Spec me a CCTV System
- Thread starter Sirrel Squirrel
- Start date
Soldato
I hope I have - It's an awfully hard question and really helps to be there, I spent hundreds of pounds before I got the right balance and I make the odd mistake here and there where narrower would have helped. Worst case, buy a 4mm and if it's not quite enough buy a 6mm and put the 4mm elsewhere - they all have the same mounting holes.
Soldato
Any recommendations for 4 x 1080p Outdoor Cameras with basic night vision with DVR (or can get micros-server type thing if works out cheaper). PoE preferably. Open to using DVR software or alternate software hosted on a server. Just want something thats easy to use and doesn't always crash and is also secure. Also the software/web interface must work on devices other than the typical CCTV crap that requires legacy Internet explorer Plugins.
Soldato
FYI even the Synology requires IE (it used NPAPI), though it also has a mobile app and so on.
Associate
I've just recently bought 3 of the DS-1260ZJ that I'll be using to mount some bullet cameras using a PoE Hikvision recorder. One of the bullets has a cable entry point directly behind the mount, so using the rear entry hole.
The other 2x bullet cameras however are going to be mounted up really high at awkward locations, so was planning on utilising a side entry. I can see there is 2 metal opening sections, however I'm unsure what threads this is suitable to be used with to make a waterproof connection in feeding the Cat5 cable in? Can anyone shed some light on what I need to be using to feed the wire in via these side entry points.
The other 2x bullet cameras however are going to be mounted up really high at awkward locations, so was planning on utilising a side entry. I can see there is 2 metal opening sections, however I'm unsure what threads this is suitable to be used with to make a waterproof connection in feeding the Cat5 cable in? Can anyone shed some light on what I need to be using to feed the wire in via these side entry points.
Any reason why your mounting them up high?
If your looking to identify anyone then up high probably isnt the best place to mount them. If its just to see the tops of heads or if anyone is on the premises then it'll probably be ok.
Associate
@mattyg I was mounting one at the front of the house. Top left just under the soffit to point down towards the front door / driveway. One covering the full side of the house, and then one central at the rear of the property to cover the full span of the garden.
Up high wont be useful for identifying IF you do get broken into. It'll cover a larger area.
Have a good look on Youtube for poorly positioned cctv and youll see what I mean. A birds eye view is great at showing someone on your property but rubbish at helping identify who that person is.
When I set my 1st cctv up we managed to direct foot traffic up our garden path on paving stones by using noisy gravel everywhere else. That way you can set up CCTV really well to catch faces.
Associate
Thanks for the advice @mattyg looking on YouTube now for some ideas. Ive got the plasterers in later in the week, so i've got a few days to get my cabling to the right place and make things messy before it all gets hidden and smoothed over!
What about mounting a dome camera upside down inside the door canopy / porch framing? Effectively going to get a spot on picture if they're trying to enter via the front door
What about mounting a dome camera upside down inside the door canopy / porch framing? Effectively going to get a spot on picture if they're trying to enter via the front door
Not sure what your house looks like but the porch is a good idea. Especially if you can angle the camera to also get the drive way etc. That way you may be able to get an image of them walking up the drive.
Ideally you wan them overlapping. But that can get expensive. The bonus with modern high MP cameras is that you need less than analogue to cover the same are as you can zoom in after the fact and still have good images. (to a point, its not CSI Miami)
I spent some time setting mine up and it still isn't optimum. Admittedly I only have 4 cameras and I should have 8 due to the size of the plot.
Soldato
Any advice on the focal length for another Hikvision dome to cover the back garden?
The house is about 30ft wide, covering a patio door, kitchen window and then back door in succession. The garden is 100ft long but think I need wide more than far to cover the three entry points. I guess the actual answer is probably two cameras!
The house is about 30ft wide, covering a patio door, kitchen window and then back door in succession. The garden is 100ft long but think I need wide more than far to cover the three entry points. I guess the actual answer is probably two cameras!
Do you NEED it to cover the whole garden?
I know its nice to have full coverage, But if someone is going to break into your house from the garden then they are going to walk towards the house and potentially into a zone for a better image.
One of the best things you can do is get a couple of cameras and do a decent risk assessment of your plot. Then dry fit the cameras and have a good nosey around your property as if your looking for entry points or looking for tools to help you break in. Then review the footage and see what you missed. That will also tell you if you have a cat in hells chance of identifying someone.
CCTV isn't the total answer its just a tool which can help.
If set up with alerts its better..But a £1million CCTV can be beaten with a £2 balaclava.
In my opinion the below link is poor location and wont give you what you want
https://www.facebook.com/MbmInstallations/posts/1345385325525832
But this one is much better
https://www.facebook.com/CCTVESSEX/posts/976161975853309
Soldato
Good question. The problem we have is that to the left of the garden another garden over is an alleyway, so I'd like to cover anyone coming over the fence and down the garden and to the right is my own fence which is an entry point as we have a shared driveway so you can walk down the side of the house from the street. The end of the garden in theory should be okay, as it's a 25ft drop to the train tracks!
Here's my quality paint rendition:
My thoughts were either one camera above the kitchen window but that would lose the extremities, or one on each corner of the house at an angle, covering each other.
Soldato
I've got 7 Hikvision mini bullets and a Hikvision DS-7608. Everything is fine locally and when away I can view with iVMS-4500. It used to work flawlessly, with all cameras showing at once in multi view - but since the last couple of updates to the app and the move to Hikconnect it no longer likes to show more than about 3 or 4 at once. Anyone got any ideas why this might be?
Soldato
Cheers, makes sense. Will start with one bullet and then work from there! If I had the money and the Synology licenses, I would go nuts
Cheers, makes sense. Will start with one bullet and then work from there! If I had the money and the Synology licenses, I would go nuts
I know what you mean about going nuts. My POE+ switch will take another 3 cameras so its just begging for it..
Go dome's if you can. Bullets can be knocked off course with a broom.
These if you can.
With the appropriate lens. The one below is a 4mm
Edit to remove link just in case
Hikvision DS-2CD2342WD-I
Soldato
That's in fact what I have on the front drive. Wanted to try a bullet as I think the angle wouldn't work with the dome, even with the tilted junction box they do, but get your point that they can be moved. Think the follow up camera on the other side will be a dome.
Commissario
I've just had what is possibly the first "success" with our system (unfortunately due health issues in the family only one camera was fitted and running), one of the neighbours had his car broken into and it's on camera.
After about 2 hours watching video from the night in question (a cobweb in the corner of the image was triggering the motion activation so it basically recorded all night), I've got a lovely clip of 5 thieves in stereotypical outfits around his car and going to look at another neighbours car.
And by stereotypical I mean hoodies, bomber jackets, scarves, and gloves, when it was about 20c outside.
The image quality isn't great for recognising faces given the distance (20-30 meters at night), but the clothing is identifiable as are some facial features.
I'll be popping round to the neighbour tomorrow and probably calling the non emergency police number as it looks like a practiced gang, so I doubt his was the only car done.
After about 2 hours watching video from the night in question (a cobweb in the corner of the image was triggering the motion activation so it basically recorded all night), I've got a lovely clip of 5 thieves in stereotypical outfits around his car and going to look at another neighbours car.
And by stereotypical I mean hoodies, bomber jackets, scarves, and gloves, when it was about 20c outside.
The image quality isn't great for recognising faces given the distance (20-30 meters at night), but the clothing is identifiable as are some facial features.
I'll be popping round to the neighbour tomorrow and probably calling the non emergency police number as it looks like a practiced gang, so I doubt his was the only car done.