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Remote electronic security at your retreat.. CAMERAS and other stuff

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  • Remote electronic security at your retreat.. CAMERAS and other stuff

    I have been wanting to start up a thread here for a long time regarding retreat security. I know a few things about security and video surveillance type stuff. I have been in the low voltage industry for 17 years designing, installing and servicing these exact systems. Hopefully this can be a thread that takes on some life and I welcome all questions. I may not always know the answers but if I don't i'll do my best to find them for you. First up is remote video surveillance. Im kinda going to start in reverse as this is the extreme of video requirement. You want to have video at a location that you just cant get wire to either because it is just too far away or it isn't practical. As I like to think in extremes... LETS GO THERE!! You have a retreat and you seriously would love to have a video feed of the road coming into your place but its 2 miles to where the road leaves the pavement. Well,, if terrain allows thats not a problem.. What if you could place a camera on a hillside 5,6 or even 8 miles away and monitor a area? As long as you have line of sight its totally doable and its not that expensive.. Lets start..Click image for larger version

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    Ubiquiti networks is a manufacturer of high end yet low cost wireless network solutions. By low cost im talking about the ability to send video 15 kilomets thats 9.3 miles for about $150 dollars. Even better yet the Ubiquiti Nano station is a narrow beam antenna system so you align the transmit and receive units together, you arent just sending video out in a 360 degree arc, that's important for security reasons, If you don't know why maybe we can cover that later..

    The Nano station is a WIFI based system. It was designed to send wireless access to remote locations. However, with modern IP based cameras we can plug a camera into the transmitter and have its signal sent to the receiver WIRELESSLY.. Using modern IP based cameras, a NANO station pair, 24v dc power and solar to recharge said batteries it is a very easy task to accomplish. Granted cost wise the system can get pricey for multiple single camera units but that is the nice thing about IP based cameras.. Introduce a standard network switch into the design and you can plug in multiple cameras all using ONE nano station pair. Here is a extreme application.. Your budy has a retreat a couple miles from you. His house sits in a small valley but behind his house is a hill with direct line of sight to your house. He has several cameras that you would like to monitor and vice versa SIMPLE... put a nano station between the two houses and link his cameras to your system.. Heck if they are IP based you can even see them on your smart phone....WITHOUT THE INTERNET BEING OPERATIONAL...

    It may sound complicated but seriously.. If you can use wire strippers, a laptop and common sense I could walk you through it over the phone in about 2 1/2 to 3/4 hour sessions.. its not that complicated.. This is the same tech that the Mexican drug cartels are using for communications and surveillance all over Mexico...
    Last edited by justanothergunnut; 07-12-2015, 08:24 PM.

  • #2
    About now Im sure some people are thinking "yeah great,, SHTF has just happened and this guy thinks wireless internet is important!!!!" I get the thought process but rather than think of WIFI as "the internet" consider it more along these lines. Wifi is a two way high speed encrypted radio signal that requires limited power to achieve long range and has a huge amount of off the shelf components designed to be used with it. Step outside of the WiFi gives me internet box for a moment and consider all the things you can do with the technology. Above I mentioned video surveillance. I think thats a pretty big force multiplier and security tool. I think it rates up there with a personal drone(yeah we will get there eventually ;-) You can do tons of other very useful things with a remote wifi bridge as well. Lets say you have a wifi bridge set up to a remote location and you have video being fed back to you. Also for the sake of the scenario you want to be able to selectively turn on and off a few lights maybe cycle a water pump or heck even fire off a propane powered flame thrower(yeah I know ,, extreme..LOL) well enter the Ethernet relay module
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    connect it to the Ethernet switch from the WIFI bridge connect the wires from your electrical load and PRESTO.. remote control of your device from up to 31 miles away. Just to put this ability into perspective that those with NVG's can appreciate.. Imagine a remote camera set up on a hill over looking a valley. You have this camera wirelessly fed back to your retreat which is great but you have a concern. The camera puts out IR light at night which anybody with NVG's can see and you want to use the camera to scan the valley for idiots using nvg's but you also want to be able to use the IR led's on the camera when you want to illuminate the area in front of the camera or to intentionally display IR light for others to see. SIMPLE.... use a relay module like the one above but with only one relay instead of 8. Open the case of the camera and intercept the wire going from the power on the cameras board to the LED array. Run that wire through the relay and you now have the ability to turn on and off the IR LED's at your discretion remotely, Using very little power.

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    • #3
      Hmmmmmm....ideas...ideas......
      Good right up....
      Hey Petunia...you dropped your man pad!

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      • #4
        Kind of the same but not, I purchased and havent received yet the GoTenna wifi antenna's. Creates a wireless network using the antenna's and have an APP on your iphone/android/ipad that will allow you to txt a person within your wireless network. The network does not broadcast itself it just launches everytime you send a txt. Sitting with your phone on airplane mode you can still sent txts. Or if you at a sporting event and you try to txt your wife because she went to the bathroom and has been gone for a long time, but because there are 50,000 people there with their phones the verizon and att network does not work. Just use the APP and send her a txt. Her GoTenna picks up the encrypted signal and on her phone she gets a text. Just thought it was a cool concept. Wont get them until the end of summer, but really looking forward to seeing how functional they are.

