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Billy_ICU

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Posts posted by Billy_ICU


  1. Change your security camera and security camera DVR passwords!

     

    Or disconnect them from the internet. Or both!

     

    Story about how the latest internet attack (10/21/2016) was caused by people connecting security cameras and security camera DVR's to the internet and not changing the factory default password.

     

    Story here..

    https://krebsonsecurity.com/2016/10/hacked-cameras-dvrs-powered-todays-massive-internet-outage/

     

    List of devices...

    https://krebsonsecurity.com/2016/10/who-makes-the-iot-things-under-attack/

     

    Larger...

    https://krebsonsecurity.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/iotbadpass-pdf.png


  2. It takes FOREVER for me to download just 10 minutes of a surveillance video I need (due to a crime) onto a USB thumb drive!

     

    With that said, sounds like you will be spending a LOT of time copying these videos onto/off of thumb drives?

     

    Better would be to directly connect the camera to whatever the end use will be. Like to the PC (or whatever) you will be viewing these videos on.

     

    Note CCTV systems come with terabyte size disk drives. The recordings are VERY LARGE!

     

    The only time I would want to transfer a surveillance video to a thumb drive would be just for the pertinent section of a recording for the police. Like 5 or 10 minutes of one camera. Or 3 minutes each of several different cameras - for different views of a person.

     

    Also if the entire video (say 24 hours) is all on a video on a surveillance system DVR, then the software on that system can indicate where on that video motion occurred. You can skip large sections of the video where nothing was going on.

     

    I would hate to have to look through an entire 24 hour video for something to happen! (Imagine watching a 24 hour movie with the same scene showing and nothing going on!)


  3. Find out what brand of CCTV video recorder they are using, then go to THAT company's web site and download their viewer.

     

    And/or call that company for help.

     

    Your police department may have a person who is knowledgeable about viewing various formats.

     

    You can also post the file name of the video you are looking at here and ask which is the best viewer to watch it.

     

    For example a video file may be called...

    "104606-8.AVI"

    or

    "LHV1008A_ch11_main_20151219043800_20151219044059.dav"

     

    Sometimes a player is included with the video files. My be called "play.exe" or something similar.

     

    And note that there may be several files over a period of time. Like at midnight, the video recording may begin with a new file.


  4. The BOTTOM LINE is not what wire or network the camera's use, rather being able to play back a video and recognize the face of a person - and being able to clearly "see" which items are being shipped and received... Perhaps someone in that department or someone in charge of "loss prevention/security" would want to be able to play back videos and zoom in on package labels? Maybe just an overall view of the area will be ok?

     

    Best to first search google for the following words...

     

    cctv facial recognition

     

    ...and you will see that a face (or shipping box) needs to take up a good part of the picture for facial recognition or to read labels on the box. May want special zoomed in or HD cameras for certain areas? Maybe not?

     

    Also search google.com for the following words...

     

    cctv choke point

     

    ...you may also want zoomed in / HD cameras in these locations as well.

     

    I would recommend FIRST consulting with the people at your company in charge of loss prevention/security and shipping/receiving. Ask what their requirements will be for what each camera can see - how large of image of people and boxes - camera placement.

     

    Then decide which cameras can do that - next which wiring and recording gizmos those cameras require.

     

    Another consideration is live viewing or a security guard. Will certain people want to view the cameras live? Need some sort of alarm if there is motion or activity (security guard) - audio?

     

    If someone wants to record audio, be sure to float the idea past the company lawyer.


  5. I saw a camera system WAY out in the middle of nowhere - at a forest service restroom/parking lot. No solar panels, or anything to power it. I asked at their office how they powered it and they said it was a hunter's game camera type system powered by batteries. And that the batteries could last 6 months or longer!

     

    Might check into those sorts of systems. They have many more systems that they have in retail stores - also a LOT more expensive - up into the thousands of U.S. dollars.


  6. I would record CCTV 24/7 for the area. Then you are always covered with the cameras.

     

    Then get a regular security system with two PIR's. I'm sure newer systems would also be able to send an email notification upon an alarm situation. They can also call a cell phone and say which alarm is going off.

     

    The advantage of a regular security system is that it is designed to be turned on/off, connect to a siren, send the email, etc. And the advantage of NOT connecting it to the CCTV system is that some CCTV systems do not have any sort of alarm trigger or output connection.

