buellwinkle

+1 on the Ubiquiti Nanostations. Get the PoE adapter option so you can power the camera from the Nanostation. Not sure if it's available on the Loco, but for sure on their standard Nanostations.

You can check my reviews on my blog, I reviewed the KCM-5211E as well as the Axis P5534-E (the cheaper version of the Q6034-E) and the Panny WV-SC385 PTZ. I would recomend the TCM-1231 from ACTi over the KCM-5211E. While the KCM-5211E has better resolution, I find the lens is not wide enough for home use, you'll need an external illuminator and it's low light capabilities are not as good as the 1231. I did my review in the city because in suburbia there just wasn't enough light to be effective. With that said, I'll be reviewing their TCM-7811 soon which is their flagship model for low light because it uses a CCD instead of the MOS sensor in their other cameras. Also, for what it's worth, if you like ACTi, consider sticking with all camera from the same brand because you can then use the ACTi free NVR software which is good and there's a new version coming out soon that is really good and did I say it was free. They also have a unique concept that I really liked. You use their hemispheric camera, their KCM-3911 to get a really wide view of an area but you lose the ability ID anyone at any distance because of the really, really wide lens to view 180 degrees. When motion is detected in a zone, it then can send the coordinates to an ACTi PTZ TCM-6630 camera to pan/tilt/zoom right to the person you want to capture. Solves the problem of PTZ cameras just going on random patrol looking for motion but dividing the time it can view by the number of presets you define. This is all done without any PC or external software. They had a demo at ISC last week, very cool feature.

You can use the Axis Bandwidth Calculator - http://www.axis.com/products/video/design_tool/calculator.htm

I asked the owner of the camera what he used, will let you know when I hear back. In the meantime, this is the official Panasonic piece to the puzzle - http://cr.panasonic.com/assets/16000-16999/ucm_stg_cnt_050919.pdf

See the review on the SC385 on my blog, it's mounted outdoors in a dome.

Sort of harsh. Here's a surveillance shot from my local ATM

For the price of the Axis cheapie encoder you can probably get some Geovision network cameras but of course you have to replace the coax with ethernet.

Just got it back about a week ago.

Most camaras that are wireless are VGA resolution, low end and have weak radios. Being able to pickup a signal with a laptop does not guarantee that it will work with a camera and not get dropouts. The downside to me of wireless is having to have an A/C outlet nearby, typically GFI because it's outdoors and you have that ugly wire and transformer. If you have to hire an electrician to put an outlet there, it may cost the same or less to put in an ethernet cable, use PoE for power and connection. I started the way you are going and was very dissapointed and now hardwire all my cameras in my house. If wireless is your only option, then consider a 2.4Ghz wireless outdoor access point. This way you get a good WiFi radio and decent antenna that can be placed optimally instead of on the camera which may not be optimal for reception. Probably cost $50-80 for a Ubiquiti.

Man I'm jealous, 14 elevators for a 21 story building. I'll think about that when I go down in one of 3 elevators in our 21 story building when the dog is anxious to pee. Is it possible to put a cheap 2.4 or 5.8Ghz wireless bridge on each camera and have a bridge on top with the antenna pointing down the shaft. Don't know, just throwing out ideas. Also, 900Mhz system with that proximity may work fine across the shafts, so one for each elevator, then a central bridge where your NVR setup is. Just don't know if the motors for the elevators will cause magnetic interferance with the wireless.

You may not need 900Mhz, but he said it has to go through metal plates and brick walls. Do you think 2.4 or 5.8Ghz will do well going through that? Maybe, but not likely without some degradation. Heck, I can't even get it to go 50' in my house with just drywall in-between. 2.4 and 5.8 is cheaper, a lot cheaper but requires LOS, 900Mhz is NLOS and has better penetration. Avalan was the big maker of 900Mhz bridges but the Ubiquiti ones are faster and cheaper, making 900Mhz more affordable.

I have an ACM-4201 near a microwave (maybe 8' away at the same height) and after a year, it got fried and it's my only ACTi camera I have that failed. Sent it to ACTi for repairs and put it back in the same spot. I didn't put the failure and the microwave theory together before, but thanks for the heads up and good to know someone with the same camera, same situation didn't have any problems. We don't use our microwave that much though, just typical home use, maybe once or twice a day.

