Spec me a CCTV System

dmsims said:
The 3MP camera are much much better

and there are 4MP ones now as well
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OK, it's going to cost me an extra £110 for the 3MP cameras so in the scheme of things that's probably a good upgrade.
How do I now calculate the hard drive capacity of the NVR that I would need?
 
EXIR all the way and, as noted, there are indeed 4mp variants now - with the early adopters claiming superior night / low light recording over the 3mp type.

I would not go lower than the 3mp type (EXIR) and ensure that your recording set-up can manage the bandwidth needed and record in real time at the bit and frame rate needed, as well as enough storage - I have two WD purple HD's fitted giving my 7TB of storage.

Aliexpress is worthy of consideration (with caution), just be wary to ensure that the firmware has full English menus etc and do not try to upgrade it once the camera has arrived. You should look to around £70 or so (less) for a 3MP EXIR camera - dome type I prefer.
 
Vimes said:
EXIR all the way and, as noted, there are indeed 4mp variants now - with the early adopters claiming superior night / low light recording over the 3mp type.

I would not go lower than the 3mp type (EXIR) and ensure that your recording set-up can manage the bandwidth needed and record in real time at the bit and frame rate needed, as well as enough storage - I have two WD purple HD's fitted giving my 7TB of storage.

Aliexpress is worthy of consideration (with caution), just be wary to ensure that the firmware has full English menus etc and do not try to upgrade it once the camera has arrived. You should look to around £70 or so (less) for a 3MP EXIR camera - dome type I prefer.
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Certainly is a lot cheaper on Aliexpress!
Have you had problems with Aliexpress then?

dmsims said:
Hard drive space: http://www.hikvision.com/Europe/download_more.asp?id=835

as Vimes says Aliexpress offer great value - just do a bit of research first
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Thanks for the link.
 
No problems at all with Aliexpress but considerations need to be given about importing and support etc if those points are important to you. Also ensure that the dealer you are buying from uses the latest firmware and that all the menus are in English, including the days of the week.

I would not order more than two cameras at a time, customs and duty might be an problem if you did.
 
Vimes said:
No problems at all with Aliexpress but considerations need to be given about importing and support etc if those points are important to you. Also ensure that the dealer you are buying from uses the latest firmware and that all the menus are in English, including the days of the week.

I would not order more than two cameras at a time, customs and duty might be an problem if you did.
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Thanks, good advice.
 
What happens if someone breaks into your house and steals the NVR? Can they backup to offsite anywhere?

Or is it just a case of trying to put them somewhere really unaccessible like the loft?
 
For me it is about hardening the perimeter and deterring the opportunist. The CCTV is one of several ways of possibly doing that.
Putting the NVR somewhere inaccessible and then enclose it within a lock box bolted to the floor just slows them down a little more of you do get broken into.
 
Does anyone have a trick to prevent spiders ruining the night pictures? Seems they LOVE the IR, and most of the motion shots I get at night is from a spider faffing around out of focus in front of the lens :-)

I tried coating the front of the camera frame in silicon, but no luck..
 
Im looking at one of the Hikivision NVRs and was wondering if someone could help me with the following please.

1. The 8 channel states it has a max incoming bandwidth of 50mbps (upgradable to 100mb) but what does this actually mean? How much bandwidth do the cameras create??

2. Can an external POE switch be used and then one cable fed back to the NVR from the switch? My thoughts are to put the NVR in the loft (very inaccesable) and the switch in the garage which would act as the hub for all of the cabling which would allow pretty easy to where the cameras need to be.

3. How can I calculate how much storage space I need?

4. Ive seen mention of setting it up to only record when it detects motion? Is this the best option and how accurate is it at picking up motion? Is there a risk that someone could have ran past the camera before it started recording?

5.Just thinking out loud and further to no.2 - is it safe to put the NVR in the loft? Would it get too hot?

Thanks for any help.
 
hi all i am looking to buy my first cctv system that records in HD quality during the day and night and is motion sensored and can record into my Linux PC at home.

my budget is £300 for two HD cctv cameras' one at the front and the other at the back
 
Mark M said:
Im looking at one of the Hikivision NVRs and was wondering if someone could help me with the following please.

1. The 8 channel states it has a max incoming bandwidth of 50mbps (upgradable to 100mb) but what does this actually mean? How much bandwidth do the cameras create??

2. Can an external POE switch be used and then one cable fed back to the NVR from the switch? My thoughts are to put the NVR in the loft (very inaccesable) and the switch in the garage which would act as the hub for all of the cabling which would allow pretty easy to where the cameras need to be.

3. How can I calculate how much storage space I need?

4. Ive seen mention of setting it up to only record when it detects motion? Is this the best option and how accurate is it at picking up motion? Is there a risk that someone could have ran past the camera before it started recording?

5.Just thinking out loud and further to no.2 - is it safe to put the NVR in the loft? Would it get too hot?

Thanks for any help.
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1. This is the bandwidth that I use. You can see how it is made up....



