Review-OEM Loryta IPC-T5442T-ZE Varifocal 4mp camera (Dahua)

[Jgree32]

Do I need to buy junction boxes with these if installing in soffit of roof?
Appears from pics they come with a bracket.

 

[samplenhold]

Do I need to buy junction boxes with these if installing in soffit of roof?
Appears from pics they come with a bracket.

That is not a bracket. It is part of the mounting ring which holds the cam in place. It is a good idea to isolate the connectors from water. One way to do that is to use a waterproof mounting box. Another way is to stuff the connection back up into the soffit. I prefer a box.

Read the Cliff Notes.

 

[Jgree32]

That is not a bracket. It is part of the mounting ring which holds the cam in place. It is a good idea to isolate the connectors from water. One way to do that is to use a waterproof mounting box. Another way is to stuff the connection back up into the soffit. I prefer a box.

Read the Cliff Notes.

Thanks for pointing me to that. Good read with lots of info.
Reading it is making me reconsider my installation. Was going to have someone run cat6 wiring to 6/7 locations around house with boxes under roof soffit. House is 2 story though and cameras would be ~20ft off ground.
I'm guessing I should consider coming out of soffit and down side of the brick to mount junction box(es) more like 10ft off the ground?

 

[Funkyduck]

Is this the camera you are talking about? You mentioned Dahua, but I don't understand why the brand name is different:

184.48US $ 6% OFF|Nieuwe Model IPC T5442T ZE 4MP Starlight Ir Varifocale Oogbol Netwerk Camera, Gratis Verzending Dhl|Beveiligingscamera´s| - AliExpress

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

nl.aliexpress.com

 

[samplenhold]

I'm guessing I should consider coming out of soffit and down side of the brick to mount junction box(es) more like 10ft off the ground?

Before doing all of that, you really need a plan that is tailored to your needs. You need to define your requirements, what are you trying to see and where. Cams mounted at 10ft are not going to get a good face shot. Cams at ten or twenty feet are fine for an overview of the area and maybe will give some info on vehicles and where a perp came from or went after. But at that height they will not be able to get you any face info.

Each cam's position has a purpose. Example: cams at the front door are there to give good face shots in an attempt to ID the perp. Ideally mounted at or just below face height. Cams covering a driveway are could serve a purpose of getting good face shots of door checkers or someone breaking into you car. In general we like to see two cams covering a driveway, one on each side of the garage door in a crossing pattern, zoomed in enough to see a face with enough pixels for an ID, mounted no higher than seven feet.

Too many folks that come here for advice have already run wires and some even installed cams in positions that will not give them the kind of info that is needed to identify, capture and convict a perp. Then something happens and they have video of what happened but don't have good enough shots of the perp's face.

 

[samplenhold]

You mentioned Dahua, but I don't understand why the brand name is different:

See this thread:

Loryta Brand on Amazon Shop

Hey guys, This year Amazon's policy will required a registered brand to sell on their online shop ,so we registered this brand as the selling brand, all products are still the dahua oem products. We will make this changes on all new cams/listing from April.24th. Future will paste a Loryta...

ipcamtalk.com

 

[Jgree32]

Before doing all of that, you really need a plan that is tailored to your needs. You need to define your requirements, what are you trying to see and where. Cams mounted at 10ft are not going to get a good face shot. Cams at ten or twenty feet are fine for an overview of the area and maybe will give some info on vehicles and where a perp came from or went after. But at that height they will not be able to get you any face info.

Each cam's position has a purpose. Example: cams at the front door are there to give good face shots in an attempt to ID the perp. Ideally mounted at or just below face height. Cams covering a driveway are could serve a purpose of getting good face shots of door checkers or someone breaking into you car. In general we like to see two cams covering a driveway, one on each side of the garage door in a crossing pattern, zoomed in enough to see a face with enough pixels for an ID, mounted no higher than seven feet.

Too many folks that come here for advice have already run wires and some even installed cams in positions that will not give them the kind of info that is needed to identify, capture and convict a perp. Then something happens and they have video of what happened but don't have good enough shots of the perp's face.

I appreciate it. I had a plan, I thought...
I used the website mentioned here that integrates with google maps to plan camera placement. I basically want coverage around the entire house.
I'm even now considering adding a dedicated camera just for LPR.
I feel the only thing lacking is the camera height I would have would make Face captures impossible mostly except front door.
Just not sure it's worth running all these cords down side of house to lower the cameras. They could be brought as low as I want. At some point it's easy for people to mess with them too though.
Glad I haven't ran wires yes as you said. I came about this camera by messaging Andy for recommendations.

 

[samplenhold]

Just not sure it's worth running all these cords down side of house to lower the cameras. They could be brought as low as I want. At some point it's easy for people to mess with them too though.

