Ordered Surveillance System

[norcaldad 0]

This thread is a thank you to everyone who takes the time to post and offer advice to us newbies! I will share my experience in this thread as it happens... and possibly ask questions in other threads.

 

 

I went with the following for a home installation:

 

Qvis Apollo HD 16 Channel Security DVR W/ H.264 Compression & D1 Resolution - 1TB

Qvis P400-N35-VG30-N 4-9mm Infrared Bullet Security Camera 600 TVL

Qvis EYE-N35-V2G-N Outdoor Eyeball Dome Security Camera 2.8-11mm 600 TVL

Qvis EYE-N35-FW-N Outdoor Eyeball Dome Security Camera 3.6mm 600 TVL

 

Additionally, I purchased RG cable, fittings and the power supply. Caught an ordering error on my part and fixed me up with the correct power supply - not currently in stock but he took care of that for me and is having it drop shipped - can you say full service? I will be purchasing additional cameras after I install those listed above and see how they fit with my installation.

[norcaldad 0]

Here is my rough plan. Looking for suggestions and oversights. I am able to add additional cameras to those roughed in below. Backyard is about 16' deep

 

Cameras in no particular order, dimensions approximate below and on attachment

 

Camera 1 - 4-9mm IR bullet positioned in the gable overlooks driveway and across street 12'AGL

Camera 2 - 3.6mm IR dome 7'AGL

Camera 3 - 4-9mm IR bullet positioned on top of the house looks over courtyard, front yard, sidewalk & street 14'AGL

Camera 4 - 2.8-11mm dome camera looks over courtyard 7' AGL

Camera 5 - 4-9mm IR bullet positioned in the gable overlooks gate/side of house 14' AGL

Camera 6 - 3.6mm IR dome camera 7'AGL

Camera 7 - 3.6mm IR dome camera 7AGL

Camera 8 - just a left over # at this point

 

Gates & doors

1 - courtyard gate

2 - 8' gate west side of garage

3 - glass slider

4 - double door main entry

5 - door off of master bedroom

6 - 8' double gate

[mike_va 0]

I would consider doubling up on cam1 and put on left and right of garage, since you have a gable to hide them in. Can get both cars in driveway, and front door/gate with good resolution. Besides a lot of trouble can come in through the garage, as most people do not alarm them...or leave the doors open...

[ssmith10pn 0]

Big blind spot between cam 6 and 7.

[Horizon 0]

The gates at 1 and 6 are just begging for some tightly focused cameras. You'd get some excellent face shots.

I can also be nice to have cameras looking at the house, so you can see what the visitors are up to.

[norcaldad 0]

Received my package today. Will unpack and install over the weekend.

 

mike-va - I like your idea. Can anyone tell me if I will have an issue with the IR's crossing each other? See attached. I could be wrong, but for optimum field of view with two cameras (my gable is small... and being able to adjust one more to the east/left of the garage - I would like to install them this way - but I may be missing something. In regard to dimensions, the cameras would be about 18" apart.

 

ssmith10pm - thanks for catching that blind spot. I know what I was thinking in placing it there; that it would be close to the door, but I don't lose anything by moving it back 5' to the corner of the house. So that is what I will do. Thanks again!

 

Horizon - gate #1 is arched, 6' or so but I think I can get that spot by putting two cameras in the gable as mike-va suggested. Gate 6 - you are are correct that I overlooked that gate and really, that whole side of the house. If anyone enters my yard, it would most likely be via Gate 6 or along that fence line. There is 5/6' between my house and the fence and 5/6' from the fence to the sidewalk that is planted with various shrubs and there is a 40' tree in that area as well.

 

Each of you provided input that will improve my installation. Thanks for taking the time to help me out.

[norcaldad 0]

Not that anyone is clamoring for an update - but here you go - sort of. 5 cameras up. I have a small issue that might be related to a ground loop.

 

Above I asked about IR's crossing each other. It was stated that there would be no issue and perhaps even an enhancement. I will report when I get the second camera from that gable set up.

 

My buddy offers a double your money back guarantee when he recommends something; book, restaurant etc. I don't have that kind of money, but would receive that guarantee if I did.

