Soundy

Wow, that's pretty clever, guys... er, guy. I almost bought it, but ya know, both posts coming from the same IP was kinda a dead giveaway. Imma just leave this here so everyone can see how stupid you are, though... if this is indicative of the intelligence level of a**** f****'s marketing department though, they're in real trouble.

I remember an annual preventative maintenance schedule for one customer's sites, that included running a head cleaner through their VCR, wiping the dust buildup off their CRTs, and re-stocking them with 31 brand-new T-160 tapes. Ahhh, those were the days. Wait... that was barely five years ago!

There's a button on the camera's own web interface that will do it... if you're a savvy web programmer and you're programming the camera's feed to show in your own interface, I imagine it should be easy to add the snapshot button as well (don't ask me how; I'm not a coder).

Sounds like it may be crap cable - either poor construction, or the wrong type of construction. What are the markings on the cable itself, if any? Are you saying you have a 365' run composed of two 100' lengths and one 165' length all spliced together? Being a PC-based DVR card shouldn't be an issue, especially not if the other cameras are all working. Only other thing that would make a color camera show up in B&W is if you're using a PAL camera on and NTSC DVR (or vice-versa)... but if these are all the same camera, that's unlikely. Lowest common denominator is probably the cable itself.

Take a look at the CNB VCM-24VF. Lots of examples of its output posted here on the board. Can be had for well under $200.

Yeah, but he's starting from scratch; there's no existing gate to interface with, and no need to tie it to the phone system. How is he going to open it or close it remotely if he's out of town and a delivery needs to get it? What if he's in a different room or in bed when someone calls the gate? Well that's the beauty of a network-based system, isn't it? Get something that uses a smartphone app and it doesn't matter where in the house OR the world you are. Of course, you assume the house even had POTS... many don't, now. At least a quarter of my friends no longer have landlines and haven't for several years. At home, we maintain a VoIP-based landline, but we've been discussing getting rid of it for years, as my wife, son and I all have our own cell phones - only reason we still have it is because it's included in our internet/cable bundle.

Welcome aboard! What don't you like about them? Field of view? Day performance? Night performance? Overall image quality? Find a portable DVD player on eBay, Craigslist, etc. Make sure it has an A/V input and the appropriate cable. I use this unit: http://www.shopxscargo.com/product_catalogue/cat_product_details.asp?category_id=6&product_code=29851&sub_category_1_id=22&category=TV

That, I couldn't tell you; I haven't tested it. Sean might have a better idea if the hybrid and NVR support HIKvision (OEM for the 3x camera). You could do that too, although you're looking at probably three times the price. They are a VERY nice system, well worth the cost... but the cost ain't small

The tricky part with a dome is that they don't typically have space for a long lens - up to about 12-13mm is the biggest you'll typically find in a dome. The one exception I know of is a Pentax 15-50mm lens that will fit in a Panasonic WV-CW484/504 dome. However, if you used something with a small fixed lens, like the Dahua dome, it SHOULD be possible to fit a longer fixed lens - I know I have some 16mm lenses for 1/4" analog board cameras, something like that in a 1/2.7" MP version would do the trick, as long as it's not physically too long to fit in the dome.

It's a current model; It does fit all the other requirements. Box cameras rarely do include lenses, because there are so many lens options out there. The one you use will depend on the specific view required. The one that you can order with it should be suitable for your needs.

They are PoE, yes. You'd have to contact 3xLOGIC and find a local reseller... or you could find someone who sells HIKvision, as that's the actual manufacturer of these cams.

Those are a nice little camera, give really good picture with decent lighting, but not so good in low light. If you have good motion-activated floods they'd probably be alright (I haven't tested that). The second camera in Jason's examples is probably better for low-light; I believe that's a 3xLOGIC VSX-2MP-VD or 2MP-D2? We've used the 2MP-VD model in a number of low-light restaurants and been pretty happy with them for the price (there's definitely better out there, but you pay quite a bit more).

