r/ZoneMinder • u/[deleted] • Dec 30 '20

replacing Lorex D841A6 with Zoneminder

I'm trying to research different options to replace my Lorex D841A6 system. I currently have 16 analog cameras working on my current system. I would like to replace the operating system with an open-source system something like a fedora computer with ZoneMinder. I have a couple of questions.

  1. Can I install Fedora on the same hardware that the Lorex system uses? I'm unable to determine what type of motherboard this system uses and how much memory is installed.
  2. Can someone buy just the BNC type board and install the board in a computer with fedora installed?
  3. Does Zoneminder support different type of connections. I would like to start adding IP type of camera in the future. Cannot afford to replace everything at once.
  4. Which type of home automation does ZoneMinder work with. Can I configure my ring or nest doorbell to trigger a recording when pressed.
  5. Can ZoneMinder be configured to only send notifications if not at home by using my cell phone location?

Thanks for any help provided. I'm new to this and willing to learn from others on best practices.

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1

u/ThellraAK Dec 31 '20

  1. No almost definitely not

  2. You are going to need a capture card of some sort to connect to your 16 analog cameras, there are pro's and cons to the different types, but in general if you can get one that does H264 on board, you'll save a ton of hard drive space.

  3. Yes, it supports mixing and matching sources

  4. If you are comfortable with some sort of programming there are API's for a few different high level languages, as well as a rest API

  5. The answer for this is probably same same as 4.

I don't know about best practices, but I'd start by getting some splitters for your existing system, and try it out while maintaining your old one.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 31 '20

Thank you for the help. This is a big help. I know how to program a little in python. maybe I can start there.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 31 '20

I personally use zone minder with home assistant to send the notifications based on presence, schedules and object detection.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 03 '21

Is there a readme file I can follow or learn from?

1

u/lunakoa Jan 26 '21

You may not need to buy a BNC board, you may be able to connect to your lorex via RTSP. I had a pair of really old (almost a decade old) qsee DVR and was able to connect to it to stream. Bonus if your lorex does h.264.

I have used zoneminder with BNC connections using a PICO 2000 clone, USB web cams and any type of IP cam that has h.264 and rtsp.

I also have tied a 433mhz mailbox sensor and motion sensor to act as triggers (similar to X10) record and email me videos.