Birdman Adam

So machetes are the weapon of choice in the Bahamas! Now, is that little screen you were holding wireless? I want one! That ABCD comparison is perfect! What is the approximate cost of A? This is a really good example of how what you pay scales up!

I hate it when PSUs don't come with lots of SATA power cables.

Welcome to the forum! It would be best for you to create a thread about your problem. Introductions are for introductions. BTW - move the channel your wireless AP operates on away from other's AP's. It will immediately work better!

Yup, your good to go. These cameras suck up IR very well.

So there is so much insulation, it covers the beams going across the ceiling of the level below? I would say lay some plywood down in there - although if it compresses the insulation significantly, it will reduce its R-value. The upper-attic of my house I can stand up in (I'm 6'4"), but only at the very center. Otherwise it is walking only on the beams going across. Does a hip-roof have less space that that? I'm a DIYer too - have done plenty of attic climbing, crawling, and head bumping. I bought a long snake for pushing/pulling wires through walls. I have found it useful in these situations.

A steel stick? Ouch! Oh, also I just noticed the magnetic contact on your door. To the OP: Also, I wouldn't recommend cameras with built-in IR. You are just asking to be forced to clean it every couple months to keep the bugs off. Also, some cheaper cameras are not designed well, and the IR distorts the picture (leaks right into the lens, etc). It may look a little uglier, but separate IR illuminators is really the way to go!

Once again I've been surprised by what Samsung offers... Just realized they have a free program called SmartViewer3.0. So instead of logging in through a browser, you can open up this program and log in from there. It has a nice GUI, is simple to use as well. I am working on a video for this as well. Its like the web interface, except much smoother and works even better. It can connect to ALL of their stuff. So if you have a NVR with 64 IP and/or analog cameras, it will connect and display it. I think of it as the 'head-end' for the people who need to manipulate the system. Forget web viewing, this is much better if you want to click a shortcut on your desktop, and view your house from anywhere. Video coming soon!

Where do you live? Because there are two main video standards - NTSC and PAL. For NTSC, the max is 720x480, also called D1. This is what you want when your recording. So the max a DVRs will record in terms of horizontal lines is 480. Make sure you cam is at that or above, and your good. Cameras with higher # of lines doesn't always mean they are better. Its a gimmick.

I wouldn't worry too much about the faint red glow of cheaper IR (not completely covert). For me, trying completely covert IR has been a hassle and very expensive. Basically, I'd only use it if my house was a military base or something! Rory - in your second video, it looks like the guy has a big knife in his right hand.

Most decent DVRs have "alarm" inputs, which can be used to trigger the DVR to do something. Go ahead and get an 8 channel - it is too easy to use up 4 channels! A harder problem is getting a signal from the alarm panel that says "I'm armed". What type of system do you have - e.g. a DSC 832, etc? If you don't have the installers code, and/or have no idea how to program an alarm system, I'd suggest you have someone help you out. With DSC systems (and probably others), the PGM outputs can be set to turn on or off depending on many circumstances. Don't have a manual with me though! So you could set, say PGM 1 to turn ON when the system is armed. Then that output would go to an alarm input on the DVR, which would turn the recording to specific channels on or off. Programmable outputs on most all alarms will put out 12VDC, and looks like many DVRs accept NO (normally open) contacts between a zone and GND. So you will need a 12VDC relay that is NO, powered by the PGM output of your alarm system. Then it will be a matter of configuration in the software of the DVR to tell it you want it to record a channel when an input goes low.

That is the problem with attics... They are either hot or cold - almost never comfortable!

1. Have you tried to play the .avi's in VLC Media Player? 2. Try installing the ffdshow codecs. Here is Samsung's website for that DVR: http://www.samsungsv.com/Model/Detail/10/Samsung-SDE-4001N-8-Channel-DVR-Security-System Looks like their is a viewer available. Also, the manual can tell him how to properly offload video that he needs. On my friends Samsung (more professional SRD-870DC), he chooses to download it as an AVI. The AVI file has the timestamp included. Other info files are included, along with a codec installer (SIPP I think?).

