Security surveillance camera

[OCD Solutions]

Boyer,I just hate you live somewhere that you need to have cameras!

Ha, I live in a great neighborhood! I'm just nosy and like gadgets.

The cameras are handy for much more than just catching criminals so their payback comes in other forms.

For instance, keeping tabs on the HOA workers replacing the common fence in our backyard today.

 

[OCD Solutions]

So, I finally bite the bullet and snagged a PTZ camera on sale for the lowest price ever of $224.99 and they drop the price even further to under $199 before it even hits my door.

https://www.amazon.com/Reolink-Secu...id=1502103822&sr=1-1&keywords=reolink+rlc-423

 

[OCD Solutions]

Now that it's here, I'm not sure how I feel about it.

The other cameras blend in quite nicely but this thing stands out like morning wood.

 

[OCD Solutions]

So I just added a pretty cool feature to our camera system.

For privacy issues, we have never installed any cameras inside our home. Well I got the bright idea that if I added a way to turn it on/off when we are not home, that I could convince my wife to let me put a camera inside.

Mission Accomplished!

I was going to add a relay and tie it back to a dry contact on our alarm system but it turns out we have ADT with the Pulse Z-wave technology so I can just add smart devices to our existing system.

One quick trip to Lowe's for a $39 GE Smart outlet and 15 minutes later, we now have a camera (Reolink C2 PTZ), inside our home that powers up and starts recording any time our alarm system is in the "Armed Away" mode.

In addition to it being automatically activated, it is also controlled from the ADT app so we can take control of it at any time or set up infinite automatic scenarios.

You just gotta love technology!

P.S. I've been resisting home automation but now that I know we already have a smart hub tied to our security system, I can see a few more additions coming our way...like having all our outside flood lights coming on anytime the alarm is triggered and definitely adding the garage door monitoring and control.

The possibilities are staggering with these combined systems!

 

[OCD Solutions]

A quick word on storage space on the Reolink NVR's.

The 8ch NVR comes with a 2TB drive and the 16ch unit comes with a 3TB drive.

8 Cameras recording on a 2TB drive yields just under 4 days of history. 13 cameras on a 3TB gets you roughly the same. (I know, the math doesn't add up).

Personally I like to have at least a week of history so I ordered a 6TB drive (WD Purple Surveillance Grade $185) to hopefully double my history. According to the manual, 6TB is apparently the max the unit can handle so that's what I ordered.

I received it today and when I went to install it, I found that the unit is actually set up to handle multiple drives including space and the necessary connections for 2 internal drives and one external.

So, rather than replace the 3TB drive, I installed the 6TB drive in addition to the original and it is working just fine with a combined 9TB of storage!

Time will ultimately tell me if this configuration has any limitations but it's working great right now and it looks like I should have roughly 2 full weeks of history now.

Well worth the $185 cost to upgrade!

 

[Quinc]

So, I finally bite the bullet and snagged a PTZ camera on sale for the lowest price ever of $224.99 and they drop the price even further to under $199 before it even hits my door.

https://www.amazon.com/Reolink-Secu...id=1502103822&sr=1-1&keywords=reolink+rlc-423

How are you liking it? Can you read lic plates at night?

 

[Quinc]

So, I finally bite the bullet and snagged a PTZ camera on sale for the lowest price ever of $224.99 and they drop the price even further to under $199 before it even hits my door.

https://www.amazon.com/Reolink-Secu...id=1502103822&sr=1-1&keywords=reolink+rlc-423

How are you liking it? Can you read lic plates at night?

 

[OCD Solutions]

Angles are wrong and too much distance to ever have a chance to read a plate.

You’d pretty much have to put a cam in the mailbox pointed at the street if you wanted to get plates.

 

[OCD Solutions]

So much for the 6TB upgrade.

I checked my total storage history today and found my new drive was faulted out.

It turns out the NVR can be upgraded to a total of 12TB but the biggest single drive it supports is 4TB; 2 x4TB internal and then one 4TB external.

Apparently I need to read the manual once in awhile.

 

[OCD Solutions]

 

[DAG]

Congratulations and well deserved, you've made them so much in sales just from this review thread. I have reo link on the radar for black Friday sales

 

[OCD Solutions]

Congratulations and well deserved, you've made them so much in sales just from this review thread. I have reo link on the radar for black Friday sales

Me too. Still trying to pick up two more 8CH systems on the cheap so we can keep an eye on both sets of parents.

 

[Big Kahuna]

Boyer, What is a good stand alone system. Neighbors just got something that they can view from their phone. Thinking about finding something...........

 

[OCD Solutions]

What do you mean by stand alone? No internet? No service fees or subscriptions?

Not that it matters. The answer is always going to be Reolink anyways.

 

[Big Kahuna]

prefer no fees!!!!!!!!!! We have Wifi. Just not up on all this stuff.

 

[DAG]

Reolink is fee free/subscription free.

They have a great app for live viewing. In fact after I've set mine up I've never been back to the nvr. I do everything from the app

 

[OCD Solutions]

^^ What he said!

The only thing you have to go back to the NVR for is if you add another camera, manage firmware/memory updates or want to name and re-order how they appear in your feed.

 

[Turtle]

Do the prices usually drop the lowest during Black Friday? Looking at a price tracker on Amazon it looks like that may be the best bet for the best deal on the Reolink stuff

 

[OCD Solutions]

Your guess is as good as mine. I watched the price tracker for the RLC-423 and bought when it was an all time low of $225.

It dropped to $199 the week after I made my purchase and has remained there since.

But on the other hand, I picked up 2 of the RLC-420's when they were at $54 and they went back up to $64 and haven't come down again since.

I'm waiting for the 8CH NVR's to come on for $199 and I plan to buy 3 of them and then just start buying 2-3 cameras anytime they hit the $54 mark. I need two more complete systems for the parents houses.

 

[newbee]

Anyone see any deals?