Security Cameras

After many break ins I started looking for a security camera system. Started to look around here for systems. Systems sold in this country are pure crap and sold at premium prices. Went in search online and found a company selling better quality stuff. By comparison a 4 camera kit in the Philippines was 12k pesos and that with 320TVL cameras. The 8 camera system I purchaed about 15k and came with 500TVL cameras.

The company (called Wetrans) had some decent cameras and DVRs and has put together 4/8/16 camera/dvr kits. I bought the 8 camera kit (comes with 4 inside dome cameras and 4 outdoor bullet cameras. Took about 7-10 days after I ordered the system to arrive from China after I made the payment (they accepted Paypal and Western Union). The company wrote the invoice down as 8k as a favor for tax purposes but I ended up dodging that bullet with that somehow.

I had a local come in and crawl around my attick space and run wires and mount the cameras. Hooked the DVR up to the bedroom TV. Everything worked as expected. And my expectations were that the indoor dome cameras would do the job quite well, the outdoor bullet cameras aren't that great at longer distances (they need more IR LEDs for the nightvision and don't have good enough resolution for the distance.

The DVR is quite basic. It supports motion activated recording (with the ability to set up zones to watch for motion so you don't catch every leaf blowing in the wind), scheduled times for recording, basic network setup, and viewing of recorded video. There are a few more options but nothing that will wow you. It gets the job done, that's about it.

Networking (remote view) on my LAN (local netowrk) was extremely easy, nothing someone with no "know-how" couldn't figure out with a few Google searches. Remote viewing outside of my house has proven to be extremely difficult though. Not the fault of the DVR though. I can give thanks to Globe for not allowing port forwarding from their Wimax plan/modem for that. I found an alternative to view the DVRoutside of my home though. I downloaded an app for android (Splashtop......wan remote access is a paid feature of the app....7USD a year if I remember correctly) that would allow me to access my computer attached to my wifi. Not optimal but it works .

If Anyone wants more detailed info just ask and I'll do my best to get the info to you.

I will attach some of the screen shots and a video to show what I got for around 15k when I get on my laptop (it's impossible on this forum to post pictures from my androids for some reason).

 

One of the indoor cameras. (catching my girl and myself after a few drinks)

This one was set up to the highest resolution I have on any camera but still not maxed out. 1TB hard drive will fill up rather quickly if you have everything set up to max resolution/fps for every camera.

[video=youtube;l9sAM7UkFcw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9sAM7UkFcw&feature=youtu.be[/video]

 

Edit: the video I posted above looks quite bad compared to the origional on my laptop. There is very little "pixelation" on the origional, you could easily identify anyone facing that camera from anywhere in the room with the indoor cams. I screwed something up when I loaded that to youtube.

Outside at a lower resolution than the one inside.

[video=youtube;R88gMmVzQCc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R88gMmVzQCc&feature=youtube_gdata&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DR88gMmVzQCc%26feature%3 Dyoutube_gdata[/video]

Screenshot from my Android DVR viewer app. View attachment 9800

Obviously you can select and view the individual cameras with some other features. The app also lets your Android phone record the video independent of your DVR.

Overall it's a good system for the price. I have no complaints with the Cameras or DVR. (I will be replacing the DVR with a cloud DVR to bypass the Globe port forwarding issue though. It's a cheaper option (about 5k pesos) than upgrading to Globe's business plan.

 

Deterrent not so much. I did this for several reasons.

1. I'm going back to the US the end of this month and will be gone for at least a year. I'm keeping my place here. This gives me eyes on target while I'm away and keeps me informed on what is happening.....at least in my house. (Just a side note: If i had any reason for not trusting my gf I wouldn't let her stick around while I was gone.)

2. My girlfriend hears the witches and kapri all the time. This helps prove to her it was the monkey or dog. I have also setup the video feed so that it can be viewed from any TV or mobile device in the house. She will be able to see who is at the door before she opens it.

3. I had a about 8 breakins over a course of 3 months several months back (one invovled a helper getting cut up by the perp). I recently found who was stealing the meat, instant coffee and the gf's dresses. The guy who stabbed the helper has never been found. This isn't so much for the police.....but to point me in the right direction in case of a burglary (or god forbid something worse).

So far it has served only as a good source of entertainment. It has also cut down on the little "fibs" my gf likes to tell about what she did and didn't do.

*The other day we came home and the door was unlocked. First she said she locked the door when we left, then she said I was the last one out. A point to the camera and you get the truth.....or she stomps away in a little hissy fit. But even with video proof against them sometimes they will stick to their story. lol

 

Really? You couldn't change the ports up and then get a filipina to believe that it was Globe's fault? To my gf "networking" is what you do on facebook, "servers" bring you your food and a "MAC address" is where a guy named Mac lives (and yeah, I did get asked why I need to know where Mac lives). She's can't understand what some waiter using facebook at Mac's house has to do with my cameras. All I'm saying is it's not too difficult to come up with a story to confuse and/or make them lose interest real fast. lol