I have a couple of cctv cameras which I set up at home and which are supposed to record on movement. They seem to be good at recording chickens around the yard, but not people, and don't even pick up me driving out of the garage.
It has a dvr recorder box that came with it, but I have a spare PC I could use with ispy software if it is better.

It came to a head the other night with a visitor at 315am down the driveway. The dogs barking and me getting up scared them off, but nothing was recorded even though they were right in front.
Any suggestions?
How much dusk space does 24/7 recording take since the movement detection seems rubbish?

geoff_m - 2021-03-24 08:03:00

You have given no info on which someone might aid you.

How about you start with make and model of device

nice_lady - 2021-03-24 08:19:00

geoff_m wrote:

How much dusk space does 24/7 recording take since the movement detection seems rubbish?

Depends on the picture quality and frame rate. Depends on the size of the hdd in your dvr or pc. Could be hours, could be months. As per previous answer, more details would be needed.

callum.irvine - 2021-03-24 09:30:00

What is the resolution of the camera?

tygertung - 2021-03-24 10:02:00

another aspect to consider... I believe some of these cameras will only work with the DVR they are supplied with. Not sure how well they will go if trying to use iSpy or the likes - with some cameras i'm not even sure that the wireless is a true wifi signal but more of a point to point back to the box. If it's connected by ethernet you might have better luck...

king1 - 2021-03-24 11:29:00

geoff_m wrote:

I have a couple of cctv cameras which I set up at home and which are supposed to record on movement. They seem to be good at recording chickens around the yard, but not people, and don't even pick up me driving out of the garage.
It has a dvr recorder box that came with it, but I have a spare PC I could use with ispy software if it is better.

It came to a head the other night with a visitor at 315am down the driveway. The dogs barking and me getting up scared them off, but nothing was recorded even though they were right in front.
Any suggestions?
How much dusk space does 24/7 recording take since the movement detection seems rubbish?

Currently running 2 HD webcams on motion detect.
Average for both is around 500gb per mth on a std PC (i5 3rd gen).
Ispy & Conta cam

mrfxit - 2021-03-24 11:32:00

mrfxit wrote:

Currently running 2 HD webcams on motion detect.
Average for both is around 500gb per mth on a std PC (i5 3rd gen).
Ispy & Conta cam

contacam looks good, i've been looking for a decent one that's nice and light and not a subscription... The plate recognition integration is a bonus, we have a few idiots drive past our place

Edited by king1 at 11:54 am, Wed 24 Mar

king1 - 2021-03-24 11:52:00

Normally the motion settings are in the camera so using different software might not help.

loud_37 - 2021-03-24 19:12:00

king1 wrote:

contacam looks good, i've been looking for a decent one that's nice and light and not a subscription... The plate recognition integration is a bonus, we have a few idiots drive past our place

Both have their plus's & minus's
Conta cam does loop easily but auto settings need tweaking to stop mini videos PLUS std video's being saved & a few other tweaks.
Not as easy to review footage as iSpy.
Both are pretty good on storage space despite having a very busy yard during the day.
Theres another one to trail but I will have to find the name again

mrfxit - 2021-03-24 20:20:00

nice_lady wrote:

You have given no info on which someone might aid you.

How about you start with make and model of device

They are Elcam brand cameras and DVR box

geoff_m - 2021-03-24 21:38:00

king1 wrote:

another aspect to consider... I believe some of these cameras will only work with the DVR they are supplied with. Not sure how well they will go if trying to use iSpy or the likes - with some cameras i'm not even sure that the wireless is a true wifi signal but more of a point to point back to the box. If it's connected by ethernet you might have better luck...

Cameras are 720p.
The wifi doesn't seem to connect to the dvr box, and I can't work out how you set a wifi password on them to the general wifi. Work fine on ethernet, but in a couple of areas wifi would be easier

geoff_m - 2021-03-24 21:42:00

We had one years ago which only recorded in intervals of about 10 seconds.So it missed things

androth2 - 2021-03-24 22:08:00

The member deleted this message.

azza20 - 2021-03-24 23:21:00

My canon SX230 will use 4 GB of data for 20 minutes at 720p, so constant recording might use a lot of hard drive space. Your camera might have stronger compression though.

tygertung - 2021-03-25 08:03:00

androth2 wrote:

We had one years ago which only recorded in intervals of about 10 seconds.So it missed things

Yes, that's a likely factor.

