Nimrod

Your camera has a BNC connector on it. A TV would have a RCA connector. Your computer if it has a single capture channel on the video card or tuner would usually be a RCA also. So you need a BNC to RCA, RG59 coax cable.

This might work. It worked for my saa7134. http://www.cctvdiscover.com/news/news53.html

Are the balums all of you are talking about, the same ones used for cat5 cable?

I am having trouble understanding what is meant by “using a spare pair of wires” for your video camera. I would think that any wires run by the elevator company would be just plain wire like a extension cord. How do you run your video over this?

“So what will happen (resolution) if u record 420 tvl camera at D1 res ? How would you rate your final output ? 420 or D1 ?” You can not gain resolution that is not there. So 420 in, would give you 420 out, when recorded at D1 resolution. A good example of this is when you put a 320 x 240 camera and a 640 x 480 camera on a DVR recording at D1 resolution, the playback of each image at 1X zoom would show the 640 x 480 image to be twice as big as the 320 x 240 image because it has twice as many pixels.

“How would you suggest we can record 700 TVL camera as best as possible ? and how many lines we should expect after recording ?” Well D1 which is common on a good DVR’s and is 720x486. But truth be told the actual visible pixels are 704 x 480, so we have 4 pixels to spare. And assuming a good DVR you can record and playback at full D1 resolution. With that said, this is were it gets complicated. First you have to consider manufactures cooking the spec. Is a 700 TVL analog camera really 700 lines. And second, as the analog signal travels down the coax are we loosing so many lines of resolution per 100ft of cable, remember this is not digital, signals get attenuated. I had searched online last night trying to solve this problem and only came up with the chart I posted in the install forum. It does not specifically mention loosing resolution only signal strength. If anyone has information on this please post it.

“3) Multiply the pixels/ft x FOV in feet to get horizontal resolution. 75 pix/ft x 20ft FOV = 1500 lines or pixels. This example would be close to a 2 mega pixel camera 1600x1200, but you would probably have to go to a 3MP camera 2048x1536, notice it is the second number you look at the 1200 and the 1536 one.” Sorry guys I made a mistake transposing the horizontal and vertical numbers. I said look at the 1200 and 1536 ones, these are the vertical numbers. I should have said look at the 1600 and 2048 numbers, so a 2MP camera would be the better match. 2MP = 1600H x 1200V. Also ak357 asked about the usage of 700 TVL. I used the 700 TVL number because the 700TVL was in the spec for the camera, and this document explains what 700TVL means. http://www.vdtsi.com/indigo/10.pdf “TVL is in general terms a horizontal measurement of how fine a detail from a scene can be resolved on a display. This number relates the resolvable fine detail to an equivalent number of equally spaced black and white vertical lines across the width of the viewing screen1. A common misconception of the term TVL is that it relates to the number of Video Lines2 on the screen, i.e. 625 for PAL and 525 for NTSC. “

"Are you assuming 1 TVL = 1 Pixel ?" Yes i am.

“I am interested in just identifying wildlife with my camera in low light out to maybe 150ft or more. I don't need to zoom in for "facial detection" type purposes. Since most wild animals roam around at dusk & dawn and at night I need a low lux sensitive camera and IR illumination to see out to as far as possible. I would like a lens magnification similiar to the vision of our normal eyes.” I think you will be very surprised as to what you see and what the camera see’s. As a human being you are not aware how much you eyes are scanning a scene or refocusing on objects in slightly different places. The camera will not do this for you. If you set up a camera per my second suggestion you will be very surprised what the camera actually see’s, my guess about 1/3 to 1/4 of what you see, the rest will be out of view or out of focus. Try this experiment, close one eye and look out of a cardboard tube, the longer the tube the more mm lens. Now you are starting to see what the camera will see. Look at your example, 150 foot out with 6mm lens and 1/3 sensor = 120 foot wide field of view. 700 TVL/ 120ft = 5.8 pixels per foot!!! lets say a bear is 3 feet wide, 3ft x 5.8 pix = 17.4 pixels or TVL out of your 700 lines. 17.4 pixels/700 lines = .0248 or 2.5% of the horizontal width of the screen is filled by a bear standing up. So the bear will look like the tip of your little finger. But to answer your original question about light sensitive cameras go here. http://www.ktnc.co.kr/english/index.php?c=10 Then select Varifocal, fixed lens, or BW on top of screen.

