Numb-nuts

Labelling the buttons is NOT going to work as I am already into double figures so for preset 12 I'd have to type 1, 2, preset. A printed list would be better and my google earth picture with the preset numbers on will work quite well for me I think.

Fitting a PTZ camera is one thing, but utilizing PTZ to best advantage is quite another. My own PTZ at home is no better than a static camera at night when I don't attend it, this suits me fine as I have it set to motion detection recording and use 16 different presets, most of which are not viewable at night. I also have the privacy screens set up to protect myself against accusations of voyeurism where I do not look anyway. (never been an issue) You may notice that I do not utilize any alarm inputs at the moment, mainly because there is only one preset I wish to monitor for activity during the night and that is pitch dark. I do intend to add floodlights (IR or white) and a PIR trigger at some time in the future. What if any are good sound techniques for using such a system? I have learned for instance, to follow individuals, it does not pay to be zoomed in. A wider view is required. Close-ups are best captured from a static target. Using presets to get to specific locations is the fastest and most accurate method, using the controller to adjust the view from there. for each location, I have a zoomed in and a wider view preset. I know that a lot of people will want a 3d control stick, I am no different but I am beginning to think a button based zoom in/out might be better. What are your tips for using PTZ.

You mean instead of CCTV he should be in CBBC ?

Do put RJ45 plugs at either end and get a couple of Video and power baluns. That will be a good solution. Baluned video lines can suffer interference or ground loop just as well as coax, however you can get baluns that have a built in ground loop eliminator. Just wire the plugs as you would for a network cable. It'll same you buying a crimp tool for BNC. So you would need baluns that; 1. provide power and video 2. accept RJ45 plugs 3. have ground loop protection (more expensive) Cat5 & Cat 6 are both suitable Alternatively, do as you said, use the other three pair for DC power, splitting one of the pairs between the others. You can of course use standard passive baluns up to 300m (more on Cat6), however at that distance your voltage drop needs careful monitoring, but you are installing the DVR later on so you can get a different PSU if needs be. Ig it is a long run and the voltage drop is too much, consider running from a 24V AC PSU and transforming down to 12vDC at the camera end. Don't forget to enclose it all in a Junction box if the camera is to be outside as these can suffer water damage and make sure it will be large enough to house a transformer if you need to go the 24V AC route.

You said flat not apartment so you must be in the UK? You could plug into a TV Video AUX jack (usually a yellow RCA at back or front on the TV) and select Aux channel. An old 14 inch TV set or something like that. You will need some convertor plugs but those are relatively cheap. You might be lucky and find a BNC CCTV monitor on ebay (don't hold your breath), but most of them end up in a skip. If you don't have access to an old TV set you have a couple more options. You can get a either a 7 inch TV screen intended for in-car entertainment, or a 3.5" test monitor. These are available from £50 - £400 depending on functionality. I've seen this on ebay for about £125 + P&P and you can see that adjusting posiition, on screen menus and focusing VF lenses becomes a breeze. You could test the cables for continuity and open circuit easily using just a multimeter and a length of insulated wire. Personally, if I were building-in cables, I would build-in a couple of Cat5 cables and baluns instead of coax. You only require a single twisted pair for the baluns and in the event that pair becomes faulty you have spares to use. The use of baluns does NOT degrade the video signal in the slightest. The other advantage of course is that if you want to upgrade to IP cameras in the future, you have no rewiring to perform, just a few connection changes. The second cable would be a spare, this spare is only a precaution and not essential.

In terms of accurate intuition, I have never known a breed like the Giant Schnauzer. I am not sure what it is about burglars and dogs, not sure if they don't like the idea of being ripped limb from limb or that dogs draw attention to the scene of the crime or both? Those little fellas are great, and ready for their dinner by the looks of it.

No, I just think the videos are very helpful. CCTV42 is run by the chap in the videos a chap called Henry. A very nice guy I met at IFSEC I would also echo what Adam said, I like to use pigtail baluns becuse they fre easier to install when space is tight like at the back of a DVR.

If your parents like animals I can highly recommend Giant Schnauzers as being very protective and affectionate by nature and relatively quick to train to voice commands. I have kept Giant Schnauzers most of my life and if I were a burglar I would avoid these dogs as the sight of them is enough to make anyone think twice. Their motto ? "we bite first and ask questions later". The ideal age for security training is about 2 years with this breed, they are rather boisterous up to age 2 years but are very clever and easily trained to their handlers after that. They are particularly gentle with children and the more frail, they seem to have an intuition.

Windows7 is a compatible OS for that receiver, and you do not require any further software as the device drivers load to your system automatically, however make sure that you are not using the PSU 5V when connected via the USB port since the receiver takes it's power from the USB. You may have to re boot your PC bearing in mind what I have said so far, see pages 9 & 10 of the operating manual.

I'm not too proud to brush up my electronic theory, it can only help. Thanks, very useful site.

I agree, it sounds like the thieves returned for replaced items. This apparently is quite common as victims feel they are less likely to be targeted again. A couple of nasty dogs would help. This may or may not be practical. Of course I would get a proper survey from a local CCTV supplier. Make sure it's a no obligation survey or at least a low cost survey. Get a proposal. You may decide to buy equipment from that company and fit it yourself or maybe you will buy the full installed package. Review the alarm system for weaknesses and make improvements where needed. Best of luck, hope your parents are recovering from their ordeal.

