buellwinkle

Brickcom makes a very nice product, don't think you'll go wrong with them.

The P33 dome has IR illuminators, also recessed like the ACTi and doesn't rely on a foam donut for light bleed control like the Vivotek. I'm going to work on getting a demo camera This was release very recently and represents the latest technology from Axis. Typically Axis relies on midspan PoE injectors to run camera with heaters but typically they include it with the camera as they do with the P55 and Q60 speed domes.

No gasket on lens on TCM -7811. Also you have the Axis P33 with Lightfinder feature and LEDs.

i just finished reviews on my blog on 4 popular NVR software packages from free to 50/cam (150/cam in pro version). Each has pros/cons.

The IQEye camera I just reviewed goes down to -4F without a heater and colder with, uses regular PoE. Has good low light capabilities, but no built in illuminators, so you'll have to go with external illuminators if needed. But here's side by side ACTi TCM-7811 Brickcom OB-130Np IQEye Alliance Pro Axis P1346 Vivotek IP8362 (porch lights on, street lights on, better lit than my house)

Most domes with IR LEDs rely on a rubber or foam donut to seperate the lens from the LEDs. What's unique about the ACTi TCM-7811 is that they recess the LEDs deeply into pockets and are not a ring arount the lens like most other domes. As for Brickcom, check out my review on the WOB-130NP, it's likely going to be the same sensor as the VD-130NP dome.

The ACTi does work very well with the built in IR illuminators. I have the ACM-3511 and another one it's way. It has 2-way audio but you have to supply the microphone and speaker. One nice thing about a dome vs the other two is that can't be easily pushed out of the way or if they throw something at it, it won't get knock over.

You don't need that much in Linux skills as the commands you have to enter are spelled out in the instructions I linked too in that article. The hard part is finding the streaming URL command for each camera but support from the camera company should be able to supply that information to you or from their manuals. The forum is also a good place for help. Zoneminder has a website that's really cool were you put your camera brand and model and at gives all the wrong parameters to put in the configuration. This bit of information alone will save you hours. I know I wasted a lot of time using those parameters when they were not even close.

I added a few reviews on my blog including; - BlueIris Software - used it for a year, so finally got around to reviewing it - Milestone XProtect Go - free version of the popular XProtect software, what else can I say - IQEye Alliance Pro 1080P dome - excellent low light capability without illuminator

Zoneminder is not that bad, just takes time and that's what open source is all about. It's for people that have more time than money. I was able to download and install Linux, install Zoneminder, setup a 4 cameras all in about half a day (see review on my blog). You will spend more time looking for the holy grail of open source NVR solutions than if you just dive in and do it. If you don't like it, write some code and contribute it to the community. That is why you want open source, no? If nobody contributes, then what's the point of open source? I understand open source more than most as I've worked for an open source software company for 2 years.

Sure, but antennas and solar power are different, they protected, cameras are not. All you can do is make the request to your board and see how receptive they are to it. But I have a dome camera tucked under the eave in front of my garage. Only the glass bubble is visible and most people would not notice it. If it's houses, should be able to make it discrete enough to be acceptible. If it's condos, the outside of the unit does not belong to you, so no, you can't attached anything to it. Also, one thing you can do if it's a house and you have porch lights by your garage door is put the camera inside that and forgo the bulb.

Look forward to your results. It uses the same Sony Exmor sensor on the Brickman camera I reviewed and that's a expensive camera.

The AVtech cameras I've reviewed actually do fairly well in low light even without their crazy Axis M10 series style white LED turned on and have good audio. Compared to the Panasnoc BL-C230a, it's not not even in the same league. The Avtech's are way better. Look at my review where I compare it to an Axis M10 series, then imagine the Panny is not as good as the Axis in low light. I have one here to review, just haven't gotten around to it yet. It is cute though, specially when the tiny motors start whirring for no reason.

If there's a way to mount it not looking through a window, that would be best, maybe a balcony? Check my reviews on my blog on the Avtech cameras. They actually have a pretty nice image in low light. The WiFi version (avn812) was pulled off the market because of issues but should be back for sale soon. In the meantime, you may take a peek at the AVN80X. It has a white LED light that you'll need to turn off and just record with available light but it can record to the internal SD card, it can warn you instantly and play back video on most smart phones. It's about $220. For less, the AVN801, also reviewed, does not have an SD card slot, but you can record to software on a PC.

