Numb-nuts

THIRD Lights going on set the camera's motion detection off, but lights going off also sets the motion detection off too. Better to have as suggested true day night cameras which have an IR cut filter during the day and at night the filter slides out of the way from the sensor. I always use a photo-electric sensor to trigger the IR cut filter to slide away from the sensor, and additional lighting can also be triggered as the natural light fades too. buellwinkle gave you good advice.

Hi Tim welcome. am sure you will enjoy the forum but will also be able to contribute to it yourself as your knowledge grows. I am currently on a Tavcom CCTV course cetification. I am learning a lot of theory that I am sure I will never use in the field, but it's a great feeling to know the stuff anyway.

Dead cables have only one useful purpose and thats for pulling through. Now you see why I don't like to secure cables where they wont later be accessible, they then cannot be used for a pull-through. I have used perfectly good cables as pull-throughs when an additional cable is needed on the same run. The time saving is often worth it. , If it isn't in view don't secure it unless there is a specific reason to. You wouldn't bother trying to fix cable when running it through conduit because there is NO REASON to. Thats another reason I love using PVC or even metal conduit additional cables can be run in later and thats another reason to add an unused cable as a pull-through or even strong string.

What aren't you talking to me or something? these were discussed earlier on in this thread but they are fine for a single cable laying 3 cables alongside one another they bunch and look like a huge pipe running up the masonry. Thanks for the picture postcard though

If you want to learn about CCTV on a proper basis and are serious The CCTV courses at Tavcom Training would suit your needs very well As you say there is a lot to learn on this site also. personally I like to stick to what I know and specialise rather than dabble. However when business is scarce I can understand why you might consider other all areas of work

"Perfecamundo" Thats the exact best method in a nutshell, for economy however, you might make a join after the cable enter's the building, using either a IDC Junction box or a pair of RJ45s and a coupler using a little electrolube for protections sake. When your client is ready to move over to IP completely, the cable is more or less there using POE. Obviously you charge for installation again

Since this is your own property, you may be able to afford such expensive cable, it would definitely be worth it. In the commercial world however there isn't enough margin left to blow it all on expensive cable. I still feel that Cat5e outdoor cable with passive baluns will do you better. If you want to use Cat5e outdoor cable until the cable enters the property, you can then get an IDC junction box and switch to standard solid core Cat5e which is easier to work with and a lot more economic. If you don't have an IDC punchdown tool you can get plastic disposable ones for about $1 or less. The one below will also strip the outer jacket of Cat5 without nicking the inner cores. One more thing buy some wire end ferrules and use then when connecting into the baluns at each end they will improve the connection (24awg)

Yes certainly, the housing is made by Genie, I forget the model number but it's got a 12/24 volt heater inside. I always put on a latex glove and rub a moth ball all over the housing to deter spiders and flying insects it lasts a good 6 months. The housing is great, it's neevr needed any attention from new and it's been up there awhile now. You seem to have it all worked out so just hide cable where you can inside and when it comes outside hide it in conduit. If you have to join conduit (PVC) I use PVC wel adhesive which seal it against water but be sure before you do use it and NEVER use it when the cable is in the conduit or you could weld the cable to the inside of the conduit. Not great for maintenance.

if you are running along the edge of the building and don't want to use conduit, hide the cable inside the eaves and let it reappear in a place to suit you where it can descend to a camera or a conduit. also you can just lay the cable in the eaves, no fixing necessary unless you live in a house with a pent roof. T25 staple are okay for RG59 even if a bit wide for it, but what about your power cable? If it's your own home PVC conduit is by far the tidiest way to go especially if your AC / DC power are a separate cable. A good indication that your RG59 is suitable for outdoors is if the center core is solid rather than stranded but of course I would check the specification, When you run your cables through conduit, run a strong pull string in case you ever need to pull in another cable. You are right to enclose connections in a junction box (IP55 rated or higher) and smear all connections with Petroleum jelly or silicone grease. You can use corrugated flexible conduit from the JB to the camera housing or bracket. It's usualy 20mm not sure what size in the US. You don'r need armored flexible metal conduit for home use. In general I try where possible to hide the cable inside the fabric of property and enclose exposed cables on the outside. Here is a picture of a camera on my front corner peeking around the corner watching my cars ans van. It has flexible conduit and an IP 66 JB just like you described.

