stabmaster

Hey thanks for helping me out so much what--- 8 or so years ago? LOL. I frequent the forum but don't post. All of the CCTV stuff from years ago is so antiquated now! I ran a super new "wireless" setup back then on solar panels. I got some good responses here for being bold enough to try something so new. The wireless unit was the best I could find and it was just a piecer. Sent it back in a couple of times and it just gave up the ghost on me. Now i'm overhauling. Wireless isn't what it used to be! I still have a setup and instead of wireless it's EOPL "ethernet over power line" and it has been working solid for years. Literally 3 miles away exists a cool outfit (Radiolabs) that makes antennas and some pretty nice solid wireless devices, so I can go pick some stuff up from them any time. I've just gutted everything and I have a "Suddenlink" cable service and an AT&T dsl service. I'm not sure which I want for porting out to the world- but I do like the idea of running android dvr or something like that. I like the Robert Chou "IP Cam Viewer" for android and wanted to run that exclusively. I don't know where i want to store it but conceivably I can go intranet to a tablet pc and a HDD. I sortof want to make everything wirelessly connected to the router. I'll go over what I have selected so far and see what you have to say.. any help is greatly appreciated! I didn't really sink any major cash in this yet i'm just mucking around at this point. I checked out the IP Cam Viewer website and selected a cheap-ish camera for trying out. It's the TV-IP512WN which has CS mount lens. I already got it in and checked it out, changed the lens to some unitek lens. Unfortunately there is no "auto iris" pinout on it. It was a $150 camera so I can't expect too much, but auto-iris is still a huge upgrade for outdoor surveilance right? I haven't purchased yet but I'm looking at (pretty sure about) the O2Storm http://www.radiolabs.com/products/wireless/networking/1-watt-router.php I just selected this because it will be a strong wifi network. I've NEVER had any luck with routers- they all annoy me, burn out eventually, have poor support or front end.. At least I can kick the door down at radiolabs and complain if there's a problem. Also I may run "clusters" of wifi cams from various points and do repeaters with antennas, but i'm not going miles apart so i'm not stressing about this yet. I can also go EOPL on these- i've run EOPL for 5 years with NO PROBLEMS!!! it's the netgear something -- really popular device and never gives me trouble. Ok so what am I missing? I don't know where or how to store the DVR, which one(s) to pick, and why. I would prefer to pick up an android driven tablet and run the IP Cam Viewer PRO ($3.99) to a usb hard drive (maybe usb 3.0?) or maybe a wireless hard drive but I assume that will be an improbability because I've done a little reading on these and they're simply not very flexible. Anyways if i can get any opinions on the DVR, the storage, and the network layout I would greatly appreciate it. I realize the question is "what the heck are you trying to do here" or "how are you going to use it"-- well I can answer that- i've been running the security here for years with moderate success. I will be expanding based on the usability but I want employees to be able to pick up a tablet or their phones from anywhere and just see what is/was going on without being technical about it. This is for an RV park. Usually something happens near the facilities or some idiot from town drives in that we don't want around and I just need the employees to be able to review it on the following day. We don't have to get high res or send the files out or anything difficult. Just a "replay" of the shennanigans and tom foolery going on there. Hope this was an informative starting place (!) I have other questions too.. Id like to try to contribute here as well. I've built some really cool "one-off's" for abnormal security requests.... with varying utility and success. LOL. Any help with the new gizmos and security protocols (and programs and stuff).. that would be excellent!

I have to dig it up but I got a guy wearing a santa hat doing meth bleeding out his nose and using my overhead 1 way mirror to clean his face up. It's like a zombie movie lol.

Hello. I have spent some time reading up on the surveillance systems and, although I know what i want, I still don't know where to find it. I also need someone to check my work, because I'm not entirely sure about this. First, I am looking for 2 wireless color weatherproof cameras to mount on top of lampposts (20-25' high). The image (human activity) will be approximately 50' away and field of view about 25' wide, which to my calculations comes out to a 9.6mm focal length on a 1/3" CCD. I assume 8mm lens will be fine. The change machine, coke machine, and all the other stuff these lowlifes like to tamper with is under corridor lighting so i assume i will not need any low light infared capabilities or anything. Two more cameras will be wired in because it's near the office and it will only take a little time to run some conduit underground. These would need to be weatherproof, color, and they generally scope out the vehicular activity that will cruise through the campground (one will be firing at the mailboxes and office, etc. at 65ft away. At this distance a 12mm lens would probably be okay as it will give appx. 25' wide view on a 1/3" CCD. I will have to secure a pole into the ground and the cameras will probably be mounted 5-6' above ground. I will need some locking cases to mount the cameras inside so that people can't beat the hell out of them (people generally look for trouble out of sheer boredom in this park). The system is to be a computer based DVR system. I have a good 1.4gHz athalon with Abit KT7A-RAID motherboard, 1 gig of ram, 64mb NVIDIA vid card, and win2kpro. I've used it for a year and it's incredibly stable, so I am confident that it will do the trick. The software should be easy to use, and pretty cool- We have a lot of ubergeeks who like to wire things up to aux. monitors and do remote access and all that jazz.. so easy is good, but simple.. well, cool is better DVR storage only needs to be like a day or two, because the on-site manager knows if something needs to be reviewed within 24hrs most of the time. If it's only a little higher price i'd go with longer storage. OK so i know the parts. I think i know the camera spec's... i just don't know where to score the equipment. I think that, being realistic, i can peice this together for 1000-2000. Just for the record, the system will be used for real-time surveillance remotely or locally, but that's not the really big picture. They are there to prevent people from tampering with our machines or driving where they're not supposed to, and the video review is the main function; the reason is that it's much easier to evict someone when we have a police report filed on them. Similar issues occur with traffic (there is an off-limits place where ATV's and 4x4 trucks think it's a playground). I need ANY help i can get as far as the retailer, equipment brands, and things that i may not have considered, or may be missing. THANKS IN ADVANCE!

