hardwired

I opened it in VLC, and it gave info as "GEOX" .. Presuming Geovision? It also rendered like this Upside down & inverted...Kinda interesting, but not real useful..But yes, Rory, the picture quality seems OK.

Throw a Fujinon YV4.3X2.8SA-SA2 on it, that's what Panasonic uses on the 502's.. I've got some 502 sample images, I'm interested in a comparison. The Basler looked pretty good at ISC, I've thought about getting one, let me know how it works.

1.6km? Yep, NVT claims 1 mile (1.6km) with Active-Active. I have a demo here from Poland that claims 6-8,000 feet .. untested ofcourse Nitek EX1120 claims up to 3.6Km... never tried them, although I use a lot of other Nitek stuff, and been happy with it. Still, I'd look at a DSL type system with IP cameras (or a encoder-decoder pair, if you have to have analog) , I've done quite a few of those, and been very happy with the result. You get to use cheap, or sometimes already in-house cable, and get perfect image quality at the other end, with no losses.. Best of both worlds of fiber and twisted pair, in my opinion. *edit* I also do think there are a lot of good wireless options out there...Just stay away from the analog wireless stuff.

The easiest location for a pet-proof PIR for me has usually been a hallway.. There's nothing for the animal to climb on to trigger it, and a thief will have to pass through it if he wants to get into more than one room. Wired window screens work, too, but they can be a pain. A floor safe in cement, and good insurance are what I recommend, too. As far as pets, a survey of thieves that were interviewed I saw a while back put dogs as the #1 deterrent.. alarms were a distant second. My 75Lb Shepherd/Lab mix is as friendly as a kitten.. But she doesn't look or sound that way.

Fiber is probably the first option for best quality for analog cameras, with amplified baluns on twisted pair being well behind in quality (much cheaper, though). If you can consider IP cameras, though, a few other options open up, such as DSL-type extenders over twisted pair cabling (take a look at www.netsys-direct.com for an example), or wireless options, or the possibility that your factory already has network connectivity there.

thanks rory actually, i want to have the whole front door step in the picture so i can see if i have packages. i can probably compromise and move it a bit to get a small portion of the driveway in that picture, but instead i am just going to install another dome that will cover the entire driveway/mailbox area on channel 6. i already ran the wire for it, now i am just waiting on the camera Now i just need to figure out what to do with channel 7 and channel 8. i have 3 box cameras sitting in my tool box doing nothing... hmm An excellent idea... and I recommend it. I have a camera that serves that purpose, and it's been a godsend if something gets delivered when I'm out of town. Make a phone call to a neighbor or relative to pick it up, and it prevents the package from sitting on your front porch for a week, screaming "LOOK! NOBODY'S HOME!" while you're gone. If you don't mind a wider view, you can get a 2.2mm fixed wide angle lens, PLA22T3DN, for that cam, might get you all the coverage you need...Less detail, though. And the lens is on really tight from the factory, at first I thought I was going to break something. You too? I had one 484S dome that I literally couldn't get the factory lens off. I stopped cranking on it because I didn't want to break the camera. Yes, I changed the lenses on four of them a while back, and on the first one, I spent a long time looking for a setscrew or something I missed, until I decided to turn it that hard. I was fairly sure something would break... But nothing did, on any of them. Pano's are tough animals, for sure.

Well I know they support MJPEG and you don't have to to use ActiveX. Let me see what I can com up with. Take a look at the PDA output URL parameters for the mobotix, might be what you need....

thanks rory actually, i want to have the whole front door step in the picture so i can see if i have packages. i can probably compromise and move it a bit to get a small portion of the driveway in that picture, but instead i am just going to install another dome that will cover the entire driveway/mailbox area on channel 6. i already ran the wire for it, now i am just waiting on the camera Now i just need to figure out what to do with channel 7 and channel 8. i have 3 box cameras sitting in my tool box doing nothing... hmm An excellent idea... and I recommend it. I have a camera that serves that purpose, and it's been a godsend if something gets delivered when I'm out of town. Make a phone call to a neighbor or relative to pick it up, and it prevents the package from sitting on your front porch for a week, screaming "LOOK! NOBODY'S HOME!" while you're gone. If you don't mind a wider view, you can get a 2.2mm fixed wide angle lens, PLA22T3DN, for that cam, might get you all the coverage you need...Less detail, though. And the lens is on really tight from the factory, at first I thought I was going to break something.

You can use encoders and analog cameras That's true. What kind of card do you have to get if you want to do a 16 channel? http://www.acti.com/product/detail/Video_Server/ACD-2400 I just quoted out a system that way.. Building your own NVR and adding the encoder is cheaper than the Exacq hybrid box, especially when they get really big (my quote was for a 12TB, RAID6 system), Also, with Exacq, you only need one license for a 16 channel encoder, as compared to others that require a license per channel.

You could do that (actually one switch per function if you use double pole, double throw, momentary, center off), but if you look around (ebay, etc), you may be able to find the PTZ decoder very cheaply, and would allow you to add pan and tilt later, if you decided to. All of the joystick stuff is optional, you can control the PTZ directly through the DVR with no parts other than the decoder.