And another key component is the view of the sensor (which is separate from what the camera lens sees). My experience is with trail cameras rather than CCTV, but the same probably applies. Many cameras miss the action because the sensor equals the lens view and by the time the sensor is triggered and the camera has woken up the subject has walked through the view and you are left with blank footage. The trail cam answer was to get Spypoint which has a sensor view wide enough that the camera has woken up and is ready to take the picture by the time the animal (or human) walks into frame.
Do CCTV cameras accommodate this?

raewyn2 - 2021-03-25 08:55:00

Some systems such as car cams are on constant record but only "save" specific events triggered by the operator & can save up to about 2 minutes of previous footage from being deleted/ overwritten along with the current footage.
Eg: triggered at 2.31pm will save from 2.29pm to 2.33pm & can't be over written
The trigger can be motion detection or deliberate

mrfxit - 2021-03-25 09:06:00

raewyn2 wrote:

Yes, that's a likely factor.

And another key component is the view of the sensor (which is separate from what the camera lens sees). My experience is with trail cameras rather than CCTV, but the same probably applies. Many cameras miss the action because the sensor equals the lens view and by the time the sensor is triggered and the camera has woken up the subject has walked through the view and you are left with blank footage. The trail cam answer was to get Spypoint which has a sensor view wide enough that the camera has woken up and is ready to take the picture by the time the animal (or human) walks into frame.
Do CCTV cameras accommodate this?

Camera detection activation time.
Mmmm yes, possibly why one of my cams seems to miss small events some days.

mrfxit - 2021-03-25 09:08:00

loud_37 wrote:

Normally the motion settings are in the camera so using different software might not help.

Turn the camera MD off and use the iSpy settings - works a treat. Btw, contrary to the claims of many, most 'DVR-locked' cameras have an http interface and can be configured to run with iSpy. May need a port or two changed but they work. Wired=yes. Wifi=NO! I use mainly Foscam or Hikvision, never had any failures.

tegretol - 2021-03-25 09:24:00

mrfxit wrote:

Camera detection activation time.
Mmmm yes, possibly why one of my cams seems to miss small events some days.

Even if the camera doesn't have 'pre-event' data stored, iSpy enables the recording of data for a defined duration before the event - it's all in the configuration.

Edited by tegretol at 9:26 am, Thu 25 Mar

tegretol - 2021-03-25 09:25:00

tegretol wrote:

Even if the camera doesn't have 'pre-event' data stored, iSpy enables the recording of data for a defined duration before the event - it's all in the configuration.

Sometimes get it with Conta cam.
More rare with iSpy

mrfxit - 2021-03-25 16:33:00

This message was deleted.

azza20 - 2021-03-25 19:54:00

mrfxit wrote:

Sometimes get it with Conta cam.
More rare with iSpy

Never heard of Contacam until now but seems to unavailable - 404 error etc.

tegretol - 2021-03-26 20:17:00

Tried this link tegretol..
https://www.contaware.com/contacam.html

pheonix - 2021-03-26 22:17:00

Tnx, will have a play with it. I see that it doesn't have half as many plugins as iSpy does - in particular I now have the number plate recognition plugin working - it spews any plates it sees into a .txt file that my own software picks up and if valid opens a gate. If not valid, it txts me. The facial stuff isn't really too flash yet but it'll get there. But it needs some grunt to run more than about 15 cameras - now at the limit of a Dell i7 !

tegretol - 2021-03-26 23:59:00

tegretol wrote:

Tnx, will have a play with it. I see that it doesn't have half as many plugins as iSpy does - in particular I now have the number plate recognition plugin working - it spews any plates it sees into a .txt file that my own software picks up and if valid opens a gate. If not valid, it txts me. The facial stuff isn't really too flash yet but it'll get there. But it needs some grunt to run more than about 15 cameras - now at the limit of a Dell i7 !

Think I'll stick with iSpy after comparing.

tegretol - 2021-04-02 16:05:00