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Ok I'm looking for a device that I can setup at a field. Once "on" if someone walks onto the field it would simply break the beam that would be surrounding the filed and trigger the alarm and/or camera presets. I do not simply want a motion detection device as it is a large area and too many things can give false alarms. Does anyone know of what type of devices are out there? I've seen many that are used for fences that sound like they would work. I just want to have something that basically surrounds the field in a square shape so if someone walks on and breaks those beams then we know for sure it is an alarm. Thanks for ANY help on this one.

Thanks for the input. I have used the Ganz block cameras in the past. My problem isnt so much the camera, as it is the client expecting high def images from it. Because of the setup the analog cameras all run through a video server so I can grab the data off of a network. I ended up using a so/so indoor PTZ (hawking HNC800PTZ) to do the job. Its not as nice as say a sony RZ-30, but the price is right. All I need to do is set some presets with the correct zoom and coordinates, and show the user how to switch between them. As this was not a security issue but rather a virtual telecommute the camera will work fine. Thank you all for your input and time.

Not an expert at this yet, but it sounds like all your looking for now is pc based software. If your just wanting the basic surveillance then what you have will work, atleast it can get you up and running. As for the software there are many to chose from and most all of them will do what you want. I personally have used Luxriot (luxriot.com) many times and it works pretty well, have had issues with compression. I dont believe it currently supports the geovision cards. Geovision themselves has a DVR pc based software packages that will work well with your setup. Like I said you could atleast get your wire and pc setup and in the future easily change the software and/or cameras.

Attached is a pic. As for the Axis 213, I'm not against using a PTZ but it would half to be small because I basically need this thing mounted about 5 feet off the ground on a wall. So this is going to put it out there for anyone to bump into. Which is why I thought an enclosed dome would be perfect - sleek and sturdy. As for the Ganz dome's I've used them in the past as well. What I would like to know if you have used one that can cover this wide of shot and produce almost readable images. I would hate to mount a camera on the wall only to find that the image is no better then what I get now. Thanks

Hello again. I'm looking for a "dome" type camera that I can mount on a wall indoors to look at a instrument panel. Basically I was thinking about mounting about 5 feet off the ground on the verticle wall. I need a lens probably like 2.5mm because the area width I'm trying to see is about 6 feet and the camera will be about 5 feet away (directly across on the wall). These panels have colored lights and switches on them. I would like to be able to atleast see where the switch is set (left or right) and tell if the light is on or not. I installed a normal done on the ceiling, this is good to see someone actually making changes but does nothing for seeing where the switches are left and to verify if the switch light is on or not. I think I saw a pelco cam out there that was used for something similar to this, but I dont believe it was a dome. Any camera ideals for me??? Thanks

Well I'm not sure why those items have escaped me in the past. I've actually looked at the Pelco Net device for utilizing there PTZ cameras without there desktop type controllers. Was unaware that it would control there Pan/Tilt bases. Will re-visit that ideal. As for software being able to control the rs devices, I am aware of that already. And I do know there are devices that are basically a network-serial port conversion, however the ones I have used in the past are not very easy to configure and setup. Basically I'm using Luxriot's software and woudl very much like to pair up a Bosch camera with IR lighting on a Pan/Tilt base. It would just be awesome if I could find a base that would allow me to do presets and tours also. I currently am thinking about running the Bosch camera through an Axis 241Q video server which also supports some Pan/Tilt devices. If anyone has ever done this I would like to get some feedback on this. Main reason I'm doing this through a network device is because it is a remote area and will be joined through a wireless bridge.

Just wondering if anyone out there knows of a pan/tilt base that I can mount a camera to - that is able to be controlled via something like a web browser. I'm trying to put something outdoors and for this application I will be running a camera through a 'video server' to convert it to network so I can wirelessly record. I havent been able to find any pan/tilt bases that are controlled by anything other then a joystick type device.. Any suggestions?

Ok surely I'm not the 1st to run into this. I use PC based DVR systems mainly because when I started they seemed to be cheaper and I can build and configure them myself. I have recently changed the software I use for the DVR side of things. Problem is basically storage space. Seems like most clients out there want and/or need a frame rate of atleast 5fps. So on a system that has 17 cameras with a 250Gig drive I get about 3 days. Now if I throttle the fps down to 1.5 and do the motion only recording then I can get around 7 days. So my question or concern is that sooner or later someone is going to want a higher frame rate, with a high detailed image, and also a lengthy review time. Getting the frame rate and quality for recording doesnt seem to be an issue, just getting enough space. Is it typical for these pc based systems to have alot of external storage devices? I know you can do RAID and all types of daisy chaining for enough drives to fill a small room, but is there some better answer that I'm missing? I just recently threw out a dual xeon machine out with 5 drives running raid to give me 1 terabyte which I thought would have months of data, but now I"m starting to wonder. Yes I know the more motion you have the more space you need, etc,etc. But surely people using pc based systems arent simply adding usb/firewire devices to add drives... or are they? Any help or ideals would be useful. And if your going to suggest stand alone units can you please tell me the big advantage. By the way my current systems all utilize network based camera and/or networked video servers.