     

    Note you can spend a bit more on the PIR's and get a "dual technology" PIR. They have two sensors - Microwave and Passive-infra-red. Both must trigger before an alarm is triggered - prevents false alarms.


  7. 1. Turn off the TV. TV is fantasy and has NOTHING to do with reality.

     

    2. It is all a numbers game. Things which are shown on TV news may just happen to one person in one city in 5 years in a country of 300 million people. (In other words, it is NOT even remotely possible it will ever happen to you - or in your state - or ever happen again anywhere - Turn off the TV!)

     

    3. Reality is insurance companies and their claims for losses. Contact your insurance company and find out what they recommend for security in YOUR SPECIFIC AREA.

     

    4. Also contact your local police department and ask for crime data for YOUR SPECIFIC AREA. Some areas have little or no violent crime - not to worry about being "attacked"! Look at the numbers - what the criminals are ACTUALLY doing in your area!

     

    Other than that, criminals in residential areas are quite stupid and lazy. They will bypass homes which are likely to get them caught, sound an alarm, have motion activated lights, record them on CCTV, etc. They do have enough sense to go next door where there is no security. So DO let the criminals know all about your alarm system and CCTV system with plenty of posted signs. Also let them know about that vicious dog in the back yard - they hate barking dogs because that also draws attention to them.

     

    And you may have $50,000.00 worth of "stuff" in your house - but they will typically ONLY take what they can quickly grab and sell at a pawn shop. Small things like small electronic devices, coins, jewelry, etc. Don't worry about them taking your couch or pictures off the wall [typically].

     

    Back to insurance, a beer distribution warehouse will have VERY high security requirements imposed upon it by its insurance company. We're talking vicious dogs, 24 hour guards, and an ultra high security system which is much better than most banks have! Why? Because they get broken into more, few crooks attempt to break into bank vaults. All in the numbers!

     

    (Many banks did not even have a burglar alarm in their lobby area for many years - just on the vault. They do now that the cost has come down significantly for security systems. Anyway no one ever broke into a bank and stole their typewriters - no need to cover it for burglary [robbery of course...])


  8. It is that the picture has changed to something different than it was before - you now have a bright light when before there was no bright light!

     

    Your system probably has a way to block out certain areas of what the camera's motion detection is seeing. Just block out the light portion of the picture so the camera's motion detection can't "see" it.

     

    That will require reading the instruction manual several times probably. Also they don't include the full instructions with products these days, just short idiot versions. The FULL instructions might be on the manufacturer's web site. Also try reading the instructions for the manufacturer's other models - sometimes they word things differently in other manuals and it makes more sense.

     

    Also might want to post your DVR brand and model number along with your posts.


  9. I would ask the previous owner/real estate agent which company they had install it. Then call that company and ask them to come out and show you what is what. Ask for instruction manuals or where you can get them.

     

    If that is not possible, call any CCTV security company and ask that they send a technician out. They will charge you by the hour, but the technician can hunt down what is what and give you an idea of what you have. Let you know where to get instruction manuals, etc.

     

    You may be able to hire an off duty CCTV technician to give you lessons on how to operate the system for a more reasonable rate than the company charges.


  10. I don't think you are going to find any replacement cord for that. You could contact Lorex and maybe they could sell you one?

     

    What I would do is just solder the yellow to the center of the coax cable, one black to the coax shield, the other black to power negative, and the two reds to power positive.

     

    Then I would stick all my cameras up high on poles or whatever so the jerk can't reach them. And get a lawyer to sue them and also pay for my legal expenses (rack up the lawyer charges). Garnish their wages.

     

    These people need to learn there are consequences for their actions - I wouldn't care how much it cost me (if they had no money to pay the lawyer and I had to.)


  11. I would call the police on the neighbor and make them pay for a replacement! PERIOD!

     

    Also put up no trespassing signs, have police issue order they are specifically not to trespass on your property - then charge them with trespassing if they do.

     

    The purpose of a CCTV system is to catch and prosecute these jerks. You caught one, LET 'EM HAVE IT!


  12. You could get a traditional security system and buy an optional output board. That would need a wireless door sensor, a wireless receiver via the alarm system control pad or a separate wireless board in the control panel. The control panel. And a separate output board.

     

    The Honeywell/Ademco Vista 20P is one such system with all these options. Once you get the basic system, then you can get wireless devices for all sorts of things.

     

    Here is a link...

    http://www.security.honeywell.com/hsc/products/intruder-detection-systems/control-panel/burglary/ademco-vista/14958.html

     

    To find this stuff for sale, search including the word "cart" (as in shopping cart) like...

