hardwired

Another consideration is that 24VAC cameras are usually much more immune to ground loop issues.

Thrift stores are secondhand stores, used clothes, shoes, small appliances, etc. Rory is right, more is lost out the back door (employee theft) than the front, in the stores I've done. Think about it, you lose a few items out the front, you lose a few bucks. With employee theft, you can be losing hundreds or thousands, over time. Start with detail shots on all cash handling areas, use text inserters on the registers, entry shot with deterrent monitor, and then use whatever you have left in your budget on the other areas.

My neighbors are actually happy about my system, since I've helped nab groups of vandals on several occasions. I've also helped a couple of neighbors with systems of their own (temporary, for when they went on vacation, for instance). It's all about being a good neighbor, and not a creepy, voyeuristic busybody. I have a residential customer whom we installed a system for to help him deal with harassment issues. The system was quite discreet; however, soon a few neighbors knew about it and made some complaints about it. Several months later, a neighbor's house was burglarized, in view of his cameras. The thieves also passed by the cameras close enough to make out identifying tattoos, as well as the license number of their car. The thieves were in custody within a day, and the neighbors complaints stopped soon after that!

So its only $250 total including recording software? (GV-800-4) If you'd like to take this discussion to another area, we can discuss this in more detail, but you're not far off...

I thought I made myself clear, I dont use overpriced crap. So yeah I never used "this stuff". But to be fair, I have used crap like CNB, just not overpriced crap. The Avigilon 4 channel encoder, ENC-4P-H264, does D1, 30FPS per channel with audio, for less than the cost of a Geovision card with the same specs.

I'm still waiting for twist-on RJ45 plugs..... **********Edit********* Yeah, I know, technically, they should be referred to as "twist-on 8P8C modular connectors", but everyone calls them RJ45's! wish there was something as simple as twist on but what has become a simple design change to standard rj45 is the srip after crimp. never waste a rj45 again with the likes of legs to short I've had trouble with those crimping the pins in completely, I've gone back to my standard plugs and Ideal crimpers - BTW, did anyone notice what's wrong in that picture?

I'm still waiting for twist-on RJ45 plugs..... **********Edit********* Yeah, I know, technically, they should be referred to as "twist-on 8P8C modular connectors", but everyone calls them RJ45's!

Actually, it works with a variety of devices, including Avigilon's 4 channel encoder, so you could use your $40 bullet cameras with it. The net cost of an encoder and one channel license wouldn't be much different than the cost of a higher end capture card, and you'd be able to use Avigilon software.

Yup - if that had been your average bullet cam, it would be looking in a completely different direction afterward... at the very least. Bullet cams (and conventional cameras, if mounted too low) make great pinata's for the hoodlums around here- probably 75% of what we install are domes.

As far as lifespan of the wire, it shouldn't differ much from coaxial cable. I typically have my guys run direct burial cable-it tends to be a little easier to pull (the jacket is slicker, and doesn't snag as easily as the indoor stuff), and if a small portion if it has to be exposed for some reason, it's no big deal. It's also distinctly different and identifiable for troubleshooting when it's in with a big bundle of other network cabling.

The fact is, that every product on the market has shortcoming and compromises. Exacq is weak in playback, especially over a WAN connection, Milestone has occasional problems, and can be difficult with their licensing scheme, Avigilon has somewhat more limited third party product support. I'll pick on any manufacturer's weak spots, and recommend them for their strengths. Over the years, I've become an "Authorized Dealer" for Arecont, Avigilon, Exacq, Panasonic I-Pro, Milestone, Pelco 9000 series large matrix certified, Galaxy access control, IEI E-Merge access control, Assa Abloy hardware, been to our DVR suppliers headquarters in Seoul, and quite a few others I'm probably forgetting right now.. Every one of them has problems and strengths to suit a particular application, but beyond that, we select our customers, too. We aren't, and never will be, the cheapest out there, and we intend to stay that way, it's the only way we can provide the level of service our customers expect. Our customers get results from their systems (over 80% of our business if from existing customer growth, or direct referrals from our customers). Fully 90% or more of our business is Megapixel IP, now....

It's been pointed out that if you are privileged (or possibly insane) enough to live in a climate where you need heaters to keep cameras at their operating temperatures, PoE may not deliver enough power for that (but really, if it's that cold, aren't the thieves frozen solid, anyway? )

Actually, it probably should...You're right, Soundy, an ARIN WHOIS lookup and a little cyberstalking is much more useful...His U. of Tulsa football picture looks pretty good, too! You probably shouldn't challenge a pack of geeks

There's a few red flags there- CCA refers to copper clad aluminum, not solid copper- not what you want for CCTV usage. Also, foil shielding is wrong for CCTV usage. For best performance, and shielding from interference, you want all solid copper conductors for the center conductor and power wires, and 95% copper braid coverage on the coax cable (95% refers to the amount of coverage the copper braid provides over the coax, not the purity of the copper). PVC and PE refer to the insulators on the wire (polyvinyl chloride and polyethylene, respectively-common enough in this kind of cable). The numerical values refer to the diameter of the conductors. Bottom line-Don't use that wire!

