Hey all, been in the electrical industry on and off for the last 16 years and been running my own data and security business for the last 6 years. Not sure if this is interesting to anyone but if anyone has any questions I can answer regarding the below topics, I'll be happy to help. [alarms, intercoms, CCTV, general wiring, data, general electrical, TV antennas]
[AMA] I'm a Not Yet Qualified Electrician and Run My Own Data & Security Business, Ask Me (Almost) Anything
LZotech on 27/11/2017 - 11:58
closed Comments
Xiaomi Smart Home Security Kit
CCTV
It all comes down to budget really.
Technically as long as the system records day and night, I would say any system is better than not having one.
I have been using only Dahua cameras and recorders for the last 3-4 years as their prices are not too high and they make quality products.
When looking for cameras I suggest look for encoding format h.265 as the picture quality is usually better than h.264 and it also reduces the stored video size allowing for more recordings. Make sure both camera and NVR/DVR support h.265
You can go for a 2.8mm lens (my choice) if you want a wide angle view or 3.6mm for a more narrow but zoomed in view.
Check out what app they use, generic or privately developed. If the company has developed their own app, most likely it will have more functionality than a generic one.
The IP rating of the cameras should be certified and suitable for outdoor use if thats what you intend.
Also go for something like a 4MP as these are much more affordable and becoming the standard lately.
These are just the basics, there are so many options when it comes to cameras it will drive you mad before you know it.ALARMS
I've stuck to Hills Reliance (NX) alarms as this is what I started with 16 years ago.
Hills mainly offer optex quad PIRs which are great for general use. Their pet sensors, not so great (I use the bosch PIR's for this).
I would say either Hills or Bosch for an alarm system, as these are the two most popular brands and finding someone to install or repair them will be a lot easier than any other brand.The only positive I can think of regarding Hills over Bosch is that if you wanted to use an app for your alarm (requires additional modules on both systems), Hills app is free to use while Bosch charges a yearly fee.
Thank. Budget ~$1000 with Atleast 8 cam.
I've been out of surveillance for a while now, so take below with a pinch of salt.
Check the quoted fps. Usually they'll say something like 4 cameras @ 100fps. This means 25fps per camera. If you get an 8port DVR @ 100fps, that takes it down to 12fps per camera… Check the resolution that it's recording at. So if they say 8 * 320x240@100fps, it'll be choppy and horrible. Where as, 8 * 1080P (1920x1080)@250fps - then it'll be good (and likely expensive, and use plenty of hard drive space).
As OP said, in regards to the DVR, h265 is a newish format. You might find older systems (like if you were playing recorded footage through a TV), may not play and may need a computer to re-encode it to more widely used format.
The hard drive will run at 100% used and delete the oldest data first. Obviously the higher quality and the more cameras, the more data used. Make sure it records on a motion sensor (I'd say all would these days). You can set up parts of the camera to be motion sensored (so if it's facing a driveway next to a tree, then you can select the motion sensor part to record only when picked up on the driveway, and not every time the wind moves a branch).
You can normally replace hard drives pretty easily (just some screws) if you wanted to try an old 500GB before upgrading to a TB or more. 8 basic cameras @ basic res might give you 3 months of data on a 500GB HDD.
If you're installing it yourself, then go for power of ethernet IP cameras. This means you can wire your own cameras using cat5/6 cabling rather than having to run power cables and coax cables.
I made some edits above, after you saw the message :)
FPS, BITRATE, RECORD RATE, SENSOR SIZE, SENSOR TYPE, LENS SIZE, LENS TYPE, POE, EPOE, IR STRENGTH.. The list goes on and on :)
I'm totally against recording on motion. To save HD space your risking missing important video that could get missed or be outside the motion zone.
I would rather set constant and motion together so that you have full time recording but can filter when there was motion.3 months recording on 500gb? Maybe using 450tvl cameras, set to 7-10fps,on motion only. (how long have you been out of surveillance? :D)
If anyone would need 3 months of recording, the cheapest solution would be to do backups to regular hard drives every so often. Surveillance hard drives cost more than regular hard drives and wouldn't be required for backup drives as they won't be running all day long.
