Numb-nuts

Take a look at this if you are just getting started with IP cameras. The really cheap IP camera that is made for outdoor use is the Foscam18904W around GB £65 or US $110) .but don't expect too much picture quality as IP cameras of real worth are not cheap. They are still considered new technology even if they're not. Good luck PS I have no experience of Network Video Recorders (NVR) so I can't comment on those, perhaps someone that has will be kind enough to talk about them to you.

What a thought we're supposed to be talking about CCTV not army surplus

He may have a rather terse manner, but unfortunately he's right, you do need to give Factual info if you want assistance.

I believe you are exempt from the Data Protection Act (but I cannot quote the exact section) and that includes the myth that anyone can turn up at your door and demand to view your CCTV. They don't even have the right to ask in writing. I have told several nosey neighbours that my cameras are dummy and that if they want to see a movie clip they can watch the video from my recent rectal endoscopy. Innuendo? yes definately There are loads of myths about CCTV or anything that makes the Chavs nervous. Yet another myth is that you cannot film in a public place. (another thing that makes Chavs nervous) ABSOLUTE BUNKUM ! There is no law that says a member of the public (as opposed to public body) cannot film in a public place otherwise video cameras, digital cameras and mobile phones would have been banned long ago. I know you will get to the bottom of it ( no pun intended) you seem like a quite savvy lady. Please excuse my course humor

Good for you, fighting back against these intrusive uncultured ingrates. Your Sentient system is probably about the right level for home CCTV, but don't be too disappointed if it reveals some limitations over time. Under the Data protection Act as a domestic user you are not required to place signs, however I believe them to have a "think twice effect" which greatly enhances the deterrent effect of having CCTV which is why dummy cameras work so well. I also keep a fire extinguisher by the front door. I can't envisage your layout but for me the front door is the principal place of interest. My house was attacked several times with eggs, stones light-bulbs and even potatoes. It always starts with a violent knock at the door, a kick of the door thumping etc. Of course I come to the door to see what is happening and provide these children (teens actually) with a target. After a while, they realized I won't answer the door so they started sending the youngsters or girls to ring the doorbell. So my next step was to get a door-view camera with a wide angle lens. The camera itself is far from satisfactory, but any evidence is better than no evidence. Wired is good, I use a wired system, I also use one IP (Wi Fi) camera through my network. It was cheaper option to add an IP camera than to change my DVR. I thought I might use prikka strip to stop my rear garden being used as a shortcut, but squirrels use my fences as a sort of squirrel super-highway,I didn't want to stop that so I haven't tackled that one yet. I have tackled the 'graffiti on my concrete fence' war by buying a large tin of masonry paint and overpainting immediately any graffiti as soon as it appears, after while it stopped altogether. Leave graffiti alone at your peril, graffiti breeds leave it there and it encourages more. After a while, the offenders feel they have the right. Well let's hope the police allow you to display some heads on your spiked gates before too long Let us know where you are, I am in Greater Manchester.

I went to the IFSEC today and saw a few new ones there. THe software they come with is a real eye opener. A pet hate of mine is tailgating trucks, who come within several feet of your rear bumper and flash. lights and blow their horn to bully you into going faster or pulling over. For that reason alone I might buy one for myself and next time I intend to pass the video to the police. In the past, I have not been able to report such incidents to police for a cuple of reasons, firstly it's my word against the other driver, second is that on motorways, I am not sure of which police force deals with that region, and third often haven't a clue where it happened. If I am able to show police what happened, they would certainly use the evidence to prosecute, perhaps if more people do this, tailgatong will become a thing of the past? Lets hope so. With the new car CCTV or 'crashcams' as they are wrongly being tagged, I can have time, date, my speed and GPS location stamp and even strength of impact in NM. The only thing missing is weather assessment i.e. temp, road surface condition etc Okay okay I can live without the latter!

Post some sample picture so we can at least get an idea what you are talking about. People often expect more from IR than is reasonable. You can damage cameras with over-voltage but the camera needs to have adequate current available to work correctly. 1.5 amp sounds adequate even for an IR camera during IR operation. Anyway lets see some still images.

The main thing that can be done is contrast changes. If the detail you want to enhance aren't in contrast you could be barking up a gumtree. There are techniques, but forensic digital manipulation is way out of the capability range of Joe Shmoe and is restricted to Police and government agencies. Our friend is right, you are watching too much CSI and FBI files. There is no good substitute for using the right equipment! All you end up with is a piece of questionable evidence and at huge expense. Everytime you attempt to modify images, some information is lost everytime you compress images some information is lost, everytime you convert images some information is lost and everytime you attempt to modify a file, some information is lost. IT can be done but there are so many factors to take into account if you are to end up with useable images, it would need a team of people making it uneconomic. Law enforcement doesn't concern itself with expense when a crime is serious. Besides this, police don't just use CCTV for identification purposes. In one well known case the images were of little use for identity purposes, but they observed at the crime scene that an offender had placed his hand on a particular street lamp, Subsequent to that, police made a fingerprint sweep and were able to identify the individual in the footage through that route. Maybe I watch too much TV also

I would rather have a few giant schnauzer attack dogs and one camera so I could watch would be burglars being ripped to shreds. Oh yes and in colour. But I agree, what is a dream system in one location, can be wholly inappropriate and ineffectual in a another location so I would say a well planned system would be my dream system.