Long time no see, but I figure I'd give you an update. The syste was flawless, until rain destroyed the wireless ML-10 transmitters and recievers. Those things are junk. Everything else was great. There has been no crime to speak of in the past year and a half or more. We don't need the security anymore! In the mean time, we caught a few bad people, a few missing people. It was great. We were able to show incidents to the police if they needed it. We also had a bit of power over the cops because we had info they wanted and we didn't need to give it to them. It was great.. anyways it has been dismantled and i'm selling the components. If anyone needs a kalatel dvr multiplexer (the one in this thread), i posted it on ebay but i'm not very good at posting things so it probably won't go for much. May want to bid on it. it's here: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230183894173 thanks for all your help those years back. it made my family's life easier! be proud of yourselves!

Hi again. I am revamping my CCTV setup and I could use some help, as you folks had so graciously done in the past. Short version: Members of this forum helped me out months ago to get my security system done in my RV park. I ran a pole in the ground, a serious 130W solar panel, a pair of 12v batteries, and I'm running 24V on 2 outdoor cameras. Now my question is about converting these to infrared. I don't know if it's much of a good idea at all. Mainly, the idea is to be able to pick up license plates and vehicle makes/models at night time. The trick is that the headlights and taillights are going to close the iris and all I end up with is two bright dots on my screen. In a perfect world, i would have a good normal day camera (B/W or color, not important), and at night the infrared lights would show up and the camera would cut off all non-ir frequencies. Not only that, but somehow it would be sensitive to only one certain IR frequency. If i could choose i would pick 880nm-- because this is the frequency which appears to have the highest candela per watt (efficiency) according to one reference. Since I'm running 24v off of my solar panels right now, I would hope to find all of this in 24v application. Oh yeah, I would also like this to be done on the cheap. So the first problem i am facing is finding a varifocal auto iris 24v lens with IR lights integrated. Something like the following is what i would hope to find: http://www.supercircuits.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=3575 but in varifocal auto iris 24v form. plus more IR lights would be nice Unfortunately i doubt this is going to happen. I could go with one of these: http://www.ledtronics.com/ds/PAR20/default.asp its a PAR20 IR with the angle of my choice. Since i think they're normally used for track lighting, i would probably find a hard time locating an outdoor housing. Luckily i have some Pelco camera housings that i'm not using that could work (and it wouuld be more intimidating with 4 camera housings!). But i digress. I would like to solve this mystery. Is this just much ado about nothing? Am I sunk here? A little help is much appreciated.

Sorry it's been so long.. I'm always out of town doing one thing or another. The information is very useful. I don't understand, though, what a siamese powered RG6 does-- more specifically, is the RG6 actually powered (amplified) by this pos/neg connection or is this pos/neg used to power the camera? if the latter, why would one run a power line seperate from the signal line when they are already run together?

thanks for your help everyone. I have been looking into everything that has been suggested. I'm removing the really super-cool solar panel setup that i built and i'm going to try to hardwire 110v and hardwire the video. I think the distance is 150' - 200' but may be less. Is there going to be huge line loss issues with this? I assume that the voltage drop accross the coax (rca) line will be too great.. but i don't know. I did read that I could go with an IP converter which will give the ability to run fiberoptics over the long stretch. the advantage here is that i will have no interference at all. I will also have the ability in the future to screw around with PTZ or some other whackyness (i guess?!). Anyways am i on the wrong track?! there is so much to consider!

thanks rory. I am actually putting more cameras up inside the laundry room and elsewhere indoors, so i was hoping to find some more effective cameras to throw on the poles, and then scavenge the existing cameras for indoor use. i doni't NEED to get license plates, but i would like to be able to resolve the types of vehicles at least, to identify who is in them (i live in a small enough town where this would be possible). I think that the locals have slowly gotten bolder at night time, knowing that we are basically blind at night. Also, some people only come through at night and don't even know we have cameras. Anything that would increase our night vision would be helpful. I havve the ability to run IR from a remote location onto the vehicles... which i will probably do. Any suggestions on the camera? The big black hole in my head here is thus: the average B/W night camera probably won't perform as well as the camera made for IR, correct? What specification reflects a cameras ability to resolve IR light? thanks!

