Numb-nuts

The best way to deal with persistent telemarketers is to say hold on Ill just get the boss and place the phone on the desk, making sure they can hear everything goingon in the office. Do that a couple of times she'll get fed up. Time eis money to telemarketers. Or if yo have someone in the office that speaks either Cheyenne, Navaho or c Chinese or even a Spanish speaker, let them talk to her for 10 minutes if she is that patient. I worked for the summer as a telemarketer many years ago and the best response I had was they put the phone out of the window, all I could hear was traffic noise and wind. I realized I took their number off the database, but that was strange. This year I was tempted to have some Chinese food at one of the stalls at IFSEC. BIG MISTAKE I get regular emails and special offers from a company called SUNIVISION and not only that, I get emails from 6 different sales people on the same promotion. I was so clogged up with emails from them that I created an email rule to delete any emails from them. I didn't show any interest in their products at all. I also made the mistake of ordering business cards from Vistaprint, oh boy what a mistake. Products not too bad, aftersales attention horrendous. Eventually I wrote them and stated that if I wanted a nagging wife I would have stayed married e something to that effect, a little humour but to the point..

You mean you haven't stocked up ALREADY?

Several times I have seen small domes simply siliconed to walls with no other means of support. Unbelieveable

Hello I am in Manchester UK I have for sale a Computar lens Varifocal / auto Iris 3.5-8mm F1.4 The lens is boxed and brand new. BE ADVISED The lead is only 90mm so this lens will only suit cameras that have the auto iris socket at the side of the camera. None of the cameras I use are suitable and I can't be bothered to modify it as I have several other lenses in the van. I can post it first class, offers in the region of £28.00 please. Only from the UK only please Guaranteed the genuine article, BNIB. Sorry It's Gone

Probably di in addition to the tape

now i've seen it all gotta go get some double sided before work, this could me heaps of time, NOT...

Sorry buddy Have you thought about getting a ladder stand-off for your ladders? Once you work at greater heights you won't want to lean the ladder on gutters or roof tiles or on wall corners. They are a cheap investment and work well if you get the right one. with this one I'd remove the wheels until I needed them to climb onto a roof. waht you need is maximum contact surface ad the wheels would make me nervous. I remember this was your church install.

When buying RG59 cable, I always notice that there are a few designations after such as RG59-B/U or A/U or C/U or U Does anyone know where I can see what the differences between these are. I am sure they must have some significance that would refer to their composition, but what? I have been trying very hard to buy at a good price an RG59 with a solid copper core. Most that I can find have a solid core but it turns out to be copper coated steel YUK. (Poor conductor and brittle) I am not so concerned about the braid but it would be nice to have both with as much copper content as possible. Typically, I can find this but it's about 5 times the price. This really irritates me, someone somewhere in the UK must sell good stuff at a reasonable price?

I would try just outside the window on the wall adjacent to the window. A small camera with low light capability might not be noticed. If it's the same person by now they would be looking to see the coast is clear but not looking for a camera. hey have some level of confidence and are too stupid to think you'd get a camera in spite of prior damage. A small bullet camera with suitable lens and light sensitivity would work quite well. As I said call RF Concepts and have a word with billy he know his stock and what to recommend. Good hunting.

Don't tkae this as a criticism, but if it didn't look quite so precarious perched on your ladder's top step, I might just be tempted to buy one just for viewing when focusing and pointing the cameras. Mine has only a 3.5 inch screen and frankly it's just barely useable for that function. If I could figure out a good way of securely fixing the screen to the ladder stile, I would probably but a 7.5 inch screen like that as it is going to give a far better focus indication, especially with my eyes. Yep I like it thanks for the picture. Glad you are happy with your purchase. Maybe a flexi-mount welded to a 'G' clamp? Let us know if you come up with something won't you.

Nice thread Adam, thanks. It's always interesting to see what other people have at home and their thoughts and approaches. I really like the two cameras under the eaves. They look just like they BELONG there and not out of place.

Thank you medicine man. You see, just what I mean, I have lost all sense of what day it is. Thanks got referring to me as Chief, although I have aspirations, I am not chief just yet. Thank you nevertheless.

If that is a concern, then in such cases a wire mesh protection cage is appropriate. I have never seen or heard of anyone using a lasso to vandalize a CCTV camera, although I don't doubt it happens, you never can tell what criminals will do, I think it must be quite a rare occurence.

or both , add me too please! I have just made a huge commitment to full-on CCTV installing &supplying to the consumer. I suppose I am a system supplier because apart from the occasional special which I put on ebay, I do not retail the equipment. I will continue with my sub-contracting until my own clients start to increase in numbers. Now that I have my own van and ladders, the sub-contracting requests have increased (so have my charges).

Not having a wide experience of using UTP cable, I have noticed that not all Cat5 cable is the same. I have noticed that some have stranded conductors and some have solid core conductors. Of the latter there are most of the less pricey UTP cables that are CCA (copper coated aluminium or aluminum if you are from the former colonies). How acceptable is this CCA core cable? I am thinking of switching entirely to UTP cable for the analogue systems I install as a point was made several times that some of you do this so that customers can easily upgrade to IP CCTV in the yeras to come. I know that aluminium has a low memory but is it lower than copper which is known for being malleable. My thought is that it may be too brittle? Surely copper being more conductive is a better choice, certainly more pricey. Question 1. Is CCA core UTP going to degrade the signal over annealed Copper core UTP? Question 2. What are the effective differences in operational performance either using baluns or over IP? Question 3. Is annealed copper core UTP worth the extra money? I would gladly charge extra for using a better cable if there were performance advantage to be had. Okay over to you guys and your opinions, all comments relating to these questions appreciated.

