shockwave199

Anything out there is capable of being ideal for a home install. All the big names you'll find available can do it. Most of them are discussed at one time or another here. Do a search for a brand name here and you're likely to find a thread on it. And you're likely to find people saying that a lot of what you find in prepackaged kits isn't good. That can be true, but there's lots of people using the so called garbage and are just fine with it. Whichever brand you choose, keep these things in mind- - Whichever brand you choose, buy it from a good source that has good return policies. When it comes to technical support and replacement parts, read up and see how well the manufacturer scores in that area. People are quick to rate that service, be it good or bad. See what the overall consensus is. - Try for a dvr that has full D1 30 fps on each channel. They are available and it's worth having that right from the start of building your system. - Buy good cameras. Cameras with super had, effio, or exview chips and have TDN with IR cut filters and are varifocal capable will be better for you. You mention using a ptz camera. Any new dvr will support hooking up and adjusting most ptz's. - Unless networking comes easy to you, consider that setting up any system for remote viewing can be tricky. It's easy if you're comfortable with it, and frustrating if you're not. If you know someone who's a gamer or just good at tweaking routers for home networking, ask them if they will help you if you need it. After all the gear is bought, it's up to you to install the cameras and the cables well. Aiming the cameras, providing good exterior light, and adjusting the field of views for the best ID shots will be up to you. Anyone can say a brand is great or stinks. But if you've chosen carefully, install it well and you'll save yourself running up and down a ladder often. At some point you have to just choose a brand and run with it. Good luck with your install.

I think you'd be surprised that mostly no one will even notice them. YOU know they're there and that makes you feel like everyone will know too, but cameras on a house from the street are pretty small, really. No one looks that closely. Install them on a weekday if you can, when everyone else is at work. That way they aren't watching you do the install all afternoon like they would if it was a weekend. If you can get them in place without attracting too much attention, no one will really know. Your security is no ones business. And the day something happens to THEIR property and you happen to catch something on your cameras- you'll be a hero. Go forth and install paranoid free.

Hi Helen. Do you have blocking per channel set up in the dvr? There's a lot you can do to carve out the areas in your fields of view where you want motion and don't want motion. If you've done that as best you can and set the sensitivity as best you can too, it may just be tough shots with lots of moving things in the fov. In which case, something has to give. Either adjust the cameras position or try and get rid of some of the moving objects in the fov, But with blocking out motion detection, keep in mind you can have a lot of stuff blocked out and still get the motion detection you need. While you sit at the dvr and adjust the blocking, both of you be on the phone or cell phone with each other and have your husband walk around the fov for each camera. Watch each camera window for M [motion] and keep adjusting the blocking. You'll be surprised that you can still get motion detection but have lots of places in the fov blocked out from detecting motion. And he'll appreciate walking rather than climbing! Good luck.

I appreciate the kind words. But...I can work a video editor. I can make some movies and stuff. I managed to somehow work my way through getting my cctv system up and running. But make no mistake- I'm a cctv rookie. I make my vids and stuff for the other rookies, and I hope along the way I don't spread any major WRONG advice. And if it all adds to the fun of the forum, all the better. Sincerely, The rookie who's just trying to add interest round here.

Thanks, but I wouldn't go THAT far!

Not sure. It could be the IR screwing up or maybe the power is low if it's a long run of cable. If it has an IR cut filter maybe that's getting stuck- who knows. The main thing is to get a replacement camera for it. If it's a recent purchase, it should be under warranty and you shouldn't have a finky camera. Don't fix and don't wait- start the replacement process. Good luck.

I'll send you a PM about it.

DVR- http://q-see.com/products/product_description.php?cId=31&pId=39&id=31&pid=11 You can find one on amazon with a 500gb hard drive in it for 200 bucks. Cameras- http://www.gadspot.com/p-357-gs5004.aspx Four with shipping will be around 380 bucks. Cables- http://www.gadspot.com/p-38-bncpower-cut.aspx Four 100' with shipping around 55 bucks. Get a short ethernet cable to hook up the dvr to your router. Configure all for remote viewing, and you're off to the races for around 650 bucks and a whole bunch of sweat equity and networking noodling. All the remote settings for this setup will be done within the dvr and your router. Once done, you can access all pictures and internal dvr settings via open ports in your router and can be viewed and adjusted via web application in a browser and/or q-see remote software. And of course, everything can be adjusted right in the dvr as well. And this will give you just fine results provided it's installed well. These suggestions I made are only some of the many ways to go. Lots of choices. Good luck!