“I want to install a one camera CCTV system in Wisconsin (cold winters) to watch the local wildlife on my farm (deer, bear, turkeys, etc.)” snip... “It gets cold here so I either need an outdoor camera with a heater or a heated enclosure.” I also live in Wisconsin and had asked the same question about cameras and temperature. I was told that any outdoor camera should work fine, and the heaters in a box camera are really for the condensation that can form on the window. “I am primarily interested in good low light visibility for the maximal possible distances (40 meters would be good, 50-80 meters even better). I could use some of my budget on a separate IR illuminator.” Lets see, my Russian isn’t so good so i will convert this over. “120 feet would be good and 150 to 240 feet even better.” You are looking at cameras with up to 12mm varifocal lenses and the cameras have 1/3 inch sensors. Using this free lens calculator. http://www.howtosurveillance.com/HowToVideo/CCTV-lens-calculator.html It looks like a 1/3“ sensor with a 12mm lens will see 150 feet away at a width of 60 feet. Lets assume you are really getting the 700 lines advertised (I personally do not belive it) and figure out what you will see. 700 lines divided by 60 feet = 11.7 pixels/ft. Now look at this well known and very useful resolution chart. It shows at 150 feet with the 12mm lens you will see half of nothing (chart only goes down to 20 pixels/ft). These are the steps i would take to pick out the camera resolution and lens. 1) Look at the resolution chart and pick the minimum resolution you will accept. 2) Pick a maximum width, or field of view you want. 3) Multiply the pixels/ft x FOV in feet to get horizontal resolution. 75 pix/ft x 20ft FOV = 1500 lines or pixels. This example would be close to a 2 mega pixel camera 1600x1200, but you would probably have to go to a 3MP camera 2048x1536, notice it is the second number you look at the 1200 and the 1536 one. Advice number 2. Get a cheap ebay camera that has a 1/3“ sensor and 600 to 700 lines of resolution. Buy an assortment of cheap M12 board camera lenses from 2.8mm to around 30mm. Get 100 ft of cheap pre-made cable for camera with an RCA connector you can plug in to your TV with. Run the cable outside and try the different lenses in the daytime with lots of light so the cheap camera works. Have someone walk around and see how much detail you get and decide what you think is acceptable. Secret tip. The board camera lens screws in and out to focus. It is held in place with a tiny cross screw. Use a flat blade jewelers screwdriver to loosen it. A magnifying glass or glasses is your friend to find the screw.

“See, when someone has made an emotional decision about something, as opposed to an intellectual decision, there is just no reasoning with them. “ You spent 3 weeks trying to force Mobotix the best IP camera in the world to work with your nutty idea of what an operating system should be. After you tried and failed miserably what was the lesson you learned. Hi yi yi Gee-Had, Linux is best cause it does not run Mobitix cameras. Then you hop around on one foot with your linux bible in hand shouting. Linux has poor video surveillance support, therefore it is better than windows. Hi yi yi Gee-Had. Firefox works poorly viewing remote cameras, therefore it is better than IE. Hi yi yi Gee-Had. Linux is free and they can’t give it away, therefore it is better than Windows. Hi yi yi Gee-Had. Google is the best search engine in the world, therefore i will not use it. Hi yi yi Gee-Had. And you have the audacity to insinuate that you are an intellectual! The dealers in this forum use what works, Windows or Linux. Most of them could care less what operating system they use as long as it works. And guess what 90% of all the apps that work are Windows apps. The only exception is Exacq which when used within its limitations is regularly recommended by the experienced dealers here. Your tinfoil hat is blinding you, take it off and see the light from Windows.

