Numb-nuts

There's nothing like good lubrication

I have opened cameras and dried them out then use PTFE tape on the thread when screwing the cap back on. I also cover the front glass and spray around joins with ignition sealer bought from a car accessories outlet. It forms a clear film and seeks and seals and potential areas of water ingress.

I cut a large hole in the back of a Junction box, after installing the camera in the door, (you'll have to make the hole in the door about 22mm) I placed the JB over the rear of the camera and screwed to the door. In there I placed a balun and on the side of the box closest to the hinges edge I made a small hole and ran cat5 cable to the hinged edge of the door made a small loop and used telephone staples to secure the cat5.In this instance, I used stranded cat5 because the cable had a LOT of corners to traverse. I also used the cat5 to run the power since I wanted to keep it neat, but I don't like doing that normally. Then finally I placed the lid of the JB back and nobody ever asks what it is. Incidentally, those cameras aren't all that wonderful and considering their purpose they aren't that sensitive to low light conditions.

If you use IR through a window at night all you will see is the reflected light from the IR. You should look for a way to hide a camera outside in something like a birdbox or electrical junction box. If you are allowed to install security lights then you could install a IR security light outside while mounting your camera inside the garage.

You will want to use a static IP for your DVR on your LAN because the settings in your CMS software will need to be set to find the DVR on your LAN and every-time the DVR powers down the IP address of your DVR could change if you set the address manually the software will always know where to look for the DVR. Set the device identifier in your IP address in the range 240 - 254 and you should avoid conflicts with the DHCP

Soldering Irons are cheap and ever so useful, so are hot glue guns, incidentally I like the idea of enclosing the solder points in cooled, hot-glue very much. I'm sure thats almost the same process as the moulded plugs go through

It's good that you are thinking about it before you do it. Planning is the key to a successful installation. I have run cable tray in an attic before now but that was an exception due to the nature of the building. Indoor trunking the type where the top snaps into place is quite useful if people will regularly use the space. Most electricians run cable through the center of joists. The center line is the best place to drill as it has the minimum effect on the strength of joists being neither in tension nor compression.

Wireless is not your only option. You can install two independent systems, one at each property, and view then on a PC over the internet combining the two into a single interface using Central Management Software CMS. Most DVRs come with CMS free of charge. You don't need a telephone to have internet here in the UK, cable companies offer broadband. The important thing is that both properties should have an internet connection with a 500 KB or better 1 MB UPLOAD speed. Download speed is not so important. Much more reliable than using radio transmission which is at best unreliable unless you buy the top quality stuff and even then its not 100% reliable as radio waves can be affected by so many things.

I have often found it would be faster and more convenient to have a wifi connection to client's routers when connecting up DVRs, well now the Apollo range and a some others are starting to offer it as an option, has anyone tried the wifi connection DVRs and are they reliable?

I use a couple of bean tins and a string. Don't forget to remove the beans

I am not sure how it will work. I am assuming that the latest software has drivers added to the embedded software and then a usb wi fi adapter is plugged in. I did ask one of the engineers at Adata if this was possible last year and they said that it would be impossible for me to add drivers and these are required. Maybe a few people requested this function because now it's available as is 3G, (both as a dongle) in the latest range of Zeus and Apollo, if you are in the UK you will see them at IFSEC but I have no doubt the Dahua range will have this function at next release if it hasn't already.

...that and some heavy duty 3:1 or 4:1 heat shrink tube, preferably adhesive lined. I am willing to bet the yellow if the center and the black is the ground, check with a meter that there is commonality between the black on both leads, if there is, you're okay. The ground is soldered to the solder tag at the side the yellow to the center pin. Question is why did you do that in the first place?

Who's attending IFSEC this year and what are you hoping to see while there? This year I an hoping to meet many of the people I order from and discuss some of their products I don't really understand. Of particular interest are lectures / discussions at the Tavcom theatre. I also want to find a versatile CMS software for a particular client that has several different DVRs at his numerous shops, and also want to find a Control Room service provider that I can sell on to my clients. Obviously I want to see any new equipment in operation and innovative add ons to enhance systems. What about you what are you hoping to learn or achieve?

Great place to get some Chinese din dins also I have never seen so many Chinese People in one place in the UK as I did last year at IFSEC, kind of strange

Except in this case, if the connection goes down, all he's losing is the remote viewing. The DVR is still recording. Any opinions are welcome, it's useful to hear all arguments for and against.