You might consider setting the dvr for motion recording and record 15 minute blocks rather than 30. Then see if it can be set to the shortest post-motion recording time- 30 seconds. That will help manage file sizes better, save hd space, and make it easier for you to search events that you may really need to pull off for evidence. Otherwise you'll be doing a heck of a lot of work pulling off all those files for mostly nothing. Tweak the motion recording really well like I mention, review larger size files- an indication of prolonged recording- on the dvr or remotely from the dvr, and back up only what you need.

It's....a blog. And I looked at it last tonight and rather like it. The reason why a good blog like that can be nicer than a forum is because you don't have to weed through all the petty bull****t of a forum. Forums are great. Members giving of their time to help other people is a good thing. Members bashing other members trying to do the same thing is a bad thing. It's a drag to get information wrapped up in that drama. His blog is just another place for people to go for info to read- you know, someone giving of their time for free to help other people. Keep up the good work on the blog. It'll surely be a nice resource.

Oh I should mention- this was the inspiration for my vid, from Johnny Dangerously, a funny ass flick! w7jMk7x7Hok

If this ptz was setup in the same spot trust me, that whole area would be seriously lit up. This thing never ceases to amaze me. It's been said here many a time- the amount of IR leds doesn't really matter when it comes to how much light will be put out. The better they are, the less you'll need of them. But I think your design is damn slick- makes a much better and more spread out light throw. I've had this ptz up for about a month now I think. I put it in place of a decent fixed camera there with ok IR throw. The problem was- it was a spider magnet in that spot. Every night. With the ptz there now and the ablility to turn the IR off until I need it, I don't have a problem any longer with spiders there. But this camera is much more sensitive in low light so the IR's aren't really need to see in general. I have a like/hate relationship with IR. Thanks for the pics. Very cool work you did.

That was a rabbit at the end- a good 55' away from the camera but zoomed in a bit. The IR on this camera is great. My video editing program has a thing called sound track maker and it whips up that stuff on it's own. Really cool little feature. Thanks for watching! This was just for a laugh really.

Huh- cool.

For me it's actually both. I seriously monitor my cameras all night long remotely and I like the quality of what I'm seeing. And I like the quality of what I'm recording. I don't need high res views of parking lots to drill into, or fabulous overviews of my property for hanging on the wall in a frame. I see great pictures from these MP cameras, for sure. But at what cost to my network and the users in my home? My close up cameras do great and my overviews are just that. All the expense in gear and effort only to be badgered that I'm eating up bandwidth, marching all the high res gear down to low res viewing? I have high speed cable at the house but still- I'm sure there would be sacrifices. Eh.

Then what's the point of MP cameras for the average joe who wants to install a system on the house? Everything has to be dialed back so much that what- you're viewing lower res analogish remote views? This is an area I've been keeping admittedly loose tabs on here- maybe too loose. I view remotely almost exclusively and my home network always has one or two people on surfing as well. With analog no one surfing feels any pain and I can have everything set high for remote viewing. I think you can remote view a lower res stream but record a full res stream or something with this IP MP stuff? Me relying on remote viewing so heavily, I'd hate to cripple the res just to make everyone happy. What's the point of MP then?

Really cool idea- like it! You could maybe find a bit more powerful IR fixtures though. And if they could be stepped from off to full or even off/on, that would be nice flexibility too, leaving the camera only IR for low level. This ptz I have has only eight led sockets but puts out immense IR, but I also prefer it off most of the time. To my curb it's about 40' or so. Diagonally to the opposite curb, it's closer to 90'. And to the very back of the center of the image, jeez I don't really know for sure but I'd guess around 150' or more. Rainy night here, sorry for the quality. IR off IR mid bright Full bright Question- the warming house is warming what? Is that like a green house?

