hardwired

Keep in mind this deception involving copper-clad aluminum also includes CAT5 cable, beware of really cheap Chinese CAT5, as well... I was just thinking about this, seems like you should be able to tell from the weight of a given length of cable, aluminum is a lot lighter than copper. Unless all the lead in the PVC cable insulation brings the weight back up From Wikipedia: "The American market was flooded with copper clad cable imported mostly from China and falsely presented in the market as being a 100% copper Cat 5e cable. With less copper involved in the manufacturing process, the cost to the consumer is lower, yet the consumer is not getting a true 100% copper Cat 5e cable. Installation of copper clad aluminum Cat 5e wire was proven — by low-voltage contractors in the Southern California market, where this cable first arrived — to have poor test results and often did not pass the Category 5e transmission standard. Since copper conducts electricity better than aluminum, signal strength has shown to be very weak over long runs using this substandard cable."

I'd disagree about Arecont being a joke. For all the other problems that I (and others) have encountered, they still have some characteristics that make them a good choice in some applications. They still seem to be the only manufacturer running H.264 above two megapixel, they have pretty good night capabilities (especially the dual-imager models), high frame rates at highest resolutions, and a few other features that are pretty desirable. I'll probably keep deploying SOME Arecont product for a while longer... At least until something better comes along. I really do hope they get their act together, there is a lot to like about them...But sometimes, I do feel a little masochistic for using it

I don't have a manual, but I can tell you that I had a customer that had one of those systems, and it was absolutely terrible, never worked well, the track never stayed in alignment, they replaced it at a loss with multiple fixed cameras less than a year after installing

This is the sort of project that sounds simple, but requires a large amount of knowledge to complete. You either need to know, or have someone available, who is competent at writing microcontroller code and integrating the VISCA control protocol into a unit with the case and switches. There are a lot of different microcontrollers out there that could do the job, if you know how to program them. Atmel AVR, PIC, and many others could do the job.... Here's a few examples http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/categories.php?c=2

For true non-line of sight, you pretty much need to be in the 900 MHz band. Analog equipment in that band will be problematic, at best, due to the amount of SCADA and other spread-spectrum gear that is in most areas. You can get better penetration of light foliage in the 2.4 GHz band than 5.8, almost anything in the Fresnel zone will cause some interference. A higher gain set of antennas may improve your results, keep in mind that some transmitter/antenna combinations may exceed FCC or other regulatory limits. Arc wireless, http://www.antennas.com, makes some nice 20Db gain panel antennas with an external "N" connector, you would need a cable to match that to your radios. Having said all that, pretty much all analog wireless equipment I've worked with in the past has been a steaming pile of poop, compared to the results I've been getting with native IP based wireless links with decent Ethernet wireless gear (I've had good results with Ubiquiti gear, and they have 2.4, 3.65, 5.8 gear, with 900MHz gear coming out soon. Even their 2.4 GHz NanoStationM2 has pretty good foliage penetration. I would pick running that equipment, with an encoder/decoder pair (Acti has some decent models) over any analog gear I've worked with.

...And yet, they have a great picture, and price, and maybe we are a little masochistic? The first AV5155's I got were the first off the line, and the yaw adjuster was designed wrong, so you could not turn it at all (had to use wall mount brackets), and the dome had horrible distortion. Oh, yeah, and the firmware.. I had a AV5105DN box cam turn itself into an AV3105DN (according to the web menu, and the firmware loader), after putting it in place of a defective 3105, the Milestone software apparently pushed the 3105 settings into it.. I did not even think that was possible .

Actually, it sounds like it might be the software. Make sure you have the latest device pack (5.0), Milestone did not support those Axis models until device pack 4.9. You might want to check with Milestone's tech support, they are pretty good.

Thats actually a good idea, though I already installed the memocam Also not sure if that would hold up in the attic, and if not the attic it is then visible to the staff. If it didnt have the word DVR written on the top of it in large writing well .. Yes, I saw that you had already used the Memocam, just thinking out loud for next time, maybe. Being able to use a camera that didn't have "DVR" on it in big lettering might be a little more covert, that's for sure

Camera firmware? Sorry, yes, camera firmware. Recording software was Milestone Enterprise.

I had a similar problem with some Acti cameras and Netgear switches, the cameras could not even be pinged after they stopped, a firmware update fixed it.

Hmmm, how about a cheapie SD card mini-DVR (Super-they-who-will-not-be-named has one under $200 retail), going to a regular covert cam, and maybe a WI-FI enabled SDHC card, like these http://www.eye.fi/ to retrieve the video, without having to get all the way to the unit, just close?

That Sony is not true D/N, just electronic. The Basler has a true D/N cut-filter, as well as having a CCD imager, I would expect it to do substantially better than the Sony. If you could work with somewhat less low-light performance, the Acti ACM-3701 is very small (and IP66 outdoor rated, and vandal-resistant).