[mike_va 0]

post some pics as you make progress

[norcaldad 0]

I am making slow progress and have yet to work with the DVR to capture pictures/recordings but hope to get to that in the coming week or so.

 

What I do want to say is that my purchase of a security camera for that, security/deterrent has turned into something of a novelty. Being able to see my home & dog while out of town on my phone is really cool. Being able to see the same while at work, just as cool. Being able to see family - priceless! I have a "roving" house camera that I have positioned at different places. I had not planned on putting any cameras inside of the home but will be doing so. I will report as I progress and why - but that is really laid out above. My advice to anyone purchasing an 8 camera DVR as I was; spend a little more and get the 16 camera model - 2nd best decision I have made so far.

 

 

And in regard to security, one of my cameras was already able to provide LE with some information. Pretty amazing toy/tool.

[camera-newbie 0]

Thanks for the update -- I'm following behind you on this as well for our own installation.. I'm not going to have nearly that many cameras but should be receiving two dome CNB's sometime Friday and will be attempting to do the installation IF my baluns come in time that I ordered LATE last night..

[shockwave199 0]

Being able to see family - priceless! I have a "roving" house camera that I have positioned at different places. I had not planned on putting any cameras inside of the home but will be doing so

If the family is cool with that, that's good. I felt it was too intrusive of everyones privacy to have cameras in my house. Maybe ones pointed at doors only or something like that would be ok, but it was just too much to ask that everyone be ok with me watching their every move- as I monitor my home system all night from work. Now, what I did ask my wife for and got approval for was one cctv mic in a back room upstairs. I can't hear typical conversations down stairs well enough to be eaves dropping, but I can absolutely hear louder things at the front door and more importantly, my alarm system going off if that happens. Upstairs, I hear a good deal more. And if she has a problem or falls ill and can't get to a phone, she can just yell out and I'll hear it from almost anywhere in the house. The mic is that good. It's like being a real central station remotely. And it's the kind of thing where no one fixates on it because it's out of sight, so privacy doesn't feel infringed upon like cameras staring at you all the time. Audio really puts you in touch with the inner home, remotely- almost feeling more like true security than just pictures. I highly recommend a mic in line, especially if you're monitoring remotely most of the time.

[norcaldad 0]

No one in the family ever seems to want privacy except for me. By roving, I meant the TV room or kitchen. And we all have pretty similar schedules; home is empty or everyone here. I will have to look into audio. I am not certain if my system has that feature or how it works. Do DVR's continuously record audio? Can audio be monitored via Android? Can it be configured so that it is two way? Thanks!

[shockwave199 0]

You'll have to take a look at what your dvr offers with audio. It's a good bet it has at least one channel audio in, and audio out to feed to speakers right there locally. My dvr has eight audio ins- a really nice feature. I have my dvr set to motion recording and every clip I check has the audio on it as well, on playback. I also listen to the live room audio remotely by opening up the channel the mic is in. You mention you have a dog. Hearing that dog barking like mad over possible trouble via remote audio- a very good thing. Having not just video footage of an intruder, but the audio on them as well- very good. Don't ignore the audio side of things. The dvr supports it. Worth it.

[shockwave199 0]

I would also consider an aiming adjustment of cam 5 & 6. Have cam 6 cover gate 6 and move cam 5 all the way to the south corner, pointing north for an overall shot of that side.

[norcaldad 0]

I am going to have to install a dome camera under the eave on one side or the other of the garage door. Mostly so it will be seen - it is my belief that people are less likely to approach the home if they think they are being recorded. Someone tried to remove my brass address plate between the garage and the gate to the courtyard a few weeks ago. They were gardeners hired by the neighbor to the west of me and earlier this week, we had a guy walk along the courtyard fence line to the above referenced neighbors gate to the back yard so this is clearly a blind spot that I had not anticipated. They guy I caught in my neighbors backyard told me he did not see the two cameras installed above the garage in the gable. So a dome camera sitting right out there might be a good deterrent.