Try 232analyzer here, http://www.commfront.com/commfront-downloads.htm, they have a free limited version that should do what you need. On that page I linked, there's also a link for the Pelco PTZ protocols, and a tutorial for controlling with it.

Hey, look at the bright side of that- You'll be able to get CCTV products a lot cheaper soon!

They are using a modified version of Zoneminder for their NVR software, with a pretty nice front-end on it. I've been tinkering around with putting their front-end on a standard installation of Zoneminder.

But is it good for the setup outlined in the OP? I've got no problem with older model equipment as long as it's good older model equipment. It's likely going to be pretty limited for your outdoor application, it appears to be color only, not D/N with a IR cutfilter, so it most likely will not see your IR illuminator, as well as not having an auto-iris lens currently (it has the connector for it, though). Those Pelco cube cameras were usually OEM'ed by Sanyo or Ikegami, as I recall. Not bad cameras, but probably not well suited for your application (you might keep them for inside views, though).

It usually depends if your NVR software does any transcoding or post-processing of the data stream from the camera, or if that is handled by the viewing client. For example, Milestone/ONSSI does a lot of processing on the streams, and is fairly processor intensive, Avigilon and Exacq don't seem to do anywhere near as much processing, and so have a much lower processor load. This can be deceptive in system planning, though, as you can easily overload a NVR with streams that exceed the disk system write capability, which is not as apparent in a quick view in the task manager (Win7 has much better options for viewing that load compared to XP, although you may want to use a third party testing S/W to test your write limits).

A number of different NVR software packages can downsample for remote viewing, even on single stream cameras. Milestone allows for setting different viewing qualities in their remote client, Avigilon can do it dynamically, and rescale it as you zoom in on an image (a pretty nice feature, and the overall package is good, as well.) Exacq can do it in the web client, and it works on a number of different platforms (no browser plugins), but the standard client leaves a lot to be desired for playback features and functionality, especially with Megapixel cameras (in playback, clips have to download before you can view them).

lmao, this thought has already occured to me. Mounting options will have to be in such a place that it will be difficult for them to be tampered with. The good news is, it's a one way in one way out scenario, with vehicles anyway. Avigilon makes vandal domes that are about as durable as anything else on the market (domes are about all you would want to use in this instance, anyway). I would check and see if there is phone cabling between buildings that is owned by the community, and if this is the case, I would use a set of DSL modems (I've used quite a few from Planet Technologies, http://planet.com.tw/index.php,to create high speed network links inside the complex. If that's not an available option, with wireless, I've had good results with Ubiquiti NanoStations (http://ubnt.com/nanostationm). Do not ever use cameras with built-in wireless, they tend to be absolute garbage, as well as the fact that you are limited to mounting cameras with a line of sight to the receiver, which is usually not the optimal position for the cameras.

Yep, agree I just did not feel like it to go in details with my post ( changed enough of them in good old days) and I am sure Hardwire knows this too If I remember correct no more then 2 volts difference between input voltage and output OK, that's what I get for oversimplifying, too! On to the details! I grabbed a sample image for the diagram, not my own drawing. (and yes, I use heatsinks). I do happen to believe in switchmode regulators, but the OP doesn't seem to want that, plus building your own switchmode regulator is quite a bit more difficult. However, even if the OP's application started with 24VDC at the input, the resistive losses on the cable means he will only have about 16 volts at the regulator/camera end with the LED's on, so that would mean the regulator is dissipating about 2 watts (4V x .5A) or so at full load, and getting about 22 volts at .1A load with the LED's off, so about 1 Watt (10V x .1A) dissipation in the regulator during that time. With proper heatsinking, the 7812 is rated for up to 15 watts of dissipation. (AK357, BTW, they need a minimum 2 Volt input voltage differential, not a maximum)- the 7812 datasheet here http://www.fairchildsemi.com/ds/LM/LM7812.pdf lists a 14.5-27V input.

Instead of dissipating all that heat in a zener, and loading down the power supply, why not use a LM7812 regulator at the camera end, like this.

The latest firmware revision does support SSL, at least according to the notes here (I don't use the E-mail features, so I haven't tested it)http://www.acti.com/news/Software/Firmware_3_13_16_AC, is this the firmware revision you are using?

For 500 feet, high gain yagi's are total overkill (and will overload the receiving portion of the radios, even set at lowest power output), use Ubiquiti Nanostation Loco M5's at each side, setup as here http://www.ubnt.com/wiki/How_to_bridge_internet_connections (these directions are for an older generation of product with slightly different menus, but all the general settings are the same). The Nanostations also have 2X2 MIMO capability, (double the throughput capability of the Bullets). Use the 5Ghz products, (much less interference from SOHO routers and WI-FI equipment, and more channel selections), than the 2.4Ghz band. And yes, a PoE switch at building 2. In most cases, you should be able to get at least 60-80Mbps throughput from the link, which should be much more than adequate for all but extremely high resolution cameras and framerates.