Full Surveillance Build Questions

[sharkey_lsu]

Hi. I've read up as much as I could but have not found a thread detailing a build that meets my goals. I was hoping to get a bit of advice and suggestions regarding building a system with the following features:

-4 1440p or better cameras; front, rear, both sides
-motion sensing (parking mode)
-decent night mode
-battery/capacitor with at least 12 hrs of runtime
-centralized "hub" for accessing footage
-built-in wifi for accessing footage with a phone app (not for connecting to an external network but for the phone app to connect to the cameras)

I have found several cameras on Amazon that seem to offer these features but they are individual units and I am not sure how difficult it would be to setup. I like the idea of a hub so that I only have to connect my phone to one wifi network to view all footage. Any suggestions?

 

[kamkar]

There are no 4 channel systems on the market and for sure not 1440p ones, but Thinkware are launching a 4 CH system soon.

Thats also the one way you be able to access all 4 cameras on 1 wifi connection, with individual cameras you have to log on one at a time to each camera but with 4 similar cameras they should boot as fast and so be moere or less in sync, something that can be a problem if you use different model / brand cameras as boot times differ.

WIFI in dashcams are like +10 year old wifi in everything else, terrible slow but for viewing / downloading a single file now and then its fine as long as you are not in a hurry.

The parking mode run time depend on your car battery and low voltage cut off settings, you can also get dedicated dashcam power packs, but mind you no matter what you do you also have to drive daily to charge the battery back up.
Dashcams do not have batteries for parking guard, their battery ( not recommended ) or capacitors are only there to properly finalize the last recording in case of a major event.

 

[sharkey_lsu]

Wow those side view cameras are exactly what I had in mind but assumed there was nothing like that available. Also, I would imagine that the Thinkware offering above will be very expensive. I should mention that I really want the cameras to be as discreet as possible and just blend in with my car interior. I found a compact cube style camera on Amazon which might work but I would surely need to get creative with installation and setup.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/B082VWNJZ3

 

[kamkar]

I think the thinkware system will be quite discreet, but the main unit with the screen i also think hold the front camera, so that is stealth wise a drawback.
But the rear camera + the side cameras, nobody are probably going to see those, the side cameras should at least be as small as your side indicators if not smaller.
It is probably also going to be a expensive camera system.
There are also like you have found nanny / spy cameras, but these are rarely made for operating in the really hot environment a car can be not least in the summer time, even dashcams are probably not going to work in a car parked in the sun in a southern US state during the summer.
You will need to park in the shade or in a garage to make sure,,,,, after all electronichs all have a max operating temperature.

Are you a victim of vandalisem ? since you want to go big like this.

I have sort of 360 coverage on my car with 2 dual channel systems, but 2 different brands so the recordings are not in sync and i have to go to each camera to get front / rear or Left / Right footage over wifi ( don't use wifi personally )
Also my coverage, well you have to be a few steps from the car.

And i am not using parking guard, i have a very small 5 door JAP hatchback, almost micro car, and its 2012 battery are a size to match, so i have not used parking mode in my current cameras.

At home i have CCTV cameras on my car where it is parked, as the back yard are pitch black at night so need IR light to see anything.
But i live in a 2 floor apartment and my camera are bolted to my balcony door ( have 3 more cameras in apartment filming other things on the approach )

For vandalism at home CCTV are the better option, as you can see my camera on the car are PTZ ( Pan - Tilt - Zoom ) cuz i cant always park in the same spot, so this way i can control camera to a different location.
Here suspect drug dealers in house out back are raided by police,,,,,, as you can see a raid such a place in Denmark are a far more relaxed deal

 

[sharkey_lsu]

Thanks for the info! Your 360 setup is almost exactly what I want to do; the wifi idea is probably not necessary but I like the idea of how convenient it would be to review footage. I have not had too much trouble with vandals but I have been keyed once for no apparent reason and also seem to be a target for door dings.

I had a front and rear camera in my C63 that was hardwired with a voltage detector and was great for overnight surveillance. It was a budget option off of Amazon but it did have HD resolution, decent night mode, and motion detection. I recently sold this vehicle and the buyer asked to keep the cameras since they were already pre-wired. So I need to buy a new setup and have decided to do a bit more research this time around.

My new vehicle is a Porsche Macan GTS and I am even more concerned about cosmetic damage than I was with my C63. So I want to add a level of protection that might provide some recourse in my buildings shared garage. Also, I live in Houston and there are tons of unregistered vehicles on the road as well as commercial trucks that very often drop debris on the highways.

I was once struck in the side of my car by a piece of scaffolding that fell of of the truck beside me. luckily, I was able to convince my insurance company that the object did not touch the road before hitting me and was therefore a comprehensive claim. I quickly realized how easy it would have been for them to deny my statement and treat the incident as collision (an object that I could have avoided).

 

[kamkar]

Well hopefully you should not need to review footage on the go, it would also be much better to do that on a larger PC or something screen, then you stand a chance of seeing something VS i a stupid little phone screen. ( pardon my "french" but i am a avid phone hater forced to carry one myself )
Side installation are hard to do and some cars are even not suited for it, in my little car i am fortunate to have a piece of fixed glass on both the front doors ( by mirror ) or on the rear doors ( behind the actual window )
Another major issue are curtain airbags how and when they deploy.
And no one really make a camera for side use, i was fortunate to be sent a sample of the K2S system, which was the first dual remote system to hit the shelves, Dual remote mean its 2 cameras and they are remote on a wire from the main unit.
So the cameras are small and so you have the best chance of installing them on the side in some way.
In the old days many of us used several single cameras like the small mobius, but it is annoying to go yo several cameras for footage though it is very rare i use side or rear footage in my uploads to youtube, by far most of my footage are captured by the front camera.

I have a video i took just after i installed the K2S as side cameras.
There is a bit of footage first before i video and talk about the install.

Also have a example of parking guard footage, using motion detect ( which are a flawed parking guard mode as it often generate a lot of unwanted "false" events as it react to any and all motion it see )

But the 2 cameras in use for my 360 coverage are a Street Guardian SG9663DC ( old version ) front & rear, this is a conventional design system with a main unit on the windscreen with the front camera in it, and then the rear camera on a wire.
And then the K2S for the 2 sides.

If i was you i would start with a good front and rear system, and then down the line maybe add a couple of side cameras if you can find a sensible not dangerous place to put them.

Looking over pictures of your car it seem to also have a fixed glass on the rear door, so that is great, but you probably have tint on the glass or it is there from the factory, this will of course impede low light performance of the camera behind it.
You can to some degree compensate by tweaking the EV value of the camera behind tint, this should be a option for every camera in a system.

As you are in Texas, then you will of course be prone to automatic thermal shut down if you try to use parking mode and are parked in the sun, but in the shade or in a garage it should be no problem even when Texas put on "her" mini pants and go really god damn hot

 

[SawMaster]

Like kamkar1 my K2S is going to be side-cams, and it's hard to imagine anything better suited to the job but you need some fixed glass windows or an inventive mounting scheme to get the best from it's tiny remote cam modules. The head unit can be tucked away to a cool place; it's ample voice warnings being enough to monitor it's functioning without seeing it. Vantrue has introduced a 3-cam system (front, rear, and in-cabin) which might be worth a look; it seems OK at this point. For extended parking coverage (beyond a few hours) you'll need something like the Cellink Neo to keep whatever cam(s) you choose powered up That's the real problem with multi-cam operation; there are plenty of good cam choices but they all have to be fed to do their job for you.

Phil