Don't know where to place the cameras

[Kawboy12R 0]

Hey Firefighter, good to see you back posting. Whatcha got for new toys now?

[shockwave199 0]

The screen shots are pictures of the monitor. What does backup footage and picture captures from backup footage look like? Night time backup footage too- arguably the most important time of day to strive for decent images.

 

Just like you have them now, Record driving down the street both ways, walk near the mailbox, Walk around the house, Pretend to "Stake Out" your own home. Actually pretend to try and break into your own home.

This is good to do while deciding on placement. Also consider getting good bnc cable and putting your own connectors on- white color cable. If you must use the cheap stuff, look for white color. You have some nice woodwork on the house- shame to run black wire all over it and it's just the thing to make the Mrs say 'I told you so'. Either that or paint the black wire white.

 

So, I've sold the Analog system and now going IP MP.

You've been 'going' IP MP for a while. Anything new on that front?

[knotquiteawake 0]

nighttime footage won't be terribly useful in a forensic type way but if we hear something go bump in the night it will give us a clear view if somebody is poking around or at least give us a general height/weight clothing description. Daytime is a lot better. Attached is a picture of my sister in law getting out of the car. Not bad, this was on a cloudy day.

 

I spent a lot of time tonight adjusting the flood lights on the driveway to make them help the camera as much as possible.

 

I am surprised at how much clearer what i see on the monitor live is compared to the quality of the recorded video. Is this a limitation of the DVR or the Camera? Like, if I spent the money on a higher TVL camera (600-700 instead of the 450 this one is) would it even make a difference?

[knotquiteawake 0]

Still honestly I am shocked and surprised at how well these cameras work for only spending $129 on the system.

 

 

Also, I am running Cat5 cables for the cameras. This way if I wanted to switch to IP Cameras I can do so easily (that was a great tip I got from here! I just so happened to have 160feet laying around, that got me just over 1/2 way done! I will have to buy another 100ft or so to get the rest wired). The Cat5 is cream colored like the trim. The main issue will be the black non-weather proof cat5 to BNC/power boxes. I will have to buy some kind of junction box and then paint it the color of the trim I think, because the cables that come with the camera just are not long enough to make it inside before the converter is needed.

[knotquiteawake 0]

Here is the night time shots. The shed has a small solar powered motion activated LED flood light, and then off to the right is the motion flood lights at the back door. The front drive has the floods like I mentioned before. Without the flood lights the cameras would be totally useless.

[shockwave199 0]

Like, if I spent the money on a higher TVL camera (600-700 instead of the 450 this one is) would it even make a difference

Yes it could help and certainly will for the live footage on the monitor. However you need not buy anything higher than 600TVL. What a 600 will give you more so than an increase in TVL is most likely a better chip. Look for an effio or Super HADll and just that better pickup device could help. I say 'could' because you then have to factor in the DVR and most likely the compression for the recorded footage is terrible and will null the results of even a better camera. Cheap sets are cheap for a reason. Everything is low quality, from the cameras to the cable to the DVR. If all you want to do is look at live shots on the monitor, that's fine- that's the best picture you'll get. But if you're relying on recorded footage, that's where you start to see the results of low quality gear. So if you want, try one 600tvl camera and if you're smart you'll get a varifocal to help you get a good field of view. See if it helps. If not, return it or sell it.

[Firefighter 0]

Kawboy12R: Hey, Thanks. Right now I'm naked, Nothing.

shockwave199: Yeah I know,

 

I've had a very busy last few months. I got married not long ago, And I've been really trying to pay

off some debt and work on the house so the Wife and I can sell it and move.

So, Unfortunatly Higher Priorities have been getting the money. Though, I just started a new 2nd job and their actually

working me unlike my old 2nd. Lat two weeks 40hrs each week. Not including my Full Time Job so Last week I worked 98 Hrs,

this week by friday at 7PM I worked 87 hours and had Sat off. Back on a 24hr shift today (sunday) so I'm looking at another 100+ hr week.

Needless to say, I should finally be able to Purchase the IP products. I'm waiting on hearing from my Source for these products.

Dahua NVR3208 (I don't think the 16ch is really worth it. Though I'll price it out and double check.

Also pricing the IPC-HFW3200C 2.0MP IP Bullet Cams and the 3.0MP versions since their only like $15 more, Just a cheap investment for possible future expansion into dedicated software able to use the extra 1mp.

 

Anyway, Sorry to thread jack!

 

Back On topic,

 

Yes, The lower quality recordings come from the lower quality equipment. I bet that LED motion light out back

was half or more of what your whole system cost.

 

I'm looking forward to more pictures and videos.

 

Yeah, Like Shockwave said. You could get better analog cameras, But when you start getting quality ones you could venture over towards the ip field. THough I understand that's a budget issue.

Your limiting factor is the dvr. It just isn't a High Quality... It isn't going to be able to handle what you want,

 

But, Like we have all said, For the price you got lucky

[knotquiteawake 0]

I bet that LED motion light out back

was half or more of what your whole system cost.

http://www.amazon.com/Innovations-40218-Motion-Activated-Security-Spotlight/dp/B001U2D6OO/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1364237283&sr=8-7&keywords=solar+powered+flood

$44

Really not that expensive, helpful because I don't plan on running power to the shed for the next year or two (but it IS on the list eventually).

 

 

But, Like we have all said, For the price you got lucky

 

Thanks! I at least have no buyer's remorse. What I was looking for is something that would solve the issue I had previously. When I saw some guy walking away from our mailboxes I just wasn't sure if he had actually opened them and looked inside or not. I thought to myself at that moment "I wish I had a camera system so I could just rewind a few minutes and see for sure". Now I do, even if the person was blurry it wouldn't matter because I can link the blurry figure with the actual person. Also with the camera near the front door I will be able to see if anyone takes a package from us. With a camera on the back shed I will be able to see when and get a general description if someone takes my lawn mower.

The system seems like a good stepping off point. Should hold me over for at least a year I suspect.

[knotquiteawake 0]

also, mounting cameras, running cables, putting in a patch panel/gang box seemed like a great "new homeowner" (its only my first year in a home) project. I am not a very handy person so I've been looking for projects that introduce me to new skills that I'm also interested enough in to take the time to finish. This one combined my security hobby, IT Experience, and built on my DIY skills.

[knotquiteawake 0]

Running the video via Cat5 seems to have cleared up some fuzz I was getting with the stock el cheapo 60ft cables that came with it. Hurrah for twisted pair interference negation!

[Firefighter 0]

So the image is better than before? Post some screen shots. Is the DVR 4 chan or 8? Could add some more cheap cams...

[knotquiteawake 0]

Its an 8 channel DVR with 4 cheap cameras. The image quality isn't much better but there was some fuzz/lines cycling through the image before. With the Cat5 those lines went away. It could have also been the connections themselves, they felt cheap and loose.

I do plan on buying at least 1 or two more cameras.

 

Right now as you can see there is one on the drive, one on the shed, and one on the front door (I tried the camera facing away from the door but it just doesn't work for me, Once someone gets to the door you can't see anything but the top of their head, can't see how many people there are). I plan to put one on the far left corner of the front of the house with a better angle of the mailbox or maybe the porch, i'll have to test and see what I feel works best, and then a camera covering the back sliding door and back patio.

[Firefighter 0]

Yeah it looks pretty good. If you can I would try and get a few more cameras since for bkw it sounds like an entire new system is out of the question.

 

Maybe spend $60 on a good analog with a decent zoom lens so you can have one focused on your mailbox. Might be a good idea if it continues to be a problem area for you.