Looking for advice on my install locations.

[Ri22o]

After posting my thread on where/whether to install the 4K-X I realized I may need to adjust the locations of some of my cameras and with Andy's sale coming up I wanted to get some opinions so I can buy any new hardware I may need.

A little about where I live:
My street is lit primarily by coach lights on houses; it has some light but I am not fortunate enough to have a street light in front of my house. I am not in a "bad" part of town and it's usually pretty quiet. We don't really have many issues in my neighborhood but I am of the mindset of better now, than later. There have been a small handful of times I have used my video captures: one was for vandalism to my truck and other vehicles in the neighborhood, another for neighbor friends when a neighbor boy hit their daughter, a neighbor had their mailbox backed into, etc. I enjoy messing with things like this as a hobby, want to deter people and make them move on from trying anything on my property, and it is also nice to be able to check in on my daughter when she is outside.

Let me know if you need more information/details and I don't know yet if I regret making this post.

See my camera details and location notes below.

Locations and camera specs:
Front Porch - 3.6mm
- RECOGNIZE
- IDENTIFY (right conditions)
- I am considering leaving this as another view of the front porch, even with the potential of adding a wedge down below.





Front Door - 3.6mm
- RECOGNIZE
- IDENTIFY (right conditions)
- Overview of the front porch, front door, and any packages.





Front Yard, North - Varifocal at 3.6mm
- DETECT
- OBSERVE
- With this being set to 3.6mm I am considering replacing it with a fixed 3.6mm.





Front Yard - 2.8mm
- RECOGNIZE
- IDENTIFY (right conditions)
- Reasonable overview of the front yard and sidewalk.





Driveway - Varifocal @ 5mm
- RECOGNIZE
- IDENTIFY
- I am considering replacing this with a 6mm.
- I am considering removing this if I install a camera above the single garage door.





Driveway, South - 3.6mm
- RECOGNIZE
- IDENTIFY (right conditions)
- 4K-X
- Will be used for color footage at night to assist with the other driveway cameras and LPRs.




Front Yard, South - 3.6mm
- DETECT
- OBSERVE
- Was initially used as an overview camera, but with possibly adding the 4K-X down below I don't know if this location is needed any more.
- Could be moved to Front Yard, North to replace the varifocal @ 3.6mm.





Service Door - 3.6mm
- RECOGNIZE
- IDENTIFY (right conditions)
- Used to monitor the gate and service door.
- Will likely adjust coverage on the service door if I install a wedge down below.





Looking to Add:
5442 above double garage door, looking down driveway.
- 3.6mm?
- With possibly replacing Front Yard, North with a fixed 3.6mm this could possibly be a varifocal.
- For IDENTIFY people coming up driveway or walking around cars.

5442 above single garage door, looking down driveway.
- 3.6mm?
- With considering moving Driveway to this position this could possibly be a varifocal.
- For IDENTIFY people coming up driveway or walking around cars.

Wedge at front door.
- For IDENTIFY people approaching door.

Wedge at service door.
- For IDENTIFY people approaching door.

Wedge at front gate?
- Would this be beneficial for monitoring access through the gate?


Here are install pictures of my various locations. There are notes on the pictures showing the camera name and details of the camera in that location.

 

[Ri22o]

I am sort of surprised at the lack of posts that should be telling me what I am doing wrong.

 

[sebastiantombs]

My comment is that if you're happy with how things are working, great! I would get another camera or two on the garage door/driveway area mounted at the top of the overhead doors. I'd also want something much lower to cover the front door approach and get solid ID shots. With the stone columns it's going to be next to impossible to get something lower for front approach ID shots so longer focal lengths on the soffit mounted cameras is the compromise there.

 

[Ri22o]

My comment is that if you're happy with how things are working, great! I would get another camera or two on the garage door/driveway area mounted at the top of the overhead doors. I'd also want something much lower to cover the front door approach and get solid ID shots. With the stone columns it's going to be next to impossible to get something lower for front approach ID shots so longer focal lengths on the soffit mounted cameras is the compromise there.