It's got wet and capillary action has drawn water up the cable ( a perfect place) and destroyed your cable. It needs replacing, unless you want poor performance from your equipment. I am sorry there isn't a less severe answer but if you leave an open end exposed thats what happens. A small plastic bag over the end with a rubber band or cable tie to secure it would have protected the cable for a few days at least, if not longer. A dab of silicone grease or petroleum jelly would have helped too. Personally I only would replace it with cat5 cable, a good quality external cable.

I often wonder if something like that happened to me how I might deal with it? thinking about it, I would look at the damage and get a repair estimate, then approach the teacher directly, presenting the teacher with the estimate. I would just love to hear them lie to me about it denying all knowledge then I would produce a still image of the very point they hit your vehicle with time and date stamp, and a facial id if possible. Let them squirm out of THAT. "Well in that case I'll just report it to police and let them deal with you" I'd say unless they had a change of heart and offered to pay your repair bill. I wouldn't involve the school except to get the teacher's details, discreetly. I wouldn't allow the matter to go as far as police unless absolutely necessary and I wouldn't allow it to spoil the relationship between myself and my client as that would be way too valuable to jeopardize. Best of luck deciding how you will deal with it.

Hello David, Buttons on the front eh? In my experience in the frost 6 - 10 weeks you won't stop playing with the DVR, but after that you;ll start to ignore the DVR and CCTV system and let it get on and do it's job. Personally I prefer to operate the DVR from a wireless mouse these days. The buttons on the front mean pushing at the DVR and often moving it when it's recording. A thing you really don't want to do. But if you eally are determined to have buttons and feel that is what is right for you, you can always take measures to ensure the DVR doesn't move when pressing buttons. it won't be difficult. Under the eves, the ideal type of camera styles are the Eyeball dome with IR and VF lens. These are usually available in white to match the eves paintwork. I like them to contrast so I use black cameras against white paintwork, because they are easier spotted by potential ne'er-do-wells and criminals. These are very versatile cameras indeed. Of couse, if fixing to the wall you can also use the eyeball domes but their cousins the bullet cameras but the yeball domes are also very easy to fix to walls but require a place to hide the cable connections and a Junction Box looks better next to a bullet camera and not next to a eyeball dome. If your cameras are to be 600TVL then you will need to use cat5 cable and baluns (passive for upto 300m, active upto 1500m) Remember if outside to use external cat5 or it won't last more than about 12 months before problems arise. You can buy cut lengths on ebay quite cheaply. Okay thats my two pennies worth hope you enjoy well your project and it goes smoothly, You started out the right way planning is the key to a good system and installation.

I am just starting to learn a bit about IP CCTV. Honestly, I have been avoiding it but I can't hide away from it forever, and it may well be my way-out of the 'bargain basement' market where price means everything and quality means nothing to the end user. Perhaps if I were looking to the IP marketplace I'd wouldn't encounter such stiff competition from the spaghetti installers. You know the ones, throw the wiring against the wall, if it sticks it's installed.

Once you've listed it on ebay post the item numbers on here so members can see what there is , it'll increase your chances of a sale and a good price especially if you auction the items with a low starting price or at least as much as yuo really want minimum. If you set a reasonably low start price but high enough to satisfy your minimum for the item everything above that is a bonus right? With new items in their box I leave them in and find library photos on the internet and use those. With BNIB it's reasonably acceptable to do that. Let us know the item numbers and how you get on selling the stuff.

Yes I have heard of those but I couldn't find any in the UK I will try B7Q next time I'm there but work is scarce at the moment. The closest I found are these at Screwfix but frankly I am not sure it's worth the extra cost or effort. My method is just as good and I can use the metal strip for so many other things too. Thanks for the tip though.

Yes I have heard of those but I couldn't find any in the UK I will try B7Q next time I'm there but work is scarce at the moment. The closest I found are these at Screwfix but frankly I am not sure it's worth the extra cost or effort. My method is just as good and I can use the metal strip for so many other things too. Thanks for the tip though.

What is top to you may not be top to me.The answer is a subjective one and there is no one DVR or CCTV kit that will suite every application better than all others. Depends on operational requirements aswerll as budget and several other unquantifiable factors Don't waste your time trying to find the top DVR you will find a different one every time. OPERATIONAL REQUIREMENT ? ? ?

I am living in the UK no bargains here to speak of. I really don't need one, I simply considered one as an option, but now I am prepared should I ever meet the same problem, then I'll know the solution. Even if I could but a gun for $40 I don't think I would, I just don't feel the need.

