Dahua Starlight Varifocal Turret (IPC-HDW5231R-Z)

[NordicCameras]

I'm also a fan... I even got my wife to check it out. Cool stuff!
Out of curiosity what is the setup for the system you're using? I understand you're using solar to power things, but I'm also curious how are you getting ethernet to the tree, etc.

Thanks Unfortunately these ospreys are leaving their nest soon and migrate to Africa. Only a week or two until this season is over.

There is actually nothing special to tell about the connection.
Basically, the stream is transferred through a mobile connection routed/firewalled by RPi to Ethernet and Camera. Great antennas are required, because these nests are in remote areas. The camera and mic combination is behind a relay, so we can switch it off, if not needed before birds have returned in April. If there would be a rainy / cloudy period, let's say more than a week, we could also manage through that without decreasing battery too much. No magic, a cat6 cable goes under the ground and is tightly set up to the tree. The camera has a wooden box with a roof. Everything in this setup are camouflaged as good as we can. We don't want to reveal this if there are people lost near this area.

I'm pretty sure I will upgrade this camera to gain more zoom. 5231's varifocal lense with 4x has been great but I think we want >10x PTZ next year

Andy, could you also get the Microseven M7WP-MIC and sell it? I can't find any seller in the EU...

Crazykiller, I ordered M7WP-MICs directly from their website to Europe.

 

[Crazykiller]

Thanks Unfortunately these ospreys are leaving their nest soon and migrate to Africa. Only a week or two until this season is over.

There is actually nothing special to tell about the connection.
Basically, the stream is transferred through a mobile connection routed/firewalled by RPi to Ethernet and Camera. Great antennas are required, because these nests are in remote areas. The camera and mic combination is behind a relay, so we can switch it off, if not needed before birds have returned in April. If there would be a rainy / cloudy period, let's say more than a week, we could also manage through that without decreasing battery too much. No magic, a cat6 cable goes under the ground and is tightly set up to the tree. The camera has a wooden box with a roof. Everything in this setup are camouflaged as good as we can. We don't want to reveal this if there are people lost near this area.

I'm pretty sure I will upgrade this camera to gain more zoom. 5231's varifocal lense with 4x has been great but I think we want >10x PTZ next year


Crazykiller, I ordered M7WP-MICs directly from their website to Europe.

Thanks for the hint. Do they have a European website, or do you mean their U.S. website? I had a look at their usps link for expected shipping costs, which would be more than $30. This wont worth for 1-3 mics. Would be easier to order from Andy with a cam, shouldn't affect the shipping cost of a camera that much

 

[NordicCameras]

No they don't and actually Amazon.com doesn't ship it either, argh. I paid it as I needed several mics fast (10d to Scandinavia)

If Andy could sell them, it would be great. PFM141 might be good, but it isn't waterproof.

 

[Aristotle]

With the camera sitting like that it will not be able to look down

Oh man, now that is an issue. I will be placing this camera on a 10 ft high Audio Video rack, trying to overlook the entire living room, through the PTZ function.
But if the camera cannot look down, that would i think be a problem..
Is there a similar camera, with equally good resolution quality and ptz function that can look/stoop down?

 

[flynreelow]

Oh man, now that is an issue. I will be placing this camera on a 10 ft high Audio Video rack, trying to overlook the entire living room, through the PTZ function.
But if the camera cannot look down, that would i think be a problem..
Is there a similar camera, with equally good resolution quality and ptz function that can look/stoop down?

the 5231 is not a PTZ camera

 

[Aristotle]

Oh, ok, so it seems i'll need to hunt for an equally good ptz camera.

 

[hidroela]

Offtopic:
Hey, I'm actually the person responsible of the streaming project mentioned above. Feel free to ask, if there is anything you want to know technically. PM or thread?

thanks for your kind words i will right now on vacation.

 

[giomania]

Oh man, now that is an issue. I will be placing this camera on a 10 ft high Audio Video rack, trying to overlook the entire living room, through the PTZ function.
But if the camera cannot look down, that would i think be a problem..
Is there a similar camera, with equally good resolution quality and ptz function that can look/stoop down?

Since it is indoors, If you can live with a fixed position and only use the zoom function, you could just use the "ball" part of the camera.

I think the Starlight PTZ's are $600, and are for outdoors.

Others may have better advice / information.

Mark


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[EMPIRETECANDY]

Since it is indoors, If you can live with a fixed position and only use the zoom function, you could just use the "ball" part of the camera.

I think the Starlight PTZ's are $600, and are for outdoors.

Others may have better advice / information.

Mark


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Just use a SD52C225U-HNI is enough.

