Hi guys......
So my brother has asked me to start some research into a system for him which we'll look to build in about 8 weeks. Currently I'm all Hikvision but looking to Dahua for this system as he wants at least 1 camera with a microphone. My thinking is that I might as well stick with the same brand/ecosystem for ease of use and consistency.
My brother is a dog breeder so wants the camera with a mic so he can keep an eye/ear on the mothers/puppies. He's quite rural and his yard has been robbed a couple of times including all his chickens (!). He's also not at all tech savvy so being the only member in the family that works in IT, I'm on speed dial whenever there's a family computer issue. When I say not tech savvy I mean he can't even figure out eBay. Whatever system I come up with I'll need remote management as I live 120 miles from him.
For recording I'm thinking a prebuilt Dell i5 4590 with a 4TB WD Purple. I have a spare gigabit switch and some PoE injectors that I'll give him. I'll pick up a used APC UPS from the local classifieds. I'll go with Blue Iris as he liked the look of the app on my phone. With TeamViewer installed I should be able to do most maintenance. His broadband is not good at all (5 meg down and about 0.5 meg up) but we'll just have to live with that. Nothing I can do there.
So cameras. I'm thinking I'll give him a choice of 2 or 3 cameras in total so I don't confuse him. Maybe a fixed turret (recommendations please), low range PTZ and a upper range PTZ.
Position 1 - "puppy room/house"
The camera here is just to watch the puppies/mothers. He wants a mic and as the room is small enough the onboard IR should be good enough. I'm thinking a 2.8mm lens should be fine. Here I'll recommend the fixed turret (model unknown at this stage) or perhaps the SD29204T-GN (or SD29204S-GN) might be a fun camera to have in there where he can PTZ all he wants.
Position 2 - dog run
He'd like a camera on the dog run so this could just be a 2.8mm fixed camera for a wide field of view or the SD29204T-GN again. Will need a couple of additional IR illuminators.
Position 3 - front entrance.
This is a bit more complicated as I can put a camera on the eves of his house looking down on the gate. But I think I'll need way more than 6mm as it could be 10m or 15m from the camera mount point to the gates. I'll definitely need some sort of IR cannon. I don't think a fixed camera would be good in this location and maybe the SD29204T-GN could do a job again. My other option is to mount a camera on his garage about 40m from the gates with a good zoom like the SD59430U-HN. It is expensive but you get what you pay for.
Appreciate any feedback or recommendations. These are the three main positions he's spoken about but I'm sure he'll want more cameras. I'll need a recommendation for a fixed turret. What the general conscious on a cheap Dahua camera for this? The IPC-HDW4431C-A?
So my brother has asked me to start some research into a system for him which we'll look to build in about 8 weeks. Currently I'm all Hikvision but looking to Dahua for this system as he wants at least 1 camera with a microphone. My thinking is that I might as well stick with the same brand/ecosystem for ease of use and consistency.
My brother is a dog breeder so wants the camera with a mic so he can keep an eye/ear on the mothers/puppies. He's quite rural and his yard has been robbed a couple of times including all his chickens (!). He's also not at all tech savvy so being the only member in the family that works in IT, I'm on speed dial whenever there's a family computer issue. When I say not tech savvy I mean he can't even figure out eBay. Whatever system I come up with I'll need remote management as I live 120 miles from him.
For recording I'm thinking a prebuilt Dell i5 4590 with a 4TB WD Purple. I have a spare gigabit switch and some PoE injectors that I'll give him. I'll pick up a used APC UPS from the local classifieds. I'll go with Blue Iris as he liked the look of the app on my phone. With TeamViewer installed I should be able to do most maintenance. His broadband is not good at all (5 meg down and about 0.5 meg up) but we'll just have to live with that. Nothing I can do there.
So cameras. I'm thinking I'll give him a choice of 2 or 3 cameras in total so I don't confuse him. Maybe a fixed turret (recommendations please), low range PTZ and a upper range PTZ.
Position 1 - "puppy room/house"
The camera here is just to watch the puppies/mothers. He wants a mic and as the room is small enough the onboard IR should be good enough. I'm thinking a 2.8mm lens should be fine. Here I'll recommend the fixed turret (model unknown at this stage) or perhaps the SD29204T-GN (or SD29204S-GN) might be a fun camera to have in there where he can PTZ all he wants.
Position 2 - dog run
He'd like a camera on the dog run so this could just be a 2.8mm fixed camera for a wide field of view or the SD29204T-GN again. Will need a couple of additional IR illuminators.
Position 3 - front entrance.
This is a bit more complicated as I can put a camera on the eves of his house looking down on the gate. But I think I'll need way more than 6mm as it could be 10m or 15m from the camera mount point to the gates. I'll definitely need some sort of IR cannon. I don't think a fixed camera would be good in this location and maybe the SD29204T-GN could do a job again. My other option is to mount a camera on his garage about 40m from the gates with a good zoom like the SD59430U-HN. It is expensive but you get what you pay for.
Appreciate any feedback or recommendations. These are the three main positions he's spoken about but I'm sure he'll want more cameras. I'll need a recommendation for a fixed turret. What the general conscious on a cheap Dahua camera for this? The IPC-HDW4431C-A?