Thanks for the suggestion, don't think I hadn't considered hiring a cartridge nailer, frankly it's a bit extreme and there is the risk of injury and damage to the property and the cost of renting a cartridge gun. I deiced against this early on. Cartridge nailers have astounding power, almost frightening. I was scared of my skill-saw for years and still am, but a little respect for a dangerous tool can't be a bad thing can it?

Not sure, but I know a sarcastic question when I hear one. Is this what you mean? Never found a use for them myself. Normally it's not an issue masonry nails go in no problem , but sometimes the mortar is too hard. This mortar the hardest I ever experienced. But next time I encounter this problem, I'll be ready and not waste almost an entire day trying to find a solution.The result was pretty good My cordless Makita has a hammer drill action, but most of us big boys have moved over to SDS and SDS+ (if you are a really big boy) The only disadvantage is they tend to burst out brick faces so extra caution is needed when drilling out from inside the property. I usually drill a small diameter location hole with my dad's Black & Decker corded hammer drill then drill inwards with the SDS and a larger diameter drill bit The job I was doing was replacing the coax of a client's satellite dish and terrestrial TV antenna. I prefer to run CCTV cables in conduit but since the issue is broadly speaking using some of the same skills I thought I'd ask for any solutions. As usual, I had to find my own and fast..

I used to live in New York in Far Rockaway and then in Lawrence Nassau CO there are a lot of brick built houses there too. The bricks and mortar here in the UK are different. The bricks are far more dense and hard, and the mortar is a different mix to what is used in the US. Running cables down the wall we usualy use cable clips fixed with masonry nails into the vertical mortar joints or horizontally at the mortar joints junction. Unfortunately, if the mortar is very strong in cement the joints can get very hard indeed over time. i.e. the older the building, the harder the mortar usually is. With yesterday's job, I used a pack of 50 cable grips and only about 5 held, that is far too high a failure rate to be acceptable. All the ones I found on the ground afterwards the nails were bet or blunted. I found a solution the customer was delighted. I found some builder;s banding at Toolstation continuous strip of semi flexible mertal strip with a series of holes in it. I did a trial on the ground with pieces of cable, for my purpose I needed to cut off pieces of five holes and formed them into cable grips then drilled the mortar joints plugged and screwwed the cable to the wall. The customer was delighted. Metal banding available at Toolsation and Screwfix in 10m rolls in a roll box for easy handling. The picture shows the galvanised one I bought the plastic coated black

ha ha ha the number of times I attended a client that said their system wasn't working and the PSU became unplugged. I stopped telling customers what I found I just tell em it's not a warranty issue and they only have to pay the a call-out charge. which includes the first half hour of labour. When I have told them it needed plugging in they invariably start tryingt invent reasons that I shouldn't charge them £75 + Tax for plugging in their DVR or cameras. They don't see that I must tax insure and fuel my van plus there is the loss of my time, none of that is for free. To reiterate what best price has just said, verify the camera voltage and see if you can trace back the power supply unit or the power leads at least. If we knew the camera model numbers that might give us a clue as to the correct voltage 12VDC or 24VAC (or there are some 5VDC on the market)

Why don't you just ask them to turn over the admin account to you? I'm sure they'd do that. Unless you haven't paid their bill they would have no reason to not do that for you. You can then change some of the settings to remove unauthorized access. This is a practice carried out by installers for the protection of their clients usually, and is to ensure the settings are not changed by anyone that shouldn't be doing it and also to offer remote maintenance of the system without the need to attend the site This means the engineer can respond very quickly to client requests. I reckon there won't be any simple way to override the admin account. Simply write to the company, explain that you no longer wish them to have control of the admin account and that you wish them to set your own account to admin status and that they should remove themselves. If it's a matter that you want to use some other company then say so they have no reason to withold the admin account. Chage you LAN's IP address. Just a thought, does you ISP supply you with a static IP address? If so you could ask them to change it ( they may make a small charge) then you can simply change the setting in your router and any remote PC you wish to have access to your DVR. If its a dynamic IP address change it to a static IP ( charges may apply) then change the settings in your router and on the netservice menu of your DVR, the netserver address can be deleted and left blank if you use a static IP. They won't have any way to get to your router let alone through your firewall.

Well I suppose you could say that at least an attempt was made to reproduce the adobe look of the wall, I've seen holes where no attempt to seal was made whatsoever. I thought the first one was rather artistic......NOT!