Dahua Starlight Varifocal Turret (IPC-HDW5231R-Z)

So either wait a month or spend an extra 12 dollars per cam..what is that 50-70 dollars? or save that money and have your install look like crap...
And because Amazon has made me someone who likes instant gratification we all know what the only option is. Hah

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So I guess nobody is drilling 3/4" holes into their walls to shove the pigtails into? I bought junction boxes/wall mounts for the cams on the walls and under eaves, but I bought the HDBW4231F-AS mini-wedges for the front and back door to have a slimmer profile. I'm not thrilled about drilling a 3/4" hole into stone, but I'd rather not have the extra depth of the junction box either.
 
So I guess nobody is drilling 3/4" holes into their walls to shove the pigtails into? I bought junction boxes/wall mounts for the cams on the walls and under eaves, but I bought the HDBW4231F-AS mini-wedges for the front and back door to have a slimmer profile. I'm not thrilled about drilling a 3/4" hole into stone, but I'd rather not have the extra depth of the junction box either.

I plan on drilling a 3/4 holes in mine for a neater install. If we ever buy a new house, I am not taking the cameras with me and it will be sold with the house. We would just buy all new camera and NVR system for the new house but I doubt we will ever move out of our current home for a very long time.

Not until all of our kids are done with school which is like 16 years away anyway and there will probably be better camera by then.
 
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Tip of the day: if it seems like a good idea to use a USB endoscope on the end of a fiberglass rod with a hook at the end to fish a very challenging wire through a wall....

Just use conduit on the outside of that wall.

2ffc1f2e36f116647f2ad3a220a15076.jpg


No really they was time I'll never get back. Oie.

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Great idea! I'll have to pick up a endoscope...

Q: waterproof cable boot - are those included with the Dahua cameras?

I have one Amcrest bullet which did not come with a cable boot.

i plan on getting a turret or two and am wondering if my cables are able to be pushed into the wall or attic (depending on the location) is it still necessary to go through the trouble of terminating the cat5 and running it inside the weather proof ends like in the picture above.

If it is inside the wall you will not need the weather proof / waterproof cable boot - I would use electrical tape to secure the terminated Cat5e/Cat6 RJ45 with the Jack from the Camera and use some silicone caulk to seal the hole.
 
Buy the dahua junction box designed for this purpose..a few extra bux for the camera to look nice is no big deal...
I agree that it does not bring the look many of you like. It serves its purpose. That box has 2 camera connections running through it. It poured last night. Storms called for all day today. All my connections are dry. When the weather changes and I can clean things up, I will. It's a quick fix to protect your investment.
 
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For fishing cable through walls, my father in law (spent many years installing alarm systems) has taught me many tricks for fishing cables. For my front porch camera install we drilled a hole through the brick from the outside and sent a metal fish tape down through that hole to a small hole cut in the wall near the floor on the other side, inside the house. Once it got to that access hole inside, we used a coat hanger bent with a hook to grab it and pull it through the wall. Then taped (very, very well) the Ethernet cable to the fish tape and just pulled it back through. Fairly simple and worked pretty well. If you have Insulation in the wall or a horizontal fire stop, things could be significantly more involved. I'll try and remember to get pictures of it tonight. Running cables through walls can be a hard concept to grasp if you have no building or previous cable running experience. A scope is definitely a good investment, just to see what's inside the wall.

Also, use a metal or fiberglass fish tape... Anything else and if it snags up, you can't push/force it through. But be careful thou, we found the ONE wall in our house with insulation, and as I was forcing the metal tape down it bent over and got itself in a loop. Even though it should have just pushed itself through.
1b4b25da57911edfa6d4dd09c0b91bf4.jpg


Tip of the day: if it seems like a good idea to use a USB endoscope on the end of a fiberglass rod with a hook at the end to fish a very challenging wire through a wall....

Just use conduit on the outside of that wall.

2ffc1f2e36f116647f2ad3a220a15076.jpg


No really they was time I'll never get back. Oie.

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Now that I've been shamed about my ugly install, I'm going to order some parts to make it look pretty. I need to get one junction box for under the soffit. I'm going to mount my rear camera to a light pole on that corner of the house. So I'm looking at the wall mount and one of the brackets listed below. The wall mount and that bracket should work together correct?
Dahua Technology PFA152 Pole Mount Bracket.
 