Bingo! Probably not as clear as it could be. A *good* camera won't give you a blurry image when someone is running. That's generally called motion blur, and it's caused by a too-slow shutter on the camera. Slow shutters are usually a side effect of a camera trying to compensate for otherwise-poor low-light response. Plus, blur, if DOES happen, tends to be worse with the subject moving across the field of view... with a camera at point #2, most subjects are probably going to be moving more toward it. Your drawing shows that wall between #1 and the choke point at 11'?? I'd think the other distance would be a little longer, being a diagonal. In any case, exact lens length will also depend on the width of the area you need to capture, but for the sake of calculation, let's assume the camera is at point #2, distance is 28', and the gap is 6' wide. On a camera with a 1/3" sensor, according to this caluclator: http://cctvlenscalculator.com/ - you'd need a lens about 21mm to JUST cover that gap. A 3-33mm varifocal lens is relatively common and would allow you to fine-tune the coverage to the exact fit you need.

In *complete* darkness, you need to provide some sort of illumination... however, if you have at least SOME lighting in the area, the CNB VCM-24VF is a good analog camera: works with very little ambient light, vandal-resistant dome, IP65 rated so it can be used in direct weather, dual-voltage, versatile 2.8-10.5mm lens. That's the upper camera in jxk716's comparison shots above. If you need to add illumination, I'd suggest motion-activated security lights before IR (especially before cameras with built-in IR). IR is nothing special - just think of it as strapping an LED flashlight to the camera, except the LEDs are emitting IR light instead of white. The white light, meanwhile, will generally give a better, full-color picture, and if a light snapping on isn't enough to scare a prowler away, it will at least tend to make him look in the direction of the light... and if that light is near the camera, bingo, you get a straight-on, well-lit facial shot.

Actually, a better place for capturing faces, I think, would be the choke point at the entrance to the courtyard. Tight shot on that little gap from location #2 and you get everyone coming into the area. Second wide shot of the courtyard to capture general activity, and you're good to go. Problem with location #1 is that if someone comes into the courtyard and does some damage (are there windows around the courtyard someone could break into?) then leaves again without ever approaching the door, you'll never get that identifying shot.

Go to your website registrar and add a new A record for "cctv.mywebsite.com" pointing to your home IP address.

^Sounds about right.

When I say this place is ON the beach, I mean, it is RIGHT ON the beach.

Imagine my life last summer installing in a new restaurant ON the beach!

Welcome aboard!

Welcome aboard! There are lots of similar threads come up here recently - this post is a good one to start with: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=30135#p188279 Not mentioned there is that Dahua also has a hybrid DVR, which can support both analog an IP cameras - if you're wiring with Cat5e to start with, it makes upgrading to megapixel cameras later very easy to do, so you may want to consider a hybrid if you think there's a chance you'll want to migrate to IP cameras in the future.

Are you actually trying to SEND clips out, or trying to connect in from the outside (remote client or web browser)? Outgoing connections shouldn't be a problem, or other basic things like email and browsing wouldn't work either. INCOMING connections on these types of services, however, have always been tricky.

An HDMI splitter is all you'd need, at the most basic... if a TV is too far, you'll also need an extender. Where it gets tricky is if you want to control the DVR remotely as well - then you either need an HDMI extender that includes IR support (IR receiver, or "mouse", at the TV end; IR "blaster" at the DVR end), or instead of a direct HDMI link to the DVR, you'd need some kind of PC connected to the TV, running the PSS software or web browser connected to the DVR. Cheap HDMI extenders can be had for <$50 and require two UTP (Cat5e/Cat6) cables per feed, and I don't know if any support IR... I've used an expensive one that DOES do IR and uses a single Cat5e... I think it ran around $350. Sure. Consider though, that 30fps is typically overrated. Most times you'd never even see a difference between 30 and 15fps, and in many cases even the difference between 30 and 10fps would barely be noticeable, let alone a problem.

There are lots of covert cams out there in those style enclosures... the catch is that due to the small form factor (board cameras), most tend to be fairly low quality.

Yeah, but he's starting from scratch; there's no existing gate to interface with, and no need to tie it to the phone system.