hardwired

On either the Ubiquiti or Cambium products (I use both, and either would work in your application), if you are using 5GHz models (which are preferable for more channel choices, and less interference from consumer products), you need to have a clear line of sight between points. At half a mile, the Nanostations will work, but the Nanobeam models would give you a little better signal strength, and a tighter beam pattern to reject noise from other directions. Although Ubiquiti does not have direct tech support, their forum and wiki are great resources for information. A basic PtP bridge example is here- http://wiki.ubnt.com/BeansTalk_Point_to_Point_PtP_Layer-2_Bridge_Direct. One detail not covered there is the signal strength and channel adjustments, you will want to try to get the signal level close to -50 (lower number here is a stronger signal, but past -50 can overload the receiver). If you are doing two separate bridges, get the AP's at least five feet apart, if you can, to avoid interference between them. If you are using the 40MHz channel width, try to use channels at least 60MHz apart from each other. I frequently use 30MHz channels. Although there is less bandwidth available in theory, it often outperforms 40MHz channel width in real-world applications. Either channel width will get you over your 50Mbps target rate.

That makes sense, the LPR needs a full image to process, and only the "I" frames in H.264 are a full image, the others are interpolated data. The dedicated LPR cameras from Avigilon run the JPEG2000 codec, so they have full frame images to work with, also.

Never seen cameras show up like that on in the camera tree. That's what I've seen also when trying to connect Acti cameras to Avigilon. Never have been able to get motion detection to work, either. Newer Acti cameras aren't in the supported cameras list, though.

If it is just a standard (non-PTZ) analog camera, you could use three of the pairs for power, and one for video, which would help with the drop. Also, you may want to put your meter inline with a 12 volt supply and the camera (on the DC 500ma setting), to measure the actual current draw (if the camera has IR illumination, cover it to turn the IR on, it will draw more current that way). Another consideration is to use a higher voltage supply (24VAC or so), with a regulator at the camera to drop it back to standard 12VDC power. This model from Altronix is good up to one amp supply current-http://www.altronix.com/products/product.php?name=VR1T

This is one that I've used a few times, a bit of a learning curve, but it's free- http://www.mikrotik.com/thedude It is intended for use with ISP networks, but it can be configured for this type of use.

The Nanostations can be sensitive to static damage if you do not use shielded cat5 cable with metal plugs between the power injectors and radios. One thing to do is to run the spectrum analyzer, and pick a channel that's low in usage (the 5.5.10 firmware opens up usage in the UNII-1 band, so that will give you more channel choices). Also, adjust your power levels for as close to a -50 signal level as possible. Also, you need to test the connection with the other user computers disconnected, a virus or streaming/torrent application could be using a lot of bandwidth. (What throughput usage does the Nanostation display in the main page?). A good link (locked steady at MCS15), on a 20MHz channel width, should give you at least 35Mbps of actual throughput. 30 MHz channels will give 65+Mbps. (I try to avoid 40MHz channels, real world usage tends to show lower throughput than 30MHz setting, as 40MHz is two bonded 20MHz channels, with more interference possibilities).

Get the HD tool, it works WAY better than the standard one. I had several bad crimps with the standard tool, none at all so far with the HD tool.

You could use an encoder/decoder pair like the Acti TCD-2100 encoder, and the ACD-3100 decoder, but the cost of those would be higher than using an IP camera, rather than an existing analog camera. You mentioned that you have a hybrid capture card, you should check to see what IP cameras are supported by it.

The Mikrotik radios have a lot more options for advanced networking/routing internally, but they are much less user friendly for a basic user to configure. I used quite a few of them in the past, and got pretty familiar with them. I still use some in specialty applications, but have changed to Ubiquiti for almost everything else. I purchase Nanostations by the case now, and have been very happy with them. Using shielded cable with them is an important detail, though. Depending on the configuration and distance, you can get near wire-speed throughput from them. Testing using JPERF with a pair of Nanostation M5's yielded multi-threaded TCP stream throughput of 90+Mbps with 40MHz wide channels, 75+ on 30MHz channels, and 35+ on 20MHz wide channels. There are some mounts/shields from a company called RF Armor which help quite a bit for better mounting, and interference shielding, especially if you are using multiple radios near each other.

Mikrotik has similar products as Ubiquiti (wireless bridging gear and routers/switches). A number of those wireless equipment manufacturers started making their products well before any PoE standards were in place. The passive low voltage injection for that equipment allows for lower cost products, as well as easier usage with battery powered equipment. They are only worried about inter-compatibility between their products, and do not intend them to be used with 802.3af standard cameras or other equipment. Some people have used the larger Ubuiquiti switches that provide an option for a 48 volt output to power cameras, but they are not intended for that purpose.

