Ideas for motion activated home or cctv camera for my front and back yard?

[tkdguy]

Which models can I choose from for less than $500.00? Maybe a feedback loop to a computer screen for 24 hour watchful eye in the case of cctv? Ideas?

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[P7M13]

Look up Night Owl DVR. Comes with 4 cameras, will accept up to 16 via BNC ports. I've added four more to bring me up to 8. Records 24x7x365 and when you run out of HDD space, it starts recording over the oldest videos.
The original was ~ $265 at Frys, the next four cameras were ~$70. All are 1080P, excellent night resolution and clarity.

Amazon.com : Night Owl CCTV Video Home Security Camera System with 4 Wired 1080p HD Indoor/Outdoor Cameras with Night Vision (Expandable up to a Total of 16 Wired Cameras) and 1TB Hard Drive : Electronics

Amazon.com : Night Owl CCTV Video Home Security Camera System with 4 Wired 1080p HD Indoor/Outdoor Cameras with Night Vision (Expandable up to a Total of 16 Wired Cameras) and 1TB Hard Drive : Electronics

www.amazon.com

Edit to add, when I go to review footage to see where / when something happened, the camera also records a flag for when the motion activation worked. You can set it for motion, face, and tweak the sensitivity. Neighbor told me some guys were in my yard. Looked at the footage, turned out to be Asplundh to trim trees by the power pole.

 

[BrentN]

Information overload on these things.

 

[SrMachoSolo]

After spending a LOT of time researching, I've installed a couple of these Reolink systems for myself and others.

Amazon.com : REOLINK 8CH 5MP Home Security Camera System, 4pcs Wired 5MP Outdoor PoE IP Cameras, 8MP 8CH NVR with 2TB HDD for 24-7 Recording, RLK8-410B4-5MP : Electronics

Amazon.com : REOLINK 8CH 5MP Home Security Camera System, 4pcs Wired 5MP Outdoor PoE IP Cameras, 8MP 8CH NVR with 2TB HDD for 24-7 Recording, RLK8-410B4-5MP : Electronics

www.amazon.com

They are fully self contained, never need connection to the net so you don't have to worry about getting hacked.

The night mode has some powerful IR leds (I wish I could adjust the power because they are very bright on camera), motion detection is excellent and very sensitive (will detect fast moving clouds in the reflection of my car window) and easy to use/setup software.

This system is slightly more than the Night Owl recommended above, they are mostly similar; however, the biggest difference is the Reolink comes with a 2tb hard drive for double the storage capacity. Also, the tech support is very responsive (not that I've needed it, but the reviews and constant firmware updates show they care).

I recommend getting a backup battery setup to keep it going for a bit (30 mins to 1 hour) in case of power interruptions.

Amazon.com: CyberPower ST625U Standby UPS System, 625VA/360W, 8 Outlets, 2 USB Charging Ports, Compact : Electronics

Buy CyberPower ST625U Standby UPS System, 625VA/360W, 8 Outlets, 2 USB Charging Ports, Compact: Electronics - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

-Robert

 

[Alexx1401]

For outside I bought a system made by Acrest off Amazon years ago for around $300. Came with 4 cameras, can add 4 more which I later did add. They are now sold under a lot of different names. Probably all come out of some place in China making clones of the same stuff. With a 1TB Drive I get just over a week recording till it loops. Can easily add a couple more TB's if I wanted to. Can set up motion detection for any or all the camera's and set up fields of what part you want to trigger. It can be set so sensitive it will pick up a bird flying past or down to where only something the size of a car will set it off. Can watch it live from any phone. The IR seems great. At night makes it look like the yard is lit up but in black and white. My system is many years old uses Coax. See a lot of newer ones now that use CAT5 cable. Even have Pan, Tilt, and Zoom camera's pretty cheap. This tech has come a LONG way and is amazing cheap now. Look at places that sell this stuff and doubt it makes any difference what the brand name is.

 

[Alexx1401]

After spending a LOT of time researching, I've installed a couple of these Reolink systems for myself and others.

Amazon.com : REOLINK 8CH 5MP Home Security Camera System, 4pcs Wired 5MP Outdoor PoE IP Cameras, 8MP 8CH NVR with 2TB HDD for 24-7 Recording, RLK8-410B4-5MP : Electronics

Amazon.com : REOLINK 8CH 5MP Home Security Camera System, 4pcs Wired 5MP Outdoor PoE IP Cameras, 8MP 8CH NVR with 2TB HDD for 24-7 Recording, RLK8-410B4-5MP : Electronics

www.amazon.com

-Robert

When my old system finally dies this is what I will replace it with. One that uses CAT5 or 6 cable. Amazing how cheap and good this stuff is now days.

 

[JohnnyMac]

I have a bunch of Wyze cams around the house. Stores everything on microSD cards. No requirement for paying monthly fees. Sends a notification every time it detects movement and records a 12 second video along with recording 24/7 that can be played back any time all wirelessly. The cameras are less than $40/ea, pan/tilt, have two way audio and they sell waterproof enclosures for outdoor use. You could get an inexpensive tablet to provide a dedicated monitoring device plus watch from your smart phone anywhere you have cell service. I like them.

Wyze Cams

 

[The Heretic]

One thing you might consider is combining cams (or some of them) with a motion detection light.