The transmitters look as though they work excellent- but I still have work to do. I didn't mount them outside or high enough, and my 2.4GHz wireless router makes the video flash when data transfers (changing router channels didn't help all that much). I am working on changing the transmitter channels, but there was no information in the installation manual (1 page) about which dip switches do what. One of the transmitters has the wrong power cable connector type coming off of it. I am calling the place i bought it from tomorrow to fill in the gaps. The image quality varies substantially by placement, but it is clear that a crisp video signal is achievable. I am hardwiring some cat5 from the DVR and the office computer to the router tomorrow (100 foot run). I am mounting the recievers in a better location as well. Rory- if you are serious about selling these kits, I would be serious about putting together a good weatherproof design and working with you. The base pole i used happened to be a 4+3/16" and it was about 8' high. I built the solar unit on the ground with a seperate 8' pole that had a flange that just slid over the top of the base. I could include a, say, 4' length of pole instead (with a flange). The flange is important because the solar panel is fixed to the pole, and it's very nice to be able to rotate the solar panel exactly where it needs to be. I also designed the mounts so that the cameras and transmitters could rotate easily. If i were to put a kit together, I think that i could cut the cost significantly on a couple of key peices. First, the transmitters had audio transmitting ability- which is most likely unnecessary. The second thing is that these transmitters/recievers are just dropped into $8 utility boxes and sold as "weatherproof." If i could find the electronics alone, I could probably cut the cost by dropping some units into weatherproof boxes myself. My assumption is that these utility boxes double as really crude waveguides (due to shape and depth). I think that the design can be imroved upon, personally. Of course aesthetics is important here so I wouldn't be strapping them into a pringles can! Anyways, if i end up doing that job for the storage facility, i would be making some nice prototypes. I would probably experiment with the waveguide idea as well.

Well, it has been a while, I know.. I have been busy, and also have spent time waiting on extra little peices for my project. I'm not done yet- but what i've done is pretty cool. I'm really tired from working on it ALL day so my typing might turn out a bit convoluted. There are 2 cameras monitoring the activity directly at the entrance of the Park. It is mounted to a giant 4.5" pole that is cemented deep in the ground. I have them connected to wireless transmitters. Here's the cool part: they run completely, entirely off of solar power. The top of the pole supports a 110W solar panel which drives all 4 peices of equipment (2 transmitters, 2 cameras). There is a battery box at the base of the pole which stores the power from the solar panel. The only other equipment needed for my free-standing "wireless" cctv unit was a voltage regulator/charge control whcih i managed to sneak in one of the Pelco housings. here are a few pictures that I took: http://f1.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/stabmaster5150/album?.tok=phbC80ABW9_1DU2k&.dir=/d5a2&.src=ph I have more work left. I might do something to conceal or secure all the wires, but at 18 feet in the air i don't know who is going to try to clip them.. the people who would stand to gain from it don't seem to have much drive to do anything, let alone climb 18'. I am gong to do some work with a backhoe and i'm going to find a big friggin boulder down on the river bar and put it in front of the pole so that nobody tries to ram it over. probalby 1 on each side. the battery box at the base needs locks, but i didn't bury it which kindof sucks, but I really didn't have the option for various reasons. I am going to spend tomorrow focusing the cameras and reading all the manuals to all of these damn toys-- and get them running smoothly. I am running 3 2.4ghz accessories and there is another dude running a 2.4ghz router on channel 11, so it's a squeeze.

