jxk716

What do you hope to capture with a water view?

Anyone know where/how I can get a board for this camera? The power/video connector that mounts into the board popped off while moving the wires. I tried to solder it back on but no luck...or would it be easier/cheaper to get a new cam?

Here are some front and back shots of the board. Its going to be tricky.

I just set up a USB RS 485 converter on a PC based DVR. Check out this post and make sure you open/assign a COM port for the usb http://www.cctvforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=30189 Wire PTZ to converter and jump to DVR. Make sure you have a data wire (I have a separate Cat5) run from the DVR to the camera. For two PTZs make sure you assign an individual address to the PTZs (from the DVR).

Turns out we had to have power going to the converter. Hooking it up to the 2.0 and NOT 3.0 USB helped! 3xLogic was able to provide this diagram. Their Northeast Rep visited us to see the new install and he was excellent! A great help!

Ya know, I forgot to mention the sun shade aspect. Yes, it is very effective for that as well!

This is my concoction; it's a plastic liner secured with band clamps. Although I have no problem with RainX I have yet to get it and apply. On another install the owner made a longer/wider cover out of sheet metal, painted the color of the camera and mounted it to the wall. It looks good. The only down side for both applications is it is a haven for spider webs.

From Good Friday: 3 teenagers mug a woman walking home from the grocery store directly under my home camera. The kids went on to commit 9 other robberies. This footage was the key to making an arrest. Its from a dahua Qvis Zeus. CCTV is well worth the investment.

Many thanks!

I think this will work but I need some feedback. I wiLl be moving a VBM to another location in our building; there is an unused Cat5 terminated to a RJ 45 jack (for phone) about 30 feet away from the proposed new location. The guy running the extenstion says he will use an RJ 45 coupler to join the old phone line to the new wire. That original cat5 runs about 150 feet back to a 110 block. The DVR is about 5 feet away from there. So if I leave all pairs terminated on the block I plan to punch another pair of 24 AWG to the corresponding block terminals (where the vid wires will be) and connect my baluns on the other end of that extenstion near the dvr. For power I will run 2 24 AWG from each terminal (pos and neg) on the CPU to the same color wires on the block for power to the cam. So as power and video run through the coupler to the end of the new cat5 can I just use the 2 pair for power (twisted together) at the camera as well as the balun for video?

Going with a tablet is the easiest. I was oriiginally going to suggest a pc with a wireless card but that gets too 'clunky'. If you can not hide the power wire on the wall (assuming it would be mounted on the wall) you may have to go with wire mold. Ideally a recessed power recepticle, jumped from a nearby outlet, would hide that power wire. But, then again, you are adding more work for yourself.

If your DVR has a VGA out on the back you might want to look into a wireless VGA extender. However, something like this is always better wired over Cat5 like a KVM extender. But I have never used wireless and see the price range starts at around $140. Is there any way to get Cat5 down to the dinning room? Also, check this out: http://www.cctvforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=24645

I can't imagine you will get any kind of decent PTZ for under $500. Here is what we have: Veilux VP-FDNC27X. Got it on 2Mcctv for under $800. The upper left day shot is an example of the zoom at less than half of its optical capability. The night time is an example of its widest view (sorry, I know I have zoomed around at night but could not find the footage). The night zoom is impressive since it changes to B/W effortlessly.

Here are some shots of the types of clamps used from my building. Forgive the angles; taking the pictures in a tight sport up on the ladder. Just FYI

The first thought I had was pinching a wire but, yes, you're right...unless they get this out! Like Sol from the Jerkey Boys said: "you never know; you never, never know"

And where will you securely hide the wires coming from the back of the camera?

I guess if you had to you could use something like this Bosch (WZMB.001) product but a quick google search landed it at roughly $25. In reality all you do is mount a standard metal blank plate (with center hole) to the box and then use some self tappers to secure the camera.

I do. Sorry for the typo. I guess 1GB would not hold the 7 weeks I get on the TB

You mention NVR (network video recorder) which requires IP cameras (or at least analog cams with encoders)and are more expensive. At my home I have an analog set up: 4 channel Qvis Zeus 1 GB HDD. The unit is perfect for my needs. An upgrade (and not that much more expensive) is the Apollo line - slightly more capabilities. As for cameras take a look at CNB VCM 24VF; for indoor take a look at his EyeSure turret or take a look at the KT&C KPC-VBN190NHWX Mini Color Bullet. Here is a video demo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-D3AIc0VldY&list=UUte5HCNdq3ynVkbXN9Nwmow&index=10&feature=plcp. Keep in mind there is no IR on that camera so, when mounting indoors, you may need some light . I would lean towards the CNB. And, like Soundy says it is best to pull the Cat5, use a balun at the DVR and camera ends. You can then use 2 pairs for power and leave the 4th pair for expansion if you ever go to IP. Don't mess around with homeplugs - it's too much of a gamble and not what you want to use for a reliable camera set up.

Better yet: place good low-lux TDN cameras there (like the CNBs), but leave the old IR cameras in place to act as illuminators. I did something similar but the old IR cam was just something laying around so the beam sucks. The flood light was ideal until the owner kept forgetting to turn it back on after going for a walk in the yard at night (night snapshot taken from Qvis Zeus over the LAN).

Maybe try Windows XP Virtual Machine for the heck of it? http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/default.aspx

Matt, is that off a Vigil? Mine is coming in a few days; can't wait.

Seems like the only thing left to do is decide what you want. You have put some thought into the pros and cons; most DVRs are able to select the region and sensitivity of the motion area. A lot of it has to do with what the cams will look at. In my case the attached picture shows about 20% of the FOV is covered because it is all I need on the front door/porch area. But, the side of the house faces a large parking lot with constant traffic and drug deals. I have resigned myself to switching both of them over to record 24/7 so I don't miss a trick. On one of them I set it to record on motion as well. This takes up more hard drive space since it creates 2 files on my 4 Ch Dahua but, then again, I have a 1TB drive in it so it isn't a big deal. The good part of that is I can search for motion only and let it ride. This is handy for playback over night to see if anyone messes around near our cars.

What is your budget for this project? If you want to use IP Cameras it's probably best to run Cat5 to the cameras and power them either locally, PoE or run separate wire to the cams terminated at Central Power Supply. Although I am not 100% certain what a homeplug is (other than a network adapter that runs over the power line) for the same (or less) cost you can run Cat5 - far more reliable. And I can't quite get my mind around the cameras in bedrooms. Yeah you'll have them for baby monitoring but their not babies forever; other adults will stay over and get a little freaked out with a camera in their room. Besides, maybe just use a good visual/audio baby monitor for those years and sell it on Ebay once they get older. That combined with using good common sense/discretion when hiring a baby sitter and you will be fine. If you have to mount them inside stay with common areas like living room and halls, landings etc. Hopefully you will get decent face shots of a bad guy; if you had more outside (or, at least 1 or 2) you might be able to get a good shot of the getaway car or anything else that might help the police like last direction of travel etc. You mention having cams at entry points. If you go this route you will need a camera with either good back lighting or wide dynamic range (WDR) - preferably the ladder - or forget about any decent image when the door opens during the day (especially if it is sunny out). For camera location I guess it comes down to evaluating what is your greatest threat? Is it the baby sitter? Perpetrator?

My first impression, especially for box cameras where the lens usually start at 4 or 5 MM, is to spread the mounts further apart to avoid blind spots. The ideal situation is to have a tester and a make shift power connection (for the camera) up on the ladder to test your views before running cable and mounting the cameras. Anything with a video in port will do - like a portable DVD player - if you do not have a tester.