I am using a straight 2 wire RS485 connection at all units connected with a Cat5 cable no adaptors as I don't know about adaptors. The model is a XSD27ZS and yes it looks exactly like the one in your picture The manufacturer's support company Y3K told me not to include termination, but I have just read the manual again, and according to that the first and last device in any daisy-chain requires a 120 ? terminator. Both the camera and the keyboard have built in selectable termination. Strange thing is, my original camera was bench tested and working before installation and no termination was applied as per advice from Y3k technical support. I have returned the item already so I will get to the bottom od this once I know what the problem is with the camera I asked the tech support guy about termination and was told leave it off, I didn't question this and it worked fine, until I installed it. I have used various protocols and baud rate combinations, without any change in performance. My preferred settings are Pelco P or D or PDC and either 4600 or 9600 bauds so nothing strange or unusual The run is only 60 feet or close to that, so the baud rates are adequate if the articles I was reading are correct. Could not installing or using termination cause the camera software to corrupt? I would have thought it just wouldn't respond at all? I am beginning to wonder if I should have gone with my instinct and applied the terminators? I am sick now just thinking about it

Have you noticed this guy's chosen handle? is this some kind of leg pull? Very appropriate avatar survtech considering what you just said!

I would have said an overt camera, with a sign ans a couple PIR lights would deter these teens. Try stringing a speaker out there and playing classical music at a low volume ( don't want to fall out with the neighbours) Another thing to remember about identifying offenders is that many of them habitually wear the same clothing day in day out. Ihave hidden cameras in short lengths of drainpipe painted in camo green with a stopped end over the back and a pplexiglas disk glued to the viewing end. This can be fitted to a bracket by making a saddle out of a scarp of wood and fixed to the bracket All I had to buy was the end cap and the plexiglass disk. ( It won't work with IR) There is plenty of room to hide a balun and using cat5 is a lot easier Use a pigtail balun and connect direct to the board (sometimes necessary to remove the BNC but it works just fine) Another place you can hide a camera is in a bollard in your garden Thats a hollow metal post to those of you who think it's something else!

Firstly I was trying without termination, and termination stops the camera control working completely. I am not sure how I would do that on a DVR. I was advised by the manufacturer to leave termination off. My DVR settings for PTZ control are set 8 bit, no parity and 1 stop bit, (whatever that means) Do I really need termination on if I daisychain the controller, dvr and a single camera in that order? The length of run is less than 60 feet and the PSU is 24 VAC. Voltage at the PSU is just over 27 VAC, I omitted to measure the voltage at the point of delivery but I did take the PSU up the ladder to the junction box without any difference. The PSU is the one that was supplied for this camera rated at 24 VAC. I do remember on of the things I tried was reverting to the default setting via OSD menu and pin settings too. Didn't make any difference ultimately. The technician at the company supporting me, said her thought it was the camera software might be corrupted, but my question is how could that happen twice in a row? Am I committing some cardinal sin?

If you like quality megapixel cameras are the way to go and the least expensive way to go is IP. I have limited IP cam experience but I know that you can start with one or two cameras and save recordings to your Hard drives or NSD. Later you can add more cameras and should you require it a dedicated NVR with embedded OS and control software. You are confident with computers, for what it's worth I would recommend you stay in an area you are comfortable and have a head start. You can start if you like with just one or two cameras and use a software like Vitamin d (which is an application that I know, there are many more) The first camera is free then you pay for a two camera license and then an unlimited licence as your number of cameras grow. You may them want to have a dedicated NAS drive for your footage and then you could migrate up to a dedicated NVR. You talked about motion detection, well Vitamin D and other applications of that type have far more advanced motion detection that analogue DVRs which can be set off by rain, shadows of trees moving on the ground and even passing clouds changing the light. It should be called pixel-change detection. IP software on the other hand has a more intelligent way of tackling motion as you would see if you look at the Vitamin d website and watch some of their videos. I used the single camera free version, but if you like high resolution you may be better to start with the two camera license at $49 it's a steal. One word of warning, do check IP camera compatibility with the website. Remember this will get you started and you may end up spending over £1000 over a period of time, but you will have one helluva system that most homeowners could only dream about and you will understand the system structure because you will have built it. What's more you will be familiar with Cat 5 cabling. Let us know which route you take and how you plan things The only disadvantage I can see with going IP, is that there are fewer options in terms of camera types but you'll get over it PS I just checked the cameras you mentioned and two out of the three are directly supported by Vitamin D, the third you will have to configure yourself but the support team are really helpful.