I know some of these systems have IR LEDs to help the cam, but it is possible that visible lights would help too, and depending on what you want to happen, it would maybe scare off intruders to have a light come on. Motion detection lights are relatively inexpensive, including the solar ones and ones that run on a D cell battery or three. I have 5 of them on my property - two D cell and three solar. They come on regularly with wildlife wandering thru - at least when they come on I know something is out there, and when I want to walk out to the road or shop it is nice to have them light the way.

 

[308]

The Ring doorbell cameras work pretty good, are rechargeable, have good NV and give immediate alerts to your smartphone via wifi connection.

 

[tkdguy]

The Ring doorbell cameras work pretty good, are rechargeable, have good NV and give immediate alerts to your smartphone via wifi connection.

Which ring door bell cameras?

 

[tkdguy]

Most of the units above come with 4 cameras. Are 4 cameras sufficient for a surburb residential home?

 

[The Heretic]

My thing is I don't want any internet access to be required - if SHTF I still want my surveillance system to work seamlessly

 

[308]

Which ring door bell cameras?

Ring Video Doorbell - Smart Wireless WiFi Doorbell Camera with Built-in Battery, 2-Way Talk, Night Vision, Venetian Bronze 8VRASZ-VEN0 - The Home Depot

See, hear and speak with visitors from anywhere with the new and improved Video Doorbell. Customize your motion zone settings to focus only on important areas and receive real-time notifications on your

www.homedepot.com

 

[Alexx1401]

Most of the units above come with 4 cameras. Are 4 cameras sufficient for a surburb residential home?

This is one of those "it all depends" kind of things. My OLD system came with 4, will work with 8. For years all I used was the 4 it came with. Had 2 out front to see the front from 2 angles. Mainly to keep an eye on the vehicles, then the other 2 covering back yard and side yard that was an L shape.
After moving I soon bought 4 more. This house has L shape back, separate side yard. So I put one watching the side yard. 2 out front. Later put another out front closer to where one old vehicle that's seldom used it kept as someone did get into it one time and got the ignition on. If not for the battery cut off they would have been off with it. Left one channel left over so I put one at front door that just shows the front and can be set to activate if someone comes to the door but will not go off for people walking by and such.
So bottom line? The systems are so cheap now that I would buy an 8 channel even if you do not think you have use for all right now. Kind of like when you buy a safe people always say buy it bigger than you think you need as you will find stuff to fill it. The ability to add more camera's just by running more cable later could be nice.

 

[SrMachoSolo]

Two cameras would be the bare minimum, front door, and back door.

The four camera systems allow you to cover most angles, depending on how your property is set up, but there can still be some blind spots if the cameras aren't able to be placed in ideal locations. That is where the expandability to eight channels comes in.

-Robert

 

[asiparks]

My thing is I don't want any internet access to be required - if SHTF I still want my surveillance system to work seamlessly

Most will store locally on either a hard drive or SD cards with an option or plan to upload to a cloud service.
Have Arlo's and Samsung cameras- get phone alerts alerts and all the usual, the Samsungs can auto track motion too-
Downside of cameras storing only on SD cards- because they're self contained with batteries and all, they're not hard to knock down from their usually puny mounts. Savvy thieves know which brands do this and they'll take the cameras ( and your video ) too. They also know to look for the tell tale glow of the ir LEDs....
Costco has a ton of multi-camera, hard wired security systems from about $299 upwards- usually with at least a 1TB HD

 

[Alexx1401]

My thing is I don't want any internet access to be required - if SHTF I still want my surveillance system to work seamlessly

All the ones like I have that use a HD do not need any net access. I like having it connected as it lets me see the system from anywhere I have net access but, if the net goes down the system is still recording. If we are at home its still on the screen for use to see. One of the biggest up sides for me has been deliveries. Have LONG been a fan of shopping from home. Long before the net even. The one downside is when something is not delivered to us and the shippers will almost always try to say "maybe it was taken". With the cameras I can check, then call and say no one from your shipper was even on my street that day, so lets talk replacement. I noticed When Amazon started their own delivery they did have the drivers take a photo of the delivery for just this reason. So of course first thing that started happening is a few drivers would take the pic, then pick the package up and walk off. Well with a system you can offer to show them the driver picking the package up and walking off with it.

 

[Nosferatu]

The Ring doorbell cameras work pretty good, are rechargeable, have good NV and give immediate alerts to your smartphone via wifi connection.

If you care at all about your privacy, do not buy a Ring system.

 

[Eustace28]

Another vote for the Reolink and get more camera slots in the NVR than you need. I started with 4 cameras and the NVR supports up to 8. Almost wish I could have started with the 4 cameras and a NVR that supported 16.

Get the highest camera quality you can, min of 4K in my opinion.

Also think about where you locate your NVR so that if someone does break in they don't walk off with the footage.

 

[The Heretic]

Yeah, I don't mind connecting to the internet when the internet is working, but when it isn't, then I need the system to work as much as is possible.

I have not had problems with Amazon deliveries except for USPS to say it was delivered and then deliver it the next day. Also, I get other people's mail and deliveries, but so far mine have not gone missing. Yet.

Mostly I just want to know what is going on outside while I am inside, and I want to have a recording if someone does decide they want my stuff - but I've been here 8.5 years and no one on my road has had anything stolen or their house broken into - yet.

Now when I move, it may be a whole new ball game.