Looking for a CCTV system...

[BigJohnny]

I've been looking around for a CCTV system to monitor a property, but there are almost endless amounts of different systems.

So I thought I'd ask the masses if anyone has experience with a particular brand.

I'd like something HD or at least enough resolution that it doesn't look like I'm taking pictures of bigfoot and with some kind of IR or night vision.

Also the ability to view the feeds from my laptop and/or phone because it doesn't do any good to monitor a property if you have to be there to see the camera feeds.

Pan and tilt would be a HUGE bonus as well.

I'm currently poking around on alibaba since it's become my new favorite place lol.

 

[BigJohnny]

Grabbed a nightowl 8ch system, looks pretty decent, supports audio and pan/tilt/zoom.

 

[420somewhere]

Good Deal

Good Deal

Grabbed a nightowl 8ch system, looks pretty decent, supports audio and pan/tilt/zoom.

But they are 720p Cameras.

I use Wansview 1020p Wi-fi Cameras. Total Pan/Tilt/Zoom for $50 each.

I can monitor my grow from anywhere on my Phone, IPad, etc.

I also monitor my front door, inside front door, back door, pool area.

Lot's of options

Peace

 

[JamesFarmer]

I've been looking around for a CCTV system to monitor a property, but there are almost endless amounts of different systems.

So I thought I'd ask the masses if anyone has experience with a particular brand.

I'd like something HD or at least enough resolution that it doesn't look like I'm taking pictures of bigfoot and with some kind of IR or night vision.

Also the ability to view the feeds from my laptop and/or phone because it doesn't do any good to monitor a property if you have to be there to see the camera feeds.

Pan and tilt would be a HUGE bonus as well.

I'm currently poking around on alibaba since it's become my new favorite place lol.

I use these: https://www.ubnt.com/products/#all/surveillance

I have also installed a number of systems for businesses and found this system to be a very good value. Free NVR software supports 200+ cameras. If you look about you can find the cameras for $65-$90.

The down side... No PTZ

 

[GuerrillaRed]

I use Kodak webcams. They're pretty cool. They notify my phone if motion is detected and I can check them anytime from my phone or any internet connected device.

I live out in the sticks so there's some scary shit out here like constant random gunshots or random bangs. Being able to scope the property real fast by just looking my phone is cool.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00WBTQSEU?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00

 

[BigJohnny]

The nightowl system supports audio and PTZ, but the cameras included with the DVR aren't PTZ or audio enabled.
I think 720p is plenty of resolution and the difference btween 720p and 1080p really isn't all that noticeable.

It also supports other cameras but not wireless ones I don't think.... it doesn't matter though because I kind of didn't want wireless cameras that could be hacked into by curious people....I guess that's moot though because if they were going to do that then they could still just hack the DVR feed of all the cameras.

 

[420somewhere]

Hey Big Johny

Hey Big Johny

All of the modern cameras are very good and you can always pay more. I'm sure yours will be great.

A friend of mine has $800 cameras and they do everything, but are overkill for me.

I was at his house a few weeks ago and I wanted to show off a cool feature of my system.

I opened my iPhone and pointed to the inside front door cam which showed our dog laying (in the dark) starring at the door.

I pushed the microphone button and called the dogs name. He jerked around and looked at the camera.

I only did it once. It was pretty funny

Peace

 

[BigJohnny]

All of the modern cameras are very good and you can always pay more. I'm sure yours will be great.

A friend of mine has $800 cameras and they do everything, but are overkill for me.

I was at his house a few weeks ago and I wanted to show off a cool feature of my system.

I opened my iPhone and pointed to the inside front door cam which showed our dog laying (in the dark) starring at the door.

I pushed the microphone button and called the dogs name. He jerked around and looked at the camera.

I only did it once. It was pretty funny

Peace

I would like some kind of intercom system down the road but it's not really necessary right now for me.

I mostly want to just keep an eye/ear on my equipment when I'm not there, namely my vac pump which runs almost 24/7, so if it gave out and started making funny noises I wouldn't know until I was back there and by then it could be too late.

 

[stoned-trout]

night owl sucks ass..their products are crap..expect breakdowns ///...yeehaw

 

[BigJohnny]

night owl sucks ass..their products are crap..expect breakdowns ///...yeehaw

Where were you yesterday?

Breakdowns how?

 

[floralheart]

All of the modern cameras are very good and you can always pay more. I'm sure yours will be great.

A friend of mine has $800 cameras and they do everything, but are overkill for me.

I was at his house a few weeks ago and I wanted to show off a cool feature of my system.

I opened my iPhone and pointed to the inside front door cam which showed our dog laying (in the dark) starring at the door.

I pushed the microphone button and called the dogs name. He jerked around and looked at the camera.

I only did it once. It was pretty funny

Peace

Be weary of who you show what to. That remote viewing application is only as strong as someone's ability to clip your cable line outside the house. And old friends come and go.

Not that it's legal, but a cellular jammer and a pair of wire cutters and you can probably disable the entirety of most people's alarm systems. Ripping you off also isn't legal, so you can see the problem here. Lips, ships, all that jazz.

