? Would a new NVR support all of the features on the cameras? From what I can see, the cost of this would be £150-300.

Option 2, I have a Dell Optiplex 3060 sitting here unused. It has an i5-8500, 8GB, 256Gb NVMe and I can add the WD Purple 2Tb from the Lorex NVR. Would this spec support the requirements? Would Blue Iris be the best software? Cost of software and an 8 port PoE switch would be about £180-ish.

Thanks.
 
I have a Dell Optiplex NVR at my mums house and my house. It is ok but sometimes I wish I had a plug and forget dedicated device. Unless you want to run a Plex server as well then go dedicated NVR IMHO.
 
dLockers said:
I have a Dell Optiplex NVR at my mums house and my house. It is ok but sometimes I wish I had a plug and forget dedicated device. Unless you want to run a Plex server as well then go dedicated NVR IMHO.
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Yeah being able to effectively forget about it is attractive. Power consumption is also a consideration. I guess a NVR would be significantly lower.
 
If you do decide to run the Optiplex Dahua DSS is a free download. Gave you contacted Lorex about a replacement recorder?
 
WJA96 said:
If you do decide to run the Optiplex Dahua DSS is a free download. Gave you contacted Lorex about a replacement recorder?
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I’ll look into that, thanks! I spoke to Lorex tech support today but had to cut it short and didn’t get as far as discussing replacement options. I doubt they’d entertain warranty or goodwill given it is over 3 years old. A Lorex branded NVR from their UK website is £279.99. I guess that’s an option but it does continue to restrict me to Lorex cameras whereas I may want to look at other brands when the time to upgrade comes around.
 
Scuzi said:
I’ll look into that, thanks! I spoke to Lorex tech support today but had to cut it short and didn’t get as far as discussing replacement options. I doubt they’d entertain warranty or goodwill given it is over 3 years old. A Lorex branded NVR from their UK website is £279.99. I guess that’s an option but it does continue to restrict me to Lorex cameras whereas I may want to look at other brands when the time to upgrade comes around.
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Have you spoken to some of the electronics nerds on here? I had a broken TV that someone idiot-proof explained what I needed and how I needed to do it.
 
Just noticed this in the documentation for Dahua DSS…

Minimum configuration
● CPU: Intel® Core(TM) I5- 9400 [email protected]
● RAM: 8 GB
● Network card: 1 × Ethernet port @ 1000Mbps
● Hard drive type: 7200RPM Enterprise Class HDD 1 TB
● DSS installation directory space: 200 GB


Not sure it’ll run smoothly on my Dell i5-8500.
 
dLockers said:
Have you spoken to some of the electronics nerds on here? I had a broken TV that someone idiot-proof explained what I needed and how I needed to do it.
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I have dabbled a bit with electronics in a previous life and my amateur eye tells me that it would be uneconomical to attempt a repair. It looks like someone has used the PCB to extinguish a Cohiba Robusto.

Is there any reason a Hikvision NVR wouldn't work with my cameras? Scouring eBay, Hikvision offerings seem to be a bit better value than the Dahua equivalent.
 
SexyGreyFox said:
About six posts above :)

This is the E1 Outdoor in Synology.
Be aware the Battery/solar panel cameras won't work in Synology.
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I like the look of the Reolink cameras (esp the price) but I don't see a useful way of mounting them vertically, on the wall above the front door. Am looking one that does POE, that I can fit flush to the wall, and a turret camera would be perfect, but it just doesn't seem to work with these reolinks.
 
redstar1 said:
I like the look of the Reolink cameras (esp the price) but I don't see a useful way of mounting them vertically, on the wall above the front door. Am looking one that does POE, that I can fit flush to the wall, and a turret camera would be perfect, but it just doesn't seem to work with these reolinks.
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Reolink also sell turrets. Just have a look on their website. They do a very wide range of surveillance options.
 
WJA96 said:
Reolink also sell turrets. Just have a look on their website. They do a very wide range of surveillance options.
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Yeah but loads of the turret ones, especially the smaller ones son't seem to be suited to vertical mounting. Saw the RLC-823A but it looks massive, and a little bit overbearing for where it would be located.
 
redstar1 said:
Yeah but loads of the turret ones, especially the smaller ones son't seem to be suited to vertical mounting. Saw the RLC-823A but it looks massive, and a little bit overbearing for where it would be located.
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They’re effectively a standard footprint. The screw holes differ in mounting position and number but 99.9% of all these cameras are on a roughly 120mm base size. The first week you put surveillance cameras in you think they’re massive but after a couple of weeks you barely notice them.
 
WJA96 said:
They’re effectively a standard footprint. The screw holes differ in mounting position and number but 99.9% of all these cameras are on a roughly 120mm base size. The first week you put surveillance cameras in you think they’re massive but after a couple of weeks you barely notice them.
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and not only that I haven't seen one person actually look up at it who has walked past while following them so it can't be that noticeable.
Actually tell a lie, the old bloke next door asked what I was doing when I was putting it up and twice I've got him just staring at it for a couple of minutes :)
 
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My two bargain Reolinks have turned up (approx 35ea using the Reolink seller on eBay).

Where are we going for boxes of CAT5/6? Is it still about 40 quid a box? :o
 
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