boatboy63

I am sure the barn already has a ground rod. It had belonged to father-in-law and at one time, had a seperate meter connected to it. In order to pass electrical inspection, the ground rod had to be in place. The barn is all framed from 6" I-beam and is concreted into the ground too. I am going to check the ground rods on my house to be sure the connections are good. I know a couple years ago, wife was standing inside of metal storm door in kitchen when a storm was brewing. Lightening struck somewhere close by, and just the static from it was enough to knock her back several feet from the door. When it ran in on my cameras, I thought the dvr was plugged into a surge surpressor with my tv, but found it was plugged directly into the wall instead. My cable modem got fried in the same storm so I don't exactly know where the strike entered from. I was wondering how I could protect the RG-59 cables so that it can't run from 1 to another thru the cables.

I have a system that I installed about 6 months ago. When first installing, I was continually having problems from 1 camera that was mounted on a barn with metal siding. The barn is about 120' from the house and is framed out of steel. No matter what I did at first, I still had noise rolling up the screen which was constantly causing motion to trigger. I tried a couple different cameras and nothing made a difference. I just happened to take the camera loose and had it in my hand when my son called to tell me the video was clear. I then touched the camera against the metal siding again, and it was noisy. I ended up having to mount a short block of 2x4 to the siding and then use different screws to mount camera to block. It worked like a dream. Fast forward to a couple months ago. We had a lightening strike somewhere around our house. It hit so hard, it tripped a breaker in my electrical panel in the house. It ended up blowing 3 out of 4 power supplies for my cameras and frying 2 cameras and a dvr (insurance issue). My power supplies are simple 12v dc, 1 amp supplies that have the quick connect jack to plug into the camera. All of these ps only have 2 prongs on the plug in. They do not have a 3rd ground plug. The other day, I decided to add another camera to my system. I mounted it on a metal storage bldg in my driveway. When I did, I had forgotten all the problems I had with the barn camera and the rolling noise. After remembering, I mounted it on a wooden block and it straightened it out. I started thinking about the lightening issue and wanted some protection. I noticed the cameras have a frame ground screw on them and connected the one on this metal bldg to the ground prong on the receptacle outlet. When I did, the noise lines came back and I had to take it loose. All of these outside bldgs have a long ground rod driven into the ground and ran to the electrical panels. Power is being supplied to all them thru triplex cable that is run overhead on power poles across the property. This triplex only has 2 insulated hots and 1 bare neutral. There is not a dedicated bare ground in this cabling. It is the exact same thing used by the electric company providing power into the house. Can someone offer an idea about how I can protect my system from lightening, starting at the camera/power supply and running to my dvr? My dvr does have a ground plug on it and is now plugged into a surge surpressor. I thought it was before, but someone had bypassed it and plugged it straight into the wall. I am just desperate for a resolution before I have another lightening strike. Thanks.

I don't have a problem buying from the members on here, but there needs to be a place on the forum or some way of knowing who actually sells. I am a newbie to all this and am just trying to learn as I go and not spend anymore money than I have to, as it is hard to come by at the moment. After mentioning the cameras that I bought, I was wondering if the f0.95 would work with it. Is this something that if it allows too much light, it could be adjusted out by either using an auto iris or by adjusting the camera brightness thru my dvr on my camera settings? Also, if the camera isn't a true D/N as was mentioned, will a D/N lens make it one, or is that all done in the camera? I was looking at a 2.8-8mm f1:0.95 varifocal Fujinon lens. Don't know if I really need auto iris or just manual or even D/N, but would like to get any of you to give me a price on it. I will probably get at least 3 and they would be shipped to zip 37870. I would just like to get them by the end of the week Can pay by credit card or paypal. If anyone can give me a price on this, please pm me. I am just trying to fnd the best bargain I can. Thanks

Thanks again rory...I think I too am somewhat confused over what I read about it's D/N IR ability. One site will mention it and another not. All I can say is that with the light I currently have, this model dramatically improves the signal. I didn't really even want to use IR because of the number of bugs and spiders it attracts, not to mention the glow from fog. I did notice the night video is not really as fluid as my other cameras, but still very usable. As for price, about the cheapest I saw from a dealer was around $115 for the same model. If this will last a couple of years, I will be happy. Any suggestions for a cheap source for a 2.8 -5/10 vf lens? From what I am seeing, they cost nearly as much as the camera. Thanks again.