True, but until something happens and I need the footage then I don't know if I am happy or not.

Currently, my plan is:

• Move the Driveway camera down to either the facia above the single bay door or under the header and install one similarly on the double bay door. However, the double bay has more options and I may actually install it on the right wall corner depending on what the coach light will allow. These will both be varifocals.
• Install a wedge at the front door.
• Replace the Front Yard varifocal with a 3.6mm since that is what it is currently set to. (this varifocal will move to driveway duty)
• Install a wedge at the service door.

Notes/questions:

• For the front door wedge would it be better for a 2mp or the 5mp? I leave the can lights on at 20% all night now so there is light (turn to 100% with motion), but I didn't know if it would be better to just plan for low light and use the 2mp. For reference the two 5442s on the front porch are now set to night color and get good captures.
• Yea, the stone columns present some issues, but I am hoping the front door wedge (2.8mm) being at ID height is sufficient for anyone rounding the corner and approaching the door. Worst case I could maybe put an incognito cam in the tree/flower bed at some point.
• I am going to remove the upper cam that covers the driveway/front yard and see how I like having just the lower 4K-X for some overview action. I figure I can always add it back if I am not seeing enough of what I want to see.

 

[wittaj]

You have lots of downspouts, so plenty of opportunity to run the wire behind them and bring several cameras lower.

 

[TonyR]

I commend you for the work you've done thus far and concur with "Sea Bass" above.
That being said, I have 2 comments:

• Personally, I would consider myself fortunate to NOT have a street light in front of my house....I like it dark when I go to bed, I don't want a light shining in my bedroom window. Besides, street lights do little to discourage door checkers, etc.
• Speaking of lights, upgrading/improving surveillance is great but I'd LOVE to see some enthusiasm about lighting that flag in your front yard if you intend to leave it up all night! A couple of LED stake lights or landscape lights will do wonders.

 

[Ri22o]

I commend you for the work you've done thus far and concur with "Sea Bass" above.
That being said, I have 2 comments:

• Personally, I would consider myself fortunate to NOT have a street light in front of my house....I like it dark when I go to bed, I don't want a light shining in my bedroom window. Besides, street lights do little to discourage door checkers, etc.
• Speaking of lights, upgrading/improving surveillance is great but I'd LOVE to see some enthusiasm about lighting that flag in your front yard if you intend to leave it up all night! A couple of LED stake lights or landscape lights will do wonders.

It's definitely a love/hate for the neighbors with the street lights. Fortunately my bedroom is on the back of the house so it wouldn't be too much of a burden for me.
The flag is definitely lit at night. I have a solar spot light mounted to the mailbox.

 

[TonyR]

The flag is definitely lit at night. I have a solar spot light mounted to the mailbox.

oh, I see it now on the sidewalk side....good for you, man!

 

[Ri22o]

oh, I see it now on the sidewalk side....good for you, man!

I would like something more substantial to light it but this was the least invasive option for now.

 

[TonyR]

I would like something more substantial to light it but this was the least invasive option for now.

FWIW, those "el cheapo grande" LED's I linked post #6 are from HD, were only less than $10 each in case someone gets sticky fingered and have been doing great for about 5 years now. I did run a bead of outdoor-rated clear silicone sealant on the front where the clear lens meets the dark green plastic after one of the first pair lasted barely a year after water got in.

They're 120VAC, switched by a photocell mounted on top of a 2'x3" box in the flower bed with a female 120VAC duplex receptacle with weather-proof cover where they are plugged in. I had conduit run from the garage to the that box when I had the flagpole erected.

As you likely know, there's also a bunch of low voltage, LED landscape lights that will likely perform the same function.

 

[Ri22o]

FWIW, those "el cheapo grande" LED's I linked post #6 are from HD, were only less than $10 each in case someone gets sticky fingered and have been doing great for about 5 years now. I did run a bead of outdoor-rated clear silicone sealant on the front where the clear lens meets the dark green plastic after one of the first pair lasted barely a year after water got in.

