When it comes to protecting outdoor cctv cameras, the most common questions are: “How do I keep insects away from the room?”, “How do I protect a room from rain or other natural elements?”.
Or, how do we protect the outer chambers from acts of vandalism or destruction? How can owners prevent lens condensation or blurring? How can we prevent mirroring IR light?
In this article we will share some tips on how to protect your outdoor CCTV cameras, PoE cameras or wireless cameras.
First question: How do you prevent vandalism, destruction or theft of the outdoor CCTV camera?
Outdoor cameras are often vulnerable to vandalism, destruction and theft due to the fact that thieves are increasingly creative in trying to cover up their crime by all sorts of methods based on dismantling, destroying or covering CCTV cameras.
Solutions:
To prevent theft of the room, install it in a place hard to reach a normal person such as on a wall at a higher height, soffit, at the edge of the roof of the house and use mounting screws or a special anti-theft bracket.
You can also place the NVR / DVR on a shelf between the books, to hide it and prevent theft and loss of recordings that capture the perpetrator.
You can even use metal camera cases, which will protect the camera and lenses, keep them clean and prevent theft. To prevent the camera from dazzling with laser light or just strong light, you can camouflage the camera so that thieves can’t figure out whether or not they’re being watched; you can do this by choosing a black or other colored case, which is lost in the decor in which it is installed or you can hide the room in a birdhouse. On the market you can even find special cases with ready-made camouflage pattern.
Second question: How do I keep insects away?
Outdoor CCTV cameras with night vision and infrared light produce IR light at night so you can view the scene correctly. Well, this type of light attracts insects such as mosquitoes, moths, spiders and other small creatures like them.
Soon your room could be covered in spider webs, dead insects or beetles. They will soon become annoying due to the fact that they block the field of view of the camera and produce false motion alerts, especially for cameras that operate on the basis of motion detection.
Solutions:
To keep insects away from the room, use special spray on the camera housing. Alternatively, you can turn off the camera’s IR light and install a standalone one next to the camera.
To stop spiders from building sails, some users recommend using Vaseline on the area around the room. Natural remedies against spider webs, such as lavender, mint, citrus or eucalyptus, can also work.
You can use any insect spray, as long as you avoid the camera lenses. The simplest option is to clean the room periodically, although this can be expensive as well as run time.
Third question: How do I protect the room from the cold of winter, the heat of summer and the rain?
If you live in areas with extreme temperatures in both summer and winter, your CCTV system or outdoor camera may malfunction if they are not designed to operate in environments with such temperatures.
In addition, there are a lot of meteorological phenomena that the rooms must be protected from.
Solutions:
First of all, we recommend checking the degree of IP (Ingress Protection) protection of the camera that indicates its resistance to natural phenomena.
For example, a camera with IP66 degree of protection can withstand the impact of solid elements such as dust, heavy rain, this degree bringing the camera to the status of resistance to water infiltration.
You will also need to pay attention to the operating temperature of the room. Most outdoor CCTV equipment has an operating temperature range of -10 to 55 ° C and a humidity level of 10% to 90%.
You can be preventive and opt for a protective case against rain, snow, dust or heat. This will add to the protective layer of the room and you will no longer have to worry about the effects of the weather.
In addition to protecting the room from rain, you also need to think about wiring it. If you have a PoE or CCTV camera installed on a pole, bridge, dike or other outdoor locations, their cables and connectors will require resistance to water infiltration. If you opt for special cables, designed for outdoor mounting, go for the durable ones such as a gel-reinforced Ethernet cable on the inside (for PoE IP cameras).
Another possible option is to use junction boxes to hide and protect their cables and connectors.
If you do not plan to use junction boxes or cable ducts, we recommend plugging the holes through which the cables pass through the walls, otherwise moisture can penetrate through the given holes and can damage everything around.
You can choose to fill the holes with silicone or other waterproof material or you can let drain bubbles so that the collected water does not infiltrate even deeper into the structure on which the room is installed.
In addition, in the harsh winter conditions you can periodically check the room so that no condensation forms and you can even put a bag of silica gel for moisture absorption.
Question 4: How can I solve the problem of mirroring IR light?
When a CCTV camera is aimed at a pond or any other reflective surface * (which reflects ..?), They will cause the effect of mirroring or obstructing the camera’s clear view.
Often in terms of interior cameras, the glass will be to blame for mirroring the light in the resulting CCTV images.
Solutions:
To avoid this inconvenience, place the camera outside for a better field of view. To prevent the reflection of normal and infrared light in the room, the viewing angle of the room should be adjusted and away from the respective surfaces.
Other tips for this problem include using a special window film or using external IR illuminators.
Question 5: How can I prevent room condensation and blurring?
Normally, CCTV cameras are watertight after their assembly, which reduces the possibility of condensation inside their housings.
However, some users have reported that, mounted outdoors, their dome CCTV camera produces blurred images at night without condensation in the camera housing.
Solutions:
A problem of blurring images during the mornings will be eliminated by itself, so there is no need to wipe the surface of the camera lens.
When the problem persists for a longer time, the solution is to place a bag of silica gel in the chamber housing, after a thorough cleaning.
Regular cleaning of the camera lens with a microfiber cloth will protect it over time.
Question 6: How can I protect the camera from lightning?
The effects of lightning on the outdoor CCTV camera include: loss of video signal, electrical currents, horizontal lines on the monitoring screen or freezing / shutting down of the entire CCTV system.
Solutions:
Avoid mounting IP cameras on metal poles; it is the conductor of electricity. It also uses a weatherproof housing.
Make sure that the CCTV system, if wired, is properly grounded, which can prevent the burning of the cameras and equipment involved.
Overvoltage protections against lightning will stop the huge amount of voltage from spreading to the sockets, regulating the amount of energy passing through them.
UPS units will power the cameras in the event of a power failure, eliminating the panic of being left unprotected.
Question 7: How do I protect my camera from cyber attacks?
One of the vulnerabilities of IP cameras is the cyber attack either by decrypting your access code or in other ways.
Solutions:
The solution is to improve network protection using the WPA2 (Wi-Fi Protected Access) protocol.
Frequent password changes and their complication are vital for the protection of the CCTV system. Another thing is to keep the firmware version of the camera up to date.
Question 8: How do I solve camera imaging problems?
Some cameras will have problems such as: loss of video signal, interruption of video flow, flickering of the image, moving lines on the image, black screen at night, etc.
Solutions:
First check the cables and their condition; if they are in good condition, there are still solutions such as restarting the camera, resetting it, addressing the technical support, etc.
Another thing to do is mount the camera on non-metallic surfaces due to interference that may occur, resulting in the image problems described above.
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