I do not recommend blindly doing that. The best recommendation I was given when I joined this forum was NOT to make a plan and buy everything and install it all at once. I was told to buy ONE VARIFOCAL cam and use it to test and define my plan. That one cam has been mounted on a test rig (see Cliff Notes) and moved around my property many, many times. It allowed me to test a position BEFORE running cable and mounting, even before purchasing other cams. Like you, I had a plan. I thought it was a good plan. But after using a test rig I soon realized it sucked. I knew nothing about cams. But I did learn from here and by testing ideas. In two years my plan has evolved as my knowledge and experience grew. My original plan was six cams. I now have 18 cams of ten different models. I also have five more waiting to be installed (waiting for temps to go down a little so I can run cable).

Using a test rig to compare three cam's field of views and coverage at the driveway. This also allowed me to decide to replace the older driveway cams with a newer model that had much better night color performance.

Using the varifocal test cam allowed me to gauge what fixed lens cam would work in a specific place.

Don't jump into LPR right away. Work your system first. LPR is part art and part science. See the LPR forum about this.

 

[looney2ns]

I appreciate it. I had a plan, I thought...
I used the website mentioned here that integrates with google maps to plan camera placement. I basically want coverage around the entire house.
I'm even now considering adding a dedicated camera just for LPR.
I feel the only thing lacking is the camera height I would have would make Face captures impossible mostly except front door.
Just not sure it's worth running all these cords down side of house to lower the cameras. They could be brought as low as I want. At some point it's easy for people to mess with them too though.
Glad I haven't ran wires yes as you said. I came about this camera by messaging Andy for recommendations.

 

[Jgree32]

I like the test rig idea
May get fun trying to rig one up for 20ft+ in the air though.

Guess I'd like to see what people do for 2 story installs. I get 20ft high isn't optimal at all
But running wiring/conduit down side of house isn't a great look either.

 

[samplenhold]

But running wiring/conduit down side of house isn't a great look either.

I understand. Maybe pics of your house posted here would give some folks the chance to come up with something creative for you. The other possibility is to look into having a low-voltage professional give you a bid on running the cables, stipulating no external conduit. Is it possible to come through the wall into a room and use a ethernet jack in the room?

 

[Jgree32]

I understand. Maybe pics of your house posted here would give some folks the chance to come up with something creative for you. The other possibility is to look into having a low-voltage professional give you a bid on running the cables, stipulating no external conduit. Is it possible to come through the wall into a room and use a ethernet jack in the room?

House has no Ethernet essentially....
Only 1 room came wired.
I'll try to get a pic. Large brick 2 story though.
Certainly willing to pay a pro. I already got estimate to run wiring to various points around house through attic and terminate at eaves.
That was prior to considering mounting under the soffit too high though.
So I'm back to drawing board.

 

[flynreelow]

House has no Ethernet essentially....
Only 1 room came wired.
I'll try to get a pic. Large brick 2 story though.
Certainly willing to pay a pro. I already got estimate to run wiring to various points around house through attic and terminate at eaves.
That was prior to considering mounting under the soffit too high though.
So I'm back to drawing board.

lets see that first quote u got....

 

[Jgree32]

I

lets see that first quote u got....

Don't have it in PDF or anything.
But it was $1050 which I deemed reasonable.
Run 2 wires up smurf tube to attic from master wiring box.
Attic would contain 16 port POE switch
Cat 6 Wiring to 6 points around house terminated under soffit.
Wiring ran to entryway fished between brick wall and wood framing. This wall doubles as office wall as well
So he would also run Ethernet wiring to downstairs office
Also run a Ethernet drop to upstairs media room which currently is only room in house that house any Ethernet but it's on exterior wall and not the wall I need it on for media cabinet.

 

[samplenhold]

upstairs media room which currently is only room in house that house any Ethernet but it's on exterior wall and not the wall I need it on for media cabinet.

It is never easy... My wife says the phrase she hears most from me is "This should be so simple. Why does it always have to be complicated? Why can't it ever just be easy?"

 

[looney2ns]

Anything worth doing is worth doing correctly. Buy once cry once.

 

[looney2ns]

I

Don't have it in PDF or anything.
But it was $1050 which I deemed reasonable.
Run 2 wires up smurf tube to attic from master wiring box.
Attic would contain 16 port POE switch
Cat 6 Wiring to 6 points around house terminated under soffit.
Wiring ran to entryway fished between brick wall and wood framing. This wall doubles as office wall as well
So he would also run Ethernet wiring to downstairs office
Also run a Ethernet drop to upstairs media room which currently is only room in house that house any Ethernet but it's on exterior wall and not the wall I need it on for media cabinet.