 

The motion detect feature that emails photo captures to your email address is a really cool feature of my DVR. I started out with the recommended setting of 4 - bad idea. Received thousands of emails in the first day (6 cameras). I have 5 of the cameras set to the lowest setting of 1 and one camera is set to 2 where is is mostly a shaded area. I understand that there is a more effective motion sensing device that I can install and I will defiantly do this as vehicle head lights, shade/light and bugs account for 98% of the emailed images I receive.

[norcaldad 0]

I just re-read my posts and they were edited at some point. The missing info. is from where I purchased my stuff and the person there that I think is both knowledgeable and a great business person. At this point, after contacting the site owner, I may be banned, and perhaps this tread disappears.

 

But there will be no more updates by me until this issue is resolved. Thanks to everyone who has participated on this thread and others in case I am not allowed or don't come back.

[larry 2]

norcaldad,

 

I don't know who you sent a PM to but I never received it and neither you, nor anyone else, will ever be banned for speaking up and asking a legitimate question.

 

Due to a resent trend in the posting of links and other information, some posts are edited to regain a sense of balance and maintain what should be an unbiased forum. So, what does that mean? Basically, I think some members drop links, and lay on glowing praise, for reasons other than they like the retailers' product or service.

 

Now, that does mean some honest posts may be changed? Yeah it does, unfortunately, but I just can't sit back and let the forum get overrun.

 

This forum will be 10 years old next year and it only has 184K posts. That is a good indicator of how moderated this place is.

 

Now a note about banning: I rarely ban members who are not blatant spammers. I assume everyone here is an adult and knows how to act appropriately. If anyone disagrees with something, feel free to let me know about it. You can even throw in a choice word or two ( if you go that route you may want to do that via PM ), I don't get easily offended because at my age, I've heard every insult in multiple languages and also this is not a dictatorship; it's a forum.

[norcaldad 0]

Larry understands my being pissed off according to his PM - but that is a PM. And I don't want to beat Larry up over this - it's his fucking site - but editing each one of my posts removing both the name of the company and the person I worked with there is BS. Has he done this to everyone else? Does he do this on his whim?

 

Purchasing this system and posting about it takes my time (valuable to me) and is a personal experience and journey. Larry get's to choose who gets to say what - again his site but it is chicken**** to the nth degree.

 

By Larry's rational, he should scrub the site of eBay, Costco etc. Does he do this? I am not offended - just utterly disappointed at Larry's lack of character since all I did was post my personal experience(s).

 

And perhaps my thread angered other advertisers - I can't help that. I was sincere and posted my personal experience - what I thought this site was about.

 

I have run a few websites. Pretty much a PIA and thankless when you have to deal with spammers et al.

 

My last breath on this site - I can only say that when people deal with me, that ever since I started raking leaves, mowing lawns and delivering papers as a kid, that anyone who hired me got the best service and the best work I could provide. NEVER have I dealt with or met anyone who provided me with that level of service back - until I purchased my DVR system. This person whom I appear forbidden to name makes me question how good I really think I am/was.

 

I would like for Larry to allow me to fix what he has broken. But at this point, I feel I have lost my desire to further post about my experiences and changes I have made and my most recent order. Seems rather pointless.

[shockwave199 0]

I hear you, agree, and understand. But I don't see things changing here. The best way I share my own experiences with the products I've chosen is to link to my youtube channel in my signature. Something like that or a blog is a fun and informative way to help fellow enthusiasts in a less restrictive way. Good luck and be well.

[norcaldad 0]

Larry, the guy who runs this board is a pinhead. He edited quite a few of my posts that were complimentary of one of his advertisers. I did not intend to come back to or post on this site, but unfortunately, a Google search led me back here so I thought I would add this to my thread. Larry - obviously not an honorable person... just a guy who has a website who will edit your post if it offends him or one of his advertisers or might get in the way of his making a dollar - again, despite the fact that I was complimentary to one of his paying advertisers and I did not violate his TOS... And, he has not edited out every mention of said advertiser. Ridiculous! Feel free to PM me and I will let you know who I ordered from - I have been extremely pleased with their service and products. My happiness with Larry on a scale of one to ten is less than zero... since I gave him the opportunity to man up and let me fix this posts that he f'ed up.