They're 120VAC, switched by a photocell mounted on top of a 2'x3" box in the flower bed with a female 120VAC duplex receptacle with weather-proof cover where they are plugged in. I had conduit run from the garage to the that box when I had the flagpole erected.

As you likely know, there's also a bunch of low voltage, LED landscape lights that will likely perform the same function.

I just need to get conduit ran to my mailbox. I like it being lit from the street side and right now I don't want to tear the yard up any more than I need to. Ideally I would want to run low voltage out there and get a proper light shining on it.

 

[sebastiantombs]

My problems with solar powered lights are that the batteries are far too small to support them overnight during the winter and that the solar panel they come with are severely under sized for the charge rates needed. I'm testing an 18 watt, 6 volt, panel to charge 18650's in the lights I use. I've already switched the batteries from 1750mah to 3000mah and added an auxiliary charger, timer controlled, to them to get them to stay lit all night. I plan on dual 18650, 3450mah, batteries in each one just to make sure. I'm not yet convinced the 18 watt panel can handle the load though. Actual output, at best, has been 30 watt hours in a day, and that's a bright sunny day.

 

[Ri22o]

My problems with solar powered lights are that the batteries are far too small to support them overnight during the winter and that the solar panel they come with are severely under sized for the charge rates needed. I'm testing an 18 watt, 6 volt, panel to charge 18650's in the lights I use. I've already switched the batteries from 1750mah to 3000mah and added an auxiliary charger, timer controlled, to them to get them to stay lit all night. I plan on dual 18650, 3450mah, batteries in each one just to make sure. I'm not yet convinced the 18 watt panel can handle the load though. Actual output, at best, has been 30 watt hours in a day, and that's a bright sunny day.

I just put the flag pole up over the summer and the panel and battery were able to do a reasonable job of keeping up, but dark time was a lot shorter then than it is now. I have thought about trying to add capacity but for as cheap as the light was, and whether the panel would be able to charge it during the day, I didn't know if it would be worth it.

 

[sebastiantombs]

I'm looking at it as a technical challenge to find the right balance of solar capacity to handle what is a relatively small load of lighting. I'm trying to avoid 12, 18 or 24 volt panels because then a buck converter is needed to drop the voltage down for the 18650 chargers. That means more inefficiency in what seems to be a very inefficient system to begin with. Solar may have come a long way, but it has a much longer way to go to become anything close to a viable solution. My experience, so far, seems to indicate a solar panel needs to be three or four times the required capacity to even approach being able to meet the demand. The lights, being relatively cheap, make it a little less painful to experiment.

 

[Flintstone61]

Looks Good so far. anything watching the back windows/doors?

 

[Ri22o]

Looks Good so far. anything watching the back windows/doors?

Yea, I have coverage back there but getting advice on anything behind the house is not relevant right now because I will be adding a deck with a roof in the Spring. Rear coverage is adequate right now though but I will be able to get some better angles with being able to hang hardware from the lower roof.

I do plan to swap out the overheard Lorex camera at the rear sliding door/porch for a 2.8mm 5442 and possibly install a wedge.

 

[Ri22o]

Any suggestions for mitigating the backlight with the wedge at the front door? Installing on the other side (hinge side) of the door is not an option.

The video captures I have would likely be passable, but half of the face is lit and the other half silhouetted. It doesn't help this is an overcast day, but footage should be usable regardless of weather.



Currently using no backlight compensation with these settings:

 

[wittaj]

I would try lowering brightness and gamma below 50.

And then if that doesn't help, try backlight WDR at a very low number like 4 or 5

 

[mat200]

After posting my thread on where/whether to install the 4K-X I realized I may need to adjust the locations of some of my cameras and with Andy's sale coming up I wanted to get some opinions so I can buy any new hardware I may need.