For fishing cable through walls, my father in law (spent many years installing alarm systems) has taught me many tricks for fishing cables. For my front porch camera install we drilled a hole through the brick from the outside and sent a metal fish tape down through that hole to a small hole cut in the wall near the floor on the other side, inside the house. Once it got to that access hole inside, we used a coat hanger bent with a hook to grab it and pull it through the wall. Then taped (very, very well) the Ethernet cable to the fish tape and just pulled it back through. Fairly simple and worked pretty well. If you have Insulation in the wall or a horizontal fire stop, things could be significantly more involved. I'll try and remember to get pictures of it tonight. Running cables through walls can be a hard concept to grasp if you have no building or previous cable running experience. A scope is definitely a good investment, just to see what's inside the wall.

Also, use a metal or fiberglass fish tape... Anything else and if it snags up, you can't push/force it through. But be careful thou, we found the ONE wall in our house with insulation, and as I was forcing the metal tape down it bent over and got itself in a loop. Even though it should have just pushed itself through.
Good tips!

I used a set of fiberglass fish rods from Amazon that screw together in sections. They worked pretty well..

What made this particularly difficult is that it is a decorative feature on the outside of the house. It was framed with 2x4s and there is a 1/2" gap between the 2x4s making the sides of the wall. So I had to navigate the rod through these non aligning gaps.

In reality I was silly. I have a 3/4" 6ft fish but i didn't think to use it here. Lol.

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Now that I've been shamed about my ugly install, I'm going to order some parts to make it look pretty. I need to get one junction box for under the soffit. I'm going to mount my rear camera to a light pole on that corner of the house. So I'm looking at the wall mount and one of the brackets listed below. The wall mount and that bracket should work together correct?
Dahua Technology PFA152 Pole Mount Bracket.
Personally I don't think your installation looks too terrible. Or at least it wouldn't if you paint the box the same color as the ceiling. You used one box, probably less than a couple dollars, to house wiring for two cameras. The only thing I'd add my to your install is a conduit to hide the wiring and paint on both the conduit and box to match whatever it's mounted to.
 
That was the plan. Between wet, cold, and windy, I was happy to just get them out and working. I already bought the paint.

I do want to mount the back camera better. So I would love to get the wall mount and have a method to mount it to the light pole. Hence the pole bracket.
 
What made this particularly difficult is that it is a decorative feature on the outside of the house. It was framed with 2x4s and there is a 1/2" gap between the 2x4s making the sides of the wall. So I had to navigate the rod through these non aligning gaps.

In reality I was silly. I have a 3/4" 6ft fish but i didn't think to use it here. Lol.

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Another tip, when drilling the hole on the outside, drill down at an angle. That way when you are shoving the fish tape into the hole, it's already traveling downwards and in the right direction. Another issue we had was when drilling, I thought I was through the brick into the wall cavity, but there was a second something or other... Wood I guess, that I had to drill through to get to the actual cavity. I thought for sure I was going to bust through the interior wall, but the father in law with all of his fancy measurements of the length of drill bit said to keep going. He was right... Again. Taking measurements and putting a piece of tape on the drill bit so you know where to stop drilling is super handy. Keeping the angle downward and straight while drilling helps when it comes time to send in the tape. Metal (and probably fiberglass) you can bend or keep super straight to go through both holes, even if there's a gap, and then when it hits the back side of the inside of the wall it'll bend slightly and start heading down.
 
Love wood. Easy to work with. An electrician friend recommended these for soffits from the Depot for $14. They are two piece and spread between the trusses. You only cut out a 4" hole and feed the spreader through. The J-Box attaches after and provides cable protection. The camera would screw right in to the J-box and cover the hole you cut.

15.5 cu. in. Retrofit Ceiling Fan Saf-T-Brace-0110000 - The Home Depot

SD
 
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I wanted to drill straight up through and feed the cat6. No go. Couldn't get to it. Between back problems and an unfinished attic space I kept having nightmares of falling through my ceiling crawling across rafters to try to work the line. Definitely the cleaner install. I'm going to have to run it through some conduit after the weather breaks to clean it up.
 
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Love wood. Easy to work with. An electrician friend recommended these for soffits from the Depot for $14. They are two piece and spread between the trusses. You only cut out a 4" hole and feed the spreader through. The J-Box attaches after and provides cable protection. The camera would screw right in to the J-box and cover the hole you cut.

15.5 cu. in. Retrofit Ceiling Fan Saf-T-Brace-0110000 - The Home Depot

SD

That seems like a great idea. I have used these to mount some ceiling fans and it was very easy. Should be easy to use in the soffit too