I ended up with the Kalatel unit we were discussing. I am going down there today to focus the cameras and wire everything in, and play with it! It's funny you mentioned the kit rory- someone with a storage unit business liked my idea and wanted me to do a system for him. I told him to let me know when he needs it and i'll try to price it out for him. The one thing i wanted to do here that i couldnt was to build a battery tray tucked away under the panel (in the air). The genius of it all would be that I could use 2 batteries and counter-balance it on each side of the pole. Time was a constraint for this project so I didn't get that done. I also had to consider that the batteries need maintenence, which would be a PITA for the manager to do. The solution would be to get sealed or gel-cell batteries. Lifting the unit up was also a task- it took a lot of muscle and we didn't have the proper tools (like the trucks that the power company uses on towers). My cost of the system was not as bad as you would imagine (because i have access to wholesale solar equipment). The rewarding thing about this system is that i made all my mounts myself. This was my creation- and I used only my imagination and know-how. One great thing was that I didn't need a power inverter becasue the panel was 12VDC and I selected equipment that was both 12VDC and was rather efficient on power (about 1.5A total at 12V). The panel is about 7A and i sized it for the sunlight (25% or 6hrs). The other great thing about this creation is that you don't need to bury or secure any wires.. and any contractor knows that you need a permit to wipe your a$$ in california. I'll try to finish up today and get some screen shots. One of the wireless recievers actually CAME with the wrong connector on it-- so i have to get out my saudering iron. A few little thigns here and there and this thing will be up and smokin. I'll keep you all up to speed. THANKS again for helping me out with this! It will prove to have been one of our best investments here so far. P.S. - i'm in the process of installing an automatic security gate with proximity sensors (proxi cards). this system, and some lighting, will be running off of solar power as well.

awesome. Thanks for your help everyone! I am making some minor changes witht he housings and mounts, wires and power supplies... but i think i got the core of the system figured out. we have a couple of cheezy old security cameras that are going to be mounted to the office, just to see if that's a location we might want to consider for monitoring activity (since we have expandability, and it takes about 10' of cable and 1 hole). If we decide to ix-nay instead of upgrade the office cam, we will leave the dummy housing up there for sure. These people are afraid of electronics! Oh and i'll be sure to post some images of the project since you guys were so good and patient with me. This forum is obviously just going to grow indefinitely as CCTV gets more popular (from what i understand, it never really caught on, but it's due up). Also, I plan to keep an eye on the industry and if demand blows up for security here in California, I wouuld consider taking some courses and running my own little CCTV proprietorship. There's just nothing better than working for yourself and tinkering around with electronics, eh?

I hope your house didn't burn down! I've been there before... Here's what I've come up with for my system: Kalatel SDVR-4-40 $1495 Toshiba IK-6400A Color day/night camera (2) at $159 each 1/3" CCD 480 lines resolution 0.2 Lux sensitivity 12VDC operation accepts CS type lenses dimentions: 6.2cm x 5cm x 11.3cm (this is a spec for the IK-644A) 5.5W max power draw Tamron 5-50mm Auto Iris $127.95 Auto Iris (DC) CS Mount Aspherical 1/3" Tamron 2.8-12mm Auto Iris $69.95 Auto Iris (DC) CS Mount Aspherical 1/3" Pelco EH2508 8" Aluminum Camera Housing (2) at $61.95 each Water/Dust proof Accepts cameras with fixed focal length or "or Motorized Zoom Lens Accepts camera and lens combinations up to 15.8cm x 7cm x 7cm MLV10-WR Weatherproof 2.4GHz transmitter (2) at $299.95 each 4 channel selectable 12 volt DC 700' range total: $2734.70 shipping ground: 9.81+32.23+14.12=$46.35 shipping air (2-3 day): 30.14+53.94+31.83= $115.91 tax: 0+0+0! GRAND total: $2781.05 (ground) $2850.61 (2-3 day)

Cool. Just a little more work and i'll be able to have this thing laid out. How about those MVL-10 units for wireless transmission? http://www.supercircuits.com/STORE/prodinfo.asp?number=MVL10-WR&variation=&aitem=2&mitem=21 The videocomm units appear to be really expensive. They aren't quoted much online (i assume that they are not authorized to post online).. but from the prices i saw, it was much more than the MVL-10. Also, the MVL-10 operates at 12V, which makes sense (whereas the videocomms run at 9v, which hardly makes sense). I noticed that the toshiba IK-644A has just about the same spec's as the IK-6400A, but the 6400-A doesn't appear to be listed on the Toshiba website (indicating that it is discontinued). The 644A is 40 bucks more, and it just might be worth it. at this price i could move over to the Everfocus EQ500 ($195). The specs appear very similar to the toshiba units. The one "plus" is that the Everfocus operates at 12V, just like the MVL-10 transmitter. I assume that i would have to get either 2 power supplies or a voltage regulator to run the 24V toshiba in tandem with the MVL-10 (If it ain't one thing, its another!). So, for the peace of mind of it all, the Everfocus is at the top of my list. I would like to look deeper into the issue before i commit, though.

cool. actually, i am one of those yagi nerds who likes to make my own antennas- so if I have an issue i'll probably take pleasure in playing with some sort of omnidirectional design I have already built for 2.4GHz. I even have some friends who are yagi ubernerds who can probably get me antennas that are more 'professional' (e.g. not made from a Yuban container) for pretty cheap. Of course if my experiments fail I would go the traditional route and buy one I'm also trying to figure out how the add-on lens prices are expensive? I looked around and within 10 bucks those seem to be the going rate (5-50mm is $80-115, 3.9-8mm is $35-60 more or less). I also have no idea if i'm getting a decent brand (or if it matters).

