Non-motoring > Home CCTV cameras Miscellaneous
Thread Author: Bobby Replies: 14
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 Mon 2 Oct 23 15:13 
 Home CCTV cameras - Bobby
I have one camera above my front door facing onto front driveway. I purchased it from Amazon, the make is Yi. It recently dawned on me that I was paying something like £15pm for cloud backup for it.
I saw a deal today that is for an Amazon Click camera, on the face of it seems similar to mine but 2 year lithium battery as opposed to mains powered abs I think only £4 or so a month for backup. I also think you can do something with a USB stick instead but need to read up more.

Anyone got anything like this? I don’t have a Ring doorbell, know a few folk that do and it seems to be a pain in the neck. My current doorbell ding dongs on the 2 plug in sounders upstairs and downstairs. I don’t need Alexa (of which I only have one in the kitchen) tell me there is someone at the door!

But I do realise the Ring is another option.
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 Mon 2 Oct 23 16:22 
 Home CCTV cameras - Falkirk Bairn
Blink doorbell, 2 x Blink external cameras - back up to a system unit with a 32Gb memory stick.

A son has the same + 2 indoor cameras to keep an eye on the dog - one in the back extension and 1 next to her cage.



Another son has expensive cameras in the rear garden, 1 in front of house - better night vision than Blink.

Today Amazon announced big discounts on already inexpensive Blink kit ! Worth a look.
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 Mon 2 Oct 23 18:27 
 Home CCTV cameras - Bobby
Yeah that’s what prompted me to have a look FB.
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 Tue 3 Oct 23 08:26 
 Home CCTV cameras - Falkirk Bairn
The Blinks do work - recent night visitors spotted include a foxes, multiple cats(every week), the odd rabbit and the best one so far a Bambi!
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 Tue 3 Oct 23 10:13 
 Home CCTV cameras - sherlock47
I have used the Tapo devices - proved very reliable over the last 3 years. You can upgrade to cloud storage, or just rely on putting an SD card in the camera.

The only problem I have experienced is false triggers by low bright sunlight for about 45 mins in the morning - where the sun shines directly into the camera via a tree with wind moved leaves. Other than moving camera which would be difficult.


The exterior 3M pixel c310 image is noticeably better than than than the older steerable c200

Look for heavy discounts on Amazon.

You can live or or review on phone, set up alerts via email or use Alexa.

If all on the same wifi network you have live images to W10 or Fire tablet with suitable Apps.
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 Tue 3 Oct 23 11:56 
 Home CCTV cameras - smokie
"sun shines directly into the camera via a tree with wind moved leaves"

Can you not mask that area so it doesn't trigger? I thought that was a feature of most cameras. Could certainly do it on my Raspberry Pi cameras.
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 Wed 4 Oct 23 10:07 
 Home CCTV cameras - sherlock47
>> Can you not mask that area so it doesn't trigger?


Unfortunately the masking area needed to prevent the problem is the very area I need to detect visitors! It is only a problem at this time of year for about 1 month and 2 hrs a day.
Last edited by: VxFan on Wed 4 Oct 23 at 10:42
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 Tue 3 Oct 23 20:41 
 Home CCTV cameras - Bobby
Ordered it and it arrived today.
My fault but didn’t realise how bulky it was and limited fixing options (my current camera is mounted on the underside of the canopy over the front door).

Will be sending it back tomorrow.

Back to drawing board.
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 Tue 3 Oct 23 23:18 
 Home CCTV cameras - Bobby
The blink camera I ordered was the one with the sensor light each side. Too bulky.

Thinking of the individual cameras on their own but they look as if you would need to put them out of reach or someone could just swipe it off the wall?

I have a canopy above my front door that my existing Yi camera is screwed into a mount which is subsequently screwed into the canopy.

Reviews, like yours, seem to suggest the quality at night is very poor though?
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 Wed 4 Oct 23 07:51 
 Home CCTV cameras - Falkirk Bairn
Amazon sell separate "arms" for fitting the cameras - now you have the camera look at the extra arms on the Blink pages
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 Wed 4 Oct 23 10:53 
 Home CCTV cameras - Bobby
Mmm definitely sending this big one back but might look at the individual Blinks linked to the hub and a usb.
Have contacted Yi/ Kami about my existing camera as I noticed a clause that says they would replace if camera proves faulty. See if anything comes of it.
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 Wed 4 Oct 23 13:19 
 Home CCTV cameras - Falkirk Bairn
£15 a month for a contract - eye watering!

Blink is £2.50 / month for storage or Free, if you store the videos on a memory stick.
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 Wed 4 Oct 23 13:28 
 Home CCTV cameras - smokie
If you have an always-on NAS I'm sure there is a spec/standard which would use that for storage, for free. ONV or something like that
Last edited by: smokie on Wed 4 Oct 23 at 13:29
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 Wed 4 Oct 23 13:42 
 Home CCTV cameras - CGNorwich
Why do people want to store images of the postman and Amazon delivery drivers forever?
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 Wed 4 Oct 23 13:47 
 Home CCTV cameras - Bobby
When I went to cancel I realised it was £15 a quarter.
Oops

But I do like the idea of the Blink hub that takes the USB stick
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