heckufaguy

Lets face it, if someone is intent on doing damage, they'll just do it. And then come in and destroy or take the DVR. FTP be dammed, I'd disconnect phone/cable first. So anything, can be defeated. Now, since most of these bullet cameras all but disappear under the eave, I'd go with a 3.6 mm lens on a bullet style cam. I also have dome style cams, but they can get tricky to mount/point in the right direction. Can be done , just not as simply as the bullets. Every single one of my cameras see's another one. Ie: you could not disable one, without being in the view of another. This is fairly practical for most residential setups. Keep the camera under the eave, weatherproofing aside, rain drops on a lens distort. Also, keep a broom/dust wand around. The IR elements will get you spiders in the warm months. Spider webs are invisible by daylight to the camera, but at night under IR they will really mess with your view. If you've got a highly sensitive area you MUST see at night, disable or put in a camera without the IR, and use a separate IR flood.

If it's a PTZ dome camera, it doesn't matter where it's actually looking, it's going to appear to be looking everywhere. If it was me, and if you park on public property (street) then I'd put a wifi camera in my car. They cannot regulate your camera since it's in private property in a public roadway. Short of that, you could try and hide the camera, but then any evidence gathered with it could lead you into a path of trouble.

I bought one camera from gadspot. Dome style, 700 lines I think. Stated it was a chip camera. After I received it and plugged it in I realized it was cmos. (obvious color deterioration) I called them, raised hell, they changed the web site and then offered me a return. Since I had the camera in service already I just never sent it back. I use it now, it's about the 'best' cmos I've run across, but I won't buy from them again. (A camera anyways). I also have one of their 4 channel dvr's and I quite enjoy it. It overs prealarm recording on motion detection, something not found in most low end DVR's.

I also found that I went to the schedule screen and clicked to clear all recordings first, then clicked to schedule motion recording. Mine seemed to come set to record 4 channels 24/7.

I have a Clinton Electronics (that name, with www before it) VF1000IR I use to see a neighbors yard from approx 100 yards away. I see his yard better at night, than in the day. IR Leds light that far, no overpowering, ghosting or hotspots. They also make a 775 with a wider lens (2.8-12mm). The 1000 is 5-50mm. I can get a face shot from that distance, if I zoomed in. (Not practical, but possible). btw, it's a mutual "I watch your place, you watch mine" setup. He can log into my system, and only see his camera. This allows us both broader views of our properties, as well as one camera that won't get snatched if they actually gain entry.

If these are your typical bank ATM's and not the dime store variety, they have room for a standard box camera inside. I'd use something like an axis210 inside, 3-9mm varifocal autoiris lens.

So any of you with the qt-428, I have a question. I currently have a qc-444. When setting up recording, under scheduling of motion recording I can set a pre-alarm time. This feature is great, and allows the clip of motion recording to go prior to the motion being detected and save it in the clip. If I set it for 10 seconds, I get 10 seconds prior to motion detection included with my clips. Is there a pre-alarm feature on the qt-428? primarily someone running the latest firmware could answer?... Thanks!

I actually just set up a system at my house, and a few months later the neighbor asked about one at his house. Since we're about 100 yards apart, we just both have a camera on eachothers system with a general overview of the others property. Using a CE VF1000IR, I have full night view (better than with floods on) and at least if someone runs off with my system, I'll have footage. Not ideal, but a nice backup. I also 2nd an alarm system. Starts the clock ticking, last thing they want is to be seen or get caught. LOTS of noise, lights, whatever you can turn on.

I would suspect at minimum you'll need to have a business license, since you're receiving money for goods. I've seen a few computer companies in Michigan doing cctv work under the disguise of network security, and they don't have a burglar alarm license within the state. Try this link. Seems you'll need a license. http://tn.gov/commerce/boards/asc/FAQ.shtml#Q1

Keep in mind, that depending on the camera, 12vdc cameras will draw up to twice that of what they will on 24vac. (.5 am on ac, vs 1 amp dc). As you add cameras, if they'll run on both, AC tends to be easier to deal with.

Yellow pages will find you professionals. Camera systems as a homeowner are easy. Many of the 'kits' come with cables, easily tucked into siding or under shingles, etc to hide them. Hardest part is having a whole big enough to get the cable into the house. Alarm systems are a little harder to wire, but much of the wireless stuff is pretty good. (Professional grade) If you've never wired anything in a house, and are trying to get the wires completely concealed, I can tell story upon story of people drilling into pipes, electrical, windows, etc. These things are not tough, but then again, I've been doing it for over 25 years. Good Luck.

Eh, the beauty of CCTV is not advertising it. Often, when completing an install, homeowners are amazed how their overt system is almost invisible to the eye without being told what to look for. Eaves and overhangs make for great camera locations, are often in the shade line, and don't make things look ugly. This guy could have been more discreet, maybe tucked the wires up and out of the way, and nobody would have been the wiser. He's got rules he needs to follow, just be a little smarter next time.