     

    honeywell vista20p cart


  13. The problem is "voltage drop". That can be determined with a voltage drop calculator for DC (Direct Current).

     

    Input [to calculator] DC voltage, size of wire in gauge, length of wire, metal wire made of (copper/aluminum), and the amperage load at the end of the wire run - in this case mA.

     

    To find a voltage drop calculator, search google.com for the following words...

     

    voltage drop calculator DC

     

    Tools to help with this are an amp meter to measure amperage draw and a multimeter to measure voltage. Manufacturers are not very good at telling you the technical specifications of things these days. You are lucky to find the model number of the cameras included in the package (let alone amperage draw day/night)!


  14. A bit of advice... It is common for "higher ups" to install systems like these without ever consulting the guy who works on the shop floor 8 hours a day. Or the security guard. Or the local police. Or the person (bean counter?) who would notice employee theft and know what specifically was being stolen.

     

    And then cameras may show an entire area, but you may not be able to see the "one corner" where all the employees are stealing you blind.

     

    With that said, tell a few people, who are involved with the various things you want to cover, what you are planning to do, then ask for their suggestions / input. I'll bet you get some good suggestions.

     

    And buy a couple of sample cameras. Connect them and see what you can see with those specific cameras. Maybe a long range camera would be best for one area - maybe you want to see detail of some manufacturing process and nothing more of the room. And maybe elsewhere a wide view camera which can see everything might be best.

     

    For security learn about "choke points" and how big a person's face needs to be in a video to get "facial recognition".

     

    And lighting can be an issue. A street light shining into a camera can wreck a night image. But some cameras have "backlight compensation". You also may need to relocate the camera.

     

    Basically you don't know there is a problem until you mount all the cameras and then see one does not have a good enough view, or another can't see very much at night, etc.

     

    FYI - There are retail camera systems which incorporate the items being scanned at the cash register along with a view of the employee doing the scanning (into the video). So that might be of interest for you - not for cash register transactions, but perhaps something manufacturing related. Or for security, you can incorporate an employees card access information into the video.

     

    The following shows all sorts of neat new stuff - retail - to give you an idea of what can be done...

    http://www.axxonsoft.com/materials/Axxon_POS_Intellect.pdf

     

    This is good general reading...

    http://retail-surveillance.com/news/

     

    Laws...

    http://www.rcfp.org/rcfp/orders/docs/RECORDING.pdf

     

    Covers facial recognition...

    http://www.bsia.co.uk/app/images/publications/109-installation-cctv-systems.pdf


  15. If you are not an "electrical type", power the camera at its location and use an extension cord for power to the AC adapter. You can get extra AC adapters, just be sure the "amperage" (mA) is enough to power each camera.

     

    For myself, I just add a length of wire and solder the connections. I also use a multimeter to test the AC adapter wires as to which is + and - as well as the wire going to the camera. Or I may power all cameras and DVR from one battery back-up power supply.


  16. Best is an alarm system, cameras, AND signs warning of both.

     

    Next add motion lights all around - use new outdoor LED lamps 90 watt equivalent "daylight color" is VERY bright but uses only 13 watts - low cost to run!

     

    Next step up in security would be physical. Bars on windows and doors. Deadbolts on doors and commercial grade or high security door locksets. Metal doors and door jams which can't easily be pry bar forced open.

     

    Next guard dogs in yard and/or armed guard.

     

    The more crooks might be seen and the more difficult to break in, the more likely they will go elsewhere. They are lazy!


  17. Swap the connections for the LP cameras and the Bullet cameras. See if the Bullet cameras have the same trouble on those connections. If yes, then not a camera problem.

     

    Also you can turn on the video loss alarm. See if the DVR is losing the video signal at night. Perhaps the wire run is too long or cheap wire used? Maybe just a borderline wire-run - night might not work so well for some reason.

     

    Another thing is DC (Direct current) voltage drop with long wire runs. Night vision uses more electricity. Try running an extension cord to one of the cameras and plugging in its AC adapter right at the camera. Then there will be a short run of wire from the camera to the AC adapter and very little DC voltage drop.

     

    Voltage drop for supplying DC power can be fixed with using a larger gauge (size) of wire to power the device. This differs depending on voltage, amperage, and distance of the wire run. Search google.com for the following words...

     

    DC voltage drop calculator

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