alanjh1965

Probably going to answer my own question but I've got a school with 20 Axis cameras and a Milestone Server - the question is with potentially another 70 cameras to add as they upgrade their old analogue systems do I go Dahua where there is no licence fees or stick to milestone where the licences are £100 a camera. The Milestone Software is great but with school budgets being squeezed I think I will win more work if I don't need to charge another £7000 just on licences Have any of you gone high end only to find that expensive software is not always the best way forward?

Yet another NVR out there...... Anybody used the Dahua / Nexus branded NVR? Need some feedback please!

4K? Old Hat I'm waiting for 8K.... then I'll need to buy enough hard drives to fill a house..... Still at least they will keep the house warm in the Winter!

Is there a Budget? There are systems out there that tick some of the boxes. The only point that you might have trouble with is to ''see faces clearly at 40-50ft away day and night'' this is a big ask - the wider the scene the less pixels you have so if you zoom in to 40ft away the picture becomes distorted the only way round this is a higher mega pixel camera (5mp) or a PTZ where you can zoom in to see the face or install cameras nearer! I've been using QVIS here in the UK (Dahaua) for some of my HD installations and found them to be easy to install and reliable, I have been using some NVR's with POE built in and its been a dream just to run a bit of CAT5 and plug the camera in at both ends. The Push notification is great - as soon as some one walks in front of the camera I get an alert and it plays back the footage on my phone, BUT with these cheaper cameras I tend have a lot of problems on motion what ever the sensitivity is set on, so if a customer wants Push I tend to install an external PIR with the camera otherwise your will get bombarded with false alarms. QVIS also do a 2MP PTZ - there are plenty of videos on YouTube, I've just order one to try out but the picture looks very good. Have a look through some of the threads on here - there are some great example pictures that will give you an idea of image quality.

As long as you've got Milestone Express or above - if you have the Free Version (GO) then you can't use a NAS

Just about to take over an analouge Ernitec X system, its on a large hotel site using twisted pair transmission. Thinking about upgrading to IP and using encoders initially but have been recomended to use an Ernitec Hybrid Server. Does anyone have in experiences with this brand that they could share with me ? Thanks

I think bigglebowski's advice is spot on "Don't give up your day job" !!! Specialising on IP is a bad move, you need to grow your customer base and this means giving them what they want, even if this means analogue. Most of my work is based on recommendation from existing clients, believe me Cold Calling is going to wear out your shoes pretty quickly and CCTV is usually a 'grudge buy' people only want it after they have had an incident. $500 dollars per camera profit, Dam, I moving to the USA! With some High end branded cameras you only get 15% off the Recommended Retail Price, even if you are an Authorised Partner and believe me customers do their research on prices, it's hard out there! Build a relationship with a couple of suppliers, you'll find they are very helpful if you run into problems and some even pass you work. I only ask for 50% deposit if the installation is over £5000, I've never taken a hit from customer refusing to pay and I've been installing for nearly 30 years! Don't just stick to CCTV, there's Alarm Systems and also Home Automation is becoming more popular. The Security industry is changing right before our eyes and you have to think ahead, there will be a time when all cameras will be plug and play and Old Dinosuars like me (I'm only 47) won't be required! Good Luck.

Thanks for the Update. I have been using QCamPro App with some M12's I recently installed and I am very happy with the App, it has two way Communiation and Event List Playback. There is a Push Video function which I havent tested yet as I have to pay a subscription. It works fine on the IPhone and looks even better on the IPad (No I don't work for them!). Yes it would be nice to see the price point come down to a more reasonable level especially seeing as theres not much margin on them when the Public can buy them off the Net Is the new M12 going to be 5MP?

Looking forward to that review buellwinkle, I have a Customer who wants 12 Axis P3346VE's (on a house). Was going to build a Milestone Server, but the price is too high. So I will suggest either an SD card solution or Stream to NAS. He does want viewing on his TV's so a guess I will need a PC running the Companion Software to view multi screen on the TV. I must say I have spoke to Axis and Netgear direct and they havent been much help in helping me confirm the spec, only that Axis say stick to the NAS choices on their website or I may burn in Hell

Thanks for the Info Kenny, I did get hold of the Samsung Dome from a Rep and you can remove the Pigtail and use a Mini Enternet Plug if all you are using it as just POE. Yes it is a bit long winded on Silverlight and some collegues have had a few issues with them. I think I will go with the P3364's as well.

Thanks for the great infomation, hotwire, a customer of mine wants 7 SNV-5080R and 2 SNV-7080R. 4 of these are going on a wooden soffit so the Pigtail is not a problem but 5 are going onto brick and I have drilled the CAT5 staight out, expecting rear entry (!), the brick wall does have a cavatiy so I guess I'm going to have to hack away at the wall! I didnt know there was a Fan in them... can you here the Fan inside the house? I dont want this guy saying he cant get to sleep at night as one will be just outside his Bedroom Window ! Thanks AL

You can download XProtect Go, free from the Milestone Website and you can record up to 8 cameras for 5 days on most standard PC's... its a good way to learn about the product before deciding to upgrade for more features. Pricing for Licenses varies depending on your requirements and wether you want to add PMA .... you need to contact a local distributor in your area.

Ive got a couple of IXE20's on the outside of our office, had them there for 8 months, no problems. Recording to a Qnap also a PC running Milestone. I haven't really played around with the camera settings as yet

Dont leave your Keys in the Car ! But there is an upside, my neighbour left his car, a customised VX Golf, his pride and joy, to talk to his decorater. An oppertunist just walking by saw his chance and stole the car. It was later found that evening a little worse for wear but driveable and still containing his expensive sound system. The culprit is still at large, but it would be safer for him to hand himself into the Police before the car owner finds him! Video Taken from my 8 year old DM Sprite and a cheap korean Armour Dome - who needs IP ! *** Link Removed *** Update: After seeing himself on You Tube the criminal came forward and offered Compensation for his crime, the Car owner has asked me to remove the Video.

There are plenty of great equipment reviews on this Forum which are written by people installing these on a daily basis. However, with such a property such as a Sports complex it would be adviseable to have a professional CCTV company design and install a suitable system for you. The trouble is there are so many different flavours of camera's, dvrs and cable you might spend your budget on a system that is not suitable and who will get the blame ? The cameras in the kit you are looking at all have fixed 3.6mm lenses, which might be fine for a reception area, but might not be good out side. Call a Professional ! (I hope I don't sound too Bitter and Twisted!)