I was lent this camera to do a review on and it's a good deal for those looking for a PTZ camera. The review is on my blog at http://ipcamnetwork.wordpress.com/ The next review will be about the ISC West show happening next week. If you are interest, their website is here - http://iscwest.com/

You can get the Axis Covert Surveillance kit, has an analog pinhole camera and a video encoder. At least with Axis you know most NVR software will support it. Doorking sells a camera made for their entry dialers and it works well. One of the buildings we have property at uses that and sends the video to the cable company and we switch to a certain channel to watch who's at the front door. It's certainly not going to be high quality but surprisingly decent.

You can do wireless for a few miles, just keep in mind that wireless must be line of site, no trees, walls, people in the way to be effective unless you go 900Mhz, then you can go miles without interference but so can other people so you have to make sure there's no 900Mhz in the frequency you pick that will interfere. Then you buy wireless bridges, and the cheapest 900Mhz that I know of are Ubiquiti, they cost about $350 each. If you have line of sight they are way cheaper, maybe $80 each for 2.4 or 5.8Ghz. They then have a PoE adapter so you run A/C to the bridge, and the bridge PoE to the camera for connectivity and power. Wireless is far from cheap and it's fairly complex to setup, but if you are putting the cameras where they can't be hardwired to a switch, this is the way to go. As for cameras, if it's for live view only, consider getting a nice PTZ camera, then you can look around with the camera. Panasonic makes some affordable PTZ cameras like the bb-hcm581a and put it in an outdoor dome enclosure. One PTZ may replace a bunch of fixed cameras and with the wireless costs, it may save money in connection costs.

Get a Mobotix M12-DevKit M12 Development Kit. It's basically a Mobotix M12 without a case. You can then locate the sensor/lenses in a tight location with a hole for each camera in the ATM case and put the body of the camera where it best fits. You can then hook it up to a 1TB NAS hard drive like a WD Mybook World Edition and they have a new one now that's two drives with mirroring. You don't need much power to run this. You'll need a small inexpensive PoE switch to connect the camera and NAS too and plug that and a NAS to A/C. Since the camera has the NVR solution built in, you don't need an NVR or network connectivity. You can use the SD card slot but why limit yourself to 64GB and the cards cost almost as much as a 1TB NAS drive. If there's an incident, you can connect to the camera directly and view recorded events using just about any browser, even iPhone/iPad or Android browsers.

Check out the ACTi KCM-5211E. You can turn it down to 1080P. I have a recent review on my blog.

GoPro Hero2 or Contour+ has live HDMI video out.

I have a review on my blog on that Vivotek if you are still considering it. Check to see what ACTi has in the P13 series.

Once you go yak, you never go bak

I know they make vacuum cleaners.

That's one fine looking yak. Since you are in D.C., is the yak an elected official in federal government? I've seen a lot of poop come from the hill and just wanted to know if it was yak poop or not.

Yes, I confirmed with them about 2 years or so ago, all their cameras are made in China even thought they have offices in the U.S. That's one reason we went with Mobotix instead, not made in China in that competitive situation. The cameras are not bad, but I just have this perception that all cameras that are made in China are available on eBay for under $100

Check out Viewer for Axis Cams in iTunes. The reviews are radically split where half hate it, half love it, but from the positive comments someone mentioned that it supports h.264. The app is not from Axis.

Loftek does make a very nice nail dryer I found searching Alibaba.com. If they had a combo deal of camera and nail dryer, that would be a powerful combination. I can duct tape the hair dryer to the camera and put the camera on patrol back and forth and dry all 10 toes at once under my desk while keeping my eye on them on my PC. I think WanScam cameras are far superior to Loftek but at $38 it may seem a bit pricey for what you get and that's why I'm waiting for the prices to drop before I commit. Also, do you know if WanScam makes a nail dryer? http://www.ebay.com/itm/Wireless-IP-Camera-Network-WIFI-Audio-Webcam-Night-Vision-11-LED-Security-Cam-/230757914980?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35ba3e5964