Help deciding on new install locations around house

[conner05]

Hey y'all. I'm back again. I've taken several pics going around my house that I believe gives a good idea of what I'm dealing with. Below is a Google Doc I made with all the pics and a description of the pic above it. I tried to use locations like FRONT LEFT, REAR RIGHT, North facing, South facing, etc. to describe locations to make it easy to discuss in the comments.

house pics for camera placement

docs.google.com

I currently have no cable ran so that's the first thing I plan to do. After talking with y'all on here I think it would make sense to run as much as possible. So, I'm thinking like 4 drops to each corner of the house with plenty of slack (~10ft per cable), and also about 4 drops to each entrance (just front and rear, not garage). I also plan on putting some in the garage, too, in order to capture video on entrance.

Thoughts?

 

[wittaj]

To tie into his post from yesterday that got him to this point:

Camera System/NVR Setup Recommendations

Hey everyone, I'm new to this space and have been trying to do a lot of research to inform myself of the options for a camera system for my home. My wife and I moved into a new home about 2 years ago and now we're looking to get a camera system setup for in and outside of our home. After...

ipcamtalk.com

 

[wittaj]

Quick thoughts to get the discussion going (proposed locations in yellow) and critique until we land on the ideal spots.

Given the layout of the house - I would stick two black cams under the shutters on the front. They would blend in and would give great shots of people coming up the sidewalk. Still need something at the front door.

On the back at the garage - two at head level. Maybe also consider a cheaper overview cam on soffitt.

One minimum at the back door at head level or a little higher.

One or two at the end of the awning looking back at the house - perps don't think of cameras looking back at them as the leave.

Still need to figure out the sides.

 

[conner05]

Oh wow. I hadn’t thought of placements that low before. I was thinking they’d be in the corners of the awning. Are there any pics of other houses with similar installs? I’m just thinking that under shutter placement might not sit well with my wife lol. Also, do they always need to be drilled in? What’re the recommended placement methods?

 

[wittaj]

If the cameras are installed too high, then all you get are great shots of top of heads and hoodies and with a 2.8mm camera, you lose all the IDENTIFY distance vertically.

Then if you just stick them in the 4 corners of the house, you will miss things as a result of the length of the house. With some varifocals you could get by with some, but like on the front, if you put a varifocal in the corner to try to get an ID of someone at the front door, during the day you will be dealing with changing sun position that will create backlit conditions and the faces will be in shadow and during the night, the camera angle would be so tight that you would get a ton of IR bounce off the house and the columns that it would mess up the exposure.

Ideally cameras should be installed less than 8 feet high, but preferably lower so that the perp that is looking down, you still get a shot of their face.

 

[sebastiantombs]

Another two cents worth -

IMHO cameras should be installed in pairs at opposing views from one another, IE one at each end of a section of the house looking back at each other. This accomplishes two things. First each camera is watched by another and second it provides overlapping fields of view to totally eliminate blind spots.

 

[mat200]

Oh wow. I hadn’t thought of placements that low before. I was thinking they’d be in the corners of the awning. Are there any pics of other houses with similar installs? I’m just thinking that under shutter placement might not sit well with my wife lol. Also, do they always need to be drilled in? What’re the recommended placement methods?

Hi @conner05

remember to test the placements before running cables .. look for "test rig" here ..

Ideally most of us try for 6-8 feet high for most cameras ..

 

[conner05]

Now I'm torn on where to have the cable ran. If it goes through the roof then I'll have to run the cable down the side of the shutters for those front cams. Is that the normal approach? Any tricks or common things I don't know about?

 

[wittaj]

Your shutters go all the way to the soffitt, so I would have them come out right against the wall and put the cable behind the shutter and then it is mostly hidden.

You and your wife will know the cameras are there, but I think if you paint them black and it is symmetrical on each side of the window, most will not even see it. People are oblivious. Most of us here have a lot of cameras on our house and most do not notice them.

 

[conner05]

you're saying put them in the corners like this?