Frame rate
Resolution
Bit rate

The three factors above will add up for each camera to give you the MB/s used and that will need to be less than the NVR can process as a maximum. Allow for expansion if possible or changes in your settings as needed.

2. Even though my NVR has POE ports (4) I preferred to use a Netgear POE switch and connect all of my cameras to that and then that to the NVR. That way the attached devices to the POE Switch are also available directly through my home network and not just via the NVR. Also, for me, I can remotely turn power on and off etc via the Netgear switch web interface for each camera if and as needed, for a reboot or working on the cable etc.

3 Posted by dmsims

4. No. Motion detection "marking" is useful to tag an event to a timeline but not solely for recording motion only. When it rains, and insects etc at night, you will have a zillion fragmented recordings. Also any intrusion event would need "context" around it.

5. Yeah it gets hot but I use a lockbox with two fans fitted bolted to the floor joists in the loft. Seems to keep it cool.




BusError said:
@Vimes, thanks! Ordered :-)
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You are welcome :)
 
Vimes said:
1. This is the bandwidth that I use. You can see how it is made up....



Frame rate
Resolution
Bit rate

The three factors above will add up for each camera to give you the MB/s used and that will need to be less than the NVR can process as a maximum. Allow for expansion if possible or changes in your settings as needed.

2. Even though my NVR has POE ports (4) I preferred to use a Netgear POE switch and connect all of my cameras to that and then that to the NVR. That way the attached devices to the POE Switch are also available directly through my home network and not just via the NVR. Also, for me, I can remotely turn power on and off etc via the Netgear switch web interface for each camera if and as needed, for a reboot or working on the cable etc.

3 Posted by dmsims

4. No. Motion detection "marking" is useful to tag an event to a timeline but not solely for recording motion only. When it rains, and insects etc at night, you will have a zillion fragmented recordings. Also any intrusion event would need "context" around it.

5. Yeah it gets hot but I use a lockbox with two fans fitted bolted to the floor joists in the loft. Seems to keep it cool.
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THanks for the info.

1) What software are you using to get that information?

2) Noted

3) Will check out dmsins info

4) I dont quite follow, are you saying they should record 24/7 in case they miss something?

5) Will look into cooling thanks.

Finally, has anyone had any experince of Nite Devil cameras? A sparky I know said he has fitted a few and they have given great video feeds day and night?
 
Mark M said:
THanks for the info.

1) What software are you using to get that information?

2) Noted

3) Will check out dmsins info

4) I dont quite follow, are you saying they should record 24/7 in case they miss something?

5) Will look into cooling thanks.

Finally, has anyone had any experince of Nite Devil cameras? A sparky I know said he has fitted a few and they have given great video feeds day and night?
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You are welcome :)

1. Hikvision Tools...

http://www.hikvisioneurope.com/portal/index.php?dir=Software/00%20%20%20Software%20Tool%20Package/12%20%20%20Hikvision%20Tools%20Setup/

4. IMO yes. What does it matter, in the context that everything is then recorded - providing that you have the room for storage, which can be looped..? For me I search a time line(which I know will be filled 24/7) and can narrow that down by searching for motion / movement only. This will narrow down the results to show flagged events and find what I want from there.

When we caught a couple of scrotes trying to break into peoples houses and cars I did notice that some movements were not transverse to the camera and thus did not trigger a motion detection, if that makes sense....?

Also when the police used the video evidence to take them to court they wanted some before they turned up on the bottom of the road and a little after with a continuous time line of them doing what they did. Having 24/7 recording did that.

As I have two WD Purples fitted (7TB) I get close to 20 days or so recordings.

Not heard of Nite Devil cameras. I just kept the NVR and cameras to Hikvision for the best compatibility etc.

EDIT: A quick look at the specs and range does not impress me over that of what Hikvision offers.
 
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Mark M said:
THanks for the info.


Finally, has anyone had any experince of Nite Devil cameras? A sparky I know said he has fitted a few and they have given great video feeds day and night?
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Nite Devil is a brand sold by a company called SystemQ. They are only available as analogue or HD-SDI cams so I would avoid them and stick to IP cams.

I've used them in the past and the quality is no where near as good as the Hikvision IP cams.
 
Right I am taking the plunge but I need a couple of dome cameras and I think I would prefer the tamper proof ones as they arent that high up and they could possibly even pull the wheelie bins along to get at them.

Are the EXIR turret ones that much better? If they are they I could attempt to mount them a bit higher up potentially but I will definitely need one vandal proof dome as its going near the front door mainly for a deterrent to get a full facial shot of anyone coming to the property. The police said any day time burglaries they will always knock on your door and pretend to be a builder or something.
 
The EXIR turret type are so much better than the non EXIR type. I would not get a vanilla type again having replaced one just for the low light capabilities that the EXIR cameras offer.
Mine are not that high mounted and yet it would take effort to mask or damage them. One camera also looks at the other, offering some protection.

I would also take a look at the 4mp EXIR cameras. They give the impression of being even more capable than the 3mp type.
 
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