EarlT

If you happen to be lucky enough to have a CLEC or small phone company, they may give you a super cheap lease on a copper pair or two straight out of the box. We have done that for a company I worked for in the past. Might be an option.

What, there are camera's in stores??? I find myself looking at the eves of homes trying to spot cameras. It's a frikin driving hazard.

I wouldn't worry about a high res analog camera seeming overkill. Focus on the quality of the sample images you see posted here. I had everything from cheap $39 cameras all the way up to a 4mp IP camera on mine. With each step up in camera quality, the picture quality showed improvement. Don't go cheap and expect too much.

Be sure to report back. We love to hear when a bad person gets their due!

I'd be kicking that watch dog for sleeping on the job. Seriously, that bites. That guy needs to be tracked down and arrested. ARGG that kind of thing is reason one I don't sell on craigs list. If I did, I would probably meet them in a well lit busy place. You never no who you can trust.

Any analog camera will work with it. I suggest you read posts on here and see examples people have posted. A camera like the CNB VCM-24VF dome gets good marks for all around duty but will run a bit more than your budget.

Look at Avigilon. They have great cameras and software and you only pay once and continue to receive support.

Shade the cabinet so sun does not shine on the glass. If your seeing reflections from inside the cabinet, then you might need some flat black card stock or something to reduce internal reflections. I have put cameras in windows and put black paper around the lens to prevent reflections. Works for me, but when the sun is directly on the glass, there's not much you can do short of shading it in my opinion.

I love projects like this. It's inspiring!

I don't usually get excited about severe weather, but with Nate possibly pushing into Texas a big swath of the drought stricken area might get some much needed rain.

Have you seen a price on it? It looks like it might be a handy "Toy".

Looking forward to it Sean! I have thought about snagging a nice analog box cam for a long distance shot I need. Your testing will be appreciated.

Options 1. Plywood. Lots of Plywood. 2. RUN! Be safe!

There goes the Surveillance industry. Old cameras with take over any day soon.

There you go... An iPhone costs less than the average performing HD camera. Now all we need is a way to tie an iPhone into our NVR's.

If your thinking about a new HD, I would not want to transfer the current OS over as a clean OS install will improve performance. I would use the windows easy transfer to backup your settings and data to a external drive, reinstall on your current drive, or a new one, then easy transfer your settings back. I agree with the SSD and more ram, but if your machine is very old, you might be better shopping for a new one. My 2 cents.

Hey Sean, what zoom is your Fasttrack? I think my 2500k is just 18x. I'd love to have a 36x.

Where I live, it's impossible to keep one looking nice. I would love to live where all the roads are paved and I could keep my pride and joy clean (looking). Alas, you can always tell where I was parked after a rain storm. Does that count?

I found that 1/2" PEX can do that kind of job. If you have a hole big enough to push it up, it can usually hold it's form and reach quite a long way. You can also reach across your insulation to the eve. I keep a 15' piece just for that purpose. You can bend a little curve in the end to help if it hits something. Just spin it around. It usually finds it's way. Once I can get to the other end, I feed the wire into it and pull it and the wire on though. Works nice if your pulling romex or several cat 5's.

I picked up one of the used Costar 2500H on the cheap and am quite happy with it. No auto tracking or other bells and whistles, but works great with little investment.

Post some links to it in action.

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After thinking it over, I am going to keep it.

That's too bad. Nice cameras for the money.

I just stumbled across this product and figured I would resurrect this thread. Have you had any luck with this unit? Anyone use them?