You (probably) will not need the Moxa converter, the DVR has RS422 output that would go directly from it to the PTZ decoder, and it has a input that merges the DVR and joystick controls (according to the spec sheet, at least), although the manual http://www.pelco.com/documentsroot/ProductManuals/Pelco_DX4500_DX4600_Series_Digital_Video_Recorder_manual.pdf seems to show the joystick connecting in on a USB port, so some type of adapter will be required, if that is the case.

Use a couple of RJ45 blocks to tie in a transformer... Here's the manual on that one.. ftp://ftp.pelco.com/ProductManuals/Pelco_KBD4000V_Genex_Multiplexer_Keyboard_manual.pdf

Try "ptz decoder" on ebay for some examples. It is a device that takes the RS422 PTZ control data out from the DVR, and converts it to relay outputs to directly control lenses, pan/tilt motors, etc. The DX4500 will only work with the KBD300 series joysticks, not the 4000 series...but if you really want to use the one you have, and are feeling adventuresome, and talk nicely to someone at Pelco, you can order a EPROM chip, and the overlay sticker, for a KBD300V, and turn it into one.

No, you are going to need a PTZ decoder (even though you are not using the pan/tilt) to decode the output of the DVR into a output to control the lens.

Bolide also has a single channel model DR-AD300 and a 16 channel model DR-AD3016. Do about the same thing as the Pelco model above, and also appears to support other protocols. Haven't tried them, though. IF they work, they are probably quite a bit cheaper. I know the Pelco unit will work for this purpose, though.

He could use the Q4704.... It has individual connectors for each RS-422. The CM9760CXTA only has a single RS422 input to 16 looping Coaxitron outputs, it would be easiest if he used a multichannel encoder that has a single RS422 output for all PTZ's, otherwise he will need a RS422 data merger to feed all the encoder outputs to one input on the CM9760CXTA. I've used these in the past to allow a DVR to control multiple Coaxitron cameras, should work the same with encoders.

If you want to keep all the hardware at the headend, the Pelco CM9760-CXTA would let you convert the wired RS-422 data format from encoders, to Coaxitron for up to 16 channels. You would need to use a single, multichannel encoder, though, to make connecting the PTZ data lines easier.

I'm in central California, temps in the low 30's, and I've never needed to use them. I think in your case, the humidity levels might present a good case for leaving it sealed, and perhaps throwing in a silica gel packet, as well.

Is this a question? I have no idea... But, while we're here, do you have anything for us to kick the tires on yet?

Haven't tried those, but you might want to take a look at these http://www.protechusa.com/Products/PIRAMIDXL2.htm I've used them in a number of high security installations, and our local national guard base is using them too... Not cheap, either, but a LOT less than $7K.

Video source | Baseband video splitter | RF Modulators | RF Combiner | One leg of A/B switch Building feed | Other leg of A/B switch Output from A/B switch to building distribution Hope you get the idea, I'm lousy at these ASCII drawings

At first, this sounded pretty difficult, and it still will be, but maybe not as bad as I thought. He will not need all the notch filters, just RF modulation onto all the channels used(still difficult) and a good A/B switch of some type to cut the distribution amp in the building (assuming there is only one) over to the combined RF modulated feed, off from the cable feed. No notch filters necessary, because the incoming cable feed will be disconnected at the time the modulated feed will be viewed. He could look at http://www.blondertongue.com/ for some heavy-duty solutions, or http://netmedia.com/modulators.html ,MM73 triple play model would give him three channels at a time, feed them into combiners, and then the A/B switch.

The technical specs on this page are confusing. They are not even mentioning that I can connect any type of video signal. Could I use these cards in a standard PC and then access the video with the Exaq Software? Did anyone try these cards? The link I gave was for a separate business of theirs, for other purposes. As far as I know they will not sell their capture cards separately (I've asked, really nicely, no luck )

I have know clue what Exacq uses for dvr cards. You would have to call Exacq and ask. My recommendation is to use IP encoders. Exacq may be one of the few that make their own, they grew out of the data acquisition business... look at http://www.exacqdaq.com/ , their other company.

I don't believe anything was mentioned to indicate THAT sort of electrical problem. From what I gathered, the problem sounds related to sharing the pole's 220vAC with the camera's power supply. HOWEVER, safety should always be a concern. Make sure the pole and electrical enclosure for the light are both properly grounded. If not, YOU will become the ground. Not good. Working around high voltage can be dangerous without the proper knowledge and experience. When in doubt, hire a professional. Cover my travel expenses and I'd be more than happy to assist further. I'd think it WOULD indicate that kind of problem... at 220vac, you only need 50-100ma to kill, and I'm sure it took a lot more than that to melt a DVR harness. If the transformer he used had a short between the primary and secondary, it COULD cause that problem.. but I'm still betting on a open neutral, shorted photocell,or something of that sort, at the pole, coupling 220vac onto the cam shield... NOT safe... Just check it out, is all I'm saying.