Even making your dogs friendly to strangers can be an issue. The best guard dog we had was the one that tried to more or less kill me every time. Me being the hand that feeds it, it still didn't care. Train the next dog to not take food from strangers, because in the suburbs people poison them, and in the city people shoot or stab them. The couple/few of pro city dogs we ran were thefts occured, people chose to shoot two and poison one. Boss man rarely disclosed when a dog was murdered and usually buried or cremated them himself through a vet, because it would make the security look weak.

Shield the video and communications lines with metal tube like you would an electrical line with an electrical conduit. At least someone would have to give it a blow with an axe muffled by a t shirt, and at least that will make some noise in a city environment. Hopefully that will help someone out there. Something to thing about. IMO, some of the best security you can have is to put a solid locking door on every room of the house and create an obstacle at every step of the way. I once helped a neighbor hack off a door knob because she locked herself out and my locksmithing tools are more complicated than they appear in a movie. So each door they have to take down is a chance for them to get caught.

I can only imagine a locksmith wearing a mask indoors would be tempted to take it off because locks are tricky, so put a camera in each corridor trap and make him work for it, and use a decoy recording system the way most businesses would. Leave one plain view and conceal one under lock and key. If you can, put the second system in an anchored fireproof safe with a shielded communications line dropped into it, epoxied airtight like a porn star, through the top of the safe.

 

[Weird]

with PZyou lose one field of view to investigate another, thus they are not as effective as more and or higher resolution cameras. HD 1080 systems and cameras are dirt cheap, cheaper and more effective to add a few more cameras.

 

[Weird]

Be weary of who you show what to. That remote viewing application is only as strong as someone's ability to clip your cable line outside the house. And old friends come and go.

Not that it's legal, but a cellular jammer and a pair of wire cutters and you can probably disable the entirety of most people's alarm systems. Ripping you off also isn't legal, so you can see the problem here. Lips, ships, all that jazz.

Even making your dogs friendly to strangers can be an issue. The best guard dog we had was the one that tried to more or less kill me every time. Me being the hand that feeds it, it still didn't care. Train the next dog to not take food from strangers, because in the suburbs people poison them, and in the city people shoot or stab them. The couple/few of pro city dogs we ran were thefts occured, people chose to shoot two and poison one. Boss man rarely disclosed when a dog was murdered and usually buried or cremated them himself through a vet, because it would make the security look weak.

Shield the video and communications lines with metal tube like you would an electrical line with an electrical conduit. At least someone would have to give it a blow with an axe muffled by a t shirt, and at least that will make some noise in a city environment. Hopefully that will help someone out there. Something to thing about. IMO, some of the best security you can have is to put a solid locking door on every room of the house and create an obstacle at every step of the way. I once helped a neighbor hack off a door knob because she locked herself out and my locksmithing tools are more complicated than they appear in a movie. So each door they have to take down is a chance for them to get caught.

I can only imagine a locksmith wearing a mask indoors would be tempted to take it off because locks are tricky, so put a camera in each corridor trap and make him work for it, and use a decoy recording system the way most businesses would. Leave one plain view and conceal one under lock and key. If you can, put the second system in an anchored fireproof safe with a shielded communications line dropped into it, epoxied airtight like a porn star, through the top of the safe.

If they cant find the cables they don't know what to cut, if they cant find the dvr/nvr they don't know what to take.

batman mfing stealth is one's friend.

 

[floralheart]

Cameras: HD, Infrared, color. Spend about $2,000 through $4,000 for up to 32 cameras. Load them down with 1TB+ of hard drives. Skip the pan tilt, use more cameras, leave no blind spots.

My neighbor had all the guns in the world, infinitely more than I will ever own. His mistake was bringing strange women around. He was eventually robbed by his growing partner and neighbor who both set him up with the police and set him up to be robbed by pros. As for the guns, the criminals simply waited until he wasn't home and put a shotgun to his teenage kids head, who is now traumatized for life. Because this guy knew more than me, I never mentioned his growing partner was a dirty bastard of a person even though mr dirty is an old friend of mine, so I let him learn on his own. As a true bastard, he even collected a commission on this guys lawyer that represented him in court, after he set him up for an arrest, after he robbed him. Probably jammed him for at least $20,000 and a criminal record and he lost his kids trust.

My dispensary I've been shopping at uses a multiple trap system consisting of rooms and locks and shutters, and a person is there 24 hours a day. It's ran by former military guys, mechanics and hunters, and after being robbed twice after hours twice, now has very good security in place.

Here, that's my two cents and the reason for why I say what I say. Commercially, I'd take a check for Twenty to thirty thousand dollars, do the work with one other guy and ask you if your merchandise or at least your life was worth twenty to thirty thousand dollars, but here, it's free and you can probably do it all yourself for maybe roundabouts $7,000. IMO, many locks is more important than cameras. Anybody can be gotten to according to Ethan Hawke in Purge, it's your responsibility to make them work for it and suffer for their supper.

