Long weekend! Are you guys planning on attending the ANZAC dawn service (or later services) tomorrow? I used to go each year but haven't been since we had kids. Can't get them up early enough 😅

This week I've been on a spending spree. I have a new security camera that I'll put over the driveway, that will hopefully let me see both number plates of cars in the driveway and the kerb where we put our rubbish/recycling bins, letting me play with automations around reminders of putting the wheelie bins out or notifications of who is in the driveway. That will bring it to 3 security cameras + a doorbell camera, which is the final state I intended. It doesn't do a good job of security as someone could easily skirt around them, but it will do a great job of covering things that make for fun times in Frigate/Home Assistant!

I had to get a new switch as I've used all the 8 ports + extra 4 on my mini switch. I also can't thread any more ethernet cable into the ceiling through the existing hole, it won't fit more, so I'm going to roof mount the new switch, which has 7 POE ports which should cover everything.

Another thing I bought this week is a 20kg bag of Wairarapa grown flour. Shipping was a killer, I seriously considered driving there to pick it up but in the end I decided to just suck it up. It was an impulse purchase, not sure what I'm going ot use it for but we generally go through a lot of flour anyway. I might have to bake some bread, which I haven't done in a while.

[–] Dave@lemmy.nz 4 points 2 weeks ago (4 children)

I can happily report I successfully mounted the switch and camera today, with no dramas and only a normal amount of blood sacrifice.

[–] nsh@lemmy.nz 2 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Congrats! Mind me asking what models for security cams and doorbell you went with? I had to get mine installed quick and kind of regret not spending enough time shopping around.

[–] Dave@lemmy.nz 2 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I have a whole range! All are POE because I am using them with Frigate and all the recommendations are to avoid wifi cameras for that.

The first one I put in was this TP Link one. I was pretty happy with that one really. I got a 4mm focal length and didn't really understand what that meant at the time, for the place I put it I'd probably go for the 2.8mm version if I did it again for the slightly wider angle, but it does what I need it to. Noting that wider angle means pixels are spread across a wider area so identifying people is harder if you're using it for security.

The second camera I got is this HiLook one. I got it because it's a Starlight camera, working in very low light. However, it doesn't seem to have a setting for automatic frame rate, so if you have it set low for low light then it's blurry all day whenever anything moves. In the end I have it using the IR light at night and don't really make use of the Starlight capability.

My most recent camera is this Ubiquity one. It turns out you need a device with Unifi Protect in order to enable the RTSPS stream to allow Frigate to get the video stream, it's not enabled by default. I have a device capable of it (Unifi Dream Machine SE) so it wasn't an issue for me, but if I didn't that would have been a shock! But I only got the camera because I have that Unifi ecosystem for some other stuff. It's a bit nicer build quality than the others but it's a lot more expensive than the TP Link and I don't know that it's any better.

The doorbell camera is this Reolink POE one. I only paid $120 for it in the black friday sale (only just got around to getting it installed). It can do cloud stuff if that's your thing but I have it running all locally with the video streaming to Frigate and with Home Assistant notifications for when someones at the door or if they press the doorbell button. The Reolink app lets you talk through the doorbell with the person at the door, when someone presses the doorbell it rings your phone like a video call and you can accept or decline. Two way audio is apparently doable through Frigate to Home Assistant but we decided we don't really want to do calls with the doorbell so I haven't looked into it much. All in all pretty happy with it though, maybe my only complaint is that I think the HDR could be stronger, the sky is bright in the shot and people approaching it have shadowy faces so facial recognition doesn't work that great unless it happens to get a properly lit shot of them.

These cameras all come with AI detecting of people, animals, cars, etc, but I'm not using it because I've got Frigate so I can't really comment on their effectiveness.

[–] nsh@lemmy.nz 2 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Thanks for sharing the info, much appreciated. Frigate sounds like a great idea - no need for cloud subscriptions, privacy concerns, etc.

[–] Dave@lemmy.nz 2 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Yeah Frigate is pretty cool. Really I got the cameras to play with Frigate, I didn't get cameras first haha. I also got a Coral TPU as a dedicated processor for object detection.

It has been fun playing with the driveway one this past few days. Using number plate recognition in Frigate I can have Home Assistant send me notifications (with a photo) of when our cars arrive in the driveway. Over time I'll add common visitors too, then maybe I can have my Home Assistant Voice PE (smart speaker) announce for the kids when Grandma has arrived or things like that.

I currently have the camera send me any detections. and I had no idea how often a neighbours cat chills in our driveway.

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