I would not put a POE switch or any other electronics in an attic. They need to be in a conditioned space.

 

[Jgree32]

I would not put a POE switch or any other electronics in an attic. They need to be in a conditioned space.

I'm not that worried about it. I'll put a fan on it if I need to. Attic and house is well insulated. Temperature extremes aren't that bad
Getting all camera wiring to any other central location would be a nightmare.

 

[David L]

I'm not that worried about it. I'll put a fan on it if I need to. Attic and house is well insulated. Temperature extremes aren't that bad
Getting all camera wiring to any other central location would be a nightmare.

So I originally had the same thought of putting a switch in the attic. Found out real quick it was not a good idea, thanks to many here with years of experience, some even first having equip. in their attics which did not last. First trying to find a switch (with a fan) that could handle the heat was limited, second add humidity, the switch would not of lasted long where I live since heat and high humidity is our enemy here and third I forgot about Internet Equip. (Modem), Router (pfSense on Qotom Mini PC) and UPS for power outages. If you don't have a generator, there will be outages. If you can live without power that is find but can you live with the fact that your equipment got fried with a low voltage hit, or surge. I did not have a central location in our house for this equipment, but found out that is not a problem, just had some longer cable runs. The wife gave me , enough space in our Master Closet to put a rack on our shelf. Thank You Wife Anyway, below is my setup. The closet is actually at one end of our house but all cables are well within the 300 foot limit, actually longest run is less than 100 feet, so unless you have a 10,000+ sq ft. house you are good. I am extremely pleased with this location, even have an A/C vent in the closet in which I replaced the register so I can direct the air flow towards the equipment. Still need to dress some cables but this location was also perfect to be able to tie my Konnected alarm system (Which Rocks!) into my network.




But if you don't take our advise I would look into the Edge Switches, they can handle up to 140° F, which attics can easily see close to these temps. We even have Radiant Barrier in our attic which we had installed so our temps are much lower than without so I thought I had a good case, but again I did not think about all the other equipment (Router, Modem (recommended UPS) which you will have so it is much easier to manage in a closet than in an attic. Oh and we did not have any Ethernet wiring either in our house.

Also, when I was looking for racks, they were not cheap and most were much more than i needed. Found these guys to have great prices, you will want a patch panel:

Computer Network Accessories, Inc.: Discount computer and electronic accessories

Buy cheap computer parts, cables and computer tools from CNAweb.com. We offer cat6, cat5e cables and other network accessories at the most competitive prices.

www.cnaweb.com

HTH

 

[Jgree32]

So I originally had the same thought of putting a switch in the attic. Found out real quick it was not a good idea, thanks to many here with years of experience, some even first having equip. in their attics which did not last. First trying to find a switch (with a fan) that could handle the heat was limited, second add humidity, the switch would not of lasted long where I live since heat and high humidity is our enemy here and third I forgot about Internet Equip. (Modem), Router (pfSense on Qotom Mini PC) and UPS for power outages. If you don't have a generator, there will be outages. If you can live without power that is find but can you live with the fact that your equipment got fried with a low voltage hit, or surge. I did not have a central location in our house for this equipment, but found out that is not a problem, just had some longer cable runs. The wife gave me , enough space in our Master Closet to put a rack on our shelf. Thank You Wife Anyway, below is my setup. The closet is actually at one end of our house but all cables are well within the 300 foot limit, actually longest run is less than 100 feet, so unless you have a 10,000+ sq ft. house you are good. I am extremely pleased with this location, even have an A/C vent in the closet in which I replaced the register so I can direct the air flow towards the equipment. Still need to dress some cables but this location was also perfect to be able to tie my Konnected alarm system (Which Rocks!) into my network.


View attachment 69387

But if you don't take our advise I would look into the Edge Switches, they can handle up to 140° F, which attics can easily see close to these temps. We even have Radiant Barrier in our attic which we had installed so our temps are much lower than without so I thought I had a good case, but again I did not think about all the other equipment (Router, Modem (recommended UPS) which you will have so it is much easier to manage in a closet than in an attic. Oh and we did not have any Ethernet wiring either in our house.

HTH

Ideally it would be air conditioned.
I just don't have luxury of running all wiring down to master closet. Existing tube is not gonna handle all that wiring.
Only option would be to try to run into upstairs kids closet with all camera wiring and place switch there. From there id have to go back into attic and down tube to master closet where router lies.
Router and modem will live in air condition.
I think I can solve the temp problem if encountered. I'll read into spec sheets of switch I get to see what ambient temps they are rated for. I design circuit cards for work. Even standard commerical IC parts are good to 85C junction temps. A switch isn't gonna produce the heat of a router. I think it can be managed but I appreciate the insight.
Definitely glad I haven't run cables yet as I continue to rethink this install.