Yeah I knew stranded cable is used for patch leads because it is more readily bent or curved in tight coners, same with coax used in mobile radio applications. I just can't find annealed copper UTP for less than about £50+tax per 305m box in the UK anywhere and was wondering if the other stuff would work adequately as that is available from as little as £25+tax per 305m box.

A camera from the eaves will only give you a great picture of the top of people's heads. There are some very good low light bullet cameras (and I do mean bullet). They do need some light but give a great picture in low light. They can be stuffed in the mouth of a soft toy, teddybear placed in the window. The only drawback is making them stay still in the right position. I have used this one a few times but have never mastered a foolproof way to keep them from moving. It is important that the light in the room remain off or all you will get is a reflection of that light. Here we see a real bullet camera, In the UK try RF Concepts for a good selection. If you need advice ask for Billy. or of course you could get a board camera, they have the same exact parts inside they are most often used in hidden applications

see you at IFSEC

I almost always use 4,8,16, way baluns at the DVR end and split up pairs of pigtail baluns at the camera ends. Different manufacturers, but never had an issue. ( just you wait until the next install smartypants)

Well the ladders I have noe decided upon are rated Heavy Duty Industrial use. I am insecure about height as it is, so would not chance a wobbly ladder. These combination ladders can be either a high step ladder or an extendable ladder. They have 3 section upto12 rungs (I am buying the 3 x 10) I don't relish working at much higher than 6 meters and rarely have to, when I can then cost in hiring a lift or similar. It also has a set of accessories that make it increasingly stable, level stand offs and comfort rung extenders (for longer tasks). Someone already mentioned rung profile being a 'fatigue factor' and these have half rounded rungs. You mentioned wobble, I think the rigidity and rung width have a lot of bearing on that, something I will have to satisfy myself on. I was also advised that the way ladders are handled has a bearing on their rigidity and strength. The ladders are the Skymaster range made by Zarges as pictured earlier in this thread and are one of the best rated ladder manufacturers. The other ones I quite like are Hailo, but I decided against those as I believe them to be less durable or strong. I wanted to stay in budget and buy the safest strongest most versatile ladders I could for the money. I think I have chosen well. I already doubled my budget thinking that I owe my personal safety as much as I can reasonably afford. You guys have just helped me to realize that I am very comfortable with my choice of ladders. I'll let you all know how I get on with them at the end of January

I wouldn't spend that much time and effort practicing something that you probably shouldn't be doing in the first place... Its easy to be an idealist but there is such a thing as being realistic too. What do you mean SHOULD"T be doing? If my terminations work and hold their own then that is good enough for me. Terminating a cable for me has only two outcomes, works, or doesn't work. I am not looking for any idealistic standard in this, just a plug that does it's job. Field assembly will nearly always be inferior to factory made terminations, thats life but a necessity. I don't consider practicing to be a waste of time or money, if it means when I have to do a for a job that I am doing my level best for a client. I will practice to ensure that when I do have to field assemble a cable that it's the best I can possibly achieve. More than that nobody can ask.

I dislike all my competitors equally

Boundary disputes can escalate out of all proportion, I've seen many of them. Usually it escalates because both parties become more and more sensitive about the issue as it becomes more of a fixture of their lives. Naturally, both parties think they are right and are convinced that no compromise is needed as they are in the right. I would suggest you talk to your local council offices and ask if there is a neighbourhood dispute mediation service in your area. They will ask your neighbour to attend a meeting where everyone's views can be aired, which may assist both parties to understand the other's views and sensibilities. It's not guaranteed to work, but it can help. In any case, it is a record of both parties saying whats what. If your neighbour refuses to do anything because they say it's not them and they can't help their actions that will be on record. If you then catch them deliberately doing what they said they are not doing and show such evidence in court, you've shown them to be liars and you gain the upper hand in court should it come to that. Install some cameras to catch them passing stuff from their property to yours. You have a justification. Do nothing with it except save it ready for the day in court when you can use it against them. Never reveal to anyone what you have recorded until you have to. Above all, don't let this ruin or rule your life. Good Luck.

Well I'm definitely calling you in next time I get a bucket job then ... but realistically, it's not that often I have to install a camera at that kind of height which is different to when I used to maintain repeater antennae on huge masts where we were provided with a runner and arrest harness built into the mast itself. That used to frighten the hell out of me and I doubt I could make it these days (age) as we had to climb all the way up and usually had to take a ten minute rest before getting to our work. No bathrooms up there, so a routine was absolutely necessary before starting a climb. If you are ever in London. try and view the radio mast at the top of Hampstead Heath next to the boating pond. You'll see what I mean.

Have you ever been installing a Body Camera into a housing or onto a home made bracket and discovered you can't finf the mounting screw? Just so that you don't have to research this at some time in the future, the thread that almost all cameras use is ¼" UNC. This appears to be a universal standard across the photography and CCTV industries. I now have a box of ¼" UNC x ?" cap screws in my toolkit. I used cap screws because that was what was available, it could just as easily be set screws. At a pinch you could get away with Whitworth thread but you need to use caution when tightening Whitworth screws in a UNC thread. (It only works at this size) I hope this piece of seemingly insignificant information, will be of help to someone some day.