traderjay

Hello Again CCTV wizards here - it was remarkably warm for the last day of a leap year February in Canada here with temperature reaching 59F @_@. I took the opportunity and spent the day installing my first Avigilon 2MP PTZ Camera and damn while it looks easy, it was quite an effort to do a neat install job. Hats off to all of you guys who do this for a living Will share some pictures with you guys here after the snow storm passes but for the past few days I've been messing around with the trial version of Avigilon Standard Server before buying the final license from our good ole buddy here Alek. I also installed the Gateway software and Avigilon mobile client on my android phone. When I am in the local network, I can simply enter the server's IP address in the mobile client gateway and the camera video will be displayed. How can I configure this for remote access over the internet? I am using a DDNS service from no-ip.com since I use remote desktop frequently but I've no clue on how to configure the Avigilon gateway for remote access? The Avigilon server and gateway are running in the same system btw. Some help and tips would be greatly appreciated!

While reviewing the footage, I saw a guy driving to my street with face visible, stepped out of the vehicle and proceed to take photos of the neighborhood houses (mine included) and talked up to the driveway. His behavior is quite odd and its the first time I've seen him or this happening since the camera was installed about 2 months ago. Should I export a copy of the footage and give it to the police?

Hello All - over the weekend, I finally had the chance to install the last Avigilon PTZ at the back of the house covering the backyard. The install spot is 30 ft high so it is quite a challenge for a DIYer like me! fortunately everything went well and now the camera is in action. Unfortunately, it started to snow during the install and I tried my best to keep the crimped RJ45 connector dry before finally connecting it to the camera using the weather sealed RJ45 connector boot. The RJ45 connector is CAT6 rated with 50micro gold plating. I am worried that there are some remnant moisture due to the snow exposure that wasn't properly dried up. Will this lead to future problems such as corrosion? Right now the camera is working perfectly but I know corrosion take a while to set in. So should I go back up and using dielectric gel on the connector to prevent future issues?

This is a garbage switch and I can't even find the specs of it online. Most POE switch has power limits per port, and a total power output for all ports combined. What camera do you have and do you know its power consumption?

Can anyone tell me where can I download a software that allows me to print USD$ for free

Avigilon 2MP PTZ - Right on time to capture the last snowstorm of the year: Avigilon 5MP H3 HD Bullet:

For those of you that has been doing this for a while, what is life like back in the good ole analog days before the advent of DVRs? I guess multiple VCRs must be deployed to record the footage or are there multi-deck VCRs that can record to multiple VHS tapes at once? Cabling must also be quite painful too I guess? So for a site with multiple cameras, multiple VCRs must be used and someone has to frequently change the tapes as they wear out quite quickly with 24/7 use and VCR head cleaning? Maybe you guys can share some pictures of ancient setup for us newbies to relish on how far IP Surveillance has progressed

Hey Daryl - thanks for sharing your experience from the old days If IP cameras weren't around today, I wouldn't have be able to install my own Avigilon system for the home! The old days sounds like a complete nightmare and I wonder how many court cases were lost of prosecution failures due to unrecognizable subject. Btw you are from Singapore? I lived in that beautiful country for 5 years and I gotta say, the high humidity there is the ultimate test for CCTV camera. I had so many electronics fail (TVs, Cameras, CD players etc) over the year due to humidity and corrosion. Any substandard cameras will quickly die

THANKS all for the help! Especially ak357 who walked me through via teamviewer 2 cameras are up and 1 more Avigilon PTZ to go! Honestly without this wonderful forum, I might just end like the 99% of the consumers out there buying "toy" cameras for my home security haha...

About time the HDD kicks the bucket. Depending on the NVR model, the HDD inside is most likely an off the shelf consumer grade HDD that've withstood 3.5 years of 100% 24/7 write which is FAR more than any desktop application. When you replace the HDD, be sure to use HDDs meant for surveillance such as WD Purple, Seagate Surveilance etc.

Honestly that was the system I was debating before I went full blown with patched together Avigilon system for my home. The Arlo requires very expensive CR123 batteries (I believe 4 in each camera) and operating life is reduced in the cold. Plus, there is no option of local storage and everything must be stored in the cloud.... However, the ease of install is unparalleled but thats about it....

How long have you had the system? Most consumer grade DVR are notoriously bad with cooling and any HDDs inside just roast and roast until they die

Plz avoid Lorex like a plague - they are cheap plastic toy and won't survive long in an outdoor environment. I am not sure about Dahua but the brands preferred by the pros here are generally Avigilon, Axis, Hikvision and the like.

thanks for this thread - was having the same issue with ACC Mobile!