Phew.. thank God i can get out of this camera mess without paying an exhorbant amount of cash. I was looking around and most day/night hi res are like $400. When you buy 4, it starts getting expensive! I'll look around for the varifocals, some casings, and... yes... wireless transmitters. I'm going to purchase wireless transmitters/recievers and 2 cameras. We decided to get two up front and install them on the big money spots immediately (we're adding mailboxes, change machine, and candy vending machine). We can't put all the $$ up front for the extra 2 units right now- we at least want to test drive the cameras and transmitters before we jump into anything else. I think we might go with some dummy cameras for the dummy tenants. The tenants were basically harassing the on-site manager at his home last week, and as an experiment we put up a dummy camera and a note that says not to contact the manager during off hours unless it is an emergency. Every single tenant walked up, saw the camera, and walked away. These people respond incredibly well to bluffs. We'll let the camera trick sink in here before we decide if/where other cameras are necessary. So I'm going to cross my fingers and give the transmitters a shot. We talked it over and there are serious problems with burying conduit. First, we willl likely run into other line. Second, we will likely be doing some landscaping in the future. Third is the "plus" of the mobility of the cameras. If i can swap a dummy with an authentic, we can keep these people on their toes. So... if indeed these toshibas don't have a serious problem, i think we will give 'em a shot. Now I am looking at the final peice: transmitters/recievers. Rory- you mentioned getteing extra recievers. Now for one thing, these units aren't usually listed with any brand name to speak of. Second is the issue of how many cameras per transmitter/reciever. I assume 1 camera to 1 transmitter. Are there recievers that pick up 4 cameras/channels? If so, i would get at least 1, for expandability. Rory- you mentioned that I would want another reciever just to be sure i got a clear signal? I'm not sure i completely follow.

Okay I think I found a camera that will do what I need it to. It fills out all of the requirements, except for the resolution. It has 480 lines of day/night resolution instead of 480 day/570 night (which costs about 2.5x the cost for each camera). Here's the one I found: http://shop.store.yahoo.com/easysecuritydepot/toik1ccdhida.html plus one of the various auto iris varifocal lenses. Is this a peicer or is it going to do the trick? After i tackle this, I gotta figure out how to do the video transmission (yikes). I'm landing on the SDVR-4-40 unless there is an equally functional system for SIGNIFICANTLY less.

Well if you noticed, I am favoring the Kalatel line. For purposes of comparison, I did my homework on the SDVR-4-40 in order to be able to articulate what it is that I may want. The SDVR-4-40 is between $1495 and $1526 at over 5 different online retailers. This is the "high end of acceptable" range. There are features that I simply do not need. The embedded CD-R and printer output are not completely essential. Any SINGLE method of retrieving images and/or video by any means is enough for me. The frame rate that is required is PURELY speculative, because I'm not a surveilance expert- this would obviously a place where I could use your help.... It seems that every day someone steals laundry, someone breaks the coke machine, and (just got off the phone about this) the company truck gets vandalized. The purpose of this system is not to store a month of data. In all reality, there is not much action here- but every single day people manage to cause some sort of hell for us (it only takes one person, in reality- and it's amazing how hard it is to get rid of someone in california). The purpose of this system is to protect our invetsments and to (2) prosecute offenders or (3) evict offenders. We also have a very good property manager who is ready to quit because of all of this stuff. We want to have surveilence which is able to be viewed remotely-- from his on-site home, and from work, and from the owners' work and home. We should be able to leave the park and still prevent civil unrest. There is also this issue of people driving their cars and ATV's onto our property and thrashing up our riverbed area. It pisses off the tenants because it's annoying, and it's a legal liability. We're not sure what we're going to do about that- but camera 2 will record who comes in and out of the park. A 4th camera will likely be able to detect if there is activity in the river bed (wide angle, not for positive ID). Another thing i could use help on is the overal dogma of this security system. I don't know if it will function as what I might imagine. Am I wasting my time and energy? Is getting a pit bull going to be a better idea? Real time surveilance won't detect and eliminate threats- it would possibly deter the bad guys, add a sense of security for (the good) tenants, and record invaluable information about activities. That is what I am conjuring up in my mind, anyway. So, I wouldn't mind stripping some features for a few hundred bucks, but if it's the difference between 1200 and 1500, and the loss of features is non-trivial, i'll go ahead and pay the 1500. If it's the difference of 800 and the difference in features, build quality, reliability, etc ARE trivial, than sure i'll take my 800 bucks and use it on something more useful. Any and all reccomendations are greatly appreciated (which i hope you know by now!). I'm doing some reading up on the cameras.... still.... So to cut my searching in half--- is there a reaosn i should be looking into B/W cameras? What resolution do i really need? I need a couple of parameters to bank my search around- so far i know i need varifocal auto iris lenses, but can i get good night performance at 55+ feet? I'll add more night lighting if necessary.

