CCTV System

C

cajunitalian

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Mar 7, 2011
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Did anyone here build a CCTV system into their Norco WHS box? Or perhaps on a small linux box, anything really. I currently have a WHS and would really perfer to just buy some cameras and have them store recorded video on the WHS share. Ideally want to be able to see whats going on remotely as well (For when i am away at work) We had an attempted break in - so I am looking for security options that i won't have to spend a thousand bucks on.
 
You can do it for under a thousand if you just want a system that records and shows that someone did this or that. However, if you really want to be able to identify persons in the videos, who are otherwise unknown to you, then you are talking about megapixel IP based cameras, and you will go over a thousand really fast. This is, unless 1 camera will cover your needs, and you can get away with enough resolution with a 1 or 3 megapixel model. I am sort of going through the product selection process for all of that right now too. There are some really nice products out there, but they are serious $$$$.
 
Well i don't think i really need to identify in HD or anything, i would just like to know if im being broken into, if the dog just ripped the couch a new one, etc. Maybe one IN the house that can identify, 1 in the kitchen, front door, back door and garage essentially. So 5 total with one with good resolution.

Let me know what you might come across. I have a small 24U rack that i keep the server and other stuff in and i am trying to utilize equipment i already have.
 
Ah, in that case, yeah, it seem you could get away much cheaper with some analog cameras. Maybe you can pick up 1 megapixel camera for the best location inside to actually identify the faces. The good thing about this is that there are lots of lower resolution analog cameras with very excellent 0 light performance these days.

In my case, I am willing to build it up slower as funding provides, so that I can have IP based megapixel solutions everywhere.
 
What software are you using to record to your NAS? I'm thinking of picking up jsut 1 camera for a specific area, but I don't know what software. Something that streams to an iPhone would be great too.
 
Bosch IP cams will record to in iscsi target without any other software..

there are some 495s on ebay right now for 200 bucks which is an aweomse price...
Those are great true day/night cams.. and they are IR sensitive if you feel the need to add an IR illiminator..


i would get them but he won't ship to Canada :(
 
Check it Blue Iris - lets you hookup & control up to 64 cameras for 50 bucks (30 bucks for one camera) - there's a free trial so you can check it out.

It runs/installs on WHS - I had it running there for awhile until I moved to a ZFS box - I have it running in a VM under virtualbox now (I tried zoneminder for awhile, but swapped back to blue iris). (Zone Minder is free if you have a linux system / want to run a linux VM - I just didn't like it as much, but the web control was better).

Blue iris will stream to your iphone (http://box.ip.address:port/iphone.htm) - the main thing it's missing is a web interface to actually control & manage the devices - that's currently GUI only (though it works just fine over RDP). Has alerts, file transfer, etc.
 
Angus said:
Bosch IP cams will record to in iscsi target without any other software..

there are some 495s on ebay right now for 200 bucks which is an aweomse price...
Those are great true day/night cams.. and they are IR sensitive if you feel the need to add an IR illiminator..


i would get them but he won't ship to Canada :(
Click to expand...

Hmm, I wonder if those would survive ok outside in the spring storms and summer heat, if they are installed under eves (on the soffit area), even though they are not outdoor models. What do you think? (I don't mean to hijack the thread, but those are quite interesting, even though they aren't megapixel.)
 
I thought they were ip 65 or 66 but looke like 54 and nema 3R

Nema 3r is NEMA 3 – Enclosures constructed for either indoor or outdoor use to provide a degree of protection to personnel against incidental contact with the enclosed equipment; to provide a degree of protection against falling dirt, rain, sleet, snow, and windblown dust; and that will be undamaged by the external formation of ice on the enclosure.


NEMA 3R – Same as NEMA 3 excluding protection against windblown dust


and 54 is the same just a different rating

IP 5 first number is 5 Dust protected Ingress of dust is not entirely prevented, but it must not enter in sufficient quantity to interfere with the satisfactory operation of the equipment; complete protection against contact

second is 4
4 Splashing water Water splashing against the enclosure from any direction shall have no harmful effect Test duration: 5 minutes

Water volume: 10 litres per minute
Pressure: 80–100 kN/m²


So there should be 0 issues with these outside.
 