I'll be there on the 3rd and 4th.

Are we going to see u in LV next week ? Thursday and Friday, see you there!

This same type of example is shown on most IP camera manufacturer's sites, without any warnings whatsoever, at least he mentions the vulnerabilities of doing it that way! Wait until IPV6 gets traction, and all of those devices are exposed to the internet without even NAT as a basic safety net, that's going to be fun... Internet of Things botnet, here we come!

He's showing ways to embed images into webpages, not exposing vulnerabilities. He's also taken the time to explain ways to increase security of those video feeds by obfuscating the IP and login information. He isn't explaining inurl: or other vulnerabilities, quite the opposite. However, a thorough dissection of vulnerabilities is usually the only way they get fixed, so that's not always a bad thing, security through obscurity is always a bad idea.

Take a look in the software, go into the dvr folder, then the main folder, and see if there is a file called sn.txt. I may have some options for you, if you can send a picture of the DIT-4 card, I'll know better.

Here's a few reasons I don't use them anymore.. they make decent doorstops, though. I think what Wireguys was referring to is Arecont's practice of charging to just look at a defective camera, whether they fix it or not, as well as their continuous attitude that any integration problems are never the camera, always the VMS. (That's been my experience, at least).

I haven't tried one yet, but Geovision has a 24 port switch (GV-POE2401), which meets your specs (except it is managed), at a pretty attractive price. I've seen it online under $500 USD. If you get one, let us know how it works, that's a very good price for the specs.

We are doing this now at a large hospital, using Planet brand VDSL converter pairs, and Avigilon cameras. It's working quite well. We originally had analog cameras on UTP converters, and it was a very noisy image.

Yes, there has been a lot of progress over the last few years, especially. I have done a lot of systems in the past with really overpriced, under-performing analog video links, and hoped for something more like this to come along. Then, I was building IP based links with custom router boards, mini-PCI cards, terminating LMR400 cables, etc.... Then, this stuff comes along (earliest Ubiquiti gear), and blows everything else out of the water on a price-performance basis. There are others out on the market as well, now, but I still find Ubiquiti gear to be a great choice for a lot of my installs. (I buy Nanostations by the case, now!) Few things to note, if you go this way- use shielded cable and metal CAT5 plugs between the radio and power injector for ESD protection, and adjust transmit power at both ends to get as close to a -50dBm signal level for best performance.

A pair of Ubiquiti Nanostation M5's http://www.ubnt.com/airmax#nanostationm would fit your requirements for the RF data link side of things, usually under $200 USD for a pair (or the smaller Nanostation Loco M5's, at even a little less cost). At that distance, you will want to adjust the output power on the units almost all of the way down, to avoid overload. (Using units in the 5Ghz band helps avoid interference with most home routers, and other Wi-Fi gear). Depending on the channel bandwidth settings, you can get up to 60+ Mbps throughput, enough to carry multiple megapixel resolution cameras. Basic configuration guide for your type of setup here- http://community.ubnt.com/t5/airMAX-Configuration-Examples/airMAX-Configure-a-Point-to-Point-Link-Layer-2-Transparent/ta-p/419941

You would not have enough controls available in the standard up/down/left/right commands to have 16 functions, how about using "Go To Preset" commands, maybe 1-8 for on, and 9-16 for off? Or, toggling off/on with each call to 1-8? The other function calls aren't as widely utilized, especially in inexpensive DVR's, but calling up presets usually are. You are not going to be able to easily make an Android application for all DVR's, they each use their own proprietary command sets, and are not usually published. Some seem more hackable, though, people have done a lot with Dahua DVR's, and they have a published API.

Short wouldn't be a problem, it's not the lens that seals against the dome, there's a rubber ring between the lens and IR LED's. Long would be a problem, unless he can run without the dome cover on. The Acti lenses probably would be the best choice, though.

As long as you use an IR corrected lens, your mixed lighting environment should be fine. The lens you linked to is a CS type lens, the Acti camera uses a M12 miniature lens. Up to 16mm in that type is fairly common, higher than that is harder to find. The Acti cameras have worked well for us, I have used them for years.

Acti has a 6mm lens (PLEN-4104), and an 8mm lens (PLEN-4103) available, the 8mm would roughly double the size of the object in view. There are other manufacturers of M12 lenses in other focal lengths, also. You could use a lens that is not IR corrected if you are going to be using it only under IR, just focus it during IR operation. IR corrected lenses stay in better focus switching between visible light and IR, but if you are only using one or the other, it will not be a problem.

You can use Axis Camera Companion software (free), to record and view the signal from that encoder, if you put a SD card in it for recording. You could also use various brands of software compatible with that encoder, installed on a PC, to record and view the cameras. (Milestone, Avigilon, Exacq, etc).