Looking to start reviews of popular NVR software on my blog to help people with their choices. I'm happy with ACTi NVR at home, but some people want a mix of camera brands. I started with ExacqVision Start but it flat out doesn't work for me and frankly, I don't see how it can. It asks for camera IP, username, login but in some cases, like a simple Panny BL-C230A it doesnt even let me enter a port number, I guess assuming port 80, but even if I make it port 80, it connects to the camera and can't get video. I tried about a half dozen cameras I have lying around and nada, zilch. I hate to write it off as poo if it's me that's using it wrong. Has anyone tried this software and got it to work? I sent a request to their support, we'll see how long it takes to get back and how quickly they can add a camera not on their list, something that people would want to know. Also, if you come across any software that you are happy with that's not camera vendor specific, let me know and I'll see if I can get a decent demo version from the company, provide screen shots and how it works with various cams. My minimum expectations is that it allows - browser access for viewing live feeds as well as recorded events - works with popular browsers (Chrome, Safari, IE, Firefox) - has a smartphone interface, at least IOS and Android - has a long list of supported cameras - has to be reasonably priced which I know is subjective - is able to keep up with vendor's new cameras as they come out - is CPU friendly, meaning it has to take motion events from the camera and not force the use of it's own video detection that sucks up resources. If anyone thinks of selection criteria that's important to them, let me know. Maybe I can start a grid of what feature are important to people and rate it on a scale of 1-10 or something like that.

Where do you download it from?

That's free software that compliments their NVRs', not an NVR software solution. I don't like the techno music used and I would have used Carl Orff's chorus of O Fortuna. Adds more drama and passion.

Are you trying to forward the emails with attached images as text messages? Maybe you are exceeding the cell carriers text size limit. When I did this once, I used my carries MMS (picture text) email address instead of SMS (text) and that allowed for larger emails. For example, on Verizon Wireless, it's number@vtext.com for SMS but number@vzwpix.com for MMS.

It's hard to tell from the picture, but is there a power wire that goes from the splitter to the camera? Does it come with a few power plug sizes to fit varios cams?

Where would I go to find reviews on NVR software, let me think, wait a minute, my blog. I just wrapped up a test with Xprotect Go. It works well but is a total resource hog on the computer. There maybe tweaks to optmize it but you don't get support, just forums and there's little to no activity on their forums so you have to figure it out for youself. The details are on my blog. NUUO is sending me an 8 camera license to test out their software. So as soon as I get it, I'll load it up. I think the camera license is about $150ish (double that for 8 camera license) so it's not expensive. Have not tried AXXON but want to, just time. Also one to consider is BlueIris. It's $50 for a server, not as bad as Milestone in terms of being a resource hog and works pretty well with any browser even smartphone browsers. What happens if your camera is not supported is you can let Ken, the owner connect to the camera remotely and in a day or two he'll have it working. Just do it during your trial period so you don't have to pay if he can't get it working. It has a webserver, records on motion detect windows, all around I liked it, used it for about a year.

+1 on contacting them directly. They are pretty responsive. I usually open up support ticket online on their website and I've even had them connect to the camera to troubleshoot it. Also, their RMA process is pretty quick and they've turnaround cameras in the U.S. for me in 24 hours. If it's still under warranty, it may be worth shipping it to them to fix. The bullet cams have a 3 year warranty, at least in the U.S. You don't need ActiveX to load firmware and actually they recommend you use their IP tool and not do it from a browser. The only thing you need ActiveX for is to view the camera from their web browser interface although you can view their cameras on any browser using a streaming command in the URL and if you need that, I can get it for you.

I sent Axxon an email to get more information and I'll give it a shot. I didn't see Dahua on their list of supported camera brands, does it work with your camera?

I've been trying to figure out how to bring PoE to low cost cameras. There are 5V and 12V splitters that take a PoE and split out before entering the camera, so the ouput is a 5V or 12V power connector to the camera and plain ethernet. Here's one site that sells them, look at the last two on the page. I know Vivotek makes them specifically for their non-PoE cameras. Not perfect, but certainly better than finding an A/C outlet near where you want to put the camera. I was going to try one on an AVtech push video camera but was trying to figure out the connector spec so I can get one that just plugs in without me breaking out the soldering iron. http://www.radiolabs.com/products/wireless/networking/power-over-ethernet.php As for a dealer, I've been asking AVTech for a while and they appear a bit disorganized in this area. The least expensive place I found them at is http://www.123securityproducts.com/ but I never bought from them so I can't make a personal recomendation. They don't seem to have the specific model, but the comperable non-PoE push video series one they do have is the AVN807a. I would imagine a quick call to them can determine if they can get the model you want. I do like the image quality and low light capability on the AVTech camera push video series but have not tried their outdoor cameras. If they are the same quality, I would expect the AVM357A or AVN807A to be a good bargain. Also, have no idea why more camera companies don't include PoE as an option on all their cameras. But what's interesting is we are starting to see some great prices on commercial grade 1080P PoE cameras in the $200 price range.

I'm working on the various reviews based on people's comments. Just finished Zoneminder which comes up often and offers the best price, free. I also installed another freebie, Milestone XProtect Go so that's running now. I reviewed Exacqvison which is not free, but a lower cost version of commercial software adapted for home/small business use. Also I already own BlueIris and a deal for $50, so I'll probaby do a review on that too since I've used it for over a year.

Brickcom does make an excellent product but which model is in their $100-150 range?