Lots of good information in this thread, what was the final outcome? Was anything bought and installed, and how well does it work?

From the description it looks like real copper RG59. The thing to look out for is the term CCA or copper clad aluminum.

I have run RG59 about 100 feet for satellite TV with no problem.

I am in the USA and entered this in Google “ARM ELECTRONICS C650BC2EIRW” And came up with many hits. I also see none of the places selling it have any real spec for the camera which usually means they are terrible. The price seems very high also. Do you want to explain your love affair with this camera.

Gee, your nixed up, atom powered, goggle less, Fire foxed, Zonemobile does not work? Who would have thought?

"What is a decent price on a video server?" They are easy to find, just google "video server". On the low end Ebay and Amazon have them. I do not know if the quality varies.

" could not however find any suppliers that shipped to AUS from ebay or amazon and sold the outdoor CNB's you were talking about." Did you mean the KT&T cameras.

I have kept my eyes open for the best covert cameras for a while now. The best analog cameras up to 700tvl with DC iris and varafocal lens and down to pinhole are from KT&T http://www.ktnc.co.kr/english/viewforum.php?f=88 Here is another board camera with decent specs but i can not find it for sale anyware. http://www.videologyinc.com/media/products/data%20sheet/20C40XW/PDS-20C40XW.pdf They also have a cute door jam cam here. http://www.videologyinc.com/media/products/data%20sheet/20K142-F/PDS-20K142-F.pdf If you have to have mega pixel i have been exchanging email’s with a top secret Chinese supplier this last week.

With no computer you have to use a IP camera or an analog camera with a video server attached. Also the only type of camera that might fit is a bullet camera and these come in mostly analog but there are some IP versions.

“Image Sensor CCD 1/3'' 1.3 megapixels Progressive Scan CCD sensor. Min 0.01Lux CMOS 1/3'' 2 megapixels Progressive Scan CMOS sensor. Min 1.5Lux” I think this means your camera model will have one or the other CCD sensor, Since you said it is 2MP then you probably have the 1.5 lux spec. This is a daylight camera as i said before. Or it must be used under bright office lighting or retail store conditions. BTW, there are many cheaper IP cameras on Ebay if you just want to play, there is a 640 x 480 box camera for $70 with shipping if i remember right and it takes standard CS lenses.

I think your computer should have a static IP and 192.168.1.100 is not a valid static IP because it is in the normal range of addresses that Linksys uses. This article recommends you use 192.168.1.2 thru 192.168.1.99 for static IP addresses, and explains why. http://www.boutell.com/newfaq/creating/staticlocalip.html Under applications/gaming on the Linksys make sure the TCP and UDP colum is set to BOTH and of coarse that the valid static IP is entered. Also, you must set XP for a static IP as outlined in the article above.

The camera you picked out only has one glaring problem, no LUX spec. This almost guarantees that it has terrible low light capability. But if you only intend to use it in daylight that would not be a problem.

