Lightning fried my systems, seeking relacement suggestions

Ri22o

Ri22o

Known around here
Jul 30, 2020
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Indiana
Our house was hit directly by lightning a few weeks ago and amidst the items that were fried were my camera systems. I had been casually looking to upgrade but had not done much research as I was not too serious at the time. I am looking for recommendations and suggestions on cameras to replace them.

Details:
I have two systems in the house, both Lorex. One is a 1080p MPX and the other a 2k IP NVR.
I have 15 cameras.
4 of the cameras are in the house.
The outside cameras are installed on both the first floor soffit and the second floor soffit.
For the most part I am happy with the coverage and image quality of the cameras, but "Front Yard, North" could use better focus.
I much prefer the nightvision capabilities of the MPX cameras over the 2k cameras. The 2k cameras suffer from major motion blur at night.

Current camera models:
1080p Bullet - LBV2711 x6
1080p Dome - LEV2712B x3
2k Bullet - E581CBB x4
2k Dome - E581CDB x2

I am looking to move to my own server and use Blue Iris (obviously converting the coax cameras to IPs). I am also interested in Hikvision or similar cameras that are comparable or better than my current cameras listed above (shouldn't be too hard). I am also not opposed to using all domes, with the exception of 1 or 2 of the inside cameras.

See the photos below for the outside areas I am currently covering and looking to replace. I was taking snapshots every day to document the progress of treatments on my grass. One thing that bothered me with the MPX cameras over the backyard is how different the color can be between cameras, at the same time of the day.

Thanks in advance.

LNR608_ch1_J_20200607140031_20200607140031.jpgLNR608_ch2_J_20200607140030_20200607140030.jpgLNR608_ch3_J_20200607140031_20200607140031.jpgLNR608_ch4_J_20200607140031_20200607140031.jpgLNR608_ch5_J_20200607140032_20200607140032.jpgLHV2016-DFS3_ch1_jpg_20200607140130.jpgLHV2016-DFS3_ch2_jpg_20200607140100.jpgLHV2016-DFS3_ch3_jpg_20200607140100.jpgLHV2016-DFS3_ch4_jpg_20200607140100.jpgLHV2016-DFS3_ch5_jpg_20200607140100.jpg
 
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looney2ns said:
Your cams are mounted too high.
You want to know who did it, not just what happened.
Start here Cliff Notes and Wiki
And read this attachment.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the post and the information.

I realize I want to know who and not just what.

Given all of the details in my post, what units would you recommend?
 
Read southernyankees tips. All the, better and best, current cameras are listed there. Set up a test rig, as described in the Cliff Notes, with one varifocal camera and try it out in each location to determine what lens size will give you the view you need.
 
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As Loony stated, your cam are mounted too high. They are all great overview cams. But if a perp messes with your cars in the driveway, or at your front door, or coming into the back yard through the gate, you will never get a shot good enough to ID a face. So unless you mount some new cams lower, that will always be an issue. You will get great shots of the top of their head, not the face.

Cam recommendations: Any of the Dahua 5442 turrets or bullets, based on the FOV requirement, that are in the PDF that Loony posted.
 
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th182 said:
Cameras aside, that's some nice lawn domination there! Property line is so clear with your dark grass! Throw 'er down!


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Click to expand...
Thanks, if only the one neighbor could see that and would quit scalping mine when they cut theirs. I was planning to renovate the backyard and go full KBG, but some issues with the wife's health have postponed that.

samplenhold said:
As Loony stated, your cam are mounted too high. They are all great overview cams. But if a perp messes with your cars in the driveway, or at your front door, or coming into the back yard through the gate, you will never get a shot good enough to ID a face. So unless you mount some new cams lower, that will always be an issue. You will get great shots of the top of their head, not the face.

Cam recommendations: Any of the Dahua 5442 turrets or bullets, based on the FOV requirement, that are in the PDF that Loony posted.
Click to expand...
To me, they are not mounted too high. They are showing me what I want to see. I have used footage from one of my driveway cams as evidence against a vandal who was scratching and defacing cars, you could see his face fine. The camera over the front door is sufficient to see faces when people are approaching the front door. There is another camera over the back door, so not seeing a face once they come through the gate is fine with me because I will see it before they enter the house. I cannot mount the cameras any lower than they are.

People are also drawn to look at cameras, they can't help it. If it's obvious enough, they're going to look at it.

I will look into the 5442s, thanks for the advice.
 
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Ri22o said:
To me, they are not mounted too high.
Click to expand...

The overview cameras are fine. The ones watching the cars, service door, front door and rear patio / door are too high. I can absolutely guarantee I could walk to your front door and all you would capture is my hair and maybe a nose = nothing from an identitiy perspective. Add a baseball cap and you capture nothing but the cap. It's well tested on here with actual real life videos from members of crimes caught on cameras as well as artifical testing. Any 1/2 decent thief is going to over view your house from the road way, way beyond the current recognition zone of your current cameras, notice the cameras on the house, then wear a baseball cap and not look up when they make the actual approach. Even from on here it's surpising how many casual visititors such as delivery drivers don't look up. Your over view cameras are fine high. I particularly like your front yard south view. However, listen to Looney and others. They have the experience.7ft is about the optimal height for a camera watching a specific area. No-one is going to steal or vandalise your cameras and if by some rare occurence they do, you'll have the prefect facial shot of them approaching.
 
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I have ordered an IPC-T5442T-ZE and an IPC-T5442M-AS 2.8mm to try out and see how I like them. Not that I will get to messing with them soon, but they should be here tomorrow and Wednesday.

