Security Camera Setup

[Halo3Addict]

Greetings!

I have a home project to setup a small security network for my Dad. I think the simplest, and cheapest, plan is to go with raspberry Pi v3, specifically for the wireless capabilities.

https://www.raspberrypi.org/products/raspberry-pi-3-model-b/

I don't think I will have any issues with the hardware itself or how to use Raspbian, maybe even set up a way to view the live stream from anywhere.

My problem is I'm not sure how I'm going to power the thing. The plan is to mount them outside in a custom housing and maybe above the front door. I have no experience with routing power through structures.

I was thinking maybe PoE might work, but would rather it be completely without wires. Any suggestions much appreciated.

 

[sneekypeet]

Not sure what you are shelling out to do this, but for wifi anywhere and no power line needs, you could look into Arlo systems.

 

[Halo3Addict]

Not sure what you are shelling out to do this, but for wifi anywhere and no power line needs, you could look into Arlo systems.

While I'm sure Arlo is a good security system, it is a little out of our price range. Plus, the project of building my own system interests me, just not sure how to approach some problems. Thanks though

 

[m1dg3t]

Subbed for interest.

I'm an absolutely horrible human being, so my mate gave me a RPi3 kit with some basics. He must hate me because I haven't done any 'coding' since commodore days, last time I saw a command prompt was in the DOS days!

I'm prolly going to end up building a bartop Picade with it...

 

[Kursah]

PoE is a proper application here. If you don't want a PoE switch to power multiple devices, but rather need to power a single device then use a PoE injector.

Better to have a wired camera than wireless IMHO. Performance, power, reliability and security reasons.

That might not be the most beneficial for some home users bit it will net the best and most reliable results while minimizing upkeep and maintenance. Thought there's factors including how the wire runs are accomplished, the hardware used, the NVR software and hardware quality, and overall performance expectations.

I haven't gone the Pi route, but have setup and managed various systems for clients. From cheap Costco to expensive enterprise grade. The wireless systems can work okay...but I'd rather hassle with wire runs TBH.

Use some dielectric grease on connections made in outdoor areas to keep them from being as easily compromised from the elements.

 

[Halo3Addict]

PoE is a proper application here. If you don't want a PoE switch to power multiple devices, but rather need to power a single device then use a PoE injector.

Better to have a wired camera than wireless IMHO. Performance, power, reliability and security reasons.

That might not be the most beneficial for some home users bit it will net the best and most reliable results while minimizing upkeep and maintenance. Thought there's factors including how the wire runs are accomplished, the hardware used, the NVR software and hardware quality, and overall performance expectations.

I haven't gone the Pi route, but have setup and managed various systems for clients. From cheap Costco to expensive enterprise grade. The wireless systems can work okay...but I'd rather hassle with wire runs TBH.

Use some dielectric grease on connections made in outdoor areas to keep them from being as easily compromised from the elements.

A PoE switch may be the way to go. I'll probably set up one camera for now, tweak the configurations until I get it right, and then add more cameras in the future.

Would I need to add any hardware on the Pi? I was able to find some documentation but am unsure if just a PoE injector would suffice.

http://www.instructables.com/id/PiPoE-powering-a-Raspberry-Pi-over-Ethernet/

 

[m1dg3t]

Could you do solar/battery powered?

 

[Halo3Addict]

Could you do solar/battery powered?

I thought about a portable charger or batteries, but I think it will be too tricky to get a consistent voltage to the Pi. And I would be replacing them often, which I don't want to do.

Solar power on its own would be problematic at night and on cloudy days. Rechargeable batteries on solar power will be the same issue as above.

But I am open to discussion on how those ideas could work.

 

[m1dg3t]

I thought about a portable charger or batteries, but I think it will be too tricky to get a consistent voltage to the Pi. And I would be replacing them often, which I don't want to do.

Solar power on its own would be problematic at night and on cloudy days. Rechargeable batteries on solar power will be the same issue as above.

But I am open to discussion on how those ideas could work.

If you had a decent location I'd assume a solar/LiPo combo would be sufficient? Not really familiar with everything yet as I'm still popping my cherry

Guessing you'd need a charge controller/voltage regulator?

 

[Kursah]

If you want something simple and low maintenance, get an NVR system and use IPCameras with POE power and Ethernet runs. That will be your best bet. They are sold in packages that work together. Mixing Pi, non-standard Pi power sources, Debian distros, and mixed parts isn't making things simple. Now if it is for challenge and a budget goal, I totally understand! That's how I roll on some projects too.

Something cheap like this might work and be overkill in camera count, but is only 720p, not sure if he'll need higher resolution or not or PTZ features.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01KZK82K4/?tag=tec06d-20

That has a POE switch built in, HDMI ports, etc. It is pretty much a turnkey system. Buy a box of CAT5E, some RJ45 ends and a crimping tool, and get your cable run on.

Here's another kit that's a little higher quality: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XKXLW4G/?tag=tec06d-20

Again I guess it depends on your goal here. I haven't deployed a Pi for NVR services, but I can't imagine it'd be all that hard to do...powering it is a challenge only if you plan to store the device remotely...which it sounds like you are...I'd rather see you centralize the controller and then run it to a POE switch, then do runs to the camera(s) and mount them where they need to be. Keep your Pi and storage on a UPS to keep things stable during power inconsistencies and outages. I would suggest a UPS regardless of what you decide to do here...it not only provides battery power in power outage situations but also filters the power going to any connected devices which can be critical to an NVR system in reliability and consistency.

 

[silentbogo]

I think the simplest, and cheapest, plan is to go with raspberry Pi v3, specifically for the wireless capabilities.