Greeting everyone - ever since joining this board, I've received tremendous amount of help with setting up my DIY Avigilon system By the way, how do I enable the DIYer badge on my username?

Unfortunately the stuff you find on Amazon is junk as mentioned by the pros here. This thread gives a good primer on whats good and whats not - viewtopic.php?f=19&t=35868

Try this site - http://wrightwoodsurveillance.com/product-category/security-cameras/bullet/

I am in the process of planning my camera install and I have two Avigilon 2.0 MP PTZ domes. I was surprised by the size of these cameras and although they are big, the design is very elegant and won't look like an eye sore when installed in the front garage. My house faces a cul de sac so a front facing camera will capture a large area making it ideal for PTZ deployment. The front door will be watched by a 5MP Avigilon HD bullet. The second PTZ camera will be installed high up on the back of the house watching over the backyard. Now my concern is will the PTZ camera attract unwanted attention or act as a good deterrent against would-be crooks? Lastly, I've talked to my neighbors and they are extremely appreciative that I am getting the cameras installed.

What do you guys think of the following camera install location for a typical residential home? The 5MP Bullet should give a good coverage for anyone walking towards the main door and the wide angle will even cover the entire drive way extending towards the cul du dac. I am debating the install location of the PTZ camera and really need your help here. Location 1 is high up which means the camera is less likely to be stolen/vandalized but I am worried the garage roof will somewhat block the view. I've also read here that if the camera is too high up, the subject's face might not be visible due to the angle. Location two solves that problem but its only 10 to 12 feet above the ground, making the camera an easier target but provides much better viewing angle. The following cameras are used for the install - Avigilon 5MP HD Bullet and 2MP PTZ. What do you guys think?

Hi traderjay, Thanks for a helpful response. I haven't, for the same reasons that I'm leery of resellers on Amazon. If something is broken or defective, I'd like the ability to return it without much hassle. Honestly, it's been many years since I bought something on ebay. If my perceptions are wrong, please let me know. It feels like there may not be good answer to what I'm looking for... Thanks again, -67 its a bit tricker with hikvision i guess because they are made in China and one is not sure if they are grey market or not. I had good luck buying avigilon cameras on Ebay and because they are made in Canada, I am quite confident that there is very few knock-offs or fakes. I just purchase two avigilon 2MP PTZ dome and 5MP HD Bullet on ebay. All came in as expected brand new in box.

Did you try ebay? I did a quick search but most of the sellers are from China. If you sort by sellers from countries, you might find a few North-American sellers.

I am using high quality 24 AWG Cat 5 ethernet cables for my outdoor POE camera run but several sections are connected via RJ45 female connectors. Will this cause any issues? Below is an example of my install: The grey box is the ethernet surge suppressor and inside contains two RJ45 female connector.

As a home user and a tech geek, I was very fortunate to have acquired two Avigilon cameras (5MP HD Bullet & 2MP PTZ) and would like to install with the utmost care. I live in Toronto, Canada and we do have frequent thunderstorms in the spring and summer seasons and I've read the posts here regarding lightning protector for outdoor cameras. My cameras will be installed similar to the picture below (Credit - TheWireguys on twitter) : As for the ethernet cables, I'll be using armoured CAT5E cable for the outside runs. Below is a diagram Ubiquiti provided as guide on where to install POE surge protectors and I am wondering if this will provide adequate protection? I am thinking of using something even more robust such as these - http://www.l-com.com/surge-protector-outdoor-10-100-1000-10000-base-t-cat6a-poe-compatible-lightning-protector-rj45-jacks

I am looking to buy the Wall bracket MNT-PEND-WALL and the MNT-AD-CORNER to install my Avigilon PTZ and I am wondering if anyone of you here have a spare set to sell? I am based in Toronto, Ontario and will pay for the extra shipping cost associated with the purchase.

No problem and you guys have a great web presence! As for that install picture, what Ethernet cabling did you use and were any surge protectors put in place? Outdoor rated CAT5e cable and no surge protectors were used. I guess the use of surge protectors is optional if the cameras are not mounted on a pole or metallic surface? Also, looking at your install picture, were the cables hidden under the eavestrough? I just received my 2.0 MP PTZ and gosh that thing is big! It is beautifully designed and made though, I am sure having this bad boy hanging off the wall will ward of many potentially unwanted intruders haha. Beautiful install job!!! -