 

[wittaj]

Like that or center them. I would hold them up to both locations and see which one meets the WAF (Wife Acceptance Factor) lol

 

[conner05]

Will turret cams work here? It looks like they may not be able to mount directly to the brick. What are my best options when it comes to that? I was thinking the 5442-ZE, but according to the installation guide they don't recommend mounting them that way.

 

[Mike A.]

One of mine done that same way.

Much more obvious in this pic than as seen from normal distance. You really don't see it unless looking for it.

There's also another "boobie cam" at the first elbow of the downspout that's not real easy to see.

The way your shutters are made, you probably could mount the cam to the shutter itself.

 

[sebastiantombs]

They can be mounted vertically with no problems. The "ball" portion is the camera and is entirely weather proofed. You would need a PFA130 box, from Dauhua/Andy, to mount them to. That adds about an inch and a half of height but provides a place for the RJ45 connection that is weather protected.

 

[wittaj]

I would go with the turret at the location to help it blend in more. If they are centered, it may look like some fancy design of the shutter LOL.

You can either put them on a mount, which will make them stick out further from the wall, or mount to shutter or brick and tuck the wire behind the shutter, just make sure you waterproof the crap out of it with the suggestions @sebastiantombs will provide.

 

[conner05]

Ok, cool. And, just to be clear, the direction each faces would be:

Left cam facing diagonal to driveway and walkway entrance
Right cam facing diagonal to walkway corner and awning/front door

right? That way I have a greater chance of getting IDENTIFY shots from both angles?

 

[sebastiantombs]

To weather proof get some dielectric grease and use a dab on the male end of the RJ45 before plugging it into the female end. Then use the provided gland to hold everything together and provide basic protection. Next get some self amalgamating tape like Coax Seal. Wrap that around the gland and extend it an inch onto the cable at both ends. Finish it off with a wrap of good quality electrical tape like 3M 33+ or 88 and extend that past the self amalgamating tape. Even the minor moisture created by temperature changes can result in corrosion/degradation of the connection inside the RJ45 so good weatherproofing is mandatory.

Connection Sealing

https://www.amazon.com/Proxicast-Pro-Grade-Weatherproof-Self-Fusing-Electrical/dp/B00K5GW67O/ref=sr_1_4?crid=33RFFG91B6I1M&dchild=1&keywords=rubberized+electrical+tape&qid=1635695290&sprefix=rubberized+el%2Caps%2C211&sr=8-4

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[wittaj]

That would be correct - that would improve your chances tremendously at getting IDENTIFY.

Most would opt for a fixed lens camera at these locations. Once you get a varifocal and test it, you may see that you would like more zoom on one or both of these. I would either go varifocal for both or at least varifocal on the left one and 3.6mm on the right one. 2.8mm is just so wide and they have to be so close.

 

[mat200]

Hi @conner05

As you have a brick house, you can also look to run conduit up / down and around .. I'd consider conduit drops from the attic / soffit areas down a bit to a junction box .. and the water rain gutters look like good places you can put a conduit run up / down with little issues.

 

[mat200]

Hey y'all. I'm back again. I've taken several pics going around my house that I believe gives a good idea of what I'm dealing with. Below is a Google Doc I made with all the pics and a description of the pic above it. I tried to use locations like FRONT LEFT, REAR RIGHT, North facing, South facing, etc. to describe locations to make it easy to discuss in the comments.

house pics for camera placement

docs.google.com

I currently have no cable ran so that's the first thing I plan to do. After talking with y'all on here I think it would make sense to run as much as possible. So, I'm thinking like 4 drops to each corner of the house with plenty of slack (~10ft per cable), and also about 4 drops to each entrance (just front and rear, not garage). I also plan on putting some in the garage, too, in order to capture video on entrance.

Thoughts?

Hi @conner05 ..

Here's what I typically start out with as camera positions .. I could easily add a couple more.

If you have decent attic access.. I would consider running conduit down the corner to a junction box(s) for a camera or 2 on each corner ...