Home CCTV system

cymruchris

fenwick458 said:

I recently bought 3 x  Hikvision ds-2cd2347g2-lu colorvu cameras for £125 each (they can see in the dark, unbelievable tech) and a 4TB NVR for £220. total was around £650 inc a few Ethernet cables & memory cards
from CCTVdirectonline.co.uk

They are good I agree - they can see in the near dark - but not quite in total darkness - they still need an ounce of light to get a picture (whether that's from a street light or an LED floodlight) - the downside though is the shutter speed is slowed right down to keep the pictures in colour - which is very good for still subjects - so just viewing the street outside looks amazing in the dark - but fast moving things - like someone running through your garden - can have blurred features if your light levels are too low, so I only recommend the colorvu cameras where there's at least an ounce of streetlight.

fenwick458

cymruchris said:

fenwick458 said:

I recently bought 3 x  Hikvision ds-2cd2347g2-lu colorvu cameras for £125 each (they can see in the dark, unbelievable tech) and a 4TB NVR for £220. total was around £650 inc a few Ethernet cables & memory cards
from CCTVdirectonline.co.uk

They are good I agree - they can see in the near dark - but not quite in total darkness - they still need an ounce of light to get a picture (whether that's from a street light or an LED floodlight) - the downside though is the shutter speed is slowed right down to keep the pictures in colour - which is very good for still subjects - so just viewing the street outside looks amazing in the dark - but fast moving things - like someone running through your garden - can have blurred features if your light levels are too low, so I only recommend the colorvu cameras where there's at least an ounce of streetlight.

they have a built in white light on the cameras, that comes on if it needs it. all of mine seem to get enough light from the streetlights, my house, or neighbours houses so are never needed.
I know moving objects aren't as clear as in daylight, but it's pretty impressive for the dark. I have shown people clips of "intruders" and they often say "pfft, your cameras aren't very clear, how come the image is a bit blurry" and I say, "look at the timestamp, it's 9PM in middle of winter and it was dark!" they just assume because it's in full colour and quite light in the picture, that it must be shot just as the sun is starting to go down

Grumpy_chap

cymruchris said:

will you stick at 4 cameras - or do you think you’ll ever want to add more? Or even add cameras internally ? 

Is it common to have internal cameras on a domestic CCTV system?  Even 4 camera seems a lot.  I would have thought most domestic system just have one camera external to cover entrance-points at front and the same again at the rear?

Chickereeeee

One thing to watch out for: I have found the built-in infrared lights next to useless. They work OK to start with, but then spiders get to work. They put webs over the lens, that are invisible in daylight, but show up when lit by the IR lamps. ANY movement due to wind triggers the motion detect. I have found nothing that  deters the spiders.
The solution is to have a separate off-axis IR illuminator, and turn off the built-in one. No more Web problems.

cymruchris

Grumpy_chap said:

cymruchris said:

will you stick at 4 cameras - or do you think you’ll ever want to add more? Or even add cameras internally ? 

Is it common to have internal cameras on a domestic CCTV system?  Even 4 camera seems a lot.  I would have thought most domestic system just have one camera external to cover entrance-points at front and the same again at the rear?

Yes - for a multitude of reasons - to keep an eye on vulnerable/elderly relatives is a common one when you're away from home. Usually they are put in communal areas - not in bedrooms and bathrooms! 

cymruchris

Chickereeeee said:

One thing to watch out for: I have found the built-in infrared lights next to useless. They work OK to start with, but then spiders get to work. They put webs over the lens, that are invisible in daylight, but show up when lit by the IR lamps. ANY movement due to wind triggers the motion detect. I have found nothing that  deters the spiders.
The solution is to have a separate off-axis IR illuminator, and turn off the built-in one. No more Web problems.

