We had a thief.. And now I want a better system

D

digdoug

Getting the hang of it
Jul 29, 2017
68
55
This happened in the early morning on Wednesday. Unfortunately, the video is too grainy to make an ID. Now I am looking to add/replace the cameras/system with more and better components.

I am a newbie and this is the first system I've had.

 
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Sorry to hear about that.

The last post in your install thread mentioned "I wish the cameras had a wider field of view". In this situation, the exact opposite would have helped... if this camera had a less wide field of view, and it was centered on the cars only, the guy would appeared larger in the video. You might have gotten something more usable when he came around to the second car and showed his face for a second.

You might consider replacing this camera with one of Dahua's varifocal Starlight turrets, and then moving this camera to another location. The Starlight would probably brighten the scene a bit, and the varifocal would allow you adjust (zoom) the field of view to what's perfect for your situation.

I'm thinking that if you want the best view of the cars in your driveway, you're going to need to zoom the camera in (lessen the width of the field of view) and center on the cars, which means you won't be seeing up the road anymore. Maybe you can find a new spot for the old camera that gives you the road view.

@mat200, do you know if a Starlight is plug-n-play with a Lorex NVR?
 
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looney2ns said:
Add additional ir lighting.
Why in the world would you not lock the doors on the cars?
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99.99% of the time we do. This was a fluke. We have a lot going on right now causing stress. I'm not entirely certain that they weren't locked and he didn't have a device to unlock them.

If we left them unlocked, that's our mistake and shouldn't happen again.
 
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Set up some LED motion activated flood lights, good immediate deterrent. Have at least one camera in colour full time.
 
digdoug said:
I'm not entirely certain that they weren't locked and he didn't have a device to unlock them.
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Sorry to hear that this happened.
Had this happen to me in the past and I always hit the lock button before going to bed just for good measure to make sure the cars are locked.

If he had a device to unlock, you would see the interior lights go on as the door unlocks. At least both my vehicles do that and I'm sure my old pick up did that also.
 
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bigredfish said:
Agree with both @aristobrat and @looney2ns

Lower the cameras, get more face less top of head
Use two crossing cameras to cover the drive
More zoom
More IR or white light

Example: (change to player 1080p, skip ahead to :50)
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Your typical car door checker. Wearing gloves and has a backpack. I have 3 cameras to cover the driveway. I also have 3 cars in the driveway. They are all Starlight or better.
 
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Valiant said:
Set up some LED motion activated flood lights, good immediate deterrent. Have at least one camera in colour full time.
Click to expand...

Motion lights are not always a good thing, when they kick on, they can cause the cam to take a second or two to adapt to the light change. And during that time possibly miss the face Id opportunity.

Looks to me like he targeted you. He entered from stage right, and exited stage right. Didn't check any other cars in view.
Of course the obvious solution is park the cars in the garage where they belong.
 
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aristobrat said:
Sorry to hear about that.
..
@mat200, do you know if a Starlight is plug-n-play with a Lorex NVR?
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Hi @digdoug @aristobrat

iirc you have the Lorex 6x 4K UHD / 8MP kit from Costco.

Yes, you can add a Dahua OEM starlight to that kit. As it has 8 ports total I would plan to augment that kit with 2 Dahua OEM starlights. Add another one to the Garage - perhaps one by the front door. ( I like the mini-dome wedge or 2 lens models by the front door at eye level - iirc the 2 lens camera may take 2 channels... so that maybe not the way to go as you've got a 8 channel NVR )

The Dahua OEM cameras are not plug and play with the Lorex NVRs which are Dahua OEM. You will need to set IP configuration, user/password, and perhaps port info.
( search here - a few members have documented their experiences ) ONCE you know how to do it, it isn't too had - the challenge is figuring out how to do it and locating the appropriate documentation.

Once you get it up and configured you should have a fairly stable system ( remember di-electric gel, silicone caulk,... and keep the NVR in < 80 degrees of heat )
 
@mat200, do you know if IVS setup on Dahua will trigger a recording on the Lorex? (sorry for so many questions). :)
 
Doesn't look like he was wearing gloves, I wonder if police could get fingerprints, say from the flat part of the door by the windows where he pushes the door closed when he's done robbing you.

Looks like he probably rubbed down the contact areas on the second car (right one), but definitely didn't on the first car (left one)
 
looney2ns said:
Motion lights are not always a good thing, when they kick on, they can cause the cam to take a second or two to adapt to the light change. And during that time possibly miss the face Id opportunity.

Looks to me like he targeted you. He entered from stage right, and exited stage right. Didn't check any other cars in view.
Of course the obvious solution is park the cars in the garage where they belong.
Click to expand...

I suppose you could always set up the PIR to pick people up before they reach the property so the cameras has time to adapt.

The other thing you could do is have a dusk to dawn sensor on a light and fit the light fitting out with an LED daylight bulb. That way it switches on at dawn and off at dusk without any intervention. I have a rear light at my property that does that, albeit it's only a 4W led. There's another 35W of LED floodlight on a PIR as well though. (A 4w led wouldn't be enough to make a huge difference to your cameras). Another alternative could be around a 30W LED floodlight on the dawn to dusk. For 6-12 hrs per day depending on the time of year, they're not going to cost a fortune to run. That said, if it were my electricity bill, even at 30W, I'd rather have it sensor-ed.

If you can get it light enough, a 4K camera is going to give better definition. Maybe the answer is a starlight + a 4K + lighting.
 
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CCTVCam said:
I suppose you could always set up the PIR to pick people up before they reach the property so the cameras has time to adapt.

The other thing you could do is have a dusk to dawn sensor on a light and fit the light fitting out with an LED daylight bulb. That way it switches on at dawn and off at dusk without any intervention. I have a rear light at my property that does that, albeit it's only a 4W led. There's another 35W of LED floodlight on a PIR as well though. (A 4w led wouldn't be enough to make a huge difference to your cameras). Another alternative could be around a 30W LED floodlight on the dawn to dusk. For 6-12 hrs per day depending on the time of year, they're not going to cost a fortune to run. That said, if it were my electricity bill, even at 30W, I'd rather have it sensor-ed.

If you can get it light enough, a 4K camera is going to give better definition. Maybe the answer is a starlight + a 4K + lighting.
Click to expand...

A lot easier and cheaper to put up one or two of these.
https://www.amazon.com/illuminator-...=1534465050&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=ipc+camtalk
 
As an Amazon Associate IPCamTalk earns from qualifying purchases.
My experience with the cheap IR illuminators is not good. They spot light too much in one direction and overexpose people's faces.

(not sure why my text is hyperlinked - I have no experience with this unit :) )
 
also could get some of those driveway guardians or whatever from harbor freight, set up motions sensors outside, put the box inside somewhere so you can hear it when the sensor is triggered, I'm sure there is a way to rig them up to a home automation system too to do all sorts of crazy things.
 
They are handy. I have a Guardline wireless unit on a post in a shrub at the end of the drive on the left side. Works great for over a year now.

@digdoug You have a perfect spot for one in that bush/tree to the right of the drive.

Note: be sure and turn off the receiver in the bedroom before heading out at 6am to the range. Wife was not a happy camper
 
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