oh and the wireless transmission devices are around 350mA.. ...still learning. I will not be stopping any time soon, either

Oh god... i'm schoolin' myself right now and as a consumer I refuse to be confused as to who I'm buying a product from. For instance, take a look at this product: Product: GE Industrial Systems GE Interlogix Kalatel Calibur StoreSafe DVMRe Triplex Multiplexer-Recorder SDVR-4-40 WHAT DOES ALL THIS MEAN? Well, Let's take a look: GE: General Electric- A COMPANY. From jet engines to power generation, financial services to plastics, and medical imaging to news and information, GE people worldwide are dedicated to turning imaginative ideas into leading products and services that help solve some of the world's toughest problems. GE Industrial: A BUSINESS. GE is made up of a broad range of primary business units, each with its own number of divisions. GE Consumer & Industrial is one of those businesses (other business units include NBC, GE Energy, GE Transportation, and about 10 others). GE Consumer & Industrial spans the globe as $14 billion industry leader in major appliance, lighting and integrated industrial equipment, systems and services. GE Interlogix: A BUSINESS. GE purchased Interlogix, Inc. in 2002 for nearly $800 million. At the time, Interlogix, Inc. included the brands Caddx, ESL, ITI, Kalatel, and Sentrol. GE Interlogix spans the globe as a technological leader in the rapidly growing electronic security industry. The business focuses on communication technologies along with information for security, life safety and lifestyle enhancements, Homeland Security and the emerging web-enabled premises management market for residential, commercial and enterprise applications. As far as I know, GE Interlogix has since incorporated about 15 other brand names. Kalatel: Kalatel is a GE Interlogix BRAND NAME. It is also a company (NASDAQ: ILXI) founded in 1979, today with 170 employees and headquarters in Corvallis, OR. The Kaltel brand name carries the following product lines: CyberDome, Calibur, DSR-2000e, MobileView II, Paragon, and some others. On a side note, the COMPANY Netergy Networks sold it's BRAND NAME '8x8' to Interlogix Inc. in May of 2000 for 5.5 million. The 8x8 line is associated with video transmission technology, which has since been integrated into the Kalatel CCTV product line by Interlogix Inc., and subsequently bought by GE Industrial (following all of this?). Calibur- A PRODUCT LINE. The Calibur DVMR (Digital Video Multiplex Recorder) includes all the functions of a digital video multiplexer and digital video recorder in one unit. Among the calibur line models are Simplex, Duplex, and Triplex. The DVMR gives you better playback image quality than a VCR, and it eliminates the high failure rates associated with analog VCRs. And because it's digital, there are no tapes, and no tape heads to clean or replace. The DVMR displays live video from as many as 16 cameras in multiscreen, full-screen or sequencing full-screen modes. And at the same time you're viewing video, it's recording high-resolution pictures from all cameras to its built-in 30, 80 or 160 GB hard drive. Best of all, the Calibur DVMR is easy to use. If you can use a standard VCR and multiplexer, you can use the Calibur DVMR. DMVRe- A Product VERSION. Also an abbreviated product description. Digital Multiplexer-Video Recorder, ethernet. Multiplexers- GE Interlogix offers the following product line of multiplexers: Lite 'q' series, simplex, eZ series, duplex, and triplex. The Calibur line of multiplexers offers simplex, duplex and Triplex™ models—more than 20 in all. Features include parallel video processing (PVP™), automatic record-speed synchronization (VEXT) and the ability to play back tapes from many other manufacturers' multiplexers. Triplex™: A Calibur product line MODEL. Triplex multiplexers let you watch live and recorded images on one monitor simultaneously, eliminating the need for a separate playback station. Choose from 10-camera color or 16-camera color or monochrome models, all with PVP to the main display and recorder, plus macros, video motion detection, alarm handling, and Quick-set on-screen menu prompts. Side Note: The SDVR-4-40 model is a 4-camera Triplex, which is not mentioned on the GE Interlogix description right on their website (oversight?). Triplex Multiplexers (information): Triplex multiplexers offer the best combination of playback and live display, system automation and alarm management. You can continue to record video on one VCR or digital recorder while playing back video from another in several different multiscreen formats. And Triplex performance lets you display both live and playback images simultaneously on one monitor, eliminating the need for and cost of a separate playback station. Easy to use, intelligent and watchful, our Triplex multiplexers use QuickInstall on-screen setup menus that make them easy to install and integrate. With these models, you can even control connected recorders directly from the multiplexer. StoreSafe: This appears to be a technology associated with the product software. I would also classify it as a SERIES? My hunch is that this small company is outsourced to write the user interface which includes the exclusive AutoInstall feature and WaveReader, a graphical user interface which allows the user to view and review video from a remote location. As far as I can tell, the same software, v4.11, is written for DVMRe-CT, DVMRe-eZT, DVMRE Matrix, StoreSafe NTSC and StoreSafe PAL series units. (For the record DVMRe-CT is DVMRe-"Color Triplex") NTSC: United States video transmission standard (National Television Standards Committee). NTSC is based on a 525-line, 60 fields/30 frames-per-second at 60Hz system for transmission and display of video images. This is an interlaced system in which each frame is scanned in two fields of 262 lines, which is then combined to display a frame of video with 525 scan lines. PAL, on the other hand, is the dominant format in the rest of the world (it is considered a better broadcast method). Too bad though, becasue PAL transmission has been discontinued in the Kalatel product lines and NTSC is now the standard (at least there's a standard). SDVR-4-40: StoreSafe Digital Video Recorder - 4 channels - 40 gig hard drive. By now you all think I'm insane, huh? I have also collected notes and descriptions of abbreviations (CAT5, CDD, TX, UTP, etc). It's just a method I use for learning (learn by teaching). Hope someone else will find it useful someday