@Zotech: > how long have you been out of surveillance? :D
A while :) My point was, they don't need to go out and buy an 8TB Surveillance HDD before you know how much you're recording. If it's just for home and they choose basic cameras with low res & fps with motion sensing in a low traffic environment, then it won't be recording very often. Perhaps a stray cat once in a while?
You also don't need purple surveillance hard drives. Surveillance hard drives have been rated to be on and writing 100%, but doesn't mean they don't fail. You could get away with reds (NAS) HDD, that's been designed to run 100%, but slow - so might not be too good for 1080p recording, or normal blues (I'd stay away from Green's, though!). It depends on the amount that is recording at once, and how important the footage is.
pyramid: Also, bare in mind where you store your DVR. They'll get hot, so lack of airflow can kill it (more likely the HDD).
Hope all this information helps ;)
How dangerous is it to do small electrical jobs (e.g. re-wire a light fitting)?
Obviously turn off the power at the mains switch.Depends on your skills and confidence.
I've worked with many A grade electricians and apprentices in their later years that lack confidence when handling cable.
If you turn off your main switch and your switchboard was wired correctly (mains not going directly to circuit breakers), technically there shouldn't be anything to worry about. I would still test a cable with a volt stick no matter what and treat cable that I work with as it was live.
The main problem is not killing yourself while wiring the light, its more about how you wired it and if it will cause any problems down the track.
Eg, your terminals could be loose and cause arcing as the cable moves in it (magnetic field around cables usually cause them to shift at times) which then could lead to a fire.There are three things that every home should have to be safe;
1 - All your circuits should be coming off a RCD
2 - All circuit breakers used should be the correct amp rating to protect the cables.
3 - There should be an earth wire to every outlet + light fittingWe have an old house (87) and this is definately not the case. Lights are not on the safety switch and do not have an earth. Is it really worth rewiring?
Yes it is, saves you from getting a zap in the case of a voltage leak to any metal part of the fitting.
You should also upgrade you switchboard completely if you haven't already.
A fresh set of circuit breakers and RCD's will also eliminate any chance of shocks or fires in future.
Do you have any recommendations for a pro consumer grade home alarm system?
My preference is a Hills Reliance system.
Why are you not qualified yet? Is it very hard?
Becoming an Electrician requires a 4 year apprenticeship (which includes 12 months of documented installation wiring).
Is it very hard?
That's a very broad question. Some people struggle at trade school, some on the tools. Personally I did very well in the classroom, but due to a few health issues at the time, found some of the physical components difficult. (Climbing through the roof, pulling large cables)
The 3 exams at the end of the apprenticeship are probably the toughest, as the assessors are quite strict, and there isn't a grey area for your responses. You're either right or wrong.
I'm not yet qualified due to never being to interested in the trade and getting in and out of it.
I did finish my 4 years and 3 years of schooling years ago, but there were exams I had to re-sit.
A few months after I finished my schooling and had to re-sit some exams, they changed the structure of the course and didn't let me do my remaining exams.
Long story short, they wanted me to attend TAFE for another 2 years to meet the new subject codes just because a few things in the subjects had changed.
There was no chance I would do another 2 years of the same thing again for no reason so I'm now working on getting my CERT III with QualifyMe.As for how hard it is, yes it is hard.
Soon as your employer gives you the ass, your time stops.
So many people in my class had left electrical as they couldn't get another apprenticeship job after looking for 6 months.
The ratio of enrollments to how many apprentices get licensed is pretty low due to this reason.
What made you get started in an industry you hadn't worked in before?
Brother in law dragged me to jobs on weekends when I was 15 to give him a hand.
Tried other things along the way (did 2.5 years of Bachelor of Accounting @ Vic Uni which I didn't like) but kept falling back into the industry.Yet you're not qualified. That seems nuts to me.
It sure is.
Red or Blue?
Black. Always bet on black.
Lets go with red :)
Brown…
Who're the best wholesalers to run with?
Any reason on why you're going for your sparky license?
What's the best tip for people looking for an electrician to do general electrical work? licensing, products preferred/used? Whats your top/middle/bottom tier brands in security? Who do you swear by?Who're the best wholesalers to run with?
