NEED ADVICE - hopefully not asking too many questions...

[Philly Dave]

New to the site, wanted to say how impressed I am with it, especially your courtesy in dealing with all types of questions, as opposed to some forums where newbies are dismissed with a “check the archives” answer.


Here’s my deal…I have a second home in SC, which I keep alarmed and have 6 CCTV type cameras set up. These consist of several Weldex bullets and Bosch box cameras, all good but archaic by IP standards I suppose. I run these through an HP desktop set us as a DVR, with port forwarding allowing me to monitor the property while I’m at home in the Philly area. This is not a great setup, consists of 100 foot lengths of cable running on the floor throughout the home. I did have the foresight to have extra lengths of Cat5e run to each room when I had the house built in the early 2000’s, which terminate in the garage, and hopefully can be used now for IP.

I am quite concerned about the property, as several of the immediately adjacent properties are vacant / for sale and I don’t have the neighborhood watch comfort I used to enjoy.

Here are my questions, and please excuse me for being lengthy…this is a 1500 mile trip to change this system out, with a minimal time window and a small budget, so I want to get it right here and there, which is why I’m imploring your expertise.

Two story colonial type home, main concerns for visibility are front entrance / street area and rear yard which backs up to a wooded area.

1 - Nayr has me sold on the Dahua Starlight Varifocal Turret (IPC-HDW5231R-Z), so I’m thinking that one of these mounted under the garage overhang might sufficiently cover the front being that it has an adjustable focal length lens. With my almost nonexistent budget dwindling rapidly, I was hoping that Dahua might make a decent bullet I could use on the side and rear yards (2 cams)…recommendations welcome.

2 - What are the minimum specs that would be required to set up an NVR, would a Dell Optiplex 790 with 8gb W10 64bit work for the immediate future until I can upgrade to a 5040 i7 or so?

3 - Will the Dahua software (assuming it comes with such) be OK for now, or should I invest in Blue Iris? I am more interested in monitoring than recording.

4 - I have a Dahua HCVR5104H-04-S2 Dahua OEM HCVR5104H-S2 HD-CVI DVR that I bought a while back with some Dahua 720 HD bullets but never used any of it. Is this a worthless piece of junk or can I utilize it in some fashion? Mine only has 4 CCTV inputs and 1TB.

5 - Can I have my existing DVR CCTV setup running alongside of the IP setup on the same network, or is this unrealistic or impossible?.

6 - What equipment do I need to purchase to take with me…I figure the following at minimum –

Netgear ProSAFE switch GS108PE-300NAS to supply POE.

Cable tester and crimper – I have a spool of Cat 5e

Cameras

Comp for NVR or aforementioned Dahua NVR if it’s usable.

Again, sorry for the length, I have been studiously reading posts on this forum trying to garner as much info as possible

Any and all advice GREATLY APPRECIATED! I can even endure name calling or mild insults if my ignorance is too great for you to handle… I’ve been around for a while, have an above average background in LE, security cameras and networking, but still an idiot on too many occasions…

 

[tangent]

Don't expect to change the zoom/focus on the IPC-HDW5231R-Z often. It's meant to be set and forget, just a lot nicer than manually focusing on a ladder. It's more important to capture identifiable video than to have overview coverage of everything.

There are some less expensive fixed focus starlight cameras (not a ton less). starlight | IP Cam Talk

Your current CVI DVR can handle 2 ip cameras

If you go the PC route, Milestone essentials is free for 8 cameras and then very expensive beyond that. By comparison BlueIris is a pretty good deal.

 

[looney2ns]

Use this to help with determining your FOV. Camera Calculator / Design Software Keep PPF >100

Get everything you think you need, then set it up at home and run it for a week and get comfortable with it all before making a 1500 mile trek.

 

[Philly Dave]

Don't expect to change the zoom/focus on the IPC-HDW5231R-Z often. It's meant to be set and forget, just a lot nicer than manually focusing on a ladder. It's more important to capture identifiable video than to have overview coverage of everything.

There are some less expensive fixed focus starlight cameras (not a ton less). starlight | IP Cam Talk

Your current CVI DVR can handle 2 ip cameras

If you go the PC route, Milestone essentials is free for 8 cameras and then very expensive beyond that. By comparison BlueIris is a pretty good deal.

THANKS...appreciate the info...every little bit helps!

 

[Philly Dave]

Use this to help with determining your FOV. Camera Calculator / Design Software Keep PPF >100

Get everything you think you need, then set it up at home and run it for a week and get comfortable with it all before making a 1500 mile trek.

APPRECIATE THE INFO...I am using the software, fortunately I spent a lot of time going over placement and coverage zones with the existing setup, but the software you mentioned is absolutely helpful...unfortunately logistics prohibit me from employing your tip about evaluating the system and components prior to getting there, but if I arrive with a decent amount of info, that will be good ammunition to start the battle with...THANKS AGAIN...

 

[tangent]

I know your budget is limited but I'd say do it right and do it once.
What kind of processor does your dell have?

You're probably better off just selling the CVI dahua stuff you bought.

 

[Philly Dave]

I know your budget is limited but I'd say do it right and do it once.
What kind of processor does your dell have?

You're probably better off just selling the CVI dahua stuff you bought.

No argument here...the dell was just a spare lying around, it has a Sandy Bridge i5 2400 @ 3.10, I'm just going to dump this and grab a 790 MT w/ 2nd Gen i7-2600 3.4 GHz 8 GB 500 from a place I deal with for around 2, if you think that will be enough to at least get started with Blue Iris.

The Dahua CVI/DVR 1 TB was just a stopgap that I never used, I had grabbed it with 4 720HD cams, a Hanns monitor, and a 9 Channel 12V CCTV Distribution Box for a buck, it's practically new so I'll throw the whole bundle on Craigslist and try to get some of my money back.

What is your feeling as far as a switch and router...I was looking at a BV-Tech POE switch, are they decent? Also I'm currently using a Linksys 3200 N router, is it worth my while to upgrade that?

AGAIN, THANKS...I'M TRYING TO PUT AS MUCH TOGETHER AS POSSIBLE, INFO AND EQUIPMENT WISE...and hopefully you'll be available once I get there and start in on this project! (obviously that means when I post even more questions)

 

[tangent]

You can get an i5-6500 for around $300 on ebay

 

[JFire]

I'd just hook up the cams use dahua's pc nvr and smart pss and monitor via gdmss plus. If you're not recording. The alerts will push onto your phone and you can record/snapshot through the app as well.

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[aristobrat]

I'd just hook up the cams use dahua's pc nvr and smart pss and monitor via gdmss plus. If you're not recording. The alerts will push onto your phone and you can record/snapshot through the app as well.

Can the alerts that push to the phone have a snapshot with them? Or so they just give you the time/date and you have to go into the app and look for what happened?

 

[JFire]

Can the alerts that push to the phone have a snapshot with them? Or so they just give you the time/date and you have to go into the app and look for what happened?

You can set in the app whether you want snapshots, video playback or live view. Soon as you press the notification it opens to whatever you picked.

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[Philly Dave]

I'd just hook up the cams use dahua's pc nvr and smart pss and monitor via gdmss plus. If you're not recording. The alerts will push onto your phone and you can record/snapshot through the app as well.

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Thanks, definitely an option...I have to think the recording part through, wasn't as important to me before when I had 4-5 neighbors watching, now that I don't have that I might have to give that a little more weight than I did before...thanks again for taking the time to reply...

 

[JFire]

If you'd go the NVR route the dahua 4108 would do you just fine. Its cheap has all the IVS functions the only downside is 1 HD bay.

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