I would very much like to see some videos. Honestly, I am interested in a cheap PTZ...

I see the connections. Look at the header I have circled: You can see: Video and videognd. video would go to the center pin of a BNC plug. Videogns would be the shielding, or outer ring. RS- and RS+ are your data connections. 15V and GND. This is your power connection. I dunno if it wants 15V DC or AC, probably DC. So I would start off feeding it 12VDC because that is the typical voltage for cameras. Dunno what E-Sync is... Probably some extra thing that isn't needed in most cases. In terms of connecting, you can get a female header that will accept those pins, and then solder connections to the back of that. Or desolder (remove) those pins, and solder like 22gauge wire in each hole, and then make your connections to the wires. Color code it! BTW - the connections inside that blue connector are noted to the right of it as well.

You know... I'm not sure. At first thought, I would say yes - the HD's are still connected with the same standard. Plus, I think they use some linux file system, like ext3 or ext4 - so no size limitations there. Plus, 15FPS is probably overkill for your situation. Even if you turned it down to 10FPS, you would need a bit more than 10TB. Then 5x2TB drives would work.

HA! I love that Owl!!

Ulterior, you need to decide how much space you'll need! I did some calculations with free space calculators, and I got numbers near 16-20TB. This was with a H.264 DVR, 16 cameras, each at 15FPS, running 24/7, at normal quality, at D1(actually 4CIF) resolution, with a need to record for 180 days (6 months). So the SRD series (and probably many other big DVRs), will do this for you. You will have to use 3TB internal HDs, plus use at least 1TB of external...

Does it look like this? So the receiver plugs into a USB port on your computer, and you installed a driver, and you are currently using their motion software? You are probably in luck! This thing seems to essentially be a USB webcam... So some freeware like Crime-Catcher, Yawcam, or Motion Detector are available. Both offer remote viewing, good motion detection (IMO), and are FREE.

Don't double-NAT. It doesn't work well. In other words, don't forward port from the modem to a port of the router, to the ip and port of the DVR. Depends on the modem+router combo though... I find it best to set the modem up in bridge modem, let the router take care of the internet connection (PPPoE), and then you are translating only once. routers are just smarter!

So they had video loss because of the IR drawing too much?

Could you maybe take the pictures a bit farther away, and zoom in to compensate. It would be better if we could see it in focus. Looks to me like they are cheaping out by offering bigger lenses with an adapter that limits light.

You DO get what you pay for... Pay $20, you will get cheap quality. Pay $200 (like 40% overpriced from wholesale) for a CNB VCM-24VF, you will get a quite good picture. Pay $500 (below retail!) for a Panasonic WV-NW484S, you will get a very good picture. There is a sweet spot, and it's around that CNB! What it looks like Speco/Everfocus/etc do is sell a $20 camera at like $250. When you compare it to a $50 camera, it is obviously better! So you do get what you pay for, overpricing excluded!

Yes, but if it has any aluminum in it whatsoever, it won't be perfect. I say, cat5e w/video baluns all the way baby!!! Cheaper, easier to pull, lighter, easier to connect, can run video+power+audio/data all in one.

Actually, they are not using LAN - or any type of networked solution. The simply use RJ11 (or RJ45 maybe) connections to make their connections proprietary. In other words, two of the pins might carry power, and the other two carry the composite video. More likely, two0 for video, you for audio, and the cameras have a pigtail for power. So yea, I would never recommend any funky system like that... BNC is simply the way to go for Analog - that way you can choose from absolutely anything you want! I can 100% recommend Samsung as well as CNB, for more than reliability. My friend's system has been running 24/7 for a few months now, with absolutely zero problems. The Samsung SRD series DVRs will certainly get you clarity - as long as you use at least decent camera within their bounds.

Cool car Rory: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bz5SkfhKN9s&feature=related " title="Applause" /> I wonder how the mileage is like that?