If someone is sitting outside watching your house and they send you photos without a note or indication of why, to me that sounds like stalking, however I am no legally trained and your attorney is. However, instead of attempting to confront these people, why not try to reach an understanding? After all, you have to live amongst them, you might just as well try to get along with them regardless of your feelings. How can they threaten to remove your voting rights? They can't do that if you have the right to be in the association, you have the right to vote. In a democracy, you may not agree with some decisions or favour some rules, but you live with them, until you can democartically change things by using your vote. Removing your vote is undemocratic and dare I say it Un-American. Try to get to the bottom of the problem in a diplomatic way, you don't have to like these people, meantime get a camera or two and a DVR and record what is going on, but act as if everything is fine and without getting angry or showing frustration, say don't you think the photo taking and surveillance of my house is taking things a little too far. Sat it in a reasoned and unemotional way and then YOU will have the higher ground. Your forum name worries me a bit though...

IF you want a timelapse camera that will play back avi video of the sequence, you could seek out the Brinno range, garden cam. It is a megapixel camera with seven frame rate settings (one user defined) so clips like flower buds opening in one video sequence are ideal. Type Brinno into you tube and you may find one or two timelapse cameras as well as their famous door-viewer. Oh by the way it has a built in DVR saving HD onto an SD card Click here to see their website You should pay around £140 typically which is about = US $225

Hello and welcome. CCTV is fascinating and there is a lot of science to understanding it. The joy is in implementing that science and finding the best results. Keep reading the forum and you will learn an awful lot from the chat here. Some of it will be above your head as it is with me, but keep reading because eventually some of it will sink in. Meantime welcome again

HI everyone, I just discovered this great Voltage drop calculator which will save you time and inconvenience if you have to plan a long run of cable. You can select cable by all the normal parameters and cross reference those with other characteristics of the cable so you cover all bases Give this one a whirl

I have found that outdoor covert cameras need to have a WDR, wide dynamic range, and should be as low light sensitive as possible. I have had best results with B&W cameras especially at night. The worry is where to locate them to keep them dry. I often locate the camera as far away as I dare and fit an appropriate lens size to capture the focal plane I require. I have an alleyway near my house, and all the trouble with teens we get starts there. It is 40 feet away and they gather about 15 feet of the area so I use a 9mm lens with a 1/4 ' ccd and 13mm with a 1/3. There is a sodium street light there and the camera is 0.00019 lux rated. Even at night I get a good image and during the day too. The camera is openly visible if you look for it, at the front of my house fitted to a housing. I don't think any of the teens have spotted it yet and even so they would not think it could record them there. So as well as by concealing them, hide cameras by distance where possible too. I don't know the range of cameras you mentioned as I only just found out who the distributor in the UK is. I intend to see as they make a great range of lenses for board cameras, up to 50 mm WOW.

Brilliant, I will add this to my arsenal of CCTV technical bookmarks. Thanks

I sent you a PM about this. It didn't start out that way but thats what happened. How far way from where you would site a camera do you park at night? Do you park sideways on or facing where the camera might be? Let us know this and we will attempt to advise which lens you require your camera to have. You won't get much for £100 but you will be starting to get a reasonable camera for that price. You will have to consider what you are going to record onto. Even a cheap 4 channel recorder will cost another £180 including the tax and then there's the cables and connectors and a DVD recorder too or memory stick to transfer files to your computer. I am sorry about your cars, makes you sick to the stomach doesn't it? Leaves you feeling helpless. I know the feeling.

Find a CCTV specialist store and let them make a proposal for a scheme, If they are local to you they will come and take a look and make recommendations. That is my advice for what it's worth. It is impossible to give good recommendations without a survey. good luck with your project

If all or even some of your cameras were set on motion detection or PIR alarm or magnetic door contacts, you would only record actual events. The advantage is that when you arrive at home or at work one day and find that an attempted break in took place, instead of trawling through hours of uneventful recording. you can search only actua;l events making the job a LOT simpler and less frustrating. As I recently found out, the alarms on your DVR are simply a switch which through your software you can set to either open or close a circuit. You will also have an alarm out, which wires to a warning device such as either a buzzer or a light or both, to alert you to the fact that an alarm on the DVR has been triggered. So why don't I just use the motion sensor on my DVR? Good question, but the answer is simple, changes in light, shadows of trees on the ground and insects can all trigger recording during motion sensor recording. A lot of false alarms are avoided by using PIR sensors (most commonly) door contacts i.e. normally closed contact in the door frame, break-glass sensors, The less recording of non events, the easier to locate events when they are recorded. Okay so your staff could be at work late, this will not affect them because you will still have less recording. you can set the schedule to record continuously during the day when employees are in but then go to alarm or motion detect, automatically without intervention and it can be different for each camera. The other benefit of course if a longer time before your hard drive fill up and starts to record over themselves. If you take data back ups regularly, these will take less time as there will be less to burn onto CD or DVD.

As I sit here, watching a spider crawling across my IR camera on the monitor, I have to admit, I have an idea that it's a switch or could be on screen menu option.