chaz

You might also be able to get a bnc to rca converter and plug it into the video 1,2 or 3 input on the tv. that way you won't need a modulator

Ras plus is used by Costar and Capture (capturecctv.com) they are the same units but i don't know who makes them.

http://www.napcosecurity.com/video.html i see video from napco

The point Sawbones made about how he has changed out every camera in his house before he got it right is the point i'm trying to make if you are a Diy'er or tinkerer as Sawbones says he is doing all of this work and making changes is great and you learn alot. if you are installing this system for a fee for a customer, know what your doing and do it right the first time for the right amount of money. you have three threads going on the forum for the same 10 camera job. domes vs. bullets how much to charge and this general one. experiment and try out all of the on your house not a paying customer an electrician who works for a local electrical contractor recently called me and said a customer wanted him to do a side job of installer cameras what does he do? he doesn't do the research or invest his time in learning about all of the different equipment available instead he calls me and wants pricing and recommendations on what to put in for cameras and a dvr. i gave him a price for the equipment of 5 cameras and a dvr of $2000 his customer wants to spend half of that i told him good luck

your labor charge isn't too bad if you don't run into any problems but your not making any money on 10 cameras and a dvr for $2000. the job should be 6to $7,000 minimum for labor and parts. don't give the job away unless you are just helping out a buddy 10 cameras at $100 to $200 each a 16 channel dvr at $500 to $!000 16 channel power supply $70 siamese wire or cat 5 $100-$150 bnc or cat5 connectors $20 and these are costs. in one of your other posts you wanted to know what we charge for installation. this isn't a hobby for me or the 20 people that like a pay check every week. make some money and be around when the customer calls you back in the future for additional work, a problem with the system or if your lucky a referral to a friend who needs a quality job done.

one way is to double the cost of the camera and then add labor on top. i don't buy $100 cameras. generally my camera cost is 200-300 and most cameras get installed for $750 plus/minus. we tend to markup our products but others in the business talk about "margins" I'm still trying to figure out how margins work but its something like cost of equipment, parts, labor, commission plus what ever margin (15% - 50%) you have determined you need to stay in business. its one thing to Diy or help out friends on installations but quite different if you want to be in the Business of video. the only way you can stand behind your product and installation is to buy a good product with a good warranty (3-5 yrs), know what your doing on the installation and finally charge enough for the installation that you can afford to make things right for your customer if thing go wrong (you never get paid on GO BACKS)

Let me go back to the original question. how much do you charge? do you have insurance in case you get hurt at my house/business how about insurance to cover the hole in my roof that you drill, the water pipe you broke, or the fire you started when drilling a hole to fish the wires. most states require a license when installing a wire in the walls which also include penetrating the outside wall to get the camera on the outside of the building. all of this is going to come into play when you ask how much do we charge. how much is the equipment? wire isn't cheap. how much is your time worth? and whats your overhead cost such as vehicle and tools (remember the insurance so i can't sue you and take your house away)

10 camera on a budget of $2000.00 would be a $200 per camera plus installation plus the dvr? just don't see where that budget number came from. and by audio do you mean the ability to speak to tresspassers/perps from a remote location?

Try a camera with a pixim chip in it. i've found them to better than some of the so called wdr cameras. the pixim web site will tell you which cams have the chips

don't forget to use different ports for each dvr or you will confuse which dvr you are trying to access

blackberry usually on go thru port 80 so if the dvr is on a different one that could be the problem. using the rtsp stream is how Bosch does it for live viewing on their 600/700 series so you could try that.

Im' pretty sure they want you to buy a BOX but call them and ask. you have to be an integrator fot them but they are always looking for new integrators.

I've used alot of the Bosch dinion cameras but now use Clinton Electronics pixim cams. Better picture for $100 less

I'm an integrator for 3VR and have 30 units installed in a bank chain using 3vr's enterprise server application. we are doing facial recognition and license plate recognition as well as teller transactions. the analytics along with raid hard drives are great. we have even installed them is a few high end homes All I can say is THIS STUFF WORKS