And, against the opinion of many here, I am sure, I am also considering building my own BI server. I had planned on buying a used Optiplex but with the money I have coming from insurance for my NVR and DVR it makes more sense to build one system that will replace both of them. (If I don't spend the money they won't give it to me, so I might as well spend it.) Are there any good threads with details from users who have built their own? I am considering a 3u or 4u rack mount case with 3 6tb drives. I will be somewhere in the 800-1100 MP/s range using a worst case figure of 15 4MP cameras running 15fps, but may overbuild the processor since the i9-9900 is about the same as a 10th gen i7.
 
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for system look at the site below for a list of actual different running systems and there MP/sec. The number bounce all over the place as some people are doing only continuous recording and others are doing a lot of motion detecting.

IMHO, a i7-8700 with 16GB and an SSD and a WD PURPLE drive will meet your needs. Look at EBAY for a used business system, CPU and Memory.

Blue Iris Update Helper

Blue Iris Update Helper
biupdatehelper.hopto.org

Be careful of the letters after the CPU designations, always check there CPU rating.

PassMark - CPU Benchmarks - CPU Mega Page - Detailed List of Benchmarked CPUs

www.cpubenchmark.net
 
Ri22o said:
I have ordered an IPC-T5442T-ZE and an IPC-T5442M-AS 2.8mm to try out and see how I like them. Not that I will get to messing with them soon, but they should be here tomorrow and Wednesday.

And, against the opinion of many here, I am sure, I am also considering building my own BI server. I had planned on buying a used Optiplex but with the money I have coming from insurance for my NVR and DVR it makes more sense to build one system that will replace both of them. (If I don't spend the money they won't give it to me, so I might as well spend it.) Are there any good threads with details from users who have built their own? I am considering a 3u or 4u rack mount case with 3 6tb drives. I will be somewhere in the 800-1100 MP/s range using a worst case figure of 15 4MP cameras running 15fps, but may overbuild the processor since the i9-9900 is about the same as a 10th gen i7.
Click to expand...

I’d be curious to know what rack mount case you settle on. I have several HP EliteDesk PCs that I’d like to rack mount. Mainly looking for a larger case to fit my BI in so I can add another drive or two. A few cheaper 4U cases I found had space for a larger redundant/dual power supply. I was looking in the $100 range.


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th182 said:
I’d be curious to know what rack mount case you settle on. I have several HP EliteDesk PCs that I’d like to rack mount. Mainly looking for a larger case to fit my BI in so I can add another drive or two. A few cheaper 4U cases I found had space for a larger redundant/dual power supply. I was looking in the $100 range.
Click to expand...
Will definitely make a post when I make some decisions.
 
th182 said:
Awesome!!


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Click to expand...
I ended up with the iStarUSA D-314-MATX due to depth constraints in my network rack. It is a 3U chassis. I am still waiting for it to arrive, but I have everything else for the build. I just need to decide on what size HDDs to use.

www.newegg.com

iStarUSA Steel 3U Rackmount Server External 5.25" Drive Bays - Newegg.com

Buy iStarUSA D-314-MATX Black 3U Rackmount Chassis ATX Power Supply Compatible with fast shipping and top-rated customer service. Once you know, you Newegg!
www.newegg.com www.newegg.com
 
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Ri22o said:
I ended up with the iStarUSA D-314-MATX due to depth constraints in my network rack. It is a 3U chassis. I am still waiting for it to arrive, but I have everything else for the build. I just need to decide on what size HDDs to use.

www.newegg.com

iStarUSA Steel 3U Rackmount Server External 5.25" Drive Bays - Newegg.com

Buy iStarUSA D-314-MATX Black 3U Rackmount Chassis ATX Power Supply Compatible with fast shipping and top-rated customer service. Once you know, you Newegg!
www.newegg.com www.newegg.com
Click to expand...

Thanks! That is one of the ones I was looking at! I'll be curious to see how you like it.


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th182 said:
Thanks! That is one of the ones I was looking at! I'll be curious to see how you like it.


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Click to expand...
It is still just too deep for my rack, but I plan to make some spacers to bring it forward for it to fit better. I think I had originally moved my mounts back a little so the patch cables wouldn't hit the glass, but even if they were forward most of the other cases are still too deep.

The rest of the build is an i7-10700k, MSI Z490M, WD Blue 500G SSD, 2x16GB G.Skill Ripjaws DDR4-3600, and Noctua fans. I went with an IPCamPower POE switch.
 
Ri22o said:
It is still just too deep for my rack, but I plan to make some spacers to bring it forward for it to fit better. I think I had originally moved my mounts back a little so the patch cables wouldn't hit the glass, but even if they were forward most of the other cases are still too deep.

The rest of the build is an i7-10700k, MSI Z490M, WD Blue 500G SSD, 2x16GB G.Skill Ripjaws DDR4-3600, and Noctua fans. I went with an IPCamPower POE switch.
Click to expand...

How much actual space are you finding you need from front of rack to back wall? My cabinet is fairly shallow but I think I have the racks as far forward as they will go.


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th182 said:
How much actual space are you finding you need from front of rack to back wall? My cabinet is fairly shallow but I think I have the racks as far forward as they will go.


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Click to expand...
I will have a better idea when it shows up, but I have 15.25" to the back wall from the front of the rack. The drawing below shows the case at 15.5". If I space it out with a piece of 1" material it would give me approximately .75" of rear clearance for cables and connections. There is a slight recess in the back of the case that will help with server connections, but I want to also make sure I can pass other cables behind it if needed since I don't know where in the rack I am going to mount it. I also plan to take the handles off unless they will fit.

 
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