RexelAny reason on why you're going for your sparky license?
Been in it too long to let go :)What's the best tip for people looking for an electrician to do general electrical work?
Go for the local guy, not the 100+ staff companieslicensing, products preferred/used?
That's a very broad questionWhats your top/middle/bottom tier brands in security?
Check comments above for my preferred brands.
Rexel is a whore?
Great timing.
I am building a new double storey place and the builder's alarm subbie has pre-wired 6 core for a future alarm system to be installed by my own contractor after. I was thinking Paradox but based on your feedback above, maybe I should go to Hills or Bosch (I have an old NX12 in my current house). I want 2 keypads, quad detectors, a standalone smokie, and GSM dialler alerts (using an Aldi prepaid SIM). IP alerts would also be good, but perhaps a hassle to set up. Which system would you recommend? Should I stick to Paradox.
The builder has also installed 6 core for a future 2 screen video door bell. I was thinking Panasonic (as it seems quite cheap) with a surface mount camera. Any thoughts on this?
Thanks for your comments on CCTV above.
If the plaster hasn't been screwed on yet, get him to change the 6 core to Cat5 for your intercom and bring all the cables to a central point. This way you can go for any intercom (IP/basic) that you chose. IP intercoms are the way to go these days, as you can configure most to send you notifications and talk to the person at the door when your not home.
Paradox seems to be a good brand (especially overseas) from what I've researched in the past. But I would still stick to Hills or Bosch.
For keypad, I prefer VoiceNav Lite or TouchNav. I would also add 2 fob remote module to that list for easy arm and disarm from outside.
Have you ever installed a system for someone you suspect wasn't quite on the level, law-wise?
nope :)
What you think of Hikvision stuff?
I see Hikvision as Dahua's evil brother as most their specs are nearly identical.
Only ever installed one Hikvision system so I really cant say too much about them.How’s Dahua in general? I’ve only mentioned Hikvision as I keep seeing them installed in retail shops even seen them at BWS before. Shirley it can’t be that shite.
They definitely are not shite, they are ranked 1st of the top 50 security companies on asmag.com.
I just find Dahua to be more accessible and a very reliable brand.
I'm thinking of using an external harddrive, connected via USB to my home router, as a quick-n-dirty FTP server. The router itself has this feature, but (apart from atrocious upload speeds on ADSL2+), are there any significant security risks/dangers of making my home media server open to the internet that can't be mitigated by putting an access password via the router settings?
This is more network security related and I think an IT network expert would be able to answer this way better than me.
What I can say is, definitely don't use the standard port for FTP connection and maybe even limit your incoming access to a certain IP (work computer for eg.)
As for the hardware end, I wouldn't really be using FTP to do constant backups, rather just use it to save backups of certain events (motion, IVS, tamper) or interval snapshots.Thanks - I was more hoping to use it for accessing my own files when I'm on holidays or elsewhere, but I think the potential risk of leaving my media server directly open to the internet might be too high a risk for too little gain.
You could always setup something like LogMeIn Hamachi to create a virtual network between your computers and access it remotely as if it was local.
To be honest I'm in the middle of developing solutions for remote surveillance systems that run just off solar and this is also a problem I'm facing.I came across this the other day
It appears to limit access to your network by identifying and limiting to registered devices.
Some modems have a similar feature built in, but this seems to be a more user friendly solution
About how much would it be to wall mount a 55 inch TV ( cables hidden)?
It seems that timber behind the plaster wouldn't line up to a tv mount ( but I don't really know what one looks like for a Sony 9000 tv)
Wall mount prices range from $99 to $250+,im on the higher end of the scale.
From experience and other prices I've seen -
$99 +- young apprentice or handyman
$200 +- security technician - combined with other things eg. camera, alarm install
$250 +- security tech. or electrician - just coming out to do this job only.
$300 + extendable,electric bracket ect.Thanks. That would include the bracket I assume?
Yes
@Zotech:
Any hints or tips.