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        • #5
          Interesting.. it works in the 150-154 mhz range.. can you say repeater

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          • #6
            lets start with some basics, for those of us that are somewhat challenged. if i wanted to put in a video system around the property that i coudl monitor frm a laptop/smart tv/ smart phone how would i go about that, using on site hardware, then by extension how to be able to look at the property from somewheere else , then by extension anywhere else.

            so i go from a fully contained unit that runs without internet, to some type of long range wi fi unit, to an internet acessable unit. how would one go about doing that?

            alex

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            • #7
              Alex you have a few options. Lets start at the beginning. Cameras come in two basic flavors analog and IP. IP cameras are what you want.. they can plug into your home network and you can see and record them with software. Yes they do cost more but a glock costs more than a hi-point. Using IP cameras you dont even need a NVR/DVR recorder you can use software and your computer,, you just plug the cameras into your network via a switch or even into your router. If you go with the boxed systems such as qsee or vivotek you can use their servers to view your cameras online.. You can get the same results without a boxed set but some tech skill is required.Basically think of it like this... if the camera is a ip camera you can bring up the ip address just like any other device on your network. Its currently fairly simple to bring up your cameras via the internet anywhere in the world.. The key is to build surveillance infrastructure that you can use post collapse WITHOUT the internet intact and running..

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              • #8
                so can we start with a system that does not need the internet and that i could view the cameras on my smart device, like an i phone or a lap top or the smart tv in the bedroom. i think a lot of folks would like to monitor a remote building or area also. can we refer to this as a tier one system, how do i design one what kind of hardware will i need and who sells it, can we make the system expandable to internet and medium distance viewing like 10 miles which would be tier 2, and then expand to an internet system that allows me to view from any where and call this a tier 3. if we can develop a system that can be installed in layers as time and cost permits i think you will do a great service to all the folks interested here.

                i appreciate the time and effort you are making to deal with this baffling topic for some of us.
                alex

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                • #9
                  We are working in reverse.. a system that does not require the Internet is the.most.complex of systems... not terribly complex granted I could walk you through it over the phone but.you aren't buying that system at a big box store.. a entry level system can be had at best buy or Costco but it won't meet our needs. For a little bit more.we can build the infrastructure that we an leverage when there is no internet

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                  • #10
                    so what pieces of equipment do we need to build the infrastructure, where do we start?

                    alex

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                    • #11
                      Originally posted by alco141 View Post
                      so what pieces of equipment do we need to build the infrastructure, where do we start?

                      alex
                      start with a basic 8 channel HD IP NVR(recorder) and up to 8 IP cameras. The important thing is that you get IP NOT ANALOG. So the cables should look like network cables and not have a big barrel connector. You can get cameras, nvr's and total packages online but there are a couple pitfalls to watch out for. On ebay and amazon it is not uncommon for people to get suckered into the super low price of a NVR only to find out after they get it that there is no hard drive installed in the recorder. This is not uncommon with nvr's however if you are unaware of the practice you will be let down that the smokin deal you thought you were getting... ISN'T.. Second make sure that the nvr is a US version.. You see this alot on ebay where you are buying a chinese version that is having its OS swapped over to a us version. The problem here is you will get NO support from the manufacturer and future software upgrades WILL NOT apply to your NVR.. So word of warning sometimes those DEALS.. just arent. You can also buy locally. I have installed several systems made by QSEE sold at costco. They are not bad. The bottom line is dont go with the absolute cheapest package you find. It's that cheap for a reason

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                      • #12
                        QSEE...I avoid like the plague. six cameras died in the first couple of months. The dvr made it to six months. No tech support, no warranty response. Never again.
                        This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave. ~Elmer Davis

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                        • #13
                          using IP cameras gives us the ability to marry them to a network and to use them in a remote deployed environment without the high costs associated with quality traditional wireless video. Because they are simply network devices we can if we choose to dump the physical NVR and bring all the cameras back to a network switch then use software to view/record/control them. Since the cameras are nothing more than devices on the network you can set up wireless bridges and transmit the video over great distances at a fraction of the cost of past video RF systems. For examples of equipment costs look at HIKVISION on ebay for the camers look for the keywords 3mp or 1080HD remember it must be a IP Camera

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                          • #14
                            Originally posted by tech View Post
                            QSEE...I avoid like the plague. six cameras died in the first couple of months. The dvr made it to six months. No tech support, no warranty response. Never again.
                            I have heard similar complaints about ALL low cost imported cameras and nvr packages.. I have not had bad luck with Qsee especially when I buy them through authorized distribution and not refurb off ebay. though they are a bit more than offerings from say hikvision because costco sells them you can simply get a RMA and return them to costco. I personally prefer higher quality gear but guys dont want to pay for that. They want cheap but expect it to work like a 500$ Pelco or Axxis Camera.. it is what it is.... Stay away from the lower end offerings from QSee , vivotek, speco, Hikvision and you will have better luck.. I currently have several 16 camera jobs that use Qsee with no problems but like I said I have heard some guys complain about quality control. When you pay 100-150$$ for a HD IP camera you cant expect perfection and life long performance.

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                            • #15
                              Originally posted by tech View Post
                              QSEE...I avoid like the plague. six cameras died in the first couple of months. The dvr made it to six months. No tech support, no warranty response. Never again.
                              did you buy from costco??? they will do a exchange no matter what,,,,

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