Bad idea. RPi has a weak wireless adapter with no external antenna. Wired is the best way to go.
If you don't want to mess with power and LAN, you can use IP cams with PoE support and invest a bit of cash into PoE-enabled unmanaged swich.
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833704080
Alternatively (if you can't get a PoE camera) you can get a few PoE splitters for the receiving side.
http://www.tp-link.com/us/products/details/cat-43_TL-POE10R.html

If you had a decent location I'd assume a solar/LiPo combo would be sufficient? Not really familiar with everything yet as I'm still popping my cherry

Guessing you'd need a charge controller/voltage regulator?

LiPo won't work, so as solar. IP cams are relatively power hungry and you have to assume they will work 24/7, cause it's a security device.
The only exception, is if you design a camera module which will only do still photos triggered by external sensor, and stays asleep most of the time.
... and I did actually mean "design", because most aftermarket cameras with external trigger support also work 24/7, and only disable some peripherals for just "slightly lower" power consumption (but still drain 2-5W from the source).


BTW, since we started this with Raspberry Pi, here is an alternative:
http://www.orangepi.org/orangepizero/

It has a much newer Allwinner H3 CPU, does have an external WiFi antenna and, in case of wired LAN, does support PoE.
This board does not have much RAM comparing to Pi, but it is still quite adequate for running a headless linux distro and streaming HD video over wired/wireless network.
There are other dev boards with PoE, but this one is the cheapest. I've seen it as low as $10 on aliexpress for a 256MB version.

 

[m1dg3t]

@silentbogo Why won't/can't LiPo/solar combo work? Have you seen a brushless RC vehicle?

https://www.adafruit.com/product/1030 5 second Google search, no good?

 

[silentbogo]

@silentbogo Why won't/can't LiPo/solar combo work? Have you seen a brushless RC vehicle?

https://www.adafruit.com/product/1030 5 second Google search, no good?

Because an additional wireless adapter adds to cost and makes things more complicated. Remember, we are going towards this goal:

I think the simplest, and cheapest

Next, LiPo.
Have you considered that batteries require charging?
You can stick a small solar panel ($25-30 for a 10W unit), add a charging module for the lithium battery($3-5), and add a boost converter($3-4) for the camera+Pi or whatever, spend a few hours soldering it all together only to find out that on the next cloudy/rainy/snowy/foggy/dusty day it does not work because the battery is flat. Also won't work indoors.
If you go with wired charging, then why would you need that stupid battery there in the first place?

BTW, there is no logical connection between an RC toy with a 20-minute flight time and a security camera with an expected 24/7 operation.

That's why you don't see hamsterwheel-operated security devices outside Budweiser commercials.

 

[Halo3Addict]

Bad idea. RPi has a weak wireless adapter with no external antenna. Wired is the best way to go.

BTW, since we started this with Raspberry Pi, here is an alternative:
http://www.orangepi.org/orangepizero/

It has a much newer Allwinner H3 CPU, does have an external WiFi antenna and, in case of wired LAN, does support PoE.
This board does not have much RAM comparing to Pi, but it is still quite adequate for running a headless linux distro and streaming HD video over wired/wireless network.
There are other dev boards with PoE, but this one is the cheapest. I've seen it as low as $10 on aliexpress for a 256MB version.

Very interesting, and it supports Debian/Raspian as well!

@silentbogo Why won't/can't LiPo/solar combo work? Have you seen a brushless RC vehicle?

https://www.adafruit.com/product/1030 5 second Google search, no good?

The way I look at it is, instead of investing time and money into a solar power source that might work, I might as well invest that same time and money into a PoE solution. That would establish a consistent source of power and connection as it seems wired connection is the way to go. The batteries would eventually need replacing anyways.

If you want something simple and low maintenance, get an NVR system and use IPCameras with POE power and Ethernet runs. That will be your best bet. They are sold in packages that work together. Mixing Pi, non-standard Pi power sources, Debian distros, and mixed parts isn't making things simple. Now if it is for challenge and a budget goal, I totally understand! That's how I roll on some projects too.

Something cheap like this might work and be overkill in camera count, but is only 720p, not sure if he'll need higher resolution or not or PTZ features.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01KZK82K4/?tag=tec06d-20

I will keep that in mind of RPi/OPi don't work out I don't mind the challenge but also don't want to over-complicate things for myself ,which is why I asked for feedback One of the reasons I went for RPi is because it uses Debian/Raspian which is free and open source. Seems to be lots of information online whether I want simple 24/7 recording or more sophisticated movement detection. Seems like fun to me

Perhaps I'll take a look at orangepi and invest in a PoE switch instead of adding hardware to RPi to support PoE. My only concern is the OPi camera is not the greatest (2MP vs 5MP for RPi). Thank you also for the links!

 

[silentbogo]

I will keep that in mind of RPi/OPi don't work out I don't mind the challenge but also don't want to over-complicate things for myself ,which is why I asked for feedback One of the reasons I went for RPi is because it uses Debian/Raspian which is free and open source. Seems to be lots of information online whether I want simple 24/7 recording or more sophisticated movement detection. Seems like fun to me

Perhaps I'll take a look at orangepi and invest in a PoE switch instead of adding hardware to RPi to support PoE. My only concern is the OPi camera is not the greatest (2MP vs 5MP for RPi). Thank you also for the links!

If you really want to mess with RPi-controlled cameras, keep in mind that besides CSI camera modules you can also use conventional webcams. Old 1.3MP and 2MP cameras go on sale in bulk for laughable money from various places (more so in US).
On my last job we had a project with 8 regular USB webcams, so we ordered 20 of the very old Logitech C500 (the ones that look like Whitley from Portal 2 ) from a local insta-payment kiosk manufacturer for less than $1/ea in USD equivalent.
That was 30 times cheaper, than the owner initially planned for this little experiment.