Hello from South Florida!

[chops101]

Hi All,
New here, found this forum via Amazon research and discussions. I'm sure this forum will be extremely helpful.
My situation? I'm an analog holdout. I've gone through several DVR's in the past 15+ years and managed to stay current.
Well, I've hit a brick wall now. Time to literally start over which is what I have planned out to do.
I want to commence with an NVR POE system and add to it , and phase out the analog for good. I've had mediocre success with my "mailbox cam" in identifying suspicious activity. My mailbox has been hit twice with vehicles and I have been paid twice thanks to the cam. I have it connected with cat5/A2D transformers as it is about a 120' run.

What I'm thinking about:
NVR 5232-16P-4KS2E to power up to 16 cams, expand 16 more with a POE sw
5241E-Z12E dedicated to LPR only. I have a fence around my property, I can get within 15' of the roadway and capture a good angle without much notice it's there.
And systematically, just start running cat5 / POE cameras around to replace what I have existing, over a short time.
Any advice for this starting point?

It would be great if anyone can recommend a POE camera that I can replace in my mailbox post; it cannot be any deeper than about 3.5". To get the analog camera to fit, I take the swivel base off. This is the second one I've gone through.
I made my mailbox by welding up 4x4 steel post, and running the cat5 inside, and out underground in conduit (pix below) And, cut a 3" hole in the .25" steel. I will abandon my mailbox cam if there isn't a suitable POE replacement.
Thanks all !

 

[bigredfish]

Welcome from Lake County.

 

[bbatman99]

I'm new here as well but welcome!

 

[Mike A.]

Nice job on that post. I think you probably could fit a Dahua or Hikvision turret cam in there without the base. Do you have inside dimensions?

The 5241-Z12 is a good choice.

 

[wittaj]

Welcome!

The Z12E is a workhorse for LPR. Many of us use that. You said you can get within 15 feet of the road - how far would you be from camera to a vehicle? If under 40 feet, the T2231T-ZS works well. And if you just use the ball portion of it and not the whole base plate, it might also be a good fit for your mailbox cam as well!

Since you are moving up to IP cameras, it is important to chase focal length over MP. Take a look at this thread which shows the most recommended/suggested camera here based on distance to IDENTIFY. These camera suggestions represent the best value in terms of cost and performance day and night.

The Importance of Focal Length over MP in camera selection

At the urging of several folks here, I created a thread to show the importance of focal length and how focal length can be more important than megapixels (MP). I mentioned some of this in the post regarding The Hookup’s latest video demonstrating different cameras, including one sold from a...

ipcamtalk.com

 

[samplenhold]

The Dahua T5442 cams are the current top performers that most folks here like. The diameter of the ball is just about 3.5" and the diameter of the lens area is 3.0". So that might work for your mailbox replacement. The front to back depth is about 3.5" with the cord coming out the back. But there is a 1/2" lip around the lens that you could play with. Of course this means that you would have to remove the cam ball from the mount.

EDIT: They do come in black or white.



For LPR ideas, see these threads:

New to LPR? Considerations Before You Begin

Thought I would throw together a post on my experiences so far with LPR in an effort to help others that are considering running down that rabbit hole. There are some practical considerations you should know about LPR. I am approaching this from the position of using Blue Iris and Plate...

ipcamtalk.com

LPR Case Study: Scoping, Planning, Proof of Concept, Installation, & Results

Introduction This thread is about my journey into LPR (License Plate Recognition) after having about 18 months of experience with IP cams and having quite a bit of my system finished. I am not an expert on LPR, or IP cameras either. But I have spent a lot of time working with my system and...

ipcamtalk.com

 

[TonyR]

Welcome to IPCT!

 

[gwminor48]

Hello, welcome to the forum.

 

[chops101]

Nice job on that post. I think you probably could fit a Dahua or Hikvision turret cam in there without the base. Do you have inside dimensions?

The 5241-Z12 is a good choice.

Hey thanks. The inside is 3 7/16 x 3 7/16. I could make the 3" hole a little bigger, and it then could possibly stick out a little at last resort, it's got a fantastic vantage point

 

[chops101]

Welcome!

The Z12E is a workhorse for LPR. Many of us use that. You said you can get within 15 feet of the road - how far would you be from camera to a vehicle? If under 40 feet, the T2231T-ZS works well. And if you just use the ball portion of it and not the whole base plate, it might also be a good fit for your mailbox cam as well!

Since you are moving up to IP cameras, it is important to chase focal length over MP. Take a look at this thread which shows the most recommended/suggested camera here based on distance to IDENTIFY. These camera suggestions represent the best value in terms of cost and performance day and night.

The Importance of Focal Length over MP in camera selection

At the urging of several folks here, I created a thread to show the importance of focal length and how focal length can be more important than megapixels (MP). I mentioned some of this in the post regarding The Hookup’s latest video demonstrating different cameras, including one sold from a...

ipcamtalk.com

Thanks I'll look into the T2231T-ZS also. To get the correct angle, Google Earth looks like ~ 40' minimum, but there is a streetlight 20 more feet away (60' total) that is my target, which from what I've been reading here helps.
I live halfway down on a dead-end street, so it is possible to get cars coming and going. But FL only has rear tags

 

[chops101]

The Dahua T5442 cams are the current top performers that most folks here like. The diameter of the ball is just about 3.5" and the diameter of the lens area is 3.0". So that might work for your mailbox replacement. The front to back depth is about 3.5" with the cord coming out the back. But there is a 1/2" lip around the lens that you could play with. Of course this means that you would have to remove the cam ball from the mount.

EDIT: They do come in black or white.

View attachment 152566

For LPR ideas, see these threads:

New to LPR? Considerations Before You Begin

Thought I would throw together a post on my experiences so far with LPR in an effort to help others that are considering running down that rabbit hole. There are some practical considerations you should know about LPR. I am approaching this from the position of using Blue Iris and Plate...

ipcamtalk.com

LPR Case Study: Scoping, Planning, Proof of Concept, Installation, & Results

Introduction This thread is about my journey into LPR (License Plate Recognition) after having about 18 months of experience with IP cams and having quite a bit of my system finished. I am not an expert on LPR, or IP cameras either. But I have spent a lot of time working with my system and...

ipcamtalk.com

Thanks! This helps. I have to purchase cams anyway, and if I can take one apart to experiment that would be great. If it didn't work out for the mailbox, there are 14 other positions I could find for it.....

 

[wittaj]

Thanks I'll look into the T2231T-ZS also. To get the correct angle, Google Earth looks like ~ 40' minimum, but there is a streetlight 20 more feet away (60' total) that is my target, which from what I've been reading here helps.
I live halfway down on a dead-end street, so it is possible to get cars coming and going. But FL only has rear tags

Go more with what gives you the best angle.

Here is my Z12E at 175 feet with just the built-in infrared - no streetlights or houselights nearby.