Spec me a CCTV System

Twirlywoos · 25 Sep 2015 at 13:46

Mark M said:
Are there any legal requirements to adhere to with having CCTV on the premises such as stickers in windows etc?

https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public/cctv/

optional for residential, if you think it will be a deterrent then do it.

consider whether you can put up signs clearly explaining that recording is taking place and take steps to do so if it is practical;

Edit - Thieves don't give a **** about stickers. If they are going to target your place then they will know if you have CCTV installed or not. Just make sure that your recorder is locked away and if possible record stuff to the Cloud too.

nutcase · 25 Sep 2015 at 14:11

Vimes said:
As I have never bothered about internal cameras, preferring instead to harden the perimeter and, in the case of our garage, I just have a movement detector connected to our house alarm fitted, I couldn't recommend such a camera, apart from the obvious 2.8mm lens.

What you might consider is to not bother having the IR on the camera at all and use instead a couple of these....

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/400631830746

....with a 12v supply to completely light up the garage and even though they will emit a red light the camera will still be hidden from obvious view.

I may add seperate illumination later. I already have sensors for the alarm in the garage, but want to get images of anyone who decides to break in anyway.

£15 · 25 Sep 2015 at 18:45

Anyone got any experience of the new 4MP Hikvisions? (DS-2CD2142FWD-I(S) Hikvision 4MP WDR Fixed Dome Network Camera with Color Box)

I was thinking of trying one out and liked the look of the 4MP, 2.8mm, & 3-axis adjustment.

£15 · 25 Sep 2015 at 18:55

zoomee said:
Just ordered a new DS415+ synology NAS as I'm upgrading from normal CCTV (coax) to an IP based system.

Anyone any experience with Synology Surveillance station? - Does it impact much on the NAS's performance when using IP cameras?

Just FYI if anyone is looking to do the same - Synology NAS's only come with 1 camera license - in order to use more than one camera you need to purchase additional licenses (about £40 each license)

I use a 412+ and it doesn't appear to reduce performance. However, I use Crashplan and that does, so it could be masking any effect due to the CCTV.

I've just got the 415+ for my dad (grabbed a bargain via bespoke/TCB) and his runs a lot better in all areas. It's a higher spec and he refused to do a swap!

So I'd think you'd be fine.

By the way, SS comes with 2 licences now. Although you're right, they do cost ~£40 each and I needed to buy one (I have 3 cameras).

Zico · 26 Sep 2015 at 15:41

Anybody kind enough to suggest a kit/combo of cameras (IP) and NVR to cover the below setup.
The smaller red area in the bottom right is inside our garage.

Tinders · 27 Sep 2015 at 08:33

Any body Using Raspberry Pi as CCTv cams? http://www.averagemanvsraspberrypi.com/2014/09/turn-raspberry-pi-into-cctv-security.html

Bigpops · 27 Sep 2015 at 09:54

v0n said:
What licenses?

Because IP cameras have no physical connection limit, your recorder (either hardware NVR or PC software) will have a software set limit to how many cameras you can record.

Avigilon call these licenses, so that's what I call them. If you try to add a camera to the system and it's "full" it says you don't have enough licenses.

You can usually buy more "licences" for what ever system you're using.

zoomee · 27 Sep 2015 at 14:03

BadMojo said:
I use a 412+ and it doesn't appear to reduce performance. However, I use Crashplan and that does, so it could be masking any effect due to the CCTV.

I've just got the 415+ for my dad (grabbed a bargain via bespoke/TCB) and his runs a lot better in all areas. It's a higher spec and he refused to do a swap! So I'd think you'd be fine.

By the way, SS comes with 2 licences now. Although you're right, they do cost ~£40 each and I needed to buy one (I have 3 cameras).

Thanks dude, with one Hikvision 2332 camera set to 1920x1080@25fps I hardly see any extra hit on load of the 415+ NAS. Its great.

I have a problem though and think it's surveillance station related - camera keeps dropping intermittently for like 30secs to a minute. Its not often but enough to irritate especially when notifications is enabled!

see here for more info: http://forum.synology.com/enu/viewtopic.php?f=82&t=90172&start=45

Trying to get this resolved before I add any more, it seems to be a recent update to SS that's causing the problem so I've logged a ticket with synology.

Tell you what though - IP cameras rock! - Much better quality than them cruddy analogue ones!

welshdragon · 1 Oct 2015 at 08:11

Hi Guys,

I'm hoping someone can help.

As part of a recent re-wire I had four runs of cat6 cable laid for cctv. Four pairs. I also had every single room wired up and this all feeds to a 24 port switch connected to a Virgin superhub.

A friend supplied me a 4 channel QVIS iApollo system and four qvis dome camera's. These are not poe but rather he used one cable for the feed and one for power.

The system works decently in the house but I am pulling my hair out trying to setup remote access via the app. My friend suggested I setup a dyndns acc which I have done. I have pointed my dvr at the dyndns settings. I have also opened several ports on the router.

However no dice. I am using the virgin superhub 2 that doesn't appear to appear to allow me to modify dns in anyway.