A little about where I live:
My street is lit primarily by coach lights on houses; it has some light but I am not fortunate enough to have a street light in front of my house. I am not in a "bad" part of town and it's usually pretty quiet. We don't really have many issues in my neighborhood but I am of the mindset of better now, than later. There have been a small handful of times I have used my video captures: one was for vandalism to my truck and other vehicles in the neighborhood, another for neighbor friends when a neighbor boy hit their daughter, a neighbor had their mailbox backed into, etc. I enjoy messing with things like this as a hobby, want to deter people and make them move on from trying anything on my property, and it is also nice to be able to check in on my daughter when she is outside.

Let me know if you need more information/details and I don't know yet if I regret making this post.

See my camera details and location notes below.

Locations and camera specs:
Front Porch - 3.6mm
- RECOGNIZE
- IDENTIFY (right conditions)
- I am considering leaving this as another view of the front porch, even with the potential of adding a wedge down below.

View attachment 145899
View attachment 145915


Front Door - 3.6mm
- RECOGNIZE
- IDENTIFY (right conditions)
- Overview of the front porch, front door, and any packages.

View attachment 145898
View attachment 145914


Front Yard, North - Varifocal at 3.6mm
- DETECT
- OBSERVE
- With this being set to 3.6mm I am considering replacing it with a fixed 3.6mm.

View attachment 145900
View attachment 145917


Front Yard - 2.8mm
- RECOGNIZE
- IDENTIFY (right conditions)
- Reasonable overview of the front yard and sidewalk.

View attachment 145902
View attachment 145916


Driveway - Varifocal @ 5mm
- RECOGNIZE
- IDENTIFY
- I am considering replacing this with a 6mm.
- I am considering removing this if I install a camera above the single garage door.

View attachment 145897
View attachment 145913


Driveway, South - 3.6mm
- RECOGNIZE
- IDENTIFY (right conditions)
- 4K-X
- Will be used for color footage at night to assist with the other driveway cameras and LPRs.

View attachment 145896


Front Yard, South - 3.6mm
- DETECT
- OBSERVE
- Was initially used as an overview camera, but with possibly adding the 4K-X down below I don't know if this location is needed any more.
- Could be moved to Front Yard, North to replace the varifocal @ 3.6mm.

View attachment 145901
View attachment 145918


Service Door - 3.6mm
- RECOGNIZE
- IDENTIFY (right conditions)
- Used to monitor the gate and service door.
- Will likely adjust coverage on the service door if I install a wedge down below.

View attachment 145911
View attachment 145919


Looking to Add:
5442 above double garage door, looking down driveway.
- 3.6mm?
- With possibly replacing Front Yard, North with a fixed 3.6mm this could possibly be a varifocal.
- For IDENTIFY people coming up driveway or walking around cars.

5442 above single garage door, looking down driveway.
- 3.6mm?
- With considering moving Driveway to this position this could possibly be a varifocal.
- For IDENTIFY people coming up driveway or walking around cars.

Wedge at front door.
- For IDENTIFY people approaching door.

Wedge at service door.
- For IDENTIFY people approaching door.

Wedge at front gate?
- Would this be beneficial for monitoring access through the gate?


Here are install pictures of my various locations. There are notes on the pictures showing the camera name and details of the camera in that location.

View attachment 145903

View attachment 145904

View attachment 145905

View attachment 145906

View attachment 145907

View attachment 145908

View attachment 145909

View attachment 145910

Looking real good in general ..

For the mail box I would try to get a nice tighter view of anyone coming to this area .. remember you want good pixel density and quality of pixels on target .. a lower angle perhaps also ..
saw that you mentioned running conduit out to the mail box .. so perhaps you have plans to get the coverage I would like to see that way ..

 

[Ri22o]

Looking real good in general ..

For the mail box I would try to get a nice tighter view of anyone coming to this area .. remember you want good pixel density and quality of pixels on target .. a lower angle perhaps also ..
saw that you mentioned running conduit out to the mail box .. so perhaps you have plans to get the coverage I would like to see that way ..

View attachment 146530

That's not my mailbox.

For the time being I have pulled that camera down in favor of the lower position over the driveway using the 4K-X.