herminshs- Is the link to that 80G DVR on your site a "Kaltel" or is that a typo (supposed to be Kalatel")? I've spoken with my family (family business) and we've decided to go with the stand alone. We've also decided to pay what it takes and moved the price bracket to 2500-3000. Lastly, we've decided to get the 4th camera after all. On a side note, there were more thieves at work last night! If our on site manager wasn't an insomniac, we would already be in the red with this business! There are a few things we're toiling with right now. To install the wired cameras, I will have to dig 12" deep and drop some conduit down and run it over 90 feet. The odds of running into problems are great. There is possibly a way around this: my dad owns a business which sells solar panels and he could supply some 12v solar panels that could supply the current necessary. I haven't found any informatoin on energy requirements of the wireless units, but I'm trying to figure out the feasability of a solar setup. So in the scheme of things, the solar panels are a freebie- and if i can circumvent the hassle and cost (and labor) of running conduit all over town, i would certainly favor that route. Ok so now that I'm looking into wireless units exclusively (thinking out loud here), I am back to square 1 as far as spec's go. The vitek cameras had auto-iris and specified focal lengths, whereas these wireless units don't seem to advertise much of anything. There are no adjustable/replacable lenses or even an advertised focal length on the MLV-10 unit (one that had been suggested prevoiusly). I am at a complete loss for choosing 4 wireless cameas (3 of which i know the specs of. the 4th one is to come- i will have to do some surveying, and research- i still don't know much about the focus/iris/etc, day/night, etc.) I assume that i will go with at least an extra rx for the transmission. The wireless cameras (1, and 2, 6' above ground) will definitely be a direct shot to the reciever only 70' away or less. The other 1 or 2 will be closer to 100-150' away and there will certainly be plenty of trees in the way; the cameras/transmitters will be mounted 20-25' in the air, but there's no way to get them above the trees! I assume that the transmission will be fair- there is very little interference here as we can't even get cell phone signal in the area. Unfortunately, there's an x-factor! We have a wireless 2.4Ghz 802.11b network AND a 2.4ghz wireless telephone. Forget about the phone- I'm going to get a 900Mhz replacement because i don't even want to think about the conflictions here. On the other hand, the 802.11b would be hard to give up, because we are firing it via yagi antenna to the office, manager's office, and also some residents. If there are conflictions, i think that hard wiring the network would come first. The router is a 10 channel which have the following center frequencies that can be selected: 2412, 2417, 2422, 2427, 2432, 2437, 2442, 2447, 2452, 2462, 2467, 2472.... and the spread is 25Mhz (channel 1, being 2412, has a range of 2399.5-2424.5). I know it's not rocket surgery, and i'll try not to overcomplicate things, but I need to get this kind of thing straight so as to avoid major disappointment. As for the DVR unit- the two i'm looking at right now are the Vitek VT-DVR04 (60gb) and the Kalatel (80gb). From the limited spec's given, the best I can figure is that the extra $450 cost of the vitek is that it is capable of 120 fps operation whereas the Kalatel is more like 30 fps (in quad mode, apparently). 30 fps, if i'm not mistaken, is lightyears faster than i even need for my purposes; therefore, if I'm not leavinig out anything important, the Kaltel unit posted by hermanshs is on the top of my list. If it seems like it takes a whole team of experts to design a 4 camera system for an RV park, then you're right! I'm so greatful for all of your help and I don't know what kind of mess i'd be in if i bought a surveilence system on ebay. Right now i think I'm going to go down and survey the land for camera 4, and hopefully do some more learn'in on the wireless camera spec's.