Before you hung it? How could you know? Best to install and then adjust. Could be you adjusted for the worse. Try defaulting everything out and see what that gives you. Looks like you may have saturation super high. That will work against you if you boost that too high just for more vivid color.

all that is being pointed out is auto tracker does not work. BINGO. I'm as interested in the next guy in cool technology, but there was nothing impressive to me in that video. That camera was all over the place - like a pack rat, it would drop one subject (shiny object) as soon as it noticed another one. And the constant motion served no good purpose, only managing to be annoying. It's a fun toy to play with, but it's far from being ready for prime time, IMHO. I hear you, but this was an extreme case. And there's two ways to think about it overall. On one hand, if I had the zoom match set so max zoom was more like 10x instead of 7x which is what it was set at, it may have honed in more often on only one person and provided a tighter shot. But that's one person. Many of these auto trackers tout that honing ability to one object or person. I would rather have something closer to what I got in this setup, where it kept track of the whole rather than just one- mostly due to that fact that it zoom locked only so far in. Yes, that comes at the expense of the tight shots. But if that were a group of teens beating down a victim, I'd rather have it track the way it did and catch more activity rather than a narrow scope. The trick now is to get that 9-12x zoom and still achieve wide tracking by bouncing wide and tight, closer ID shots, not lose track of the targets because it zooms too tight, and a focus that can keep up. This camera offers settings of sensitivity, target size, zoom matching from 1-27x, and of course the preset scene it returns to. Not a ton a flexibility there. All choices of low, mid, high- small, medium, large. Nothing really user definable beyond that. It can also track while on a tour cycle which is very good, and it can call an alarm or aux- probably the most reliable of the whole thing. In most applications, I think a ptz that is setup to be called to a tripped zone is without question the better way to go. And then maybe track from there. In fact I think a parking lot or industrial setting would be the most reliable for auto tracking of this kind. In residential, it is a much bigger challenge. It's windy today. The bushes under the camera keep calling it down to the ground. The wind was a light breeze in my video and therefore it acted well. This morning the winds were breezy and it still acted well. This afternoon it got gusty and got distracted easily. I can overcome that by setting a two preset tour of the same exact position for 3 second dwell. That calls the camera back up quickly and keeps it locked better where I want it. All in all, not easy though. Cool, toy, limited or whatever you think- I do see merit. If any one of those kids smashed my car window that day because I wasn't home, I'd have some very good footage- surely enough to prove it was that kid from four houses down. And I don't rely on only the ptz either- I have other fixed cameras If I were in the market for a ptz and got a good price for one that at least included auto tracking, which I did, I'd opt to at least have it in there to use if I wanted. I'll make another quick video when I tweak the settings more.

You're over thinking it and you went through a lot of trouble to help me understand what- that I'm jealous and can't be objective about the early results of a test with auto tracking? Are you serious? I am not entertaining the difference between megapixel and a freakin auto tracking camera- YOU are! Spare me the effort of convincing me it sucks and wrapping it up in understanding- and refresh me on what you're deleted post said earlier and why you deleted it. I'm finished right-fighting with this. To those who don't agree, duly noted. I need not be convinced to your way of thinking. To those who watched and thanked me- thank YOU for saying so. That's all I did a simple video for- the chance to see how a camera that has it works. I will make another video when I'm done tweaking the settings. I have it zooming tighter now but to be more consistent and not lose the target by zooming too tight, it needs a little more adjusting. This isn't easy to setup quickly. You need targets of every kind. I'm sure my neighbors are past wondering what I'm doing roaming around outside! They don't realize, it's beneficial to them as well. This camera behaves like a neighborhood watch for everyone. I can confidently say auto tracking is worth having, but it's not perfect. The best place to install it is out of site of bushes and shrubs close in front or just below it. They will distract it on windy days. Depending on your camera, focus may take a moment to catch up. You may or may not get the shot needed. But I've said all along- if it helps provide that one ID shot, it was worth the price of admission. Crimes have been solved with worse footage. This can help in a big way by simply pointing in the right direction where a camera that can't, won't. ANYTHING you can afford that increase the odds of documenting trouble is worth having in the tool box, in my opinion. Over and out.