There will be NO difference in power loss whether using a "combined balun" vs. just tying into the extra pairs - all the balun does is connect the power pairs straight through. Also, three 24AWG wires are almost the same cross-section (and thus current capacity) as an 18AWG wire, and thus there should be little or no difference in voltage loss if you're using all three pairs. I agree but I have seen a lot of install problems where the DIY installer did everything neat and tidy but made a wrong assumption that they could run power through the combined balun or up the spare pairs up to 300m because they are using baluns. We know that a video signal can survive that but voltage drop has to be accounted for on long runs and I always pre calculate voltage drop anything over 15m. Depends what the weather is like that day

Translator Please!

Login then select the appropriate forum section such as introductions etc and after opening it there will be a "New Topic" Button click it and write in an eye catching title and then write in the box, review what you wrote spellcheck it and click Submit at the bottom of the text pane. Good luck. I am also in the UK but it's better to fill in your location in profile and then it appears with your posts. I am a professional (some might not agree) installer from Greater Manchester. If either if you are interested there will be the UK security industry exhibition at Birmingham NEC next week. If you pre register online it's free otherwise you pay a huge entry fee. The exhibition is called IFSEC and is supposed to be trade only, but you will learn a lot there even if you aren't trade. It's worth attending if only to collect another years worth of Biros and peppermints.

I understand just how difficult CCTV can be for a novice and knowing what is possible enough so that you can asses the job that needs doing. My advice to you would be to have a CCTV professional look at the problem for you becauise the likelyhood is that he/she will have tackled something similar before. Question? How does one skin a cat? Answer: There are many ways to skin a cat. (if you are so inclined) All those things you mentioned are possible, and a thousand other possibilities aswell. My advice would be don't rack your brains over it, get professional advice from a local CCTV Guy. Ask if he's/she's got any jobs he's done similar to what you need, that you can view locally. If they are any good they will have something similar to show you. Photos are also okay but there's nothing like seeing the real thing. Question: do your management want to prevent the damage happening again or do they want to catch those that are doing the damage? Have the answer to this question ready when you speak to the professional. Let him deal with the technical issues. By the way two of the best professional installers I know, are female (Just thought I'd mention it).

I run one cat5 per 4 cameras to a central junction box where each cable is broken out into an 8 way IDC JB From there I run a single cat5 to each camera and add the power to the remaining pairs at an adjacent JB. If I then later need to uprate to IP I simply add the extra cables from the breakout JB back to the NVR. This is to save time which ultimately equates to money. I always charge for materials so its no financial burden. If I have a IR camera or heated housing or both or a long run, I can run an appropriate size single power line alongside the Cat5 to reduce voltage drop and give enough current.

I always place the junction box adjacent to the camera and my reason for so doing is that placing extra holes in a water resistant box lid causes loss of integrity to the water resistance of the box and so does the extra weight on the lid. If you need to run a loop from the junction box to the camera use corrugated plastic conduit or metal flexi to the JB and the cable back to the DVR/NVR either through the wall at the back of the box or through plastic or metal conduit along the face You need to have a JB of IP65 or greater By the way I terminate in the JB so that I can access the connections without disturbing the camera when I need to. Four screws is no trouble at all and unless the JB is cast metal and designed for the job hinges are a bad idea.

I like the idea of a separate power cable and a cat5 carrying the video signal. For every four video channels you would need to run a single cat5 to a central IDC junction box, and there you can run a single cat5 for each camera (using a single pair)and either add the power down the 3 spare pairs or continue to run seperate power cable to each camera. Start and finish the cat5 runs with baluns using 4, 8, 16 or 32 way balun at the dvr and a pigtail balun at the camera. When running seperate power cable alongside cat5 in areas where it might be seen I try to run them in PVC conduit as it prevents snagging and looks tidy. Using combined baluns is perfectly okay but a word of warning though, if you run power down a cat5 check for voltage loss at the camera end especially if using a combined power video and data balun.

You can buy using Escrow on Aliexpress so the seller doesn't get the money until you have signed for the goods. I bought a few small items and none of them were disappointing but DO READ the descriptions carefully. Why not try a test purchase of something 'low cost' to see how well things go? I assume that there is no warranty even if there is, as returning goods would take ages and cost a bundle. Having said that I only bought a few items and they have not failed. It's no different to buying from ebay from a seller in China.

If you are going to bother with ebay why not try aliexpress?

If I have a job like that I always contact a cable manufacturer to see what specific cable they recommend. I am no expert in cables, so I rely on the manufacturer's expertise to some extent especially where there are specific issues relating to where the cable will run. So far, I have never had to run any underground cable but should that be necessary in the future, I know where I would get my planning information from. Do a cost comparison with microwave link or just wireless link.