VOGONS


First post, by Kerr Avon

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I'm in England (if that's important) and I want to set up a security camera system for my house (a semi-detached house). I want to use two cameras, one for the front of the house, one for the back garden, and ideally for the system to allow for more security cameras later if need be. I want the system to be hard drive based, and to be able to display the image on my TV if I choose. I don't care about being able to see it on my phone, or anything like that, I just want a simple, inexpensive system that records to a hard drive or whatever (certainly not VHS!), and a wired system would be fine (wireless would be too, as long as it's reliable, but wired is fine as I can set up the wires and drill through walls as necessary).

I know nothing about these systems, so can anyone please advise me on what to look for, and what to avoid. Do these operate on motion capture, or record 24/7? If something did happen, and I needed to show some film to the police, can I somehow save part of the film to an SD card, or is the hard drive removable so I can take it to the police station? How much roughly would such a system cost, and are there any features I should look out for when buying such a system. And ideally I'd prefer not to pay for things I don't need, as at the moment money isn't too good (for me and most of the world, of course).

Thanks for any answers.

Reply 1 of 2, by wiretap

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I've been using the Ubiquiti UniFi Video system for the past 6 or so years. (both Gen2 and Gen3 cameras) No software fees, can use the cloud if you want, access to the recordings and live video through your phone or computer, software installs to any computer for local storage of footage. You can record on motion or continuously. The cameras are pretty robust, and I have most of them outdoors. I live in Michigan (USA), so I see temperatures ranging from -20F all the way up to 102F or so in the summer with all sorts of crazy weather conditions. (ice, snow, rain, wind, humid, dry) I haven't had a camera fail yet -- one time in -20F with -45F windchill, I did need to reboot a single locked-up camera. So, I would definitely recommend them. The Ubiquiti NVR software has matured well over the years and isn't problematic like it was 5 years ago. I can go a year straight without needing to restart the NVR process on my virtual server it is hosted on.

As for running cameras further away than just your household, I use powerline ethernet adapters -- that way I don't have to run a CAT5/CAT6 cable in a new conduit where I already have power available. I have two cameras mounted on my shed covering the backyard (~50ft away from the house) since I have a power drop there. I don't recommend wireless cameras, since they are far too susceptible to interference and need a lot of reliable bandwidth.. I've had issues with my wireless security cameras in the past due to this.

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Reply 2 of 2, by sf78

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My friend setup a trail cam at his cottage and it's motion activated and sends still images to his phone/email and it records video on the memory card for later use. It only cost around 140€ and the batteries seem to last for a while. You can also get an AC adapter for prolonged use. I know you said you don't need to get pics to your phone, but this would be the cheapest wireless method. It also has IR and captures pretty good pictures in complete darkness. The only extra cost comes from the SIM card data plan and around here you can find a deal for a few gigs of limited monthly data for less than 10e and unlimited 4G for around 20€.