“The owner wants to be able to recognise a face with the cameras that are positioned at door openings.” This is very realistic and a good use of cameras. You can get by here with analog cameras and there is a good assortment of dome or bullet styles to choose from. “The area has a fairly high crime rate and since its his holiday residence which is 2 hours from Sydney he wanted a function that would allow him to check his cameras via iPhone if the alarm company calls him.” I think this is also realistic and easy to do with a halfway decent standalone DVR. I hope one of the more experienced dealers here will recommend a unit you can buy in your country. “Ive done a simple cctv system before and found installation wasn't difficult but the actual technical side was beyond my knowledge. The system had the ability to stream (not sure if thats the right term) an image onto the net but trying to input the correct information into the standalone system was too hard to decipher and eventually we had to call in another guy. So having a system thats fairly intuitive to setup and run would be great.” Well in a new house build you would usually have the electrician put in the camera wires. And yes setting up the DVR for the first time can take some work. You either have to spend a week or two getting it right or like you said call in some one. This might be an instance were you buy the DVR from a local dealer with the understanding he will set it up the way you want it and explain it to you. “The set up will be 4 indoor cameras, 3 Domes at 3 door entrances and 1 (not sure what type) in the garage. The domes will need a only a small lens but the garage is fairly large so I was thinking an adjustable one? The outside ones I was going to go with those bullets because thats what the sites seem to push for the outside. The outside cameras don't have to look too spick but the 3 inside domes need a good finish so his ceiling ain't ruined.” Well the CNB Mono Lisa dome cameras get a lot of press here. The price is good and they have great light sensitivity and a exceptional picture. There is a wide variety of indoor and outdoor with vara focal (zoom), fixed lens, or DC shutter. There are also models with IR Leds in them but most dealers do not like this type as many times the IR light bounces around in the dome and fogs the image. If at all posable design the system/house so that you have a white light always on at night were ever you want to record. This will give you color pictures 24/7. CNB seems to have different model numbers for different parts of the world so I hesitate to give you any, I am in the USA, but these are the CNB models i like without IR lighting. CNB DBM-24VF 1/3" 600TVL Indoor true day/night DC Iris 2.8-10.5mm .005 lux CNB DBM-24VD 1/3" 600TVL Indoor fixed IR cut filter DC Iris 2.8-10.5mm .05 lux CNB DFL-20S 1/3" 600TVL Indoor fixed IR cut filter 3.8mm Fixed .05 lux CNB VCM-24VF 1/3" 600TVL Outdoor Vandal true day/night DC Iris 2.8-10.5mm .005 lux CNB VCM-24VD 1/3" 600TVL Outdoor Vandal fixed IR cut filter DC Iris 2.8-10.5mm .05 lux CNB VFL-20S 1/3" 600TVL Outdoor Vandal fixed IR cut filter 3.8mm Fixed .05 lux For bullet cameras KT&T also gets good press. One of the models Rory here likes to use is the KPC-VBN190 series. He has several posts here with sample pictures. “The biggest problem ive found is what dvr system to buy. Ive realised a standalone is the way to go but trying to decode the true meaning of the specs sheet is impossible. If all 8 cameras can record at D1 with a few frames per second I think that should be plenty good as he just needs face ID rather than catch some guy pulling from the till at a shop.” 5fps is the minimum you should use and 10 is probably the maximum. With lower fps if someone walks quickly past a camera you may miss a good face shot. With more fps you have more chances of a good face shot. “Nimrod I think the boss palmed this off to me because he knows he wants something good but he just doesn't know enough about it to make a good decision and doesn't have the time to research this. Even though it seems ive done no research, I really have its just you seem to read something different every time and finally putting down a few thousand dollars is tough when you're new to this scene.” Well this post of yours was a good one, very easy to see what you want.

“In my experience, "auto iris" and "DC iris" are almost always used to refer to the same thing; chip-controlled exposure is more commonly called "electronic iris". Many cameras differentiate by labeling the associated switch as "AI/EI", with a separate switch for "DC/video".” Yes, my mistake. My first definition should have said. Electronic iris refers to the CCD chip itself acting as a iris by electronically reducing its sensitivity and has nothing to do with the lens. Which leaves of course the original question of what is “auto iris”. Here are a few definitions from the web. “A device for automatic exposure control in which a motor-driven diaphragm adjusts the aperture in response to a signal from a photocell detecting ambient light.” “An Auto Iris Lens is a lens in which the aperture automatically opens or closes to maintain proper light levels on the security camera sensor. Works similar to the iris on the human eye to adjust for light. An auto iris lens is typically available in better security cameras.” My take on this is that auto iris is a generic term for an electronically controlled iris. and it makes sence looking at the switches Soundy listed. AI/EI - Auto iris or Electronic iris DC/Video - DC iris or Video drive If you use AI (Auto iris) then the DC/Video switch is enabled to control the iris in the lens.