I would think that interfacing with *any* IP camera would be almost impossible, due to all of the differences in their XML schemas, etc. The Mobotix has an external serial data port for these inputs, which most cameras do not (Stardot is another exception, though. You can connect certain weather stations to them). If you use Milestone, you can configure an unused camera view window in the Smart Client to display an HTTP page, if you could find a thermometer with a web output, you could display your view (or any other web page) there.

I've heard good things about Magnalight, http://www.magnalight.com/c-186-infrared-led-lights.aspx, but haven't tried them myself. they seem to be a little less than Raytec, for comparable outputs.

Unless you need to have more than one person at a time accessing the cameras, you will probably want to have a wireless unit for the car running as the AP, and the camera units running as SU's (Subscriber Units). At that distance, you should probably be able to access all of them simultaneously that way. Otherwise, if all cameras are running as AP's, each should have it's own channel to run on to avoid interference with each other, and you will have to be able to select which AP to connect to in the car unit's programming. You would need a wireless unit connected to the Laptop, not just the inbuilt wireless for this scenario. Units that close to each other, all running as AP's, is probably not a good idea. There are Mesh/WDS options as possibilities, too, but those implementations get complicated and expensive pretty quickly. Take a look at the Ubiquiti Picostation, http://ubnt.com/picostationm, these could be used at both the camera side, and the car side (they can run as AP or SU).

In looking at your previous postings, I was thinking that the camera locations were inaccessible for cabling directly. Since then, you indicated that you would be cabling the cameras that were under 100 meters, but not over. If you are just considering the Ethernet cabling limits, and could get cable to the farther cameras, there are some products to consider over wireless. Take a look at the Veracity Outreach, http://www.veracityglobal.com/products/ethernet-and-poe-extension/outreach.aspx , these can extend your Ethernet cabling beyond the 100 meter limit, or look at DSL-type extenders, these can go 1000 meters+ over CAT3 or 5 cable, at high data rates.

Do you have clear line of sight between all PTZ locations, and the projected AP location, and are the cameras surrounding the AP in all directions, or in a single direction that could be addressed with a 90 degree or 120 degree angle sector antenna ?. Also, be aware of what is referred to as "Fresnel Zone" interference, that basically means that you need a zone around the line of sight between radios to be clear of obstructions (at 250 Meters, and 5GHz band, that's approx. 1.8 meters in diameter at the midpoint. At those distances and bandwidth requirements, I would think that Ubiquiti NanoStation Loco M5's at the camera locations, and a Bullet M5 with an omnidirectional antenna should work fine.

Looks like that is not in the "Go" version. It is in Essential and above, and Essential is only $99.00 MSRP for the first two channels, and $49.00 for each channel after (up to 26). Milestone's remote view does require IE with plug-ins, though. Exacq does not. However, Milestone is much more functional for remote viewing over a slower WAN connection IMO, as it does not need to buffer clips before playing. You can get Demo one channel licenses of all versions of Milestone, and Exacq, so you could kick the tires on either, before purchasing.

To really answer your question well, we need a lot more details: Is each camera getting it's own wireless transmitter, going back to a central Access Point, what compression/resolution are you using, what framerate you are trying to get, etc...You need to calculate the total bandwidth requirement to see what you will need. My suggestion for lower cost wireless gear is Ubiquiti's wireless "N" data rate gear, in the 5GHz band (NanoStation Loco M5 at the cameras, Rocket M5 with sector antenna or multiple Bullet M5's with small directional antennas for the AP(s). Under good conditions, you can get up to 60-80MBPS (per AP)total throughput on that gear.

Looks like a good way for a customer to get their feet wet with Milestone, and then move up through the product line as they expand... Milestone has gotten pretty aggressive recently in expanding their line with Essential, to hit back at the lower end markets.. Good news for us, we've been Milestone Partners since 2007....

He's already got the Acti cam, at this point, I'd add a little more IR illumination for nighttime and be done with it... Although if he's only going to record in standard res due to his software, he might trade it for an Acti ACM-1431 Standard res cam, with the CCD imager, it would do better at night. CMOS imagers are all somewhat handicapped in low light, compared to CCD (although newer ones are getting better).

Been looking at Space lenses, http://spacecomusa.com, after getting them recommended by several camera manufacturers. Normally, I'm a little suspicious about manufacturers like these, but one thing that I really like is that they list resolution and distortion figures (center and edge, even!), which almost all other CCTV lens manufacturers are too cowardly to do....

I have a install running Milestone with a mix of Mobotix D12's, Arecont AV5155 domes, Panasonic WV-NW484 and 502 domes, Acti 7411's, and they all play together fine.

Try getting a sample image with the lens cover off, it still looks like the IR is bleeding over into the lens. Also, make sure the firmware is one of the newer versions, with the imager profile loaded, this does improve low light noise (and a few other things) somewhat.

With the dome off, It's a fair amount smaller than even most mini-cubes, a flat base that's less than 4" diameter, less than 2" tall, you could trim off the base flange to about 3" or less, and it has a board cam lens that could be changed to a pinhole type, if you wanted... I'll try to get you a picture of one with the dome cover off.