 

[dzimm27]

I am a new owner of some HDW-5231R-Z cameras and an NVR5216-4KS2, just doing some testing at this point while I get ready to finalize install locations and put them up. One thing that jumped out at me is the gap between the camera "ball" and the mount when the camera is pointed straight out from the mounting point. It gets smaller as the camera is pointed more towards a 90 degree angle, but still probably leaves a void for bugs to get in and nest. In particular I am thinking of wasps that tend to like to create nests in these crevices. Has anyone had issues with this or found any sort of non-permanent filler for that void?

I ordered the junction boxes with them as well (purely for height offset from my eaves), but find it ironic that these junction boxes, made for running conduit to (which I won't be doing) would effectively be open air to the connections. Not really an issue in my situation but I will just want to plug the holes in my eaves with some foam pieces or something. The gap on the front of the camera plus the junction box sure does end up making a nice little spacious home for something if they were to wander in there though. For my front door I plan to mount one of them looking straight out about eye level above the doorbell so the void would be pretty wide open there. Probably not going to use the junction box there to keep it flush to the wall. Would want the void facing down most likely to avoid any moisture collection, but then any foam I would stick in there would be pretty visible. Mounting it facing 90 degrees on the side wall would look a bit odd unfortunately. Any tips there? I know several on here have used the mini dome model instead and if this does not work out well I would consider getting one of those on my next order and swapping this one out to a new location.

 

[woolfman72]

I am a new owner of some HDW-5231R-Z cameras and an NVR5216-4KS2, just doing some testing at this point while I get ready to finalize install locations and put them up. One thing that jumped out at me is the gap between the camera "ball" and the mount when the camera is pointed straight out from the mounting point. It gets smaller as the camera is pointed more towards a 90 degree angle, but still probably leaves a void for bugs to get in and nest. In particular I am thinking of wasps that tend to like to create nests in these crevices. Has anyone had issues with this or found any sort of non-permanent filler for that void?

I ordered the junction boxes with them as well (purely for height offset from my eaves), but find it ironic that these junction boxes, made for running conduit to (which I won't be doing) would effectively be open air to the connections. Not really an issue in my situation but I will just want to plug the holes in my eaves with some foam pieces or something. The gap on the front of the camera plus the junction box sure does end up making a nice little spacious home for something if they were to wander in there though. For my front door I plan to mount one of them looking straight out about eye level above the doorbell so the void would be pretty wide open there. Probably not going to use the junction box there to keep it flush to the wall. Would want the void facing down most likely to avoid any moisture collection, but then any foam I would stick in there would be pretty visible. Mounting it facing 90 degrees on the side wall would look a bit odd unfortunately. Any tips there? I know several on here have used the mini dome model instead and if this does not work out well I would consider getting one of those on my next order and swapping this one out to a new location.

If you run into this problem just get some of the spray foam and fill the gap. I have only had one of them up a few days and no issues yet.

 

[japjoe7]

View attachment 20528

A client from Finland put this camera on a tree, and make a live show now, lol. Here is the link.

Dude this is awesome!! One is eating a fish right now and the other is bobbing it's head falling asleep lol!

 

[giomania]

If you run into this problem just get some of the spray foam and fill the gap. I have only had one of them up a few days and no issues yet.

Wouldn't that expanding, sticky spray foam create a mess if you ever had to take it down to replace the Micro SD card?

I think someone mentioned caulking the gap once the camera position is finalized; might be less mess?

Mark


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[meth0ds]

Hello everyone,

I' need some help with mounting cameras onto stucco. I purchased the IPC-HDW5231R-Z camera and dahua PFA-137 mount (maybe i should have gone with PFB203W instead?).

My wife and I purchased a new construction home and had the builder run ethernet cables to the front of our home. It is enclosed in a 1 gang electrical box. Below are the locations of the Ethernet runs.

Any input is much appreciated. TIA!

 

[mat200]

Hello everyone,

I' need some help with mounting cameras onto stucco. I purchased the IPC-HDW5231R-Z camera and dahua PFA-137 mount (maybe i should have gone with PFB203W instead?).

My wife and I purchased a new construction home and had the builder run ethernet cables to the front of our home. It is enclosed in a 1 gang electrical box. Below are the locations of the Ethernet runs.

Any input is much appreciated. TIA!

View attachment 20588

VERY nice that your builder did this.

I have both and like both junction boxes. The PFB203W will give you more room to tuck the cabling in, and in some cases works better.

I used silicone caulk on the backs of the junction boxes when installed them. ( you would want to paint them before this, and perhaps touch them up after installing )

The 1 gang box as well as the base of the turret may give you enough room to push the pig tail in, and maybe worth seeing if that works as you will get a lower profile. Personally I would go with adding the junction box - and I would paint the entire unit to match your wall color.