Ok so.. So far i have: (2) Hi-Res Vitek color cameras (2) Vitek Housings (1) Auto Iris Lens 2.8-10mm (1) Auto Iris Lens 5.5-50mm subtotal: 591.15 plus tas/shipping (1) Weatherproof MVL10 wireless color camera subtotal: 299.95 +591.15 = 891.1 Now I think I can live with this subtotal. It's the rest that pushes it to an alarming price. I'm not QUITE ready to give up the computer based DVR. Now assuming that i'm good with computers, and have plenty of parts laying around.. I need a good motherboard ($125) and a good 160gb storage HD ($60 after rebate at Office Max on monday)- this is enough to complete a system for me. Ok so at $210.00 for computer, I could spend up to $899 on the rest of the setup and still come in at under $2000 (although I'm not excited with paying 2000 either, but at least I *think* I'm getting a fair system together here). Now, before i scrap the idea of a computer based DVR i'd like to see one that is at least known to be a good unit and try to compare. Thanks so much for the advice given so far. I would be lost without your advice... even though i'm still lost with it

thank you so much! I looked everything over. I was so reolived when i saw reasonable prices for those cameras. Started adding it up.. 2 cameras at 168.. I wanted to go with fixed focal length, 1 at 8mm and 1 at 16mm.. unfortunately there was no 16mm available on the site. I would rather go with the fixed ones to save money (frickin 17 bucks for fixed, big deal), and if i didn't like them then upgrade. Ok so couldn't find the 16mm.. but i could do the $330 for a good wireless cam. A couple of casings priced reasonably at like $27 each. no big deal... ...but $1600 for a frickin DVR?! Ok let's take a step back here. I know I can do better. Do i have to go with a stand alone? Is it that much better? I'm not sure what i'm missing, but what, exactly, is wrong with this unit (or this type of unit)? http://www.cctvwholesalers.com/customer/product.php?productid=16217&cat=259&page=1 is this an option at all? Is there a "good" brand of these? i like the computer based ones because i don't have to add an extra monitor. also, i can connect from a remote PC. even better, you can set pixel sensitivity, motion detection zones, etc. So what am i missing here? aren't these desirable features? Oh and can these vitek cams work with a unit like this (or this very unit)? Thanks.

Okay. I took some pictures and measurements.. I have all the spec's laid out in the pictures, so if anyone would be so kind as to take a look at them and let me know if i'm on the right track. I came to the conclusion that I can probably just go with 3 cameras: 2 hard wired and 1 wireless. Some schmuck stole someone else's laundry today- it's amazing what people will steal! I know who it was because he was the only one in the laundry room.. too bad I can't do anything about it... yet! This system certainly won't come too soon, that's for sure. Okay so now that i think i have my camera spec's I need to know what kind and where to purchase. i have an idea about the type of equipment i need but i have no clue where to start looking for it. Here's what came up: Camera 1: 16mm lens on 1/3" CCD WIRED Camera 2: 8mm lens on 1/3" CCD OR 12mm lens on 1/2" CCD WIRED Camera 3: 8mm lens on 1/3" CCD OR 12mm lens on 1/2" CCD OR 16mm lens on 2/3" CCD WIRELESS Here are the images and diagrams that will let you see what i'm working with: http://f1.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/stabmaster5150/album?.dir=/7688 the third picture was just too hilarious for me to pass up- a neighbor's dog wanted desperately to be a new tenant! if anyone has AIM they can reach me at stabmaster5150. thanks so much for any and all help. EDIT: GRRRR.. looks like yahoo photos doesn't allow viewing full images unless you are a member. I'm not even sure if members can view other members' images (if so, please let me know.) I've pretty much had it with image hosting services... i think i'm going to take some blood pressure medication.

Well.. that's the genius about the power coming to them- we are going to wire it into a junction box that is right at the top of the lamppost. I honestly don't know how the wireless camera works without an external transmitter- reciever.. I could use some clarification in that area. As for the price- yes i am aware that closer to 2000 is more likely than closer to 1000, but honestly- we're not running the First National Bank here.. things that we can cut down on are: 3 cameras instead of 4, and storage size on the DVR. We're looking for the Honda Accord DX model rather than the Mercedes S-class version if you know what i mean. I realize that every time you consult people who know the difference between quality and junk, you're going to end up spending twice as much as you had planned for- so i was just as soon about to leave myself in the dark and put together a system that was under a grand through cctvwholesalers.com. I'm sure everyone here would pan the equipment on that site, and so would i... But i think that I would be comparing realistic prices with the type of prices on this site being the generic versions of a real system. I'll have photos and measurements, and hopefully layouts of the park by the end of the day. i appreciate any help! BTW am i doing my camera calc's correctly or can anyone tell? I am using the most basic equations in optics to figure this out (if i defined my parameters right).