I am sure I can do it. Issue is it seems timber would be the centre of the tv.@PVA: You don't have to centre it to the wall because you can always slide the TV left or right as the plate is always much wider than the arms that connect behind the TV.
If your studs are way too much apart, screw 2 bolts down the middle into the stud and spread out 4 wall anchors evenly on the top and 4 on the bottom of the plate.Don't forget to pre-drill the stud with a smaller size drill bit as usually the bolts provided are thick in diameter and can cause the stud to split if you don't find the centre. Also don't over tighten with a drill as you will either thread the stud or snap the head of the bolt, hand tighten with a ratchet and stop when you cant tighten it anymore with one hand.
Thanks. So two bolts in the centre stud and four wallmate screws is ok to mount a 55 inch tv?
Pic attached.
Ignore the Pre school figure paint style 😀@PVA:
If it's a flat bracket it will be fine.
First try to shift the bracket to either side and see if the TV will cover the bracket.
@Zotech:
Man, I feel stupid.
I just looked up what tv black looks like, different to what I imagined, it will be easy, back bracket mounts along wall and will span a few studs for sure.
For some reason I thought the brackets were vesa size 400x400 and that mounts on the wall.
Is there a universal wiring standard when making a bomb as I notice in the movies they always use blue and red wiring and you need to cut the red wire to diffuse the bomb.
Some day a nut job will use a yellow and green wire and really stuff it up for the police
IRQ/SYR 1109:2001 (Rev.2012)
The standard is currently regulated and policed by the US, RUSSIA, NORTH KOREA & ISIS.You can find it on SAI Global using a secret login.
yellow/green is for earth.
don't ever use it for anything else.
Why is it illegal for someone to run Cat5 through their own roofspace? What is the reason it needs a licenced cabler?
Same reason you need a licence to fish, over-regulation..
Also it is technically a registration and not a licence.To be honest though, a few reasons I can say are valid are really only for safety
Eg.
- You will most likely work near electrical cables
- You will need basic OH&S knowledge so you don't hurt yourself
- You will need to know how to use power tools around things like gas pipes, water pipes, electrical wiring ect.
You wouldn’t happen to be in vic? I’ve got a hills reliance hooked up to Kokom - the lag when trying to answer the doorbell over the mobile makes conversation unuseable. Annoying thing is I can hold a con call over Skype and play a game, but a doorbell behaves like is through dialup! Even the Xiaomi was the same????
What’s your rate to finally get this setup working properly? :)
Also what do I need to make it work over nbn?
My office is in Campbellfield, where are you located?
Whats the model of the Kocom system? Is it working off P2P or direct IP connection?
If you have a decent internet connection I would say the problem is that it communicates via P2P and that's where the lag is.Do you have NBN now or getting NBN?
Pm sent … wow I’m hoping you can cover my area!
I’ll have to check the kocom model and if running p2p. I’ve also got the hikvision camera there - same problem, massive lag. Strangely enough, video in fluent resolution seems to work better than the audio?? Everything is hardwired too (I try to avoid wireless wherever possible)
Currently running Optus cable, nbn cabled to house, no idea when it will be cabled inside though. Really annoying thing is I can see a drawstring on the outside….I’m hoping it terminates at my switch with the others (that would make sense, but I couldn’t find there)
Domino's, pizza hut, McDonald's or kfc?
Grill'd thanks
Domino's, apparently they give away Kogan vouchers :)
Touche
How much should it cost to install 2 new fans in bedrooms and replace 2 old ones - not including the cost of the fans.
Thanks for doing this…
Also interested in similar question, approx cost to install a single new ceiling fan (with remote, again not including cost of the fan as I already brought it) in apartment roof, alongside two existing LED lights (but not replacing them). Sealed ceiling space, but you can pull existing lights through easily I assume and there's a metal bar to attach the fan to which holds up the plaster. Would also mean replacing the wall plate with three gang as opposed to current 2 gang.
Also interested in how you recommend I find a good electrician?
Make sure they actually have a A-Grade & REC license. Too many rogues running around doing work they shouldnt be doing.
Also always ask for Certificate of Electrical Safety.
Thanks, great tips!
whats your recommendation on home security cameras and alarm?