 

[dzimm27]

Wouldn't that expanding, sticky spray foam create a mess if you ever had to take it down to replace the Micro SD card?

I think someone mentioned caulking the gap once the camera position is finalized; might be less mess?

Mark


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Even caulking it could be pretty messy, but if done with white might look pretty good. I was thinking along the lines of stuffing in a couple of high density foam pieces, perhaps cut from those round pipe insulation pieces you can buy from Home Depot/etc if nothing else. The black color would fit with the "void" look and would not yellow like white foam might. Have not mounted mine yet so may think of something else when the time comes.

 

[mat200]

Even caulking it could be pretty messy, but if done with white might look pretty good. I was thinking along the lines of stuffing in a couple of high density foam pieces, perhaps cut from those round pipe insulation pieces you can buy from Home Depot/etc if nothing else. The black color would fit with the "void" look and would not yellow like white foam might. Have not mounted mine yet so may think of something else when the time comes.

I was thinking some foam weather stripping followed with a little application of silicone caulk and smoothing it out nicely.

Frost King E/O 5/16 in. x 1/4 in. x 17 ft. Black EPDM Cellular Rubber Weatherstrip Tape-V25BK - The Home Depot

 

[tangent]

Hello everyone,

I' need some help with mounting cameras onto stucco. I purchased the IPC-HDW5231R-Z camera and dahua PFA-137 mount (maybe i should have gone with PFB203W instead?).

My wife and I purchased a new construction home and had the builder run ethernet cables to the front of our home. It is enclosed in a 1 gang electrical box. Below are the locations of the Ethernet runs.

Any input is much appreciated. TIA!

View attachment 20588

So the trick is going to be how you mount this. Neither the PFA-137 nor the PFB203W is designed to mount to a vertical in-wall electrical box. The PFB203W will mount to a horizontal 1 gang box.
Look the the spec sheets:
http://www.dahuasecurity.com/download/20150828axufgw.pdf
http://www.dahuasecurity.com/download/PFA137.pdf
http://www.dahuasecurity.com/download/DH-IPC-HDW5231R-Z_Datasheet_20170329.pdf

In the interest of keeping water and wasps out of your house the PFA-137 is appropriate. You'll probably end up mounting one screw to the junction box in-wall and the other 2 to the structure and then caulking it or possibly trying to mount all 3 holes to the structure. To seal the hole for the wire could use some electrical duct seal. Drilling a new hole in the PFA-137 junction box is also possible.

I'm assuming the box in the wall is plastic.

 

[mat200]

So the trick is going to be how you mount this. Neither the PFA-137 nor the PFB203W is designed to mount to a vertical in-wall electrical box. The PFB203W will mount to a horizontal 1 gang box...

Good reminders - I used a mason bit and drilled holes into the stud aligning the junction box PFA-137 in such a manner that 2 holes were into the stud and one hole less supported into the wall. ( I used longer construction screws for the screws into the stud )

Hopefully you can determine the location of one stud by the 1 gang box installed. ( normally on either side ) @meth0ds You may need to put a cover on the 1-gang box and then mount the junction boxes over that.

 

[meth0ds]

So the trick is going to be how you mount this. Neither the PFA-137 nor the PFB203W is designed to mount to a vertical in-wall electrical box. The PFB203W will mount to a horizontal 1 gang box.
Look the the spec sheets:
http://www.dahuasecurity.com/download/20150828axufgw.pdf
http://www.dahuasecurity.com/download/PFA137.pdf
http://www.dahuasecurity.com/download/DH-IPC-HDW5231R-Z_Datasheet_20170329.pdf

In the interest of keeping water and wasps out of your house the PFA-137 is appropriate. You'll probably end up mounting one screw to the junction box in-wall and the other 2 to the structure and then caulking it or possibly trying to mount all 3 holes to the structure. To seal the hole for the wire could use some electrical duct seal. Drilling a new hole in the PFA-137 junction box is also possible.

I'm assuming the box in the wall is plastic.

Good reminders - I used a mason bit and drilled holes into the stud aligning the junction box PFA-137 in such a manner that 2 holes were into the stud and one hole less supported into the wall. ( I used longer construction screws for the screws into the stud )

Hopefully you can determine the location of one stud by the 1 gang box installed. ( normally on either side ) @meth0ds You may need to put a cover on the 1-gang box and then mount the junction boxes over that.

Thanks for the input! The 1 gang boxes do have plates over them already, but I will make sure to plan properly and use the info you two gave me. I will post pictures when it's complete. Thanks so much!