Soon you won't be able to scratch your own @rse without getting a ticket for it.

As long as you have the gear to climb that thing safely (or you have a lift) you simply do it with a plain old plumb bob, but you do it one section at a time. You also plumb all of the studs and concrete slab before you start building. Also make sure you check at least two legs, I would personally go with the overkill and check them all but I am kind of anal like that. MMMMMMM ..... nice!

At home I have four cameras installed. There is one in the porch, one in the front door one at the eaves of the house about 3.5 m high and of course my beloved Xvision dome that has never worked since day one and is still in the process of being repplaced. I know you have most of you seen hundreds of cameras but I just wanted to show mine as I am very happy with the results. The are tidy and I just wanted you to see them as an example of my work. The spikes ion the dome are to stop pigeons roosting there, I've seen a few feathers but never a pigeon sitting there, I have even seen a pigoen attenpting to perch there but thinking better of it after getting a few plastic spikes up the jaxie. The dome housing you see is empty as the unit is away at the manufacturer, I'm awaiting a replacement.

By the way Rory, who is the guy in your front yard.

The problem is that the housing was NOT cost effective, taking my time and effort into account, what it cost to have the housing blasted clean, buy the spray paint and the O ring chord to seal the unit. Blasting is a specialist job and you need a 3hp compressor minimum and excellent protection, (unless you want silicosis of the lungs). This project was just my little indulgence, a bit of fun really. Next time, I'll just rub down with sandpaper and hand paint with Hammerite hammered white. That would be more practical and cost effective. Come to think of it, a few housings in outrageous colours like flake metallic silver or gold would be a REAL exhibition stand attraction. I think I'll have a go with a dome camera housing when I have time.

quote="ljarrald"]how does that cage effect what the camera can see? The vision through the cage isn't at all bad. Actually it was an experiment as I have mounted the camera at a height of about 4m and that is within range of idiots with eggs. The idea was to shatter any eggs thrown before they hit the dome as it's a nasty stuff to get off glass let alone a polycarbonate dome. The cage has been removed now and the dome has not been attacked. I was giving these youths and vandals credit for being more determined than I am. Thy are not. If there's a chance they can be identified, they won't misbehave. They only do what they think they can get away with. The spikes do look rather aggressive don't they? I was thinking of spraying them chrome silver, but frankly I have been too busy until now. I just recently got my hands on a Dennard housing which was losing it's paint and was letting in water. I replaced it but it was such a shame to throw out the housing. I took it to a bead blasting place and they stripped all the paint for me and I sprayed it with a can of Hammerite Silver. I was going to do it in bright pink but thought better of it. I had already stripped the entire contents of the housing including the glass. So after re assembling, the housing looks quite good actually. I have installed a Honeywell box camera with varifocal lens inside and intend to use it in my garden to watch over my shed. Here is a picture of it ready to be installed. What do you think of the way it looks ?

I'm not feeling upto it today, I am quite ill with some sort of fever. I'll do some another time.

Oh a splice! Suppose I should have guessed that one.

I have been installing wiring of one sort or another for a while now, going back to when I started installing radiotelephone equipment, at Storno a year or two before the cellular revolution hit the UK. I never bothered with any form of safety wear until very recently. I did wear a saftey harness and helmet when working up radio masts, but otherwise nothing. I was recently assisting on a job for one of the main suppliers in my region when the chap I was assisting dropped a heavy camera housing in his foot. I thought for sure he'd break his toes but he just picked the thing up and carried on. It turned out his trainers were steel toe-capped. I honestly would not have guessed. It then occured to me my feet were somewhat vulnerable so I went out and bought safety trainers with steel toecaps. They weren't expensive at £20.00 and I forgot I was wearing them after the first hour. I decided also tht I will buy a bump cap which is a light weight baseball type cap designed to lessen any blows to the head. I have banged my head on a camera housing before but it's never been painful but has the potential to hurt and disorient. I have always worn dotted grip gloves and safety glasses when using power tools, I just always did. I don't like the idea of dropping a power tool on someone's head or getting grit in my eye when working at height, so thats why that started. I feel a bit encumbered sometimes, especially on hot days, lord knows we haven't had many of those this year. Do you wear any safety-wear when installing and what are your thoughts on safety wear?

So Rory How many holes is that in your head now? Anyone tries to hassle you while wearing steel toe caps, you can always give them a Glasgow kiss goodnight (a decisive kick in the goolies) If they can get up they don't stick around for long. Why would you want to hit yout ankle with a hammer in the first place?

You can wear a bump cap for years and never hit a stray nail, the day you forget to wear it is the day you will find that stray nail almost guaranteed. I still carry a small first aid kit. By the way what are Mod-b beenies, I'm just an uneducated Englishman.

Wow, all you need is a undefloor camera to look up his trouser leg and you got all angles covered Nice clarity on your cameras by the way, some very useful views there well positioned.

I wish it was Rory I wish it was. Stragely enough I have no presets that look within my boundary. All other them are on the street outside or in the alley to the side of my house. These are locations where youths gather often, or trouble has been known to erupt. Remember I said for each location, I have saved a wider and a zoomed preset. Doesn't take long to use them up. My Camera has 124 presets but I doubt I'll ever need that many. It's difficult enough to remember them all with just 16 presets. Maybe I'll print out a Google Earth aerial shot, with my preset numbers superimposed on it? Whadda ya think?

I do apologize, perhaps I missed the point that you were making... Like I said no offense meant..