tommytuna

Hmm didn't think of it that way. Thanks again for helping to simplify!! If I did that, then how do I ensure the exterior motion sensor doesn't trip the siren on the main alarm panel. I.e. I only want to trip the sirens etc if they break in and don't disarm properly via keypad. If ECS Panel has a way of taking in the exterior motion sensor and then relaying to the camera without a hard alarm then your suggestion would be perfect. Again many thanks for your patience and advice!

Hi Folks, Appreciate some help on this before I order these cameras internationally (can't find in Canada). I'm pretty set on the Hikvision DS-2CD2532F-IS as it seems perfect for my application and the size is nice and small. I wanted to create a system to monitor a remote cottage (I have solid internet up there) so reducing false positive motion detection is key. My plan was to: - Use above camera and hookup high quality "Optex" PIR to Alarm IN port on Hikvision - PIR would detect motion and ALARM IN would then trigger the record and email notification - I wanted to use ALARM OUT to then pass the signal to a DCS Security panel that would be hooked up to VERA HA or Smartthings system - The purpose of this would be to alert VERA and then fire up all the lights on the property (controlled by smart dimmers) to hopefully spook the intruder Will this work with the ALARM OUT wiring? It is key that ALARM OUT triggers at nearly same time the ALARM IN triggers from the PIR. If there is another camera better suited for this please let me know but the above seemed to be the best combo of everything I was looking for at reasonable price. Thank you all!!!

Ahh.. I am a NooB trying to figure this out and your suggestion makes total sense! I knew I was over complicating this. So the PIR could go to both the ECS Panel and Camera in parallel which would greatly simplify setup. On to my next question about easy ARM/DISARM... Now I am assuming that with the ECS Panel/Keypad/Vera HA setup, I create an ARM and DISARM scene. When we are at the cottage, we obviously don't want to be recording and triggering things. I don't want to be using phones/browsers to arm/disarm cameras as I have contractors/renters.. Here is what i'm hoping to do: - user opens door, disarms ECS alarm via keypad (standard stuff anyone knows how to do) - ECS system connected to Vera would now show as disarmed - Vera HA would somehow send a command to HIKVISION to stop recording/alerting on Motion.. Camera feed would still be available on demand via browser but the alerts etc would need to stop - on leaving, user ARMS the alarm with keypad and the reverse happens.. Possible? understand HIKVISION has a highly programmable CGI interface but didn't really find a plug and play way to do this.

Hi All - I just need a basic outdoor IP camera to monitor the back porch of my cottage where we've had two breakins in the last two years. My challenge is that there will nodoubt be tons of false positives unless I use a proper PIR Motion sensor or some other reliable trigger. I've seen cameras like Foscam which have the ability to wire up to an external alarm. I have no idea how to go about this or how the wiring would work. Documentation is next to NIL and there seem to be no videos/threads with step by step. Anybody do this successfully? If so, care to share details? It would be ideal if the PIR was POE powered as I will have trouble getting any other sort of power to this location. Many thanks! OR am I better to just get an indoor cam with PIR built in and wait for them to break in or come close to the window.

Forget about foscam...whats the point of triggering a crappy camera? there are lots of other bullet/dome cameras by hikvision dahua for the same price as the foscam with alarm in/out. Just make sure to get a model with alarm inputs (not all have them) Yes I like the Hikvision as well. Just need help with how to wire this up to the alarm in feed. I maybe in a bit over my head in terms of the electrical to do this.

Vera could alert the IP camera to record if an alarm condition is satisfied (i.e. window sensor and indoor motion sensor tripped). No need to figure out wiring etc - just get Zwave motion detector and pair everything up. I guess i'm back to square one and original intent behind my note. How can I get a PIR wired into a cheap bullet cam such as Foscam that has the harness for an external cam? I'd rather spend $$ on a good motion detector such as http://www.dsc.com/index.php?n=products&o=view&id=1347 which will minimize false alarams and hook it into a cheaper cam. Anybody done this or is there a DIY guide somewhere? I don't want to spend $1500 on a camera as i'm assuming the culprits will try to damage/take the camera (monitoring a cottage on an island).

Looked interesting until I noticed the $1500 price tag:) I guess you get what you pay for. I noticed the $299 DLINK outdoor cube cam has a separate PIR. Was thinking that might do the trick for now. I was also looking at Vera home automation and using that to trigger recording based on an open door sensor and external motion detector. So many options which makes it a bit of overwhelming.

Do you know of a particular sensor that would work in this case and trigger the camera to start recording? i'd be happy with a PIR but again have no idea how to wire it to the camera. Other thing I was thinking was using Smartthings Hub or Vera Hub (as I have fulltime internet) to detect the alarms from PIR and window sensors and then ask the camera to start recording everything.