ChrisBenn said:
Check it Blue Iris - lets you hookup & control up to 64 cameras for 50 bucks (30 bucks for one camera) - there's a free trial so you can check it out.

It runs/installs on WHS - I had it running there for awhile until I moved to a ZFS box - I have it running in a VM under virtualbox now (I tried zoneminder for awhile, but swapped back to blue iris). (Zone Minder is free if you have a linux system / want to run a linux VM - I just didn't like it as much, but the web control was better).

Blue iris will stream to your iphone (http://box.ip.address:port/iphone.htm) - the main thing it's missing is a web interface to actually control & manage the devices - that's currently GUI only (though it works just fine over RDP). Has alerts, file transfer, etc.
Click to expand...

This looks like a viable option - looking over their site, it does give a list of cameras that are compatible. I wonder if they hook up to the WHS via PCI or if they are PoE? No idea which way i want to go. You say zoneminder was good - what did you not like about it?
 
I use this solution. Foscam Fi8918w wireless cameras, for $80 shipped when I bought them. Control it from internet explorer for full functionality, chrome and firefox no audio.

Features: Cameras record VGA with excellent night vision, new model has 3x optical zoom (can't find it for sale though). Rotates 300o left right and around 160o up and down. Has adjustable bracket for wall mounting, and easy mirror/inversion switch for an upside-down camera. Has motion detection capability that is adjustable, and will record to any online storage of your choosing, and alarm that will record while sending snapshots via email to you, and automatic patrol. If you have a NAS or just plug a laptop usb harddrive into a router like the Linksys E3000, you don't even need the home server, but can use it if you like. The camera is accessible via LAN and internet via simple port forwarding. Wireless-G only, but is sufficient for that resolution. It has two-way audio capability, and good sound sensitivity albeit non-adjustable.

5586770415_e3323478ca_z.jpg

^ I use it to supplement my home alarm, for "pussy control" as prince would say to ensure my cats are safe and fed, and to perv on my maid as she bends over to clean.

The software is intuitive, you click on the camera, it has a yellow border when selected, and you can control the camera using the options on the left. To maximize a camera, double-click it, and double-click again to go back to 4-way splitscreen. You can do up to 9 cameras. Haven't had any lose connection or any such problems, and they use full WPA2 wireless encryption.

iPhone and iPad have an app for it that allows finger dragging to control the camera and pinch to zoom, but no audio.
 
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I too have been intrigued by the Bosch iScsi IP Cameras. Did a bit more research on them today...what is unclear is which file system format do they write to and what file format do they save steams to. I'm guessing some kind of Windows filesystem...and then I'm guessing some kind of Bosch proprietary file format.

It seems with these cameras they only way to playback video is through the cameras themselves unless you get additional software...that would seem to suck as the camera would have to request the old video via iScsi and then play it back out it's network to your browser...all this on a 100Mbps Ethernet connection.

I see references to a Bosch's software that *appears* to allow direct iScsi playback, but it of course runs in Windows *and* costs another $189 (e.g. or about $100/seat for multi user licenses).

I don't run Windows anymore on my desktop so I played around with creating a WinXP VM right on my Solaris ZFS server...works pretty good....so it *seems* like this could provide a pretty cost effective solution.

OH...it's PoE so some more bucks there if you don't have a PoE switch to plug it into...fortunately I have a couple of injectors laying around.

Anyone used these Bosch IP cams?...I need to watch my maid bending over too.
 
cajunitalian said:
This looks like a viable option - looking over their site, it does give a list of cameras that are compatible. I wonder if they hook up to the WHS via PCI or if they are PoE? No idea which way i want to go. You say zoneminder was good - what did you not like about it?
Click to expand...

The cameras hook in via IP - it's all software based. Whether the camera is PoE or not is just a funciton of the camera.
 
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