Advice for Video Surveillance at subdivision entrance\exit

bigredfish

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The NVR IS the VMS. You just install SmartPSS to view and manage them remotely. All recording is on the NVR.
 

bigredfish

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Do check with EE though, they have something similar to Axis zip stream that compresses the video feed, and 4 years later they probably have better solutions than they did in 2016
 

nbstl68

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That's a much better size and looks like it should handle 2 cameras easily...Also it is POE...so it eliminates the need for a separate POE switch too?
Zipstream compression would be like H.265? I don't think we would ever have a need for more than a week of data if even that.

Just started googling square utility poles...not cheap either! Is yours 4-5" square sides? Did you mount the cameras then raise the pole or did you climb and mount after?!
 
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bigredfish

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4” square and you want to mount the cameras after the pole is set, but we did drill the original holes first and ran the cat5 through them. Could have used junction boxes, would have been cleaner but meh, it works.

ive since changed placement on a couple (you can see the ugly patch job waiting to be finished properly if you look hard). Wasn’t too bad as the top cap comes off and you can fish the cat5 with something and carefully get it through the new hole.
 

nbstl68

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Just thinking about IP again...can I use a dynamic DNS on NVRs to eliminate the need for a static IP? I need to google more about how that works.
 

nbstl68

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@bigredfish Do your cams have SD card slots and do you use them as an additional emergency backup? I could see the NVR potentially getting stolen but climbing the pole to take the cameras themselves much less likely.
I also notice everywherehere people recommend the turret style over bullet style. But most of what I see on buildings is the bullet style. May I ask why you decided on the bullet style?
 

bigredfish

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Yes they have SD card slots. I think I have them in the 2 LPR cameras. Again, the likelihood of someone stealing the NVRs is very remote.. And the chance that someone would steal the NVRs and us miss any event of real importance is even less. Lock the boxes.


People recommend turrets for two reasons;
  • Looks, particularly around a house as they’re less noticeable. If deterrence is part of the plan, I want bad guys to see them.
  • and a now false impression that they don’t have as many problems with spider webs. That was true years ago due to the placement of the IR LEDs but now they use the same LEDs and there is no difference. Bugs like IR (so do bats and geckos from my experience)

Bullets imho have better depth of field, and some models such as the Z12 only come in bullet form factor. They also don’t seem to be as susceptible to barrel distortion but that’s purely conjecture
 

nbstl68

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Do you have surge protectors on your CAT lines or any other type of lightning\surge protection?
 

Olddawg

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@nbstl68 What did you conclude after your research? We have 4 entrances in our subdivision with not a lot of traffic. Getting seems like weekly car break-ins and in the last couple of weeks, two cars were stolen. I realize cameras won't prevent the thefts but perhaps help recover the stolen property.
 

nbstl68

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We still haven't purchased anything yet. Holdups with board approval first and now with our internet co changing hands for the 3rd time in 2 years and no one wanting to discuss\honor our orig contract to have internet connections at each entrance has put a hold on things.
I was actually just started looking at stand-alone setup like this RV-5 NVR outdoor setup or full kits, (camera, pole and all), but don't know much about them, their camera quality, etc. yet.


@bigredfish has a lot more experience in this area as he already has set up and manages cameras for his subdivision.
 

Video1

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This is an interesting thread. Our HOA is also exploring installing cameras. Problem is we don't have power at most of the 5 entrances. We would have to get PG&E to run power, which is probably doable but at a cost. Also there is not ethernet infrastructure at the entrances. Not sure how we would overcome that problem. The homes have ethernet, so there's a main cable up there that can be tapped. I have no idea if the cable company would be willing to do that or what they would charge. If we were able to somehow have ethernet and power run, then could the cameras just be networked to a centralized Blue Iris server in our clubhouse? This can be done via the IP address of each camera right? Would we need a static IP address? That would add to the cost.
 

Video1

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If homeowners are willing, and you have lines of site, you could use ubiquity nanostations to securely radio transmit the data feeds. This is different than wifi.
We have line of sight at the clubhouse and lake. But the entrances to the community are spread pretty far apart. We have a few hundred acres between the entrances with lots of trees, so line of sight is indeed an issue. If we could get power to each individual sight and have a static IP address, then the server could connect somehow to the cameras right? But that's a big trick in this case.
 

wittaj

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The range of the nanostations under ideal conditions are 5-10km+. I was thinking more of if you couldn't get internet ran to each entrance, then do a nanostation from each entrance to the nearest clear line of sight house to get it into the internet and then once you get IP addresses on each camera, then set up to bring them all together into your VMS at a central location.
 
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