It can be a challenge with spiders - so camera mounting locations have to be carefully considered. Separate infra-red beams are usually much better as you say - but always depends on budget. Different housings do seem to have a different impact on whether a spider is interested. I have around 16 cameras here at home, and it's only one that really attracts spiders attention regularly - but it's in a position where I can get the broom out and wipe them away. There are also various sprays that can help deter spiders if they become a serious issue. 

cymruchris

fenwick458 said:

cymruchris said:

fenwick458 said:

I recently bought 3 x  Hikvision ds-2cd2347g2-lu colorvu cameras for £125 each (they can see in the dark, unbelievable tech) and a 4TB NVR for £220. total was around £650 inc a few Ethernet cables & memory cards
from CCTVdirectonline.co.uk

They are good I agree - they can see in the near dark - but not quite in total darkness - they still need an ounce of light to get a picture (whether that's from a street light or an LED floodlight) - the downside though is the shutter speed is slowed right down to keep the pictures in colour - which is very good for still subjects - so just viewing the street outside looks amazing in the dark - but fast moving things - like someone running through your garden - can have blurred features if your light levels are too low, so I only recommend the colorvu cameras where there's at least an ounce of streetlight.

they have a built in white light on the cameras, that comes on if it needs it. all of mine seem to get enough light from the streetlights, my house, or neighbours houses so are never needed.
I know moving objects aren't as clear as in daylight, but it's pretty impressive for the dark. I have shown people clips of "intruders" and they often say "pfft, your cameras aren't very clear, how come the image is a bit blurry" and I say, "look at the timestamp, it's 9PM in middle of winter and it was dark!" they just assume because it's in full colour and quite light in the picture, that it must be shot just as the sun is starting to go down

Absolutely spot on - with a bit of street lighting they're very good - but as with all cameras - it's important to pick the right one for each individual location to get best results

iampetesmith

I bought all mine separately from Amazon, the reason being we had old analogue cameras left here when we moved in and the box needed replacing, so I bought a Sansco box and used the old cameras for a bit. They were really poor quality though, but the Sansco box is also compatible with network cameras and goes up to 1080p so I replaced the old cameras with a couple of Ankke ones which were £55 each. The quality on these is much better and really sharp, plus they're POE.

This is where a bit of technical knowledge is needed though. I've put network cable all through the house and this goes into a cabinet and switch under the stairs. This means I've plugged the POE adapter needed to power the cameras in there and made the network sockets on the wall live. Most people won't have this setup, so for this to work without the house being cabled you'd need to do the following:

• Cable from each camera to a central point where you can connect them to a 4-way POE adapter (ideally near the router)
• A small 5 port switch that goes into the router and then the other 4 ports go to the POE adapter
• Get a reel of Cat 6 network cable, some RJ45 plugs and crimping tools so that you can cut the cable to length

Mine is like this because the Sansco box only has a single network port, some boxes might have separate network ports that also supply POE which would eliminate the need for a switch and POE adapter as the cameras can go straight into the box. You'd still be better off cutting the cable to length though to make it tidy, but if you look on Amazon for the Ankke POE cameras they were £55 each when I bought them last month and they're really good. Then it's just a case of picking a DVR box to suit your needs. 

Neil_Jones

Chickereeeee said:

One thing to watch out for: I have found the built-in infrared lights next to useless. They work OK to start with, but then spiders get to work. They put webs over the lens, that are invisible in daylight, but show up when lit by the IR lamps. ANY movement due to wind triggers the motion detect. I have found nothing that  deters the spiders.
The solution is to have a separate off-axis IR illuminator, and turn off the built-in one. No more Web problems.

Its not the infra-red that attracts the spiders, its the potential insects that the infra-red attracts.  Spiders aren't stupid (those that spin webs are apparently blind, but they're not stupid), they're attracted to areas where they can find food.  Bugs are attracted to infra-red, so any spider with any common sense knows that this is an ideal spot to spin a web.  The fact your cameras happen to be in the way is not their problem.  But yes, move the infra-red source away from the camera and the problem takes care of itself.

330d

One further questions, where is the best location for the DVR box?

I assume it's best to hide the box rather than have it on show like in the study?