cglaeser

I have an Altronix 24VAC power supply used for IR Illuminators and want to add a couple PIRs that are spec'd between 6-18VDC. When converting 24VAC to 12VDC, do you have any favorite converters? Best, Christopher

As others have mentioned, some ISPs are trying to reduce spam by clamping down on ports and SMTP settings. SBCglobal requires me to use SSL and port 465 at my house when sending email via my sbcglobal account, but not at my brother's house or his place of work which also use sbcglobal. In addition, I had problems getting email to work with my other email accounts, so when SBC began closing ports in our area, I called them and requested that they open port 25 for my house. In summary, a lot can depend on your ISP, and some ISPs will open ports if specifically requested. Best, Christopher

Thanks, that's very helpful. I also found the Altronix VR series (VR1, VR1T, VR2T, ....). Best, Christopher

His parts list includes an additional 4GB of RAM. Best, Christopher

Thanks, I missed that post. Best, Christopher

Is this system for a Casino or a your home? I always ask one very simple question. What is it you are trying to accomplish? Do you want to archive months of video of cars passing by your house? Or, do you want to document the exact time of day someone broke into your car that was parked in your driveway? Or, are you trying to catch a burglar if someone breaks into your car? Once you answer this very basic question about what you are trying to accomplish, designing the system becomes much easier. Best, Christopher

I'm running Exacq on a Windows 7 x64 system. I'm in the process of moving Exacq to Ubutnu, but in the mean time, I've been trying to understand why the Exacq web server hangs after running for a few hours or perhaps a day or two at most. A Services restart gets it going each time, but I'm not sure why it hangs again. I've skimmed the events log and don't see anything at first glance. How would I go about determining why a particular Service stops responding? Best, Christopher

What are the odds a drive is going to fail? What are the odds that someone is going to burglarize your home? Now, what are the odds both will happen on the same day? Also, why the need for so much storage? Best, Christopher

Why? What is your motivation for RAID 5? Best, Christopher

You should double check with QNAP to confirm before spending $1,000, but I think the differences are limited to enclosure/lens and do not affect the interface to an NVR. BTW, I have the 502 minidome and it's been a solid performer. Auto back focus is a welcome feature. Of course, would always like to have better low-light performance in any camera. Looking forward to comparing the 502 with the newly announced Avigilon 2MP H.264 cameras. Best, Christopher

I've been buying Dells for many years, but recently purchased an HP Z200. The Z400 and Z800 have more capacity and the drives are slightly easier to install/replace (they use a drive caddy), but the Z200 is a nice price point. Best, Christopher

Sounds like a winner. Best, Christopher

If you are content with using the Chrome browser for remote viewing, some VMS applications can do this without ActiveX and will work fine on the Mac. One example is Exacq. However, these web viewers are generally not as feature rich as the client software. This is one market that the PC dominates, and if I was determined to use my Mac for remote viewing, I would probably use remote login to a PC-based NVR. Best, Christopher

Yes, the Axis P8221 Audio I/O unit. It attaches to the LAN and supports the laundry list of Ethernet protocols, which is nice, but comes at a cost of $350 for 8 I/O ports. A USB I/O device would cost perhaps $25. Yes, that's an option too, but the cameras are scattered, and the triggers may have no relation to the cameras, which means additional wiring to get a trigger out to the camera just so the VMS application will recognize the event. For my own site, I happen to be using a Q7404, so I can use that, but I'm trying to design a more robust solution for other sites that won't have a Q7404. Using camera triggers and additional wiring may be the most cost effective with Exacq. Do other VMS applications support an I/O device that is, say, less than $100? Best, Christopher

Are there any build-your-own NVR VMS applications that support some sort of trigger/alarm I/O card or USB device? I don't think that Exacq does. Best, Christopher

I skimmed the posts and one issue that may not have been addressed is non-blocking switches. Some hubs and routers may only allow communication between two devices at any given time, thus blocking all other ports during the transfer, whereas intelligent non-blocking switches allow different pairs of ports to communicate simultaneously. One 10 Mbps device can consume significant bandwidth on a blocking hub. I like the HP ProCurve 1400 24G switch for medium sized LANs because it supports up to 48 Gbps bandwidth and it is fanless and therefore completely silent. Best, Christopher

Exacq has a free lite version that is connected to the Exacq servers and cameras so that you can play with the user interface without making a purchase. Best, Christopher

The system requirements for the ACC Player recommend Windows XP SP2 or Windows Vista. No mention of Windows 7. Has anyone successfully installed the ACC Player on Windows 7? Best, Christopher

The GVI Tool-Less Baluns came in a small bubble pack with no instructions except to observe polarity. It wasn't clear if these baluns could cut and connect through each Cat5 wire or if the pair of wires needed to be stripped first. Based on a simple continuity test, the wires must be stripped. The next question is, how much to strip? I guessed 1/3" and it seems to work fine. I did not see any answers on Google or Youtube, so thought I would post these comments here. If my guesses were wrong, please feel free to post a correction. Best, Christopher

Thanks, I appreciate the help. Best, Christopher "Well, you have to know these things when you're a king, you know." -- King Arthur

The audible continuity tester works with high resistance. The continuity test did not work prior to stripping, and worked after stripping. More important, the camera did not work prior to stripping, and the camera worked after stripping. My best guess is I did not get a good bite through the insulation. Best, Christopher

Well that's good to know, but they did not work for me unless I stripped them. I tested continuity by tying the pair of wires together at one end and using an audible continuity tester at the other end. Nothing. Unless I striped the wires. With no instructions and a bit of testing, I assumed they required stripping. Not sure why I didn't get a good bite through the insulation. I'm sure the inserts were pushed in all the way. Next time I'll try again without stripping. Best, Christopher

1. Exacq does not perform the compression; the cameras perform the compression and Exacq stores the streams to disk. 2. You won't need too much horsepower. 3. Use an internal hard drive(s). It's fast, reliable, and cheap. 4. On board video may be fine, or cheap reliable video card. Best, Christopher

I installed a Samsung SVD-4400 CCTV for the low-light performance, and I'm pleased with that feature, but I can't seem to get a decent focus. Perhaps I've been spoiled by the megapixel IP cameras, so I posted a couple images for review. The 4400 is connected to an Axis Q7404 video encoder which is set to D1 resolution with MJPEG compression at highest quality. Comments?

I still have several CRT monitors, including a 21" Dell and a top-of-the-line 19" LaCie Electron Blue III, but I don't think my ladder can support the weight. I also have a couple portable DVD players. I'm curious though, why is a portable DVD player better than an LCD monitor? Best, Christopher PS: I still have a Wyse WY75 ascii terminal.