You guys are thinking wrong with the edits, sorry burst your ah-ha moment. It's not that I had to cull through footage to find tracking that worked well to show. It all tracked the very same way that you see there. So much so, it wasn't necessary to show it tracking the same thing over and over. I think the point was made- it was bouncing around the kids. The whole 25 minutes or so it did the same thing. I edited because it would have been monotonous to keep watching that, not for trickery. If you care to look again, I mostly edited in some spots where the camera pulled back to preset 1, which as anyone who knows tracking understands that is what the camera will do when it loses targets or motion has stopped- defined by a delay time which I have set to 5 seconds. I cut to different things because the kids did something different to track, such as the girl running across screen to the side street. Or the walker going down the street. I wanted to show how the camera handled that and I needed to edit that in or it would have been a 20 minute wait for it to happen in real time- something no one would appreciate. I understand what you're saying tom about the stress tracking will put on the camera. I'm still adjusting and experimenting to make it behave as best it can and if I can, I'll set a schedule for it to activate. If I can't, I won't use it as much. And on windy days or nights, I would opt to shut it off and just monitor manually. I'm not an auto tracking fan boy. I'm only experimenting and documenting the progress for others to see. That's why I got upset- I'm just working through it and you're all coming down on it like it's crap. It may be, I'm still working with it. But to me, I see potential in this demo where you won't see it at all. You're entitled. But regardless, besides a handful here there that think it's crap there will be MANY who appreciate the videos for a look at what this can and can't do. That's really all I'm doing.

Let me quote myself from a mere few posts up I know you're skimming what I'm saying and it's not sinking in. I get that. I'm not claiming I know everything about an auto tracking ptz. I'm only claiming my video is the most extensive, frankly nauseating 10 minutes of footage you're gonna find on youtube showing the thing trying to keep up with multiple people moving all over the place. I can't even watch it anymore- it gives me a headache just following it. But there is such a lack of video covering such a thing, I let most of it roll untouched, annoyingly so, for those who wish to watch the tennis match for themselves and see if it does or doesn't impress them. I'm sure there will be hundreds if not thousands of views that will mount up watching that and there will be people like you guys who say- garbage, joke, toy, no good. Fine fiddle- it's just for consumtion, that's all! Nothing was hidden or altered, but you thinking that actually shows that you think it's doing well for what I show. IT'S NOT PERFECT. And this is all I'm gonna say on the matter. It's...just...a...video!

You see, what these guys REALLY want is this thread to be locked so no one here can discover that this can actually work for you. After all, they spend a whole bunch of time mind-bending people into their one way of thinking here in the analog forums. So if this thread gets shut down because of this foolishness over a simple video about auto tracking of all things, that's a shame. I only do them to maybe help someone out to see the better or worse of some things I'm using. It helps people make desicions one way or the other. I'm far from knowing it all. I choose, buy, and make demo vids for the other clueless in the world so maybe they'll have a leg up for their choices. Try and ignore the mean spirited people who seek to undermine. They show themselves for who they really are to all who visit here and the only ones they end up undermining is themselves. And really, maybe forgive them. They've clearly been looking at their megapixles, and my auto tracking video, much too long.

Hey Mr contradicting yourself in one breath- ya wanna make up your mind with those two statements?

Oh this guy is a gem! I LOVE the fact that I had his eyes glued to my auto tracking insanity for almost ten minutes- probably more than once! LOLOL! That is priceless. This video is as real world as it gets folks, no matter what wiredude will have you think. I only cut a few spots for time- seriously. I have another 15 minutes of the madness that even I couldn't take weeding through. You want unreal world of auto tracking? Search for auto tracking ptz cameras on youtube and see what comes up. Mostly all very particular setups to make the tracking as easy as possible for the demo. Only MY vid will show you how a bunch of kids can drive the nose of a ptz camera insane and people on a real residential street! Not a parking lot or behind a building with one person in the shot. Real world. But wiredude, would you scrub through my video once more and let me know some other facts?