 

[floralheart]

with PZyou lose one field of view to investigate another, thus they are not as effective as more and or higher resolution cameras. HD 1080 systems and cameras are dirt cheap, cheaper and more effective to add a few more cameras.

100% agree with you sir.

 

[floralheart]

If they cant find the cables they don't know what to cut, if they cant find the dvr/nvr they don't know what to take.

batman mfing stealth is one's friend.

If I was a bad guy, I'd cut the main cable line at the back of your house leading to the pole. With no internet, there is no signal for an iphone and no internet backup of video evidence. With a wireless system, people can use your security against you. The time I was hit as a teenager, the thieves just cut the phone lines at the back of the house and knocked out the alarm system. Your utility pole is your weakest point of physical security for a theif. Please don't quote this, I'll erase it in a day. No point in helping bad guys.

Imagine if you had to either work on a box rated for 2 hours or torch through it to destroy the hard drives. Pretty inconvenient for even a professional taker of things. Good point though on hiding it, if I was somewhere I shouldn't be, I sure wouldn't want to stick around for a treasure hunt.

 

[Weird]

Wholesale good product hd dvr 16 channel 2 terr is about 500, 65 for vandal proof weather proof 1080 cameras with night vision. There are only a couple of manufacturers so "white box" is fine as long as they support the product. Cables, connectors, power source, done. Costs under 2k to buy a complete system for install (barring any special installation or camera requirements)

 

[BigJohnny]

Be weary of who you show what to. That remote viewing application is only as strong as someone's ability to clip your cable line outside the house. And old friends come and go.

Not that it's legal, but a cellular jammer and a pair of wire cutters and you can probably disable the entirety of most people's alarm systems. Ripping you off also isn't legal, so you can see the problem here. Lips, ships, all that jazz.

Even making your dogs friendly to strangers can be an issue. The best guard dog we had was the one that tried to more or less kill me every time. Me being the hand that feeds it, it still didn't care. Train the next dog to not take food from strangers, because in the suburbs people poison them, and in the city people shoot or stab them. The couple/few of pro city dogs we ran were thefts occured, people chose to shoot two and poison one. Boss man rarely disclosed when a dog was murdered and usually buried or cremated them himself through a vet, because it would make the security look weak.

Shield the video and communications lines with metal tube like you would an electrical line with an electrical conduit. At least someone would have to give it a blow with an axe muffled by a t shirt, and at least that will make some noise in a city environment. Hopefully that will help someone out there. Something to thing about. IMO, some of the best security you can have is to put a solid locking door on every room of the house and create an obstacle at every step of the way. I once helped a neighbor hack off a door knob because she locked herself out and my locksmithing tools are more complicated than they appear in a movie. So each door they have to take down is a chance for them to get caught.

I can only imagine a locksmith wearing a mask indoors would be tempted to take it off because locks are tricky, so put a camera in each corridor trap and make him work for it, and use a decoy recording system the way most businesses would. Leave one plain view and conceal one under lock and key. If you can, put the second system in an anchored fireproof safe with a shielded communications line dropped into it, epoxied airtight like a porn star, through the top of the safe.

All the wiring will be inside the house, probably run through the attic.
But about locks being complicated, I disagree completely, Check out Bosnian Bills Lock Lab on youtube, this guy has been able to pick through some very "complicated" locks in mere seconds, sometimes only by raking, when they're locks that aren't supposed to be able to be opened by raking.

Even some other really crazy looking locks he's been able to open in a short period of time.

Right now I have every room in my house with a locking door knob, but really one swift kick would open the doors easily enough.

For the most part you almost can't see my place due to the shape of the property and where the house sits. I watch every delivery driver drive past the place and around the block 3 or 4 times before they finally find it..... my fast food always arrives cold :/
Generally it's a pretty nice and quiet neighborhood though, I've had a set of 4 rims/tires sitting out in the open on my front porch and no one has stolen them (which I'm fully expecting)

Now cutting the cable out back brings up a really good point, but on one hand if I tried to check my feed, which most likely will be open on my laptop right in front of me, and there's no feed then I'm going to the property to investigate.

But since you bright that up I'm going to make sure I protect that with some conduit or something.

The cable is short and can be split to other rooms inside the house.


The big issue is hiding the DVR, there really is nowhere to hide it in my place.... maybe I can mount it in my one locked closet....with 20 gallons of ISO and 2 cases of tane.

 

[floralheart]

Wholesale good product hd dvr 16 channel 2 terr is about 500, 65 for vandal proof weather proof 1080 cameras with night vision. There are only a couple of manufacturers so "white box" is fine as long as they support the product. Cables, connectors, power source, done. Costs under 2k to buy a complete system for install (barring any special installation or camera requirements)

I like that independent power source idea. The most dangerous pro thieves are probably electricians. Of the two/three times I've experienced theivery, one was an electrician, the other two were inside jobs.

One guy robbed his self the for the insurance while I had things at his house, and because his mom was sleeping with half of a 200 person police department I got my stuff back.

 

[stoned-trout]

rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...nuthin beats a dog ...yeehaw