Thanks guys. The camera that I bought is a CNB G1815N. It is a D/N camera but doesn't have infrared led's mounted in the camera. I ended up getting it for around $60 shipped and it's new and had an 8mm lens. After testing it further today, I ended up buying 5 more from ebay for $55 each. I have to say, this was what I was looking for in terms of picture quality. After testing it today, I found it will automatically adjust lighting levels and it is about perfect for my needs. When I got it hooked up last night, my jaw about dropped when I first saw the quality after dark. All images were much brighter than with my expensive SC cams and better quality. When I looked at it today in the brightness of the sun, I was just as impressed as the picture didn't looked washed out or too bright. Guess I will put my 5 month old SC color bullets on ebay and recoup some of my expense. I guess my biggest drawback now is having to buy camera boxes and lenses for them as the supplied 8mm lens isn't wide enough for my needs.

Thanks Rory. I did buy a CNB box camera (cheap) and am extremely happy. It is 550 tvl and got it for less than $100. It beats my $189 SC color bullets hands down. So far, it is at least 3 times brighter at night with the same lighting. The detail after dark is much better. I do have another question and need help in understanding. The CNB box came with an 8mm lens and said f1.3. Can you explain to me what the difference is in an f1.2 and f1.3? The 8mm lens is not going to work in my situation, as I am used to having about an 80 degree fov with my others. I am looking at somewhere around a 2.8mm lens to accomodate my needs, but don't know whether to look for a 1.2 or 1.3. I had even considered an auto iris, but from what I have seen so far, I am happy with the fixed iris, as the software in the camera automatically adjusts to compensate. I didn't get it going until nearly dark, but lighting levels seemed to stabilize very well from day to night. Thanks again.

Can someone recommend the best "bang for the buck" low light cameras? I have had several motion sensor lights in the past, but it seems that they always seem to start coming on for no reason at all. I have spent many hours in the past adjusting these so they will not pick up the road but will pick up someone walking up my driveway. Another problem with my property is the way it is laid out. It is like no matter what you do or where you try to put a camera, there are many obstacles to overcome. There are several trees, hedge, cookout area, and other buildings that tend to block out anything from more than 20'. That is why I put my cameras in areas to guard the most expensive items/areas. I have 3 dogs outside that are chained up, but sometimes you lose your faith in them when other dogs come on the property and they start barking at them. After a while, you become jaded to even hearing their bark.

Thanks. The SuperCircuits rep pretty much assured me that the D/N cameras he suggested would take care of the problem. I spent $189.99 x 2 for 2 cameras and still feel as if I am missing out on something. It looks like for that price, there should be a good camera out there that could do both day and night equally and still provide enough resolution to get a good visual, should the person come back. I live out in the country and 10 years ago, you could walk out of your house for a week and leave the doors unlocked for a week and not worry about anyone messing around. Since then, times have changed and drugs have taken over. I had a welder stolen from a cookout area that was 15' from my back door. The people around here would rather steal instead of working to supply their habit. There are very few jobs and dealing and stealing is easier to them than working.

Hi everyone. My first post and am aggravated. I put in a 4 channel security system back in April but have never been totally happy with results. I have a 12 acre farm and have had equipment stolen in the past and put this system in to cut my losses. I am only trying to cover the inside of my barn, a shed with equipment, and my house. I have tried IR cameras, but have not been happy because: 1. Bugs are attracted to the IR and trip false motion 2. Light fog seems to cause the IR to look like a severe smoke screen and can't be seen thru 3. The slightest rain/dust causes a similar effect and trips motion 4. The IR led's are visible and can be seen at night which identifies my camera location. I have read about IR in the 900nm range that does not produce a red glow at the led's and don't understand why these are not used so cameras can't be detected. Because of the problems above, I decided to go with low light bullet cameras (Ex-view). I currently have a B/W 600tvl .003 lux in the barn but had to add a small security light so it had enough light to function. I have 2 540tvl .05 lux D/N color cameras covering a shed/upper area of property and drive/back door. My previous cameras were B/W and when adjusted for night, were too bright in the day and the image could not be made out. When I adjusted for day, it would not show a good image at night. They were purchased from SuperCircuits and I called them to explain my problem. They said I needed 2 true D/N cameras and suggested the ones I currently have. The video is somewhat grainy at night and I have added security lights just to try and give enough light to make them work without having to readjust at dusk and dawn. The wife says that with all the security lights around here (6), it looks like a landing strip from outer space. I am getting a 16 camera dvr so I can get more cameras/coverage and need advice on what will work better than my current setup. If I could get an IR camera that didn't show as red and attract bugs the way it does, I would go with it. I am just not happy with the results I have had. My cameras need about a 90 degree fov considering the areas I am having to cover. I don't have alot of money to spend on this and am having to do a little as I can. Please help.