Any help greatly appreciated. Alternatively if the iapollo is rubbish is there something decent and reasonably priced I could replace it with?

I'd like remote access and ease of use to save footage or take screenshots etc

welshdragon · 1 Oct 2015 at 11:05

Further to my last post I think I'll just get a new dvr thats simple to set up and use with a good app. Any recommendations? Is the QVIS Orpheus Pro any good at £69.99

One More Solo · 3 Oct 2015 at 15:32

What's the best way to work out positioning of cameras to ensure you're capturing the right area? Is there a shortcut or do I need to wire the lot up and see what I'm recording before I get the drill out?

Vimes · 3 Oct 2015 at 17:04

^^^^^ Surely you can do that by standing in a position you feel is appropriate for a cameras position and take it from there.? The only issue for me was the size of the lens.
I also ensured that the cameras cover from both ways of a traffic or walk zone. That also provides security for each camera as they are being seen by another camera, if that makes sense.

One More Solo · 9 Oct 2015 at 10:06

My Samsung NVR won't boot. Any ideas before I send it back? I've tried with/without hard drive (which is a compatible model, I checked). It just turns on, beeps and shows the Samsung logo then the screen goes blank and it beeps again. I never get to the initializing screen either way.

wilber · 9 Oct 2015 at 12:56

Are there any issues with running cameras over a wifi bridge?

Mark M · 12 Oct 2015 at 09:23

I need to sit down with the manual and have a proper read through but can anyone tell me whether or not on a Hikvision NVR you can choose to only record certain cameras?

Or can each camera be set to record 24/7 or on motion or do all the cameras needs to be set to the same?

Thebug · 12 Oct 2015 at 09:30

Yes you can. Think its in the recording schedule.

Yaayuh! · 12 Oct 2015 at 09:43

I have got an analogue system, seem adequate for our house. The reason i chose analogue over an IP system is that the cabling was done for a previous system. I would have to seriously wreck up the place to install an IP system.

It cost us £250 for 4 cameras and a 1TB recorder (Swann system), will certainly tie us over until i plan for an IP system.

Vimes · 12 Oct 2015 at 10:00

Mark M said:
I need to sit down with the manual and have a proper read through but can anyone tell me whether or not on a Hikvision NVR you can choose to only record certain cameras?

Or can each camera be set to record 24/7 or on motion or do all the cameras needs to be set to the same?

You can change each cameras bitrate, exposure time, resolution and recording schedule etc independent of other cameras attached to the NVR. Providing that the overall bitrate isn't beyond the NVR's capacity to record you are fine.
Mine are set to 24/7 record with motion / event tagging. That way you get context to the captured recordings.

Rossi~ said:
I have got an analogue system, seem adequate for our house. The reason i chose analogue over an IP system is that the cabling was done for a previous system. I would have to seriously wreck up the place to install an IP system.

It cost us £250 for 4 cameras and a 1TB recorder (Swann system), will certainly tie us over until i plan for an IP system.

When I had my EXIR type analogue system I wired it in with Ethernet so having changed over to IP cameras the wiring needed little alteration. Having to rewire it all afresh though is a pain.
I have not known anyone to describe a SWANN system as being adequate, although it might act as a visible deterrent. Seeing recorded material from a SWANN CCTV has often dismayed me, understanding that if you do have unwanted visitors they usually come in the early hours or less than ideal conditions to capture the best images.

Yaayuh! · 12 Oct 2015 at 10:39

Recordings on the Swann unit look pretty good, well, for what it is. Should i expect better than live on the recordings or somesuch then? Please excuse my ignorance, this is my first look into CCTV.

What's the best solution for an IP system for the following requirements:

£500 budget, max, would prefer closer to £400
1TB NVR with remote streaming and notifications. Support for 4 cameras.
At least 2 Cameras (prefer the look of bullet type) including cables.
1080p resolution @ 24fps+

Vimes · 12 Oct 2015 at 11:39

^^^^ Why don't you post some grabs from the Swann which look pretty good

For me the BEST (which would be much better than the Swann analogue cameras) EXIR analogue cameras I bought would give me this....

FULL Size....

image uploader

Whilst an IP camera would offer this FULL size....

so you can appreciate the differences. Number plate recognition becomes possible and facial recognition etc is enhanced.

The images and recording have the best chance of becoming useful to the police and courts if needed. When I had my good quality analogue cameras I had difficulty in providing useful material to the police when requested due to the limitations in the resolution and quality compared to IP.

I prefer EXIR type turret cameras over bullet type as a generalisation, safer (relatively) and less prone to damage.

Read through this thread, saves repeating, as there are many posts about what people have bought, from Aliexpress typically, and which Hikvision cameras and NVR's etc they have used.

I have six IP cameras and 24/7 recording on a total of two WD Purple surveillance type HD's of 6 and 4 TB in size. I have them "mark" the timeline with tags for motion detection but the recordings are continuous and will loop from one HD to another.

24FPS is not really necessary, imo. For my rear cameras I use 15th sec exposure with a 15 FPS recoding and the front / side at 30th sec with 20 FPS. Along with bitrate it all adds up to the maximum that the chosen NVR can support.