I've been a 'professional' at this a long time. But having a system in my house was always on my to-do list, but never done. I purchased q-see 4 channel dvr on ebay with 500GB for 115 bucks US shipped. It took some hunting, and a lot of product review, but it's out there. and the dvr works great! Good Luck! (And stick with ccd chip cameras, inexpensive cmos cameras tend to not be as nice)

I can't remember when I didn't wear steel toed boots. I buy high dollar, and they typically last me 3 years, until the appearance requires replacement. (Gotta look good for the customers!) I have a hard hat, rarely wear it as I'm not often in new construction anymore. I too have enough nail scrapes on my head for a dozen guys. I wear glasses, always have. Thought about contacts once, but dust in my eyes is bad enough without a contact lens in there too. For safety when needed, I wear goggles. I'd also gotten to wearing some hearing protection on construction sites, mainly to drown out the high volume of noise going on. I'd consider a cap if I had longer hair. Had a kid working with me years ago had the flex bit bent, pulling out of a window sill, and it was arced over his head. It grabbed his hair when he spun the drill. 10 years later, that hair is still gone lol

The quality will be better with IP cameras. However first off you'd need a NVR. (Network Video recorder) not a DVR. They aren't cheap. Most IP cams I've seen do not have any sort of video output on them , it's all done via network. They are also considerably more expensive than a CCTV camera. The difference is nice, but it's really going to depend on what you're trying to see. You get much higher resolution on a IP cam typically, but is it really important to see how many whiskers the cat has? Or just see the cats color, size etc. D1 with 540 tvl will be pretty nice. Keep in mind not all DVR's will do D1 on all channels. And, if they do they drop the frame rate considerably. At home I use a qc-444 (q-see) all cameras at D1, with the max frame rate being 7ips. The fluidness of the pictures is fine. Welcome, I'm rather new here myself. John

Found in another post on this forum....(search is your friend!) Post subject: Re: CnM Secure 4 Channel H.264 DVRPosted: Mon Apr 26, 2010 1:36 pm Try entering the password 000000 (zeros) and seeing if you have more sucess....regardless of if you have set your own password...it still likes to use one and that is default the admin password is 020818 also...yours may be he same? Once you can log in, post back and we'll deal with internet setup.

With an older Q-see dvr, I'd get the grid, no video upon web access. Only way to see video and grid was via the dvr with monitor and mouse. Newer version of Q-see shows grid and video via web, however the active areas totally block out the video when access via web, so makes it hard to see what you're choosing. I'd try it at the DVR, usually once masked for nuisances it's not something I mess with often.

Rasplus was also used on older Ademco/Honeywell DVR's. While it's still out there, it's not a current product. (At least not for me!)

First, what model DVR?. 2nd, are you saying that you can view it connected to only it and a router, or not? If you're within your house (router) always try your local IP. (Not the one for the internet). Did you set up port forwarding on your router? Also, and as I type I think this is it, it may very well have to do with security settings on your other computers. Many dvr's require adding a trusted site and lowering the trusted sites security threshold in order to load the activex control to view them. Lets start with some basics. Brand of DVR, Local IP. Router IP, and IP of the PC and laptops. Router info might be needed, but lets start there. And, of course, you're using internet explorer each time right? John

IP cams can work. Multiple instances of Mobiscope can be run on pc's anywhere. That program will record any IP cam you load into it. From anywhere it can reach them. Set up an IP cam, run (mobiscope) from a pc at home, another office, or both. The desktop software is free, and can even email you motion activated pictures. (And record on motion). Otherwise, a 4 channel dvr, couple of cameras, and a well hidden dvr. A steel vented enclosure works well, remember... they may find it, they may cut cables, but they also know the clock is ticking and won't want to spend a long period of time grabbing a dvr. I did the IP cam/ mobiscope deal for awhile with one camera at home, was very nice. Not top dollar stuff, but very functional. John

Also, time says 12 AM, is it really that light where you're at in the middle of the night? lol

From the looks, I'd bet your upgrade was from CMOS cameras to CCD cameras?

Not sure where you're at, but household voltage and low voltage should never be run in the same conduit. Lets put it this way, camera wiring (power/video) is never going to kill you. It's 12 vdc or 24 volts ac, and current limited. Household current can kill, and if something happens over the years to cause a degradation of the romex wire it could possibly put that current into your camera wiring. As a professional, it's against electrical code to mix wiring such as this. There's a reason why.

My experience, with a couple of Q-see packages under my belt, as well as a few dozen years in the industry. 1. The Q-see cables are very low gauge on the power side. IF you intend to ever upgrade a camera, specially an IR one, they may fall short of power requirements. Menards in the US, as well as others sell a small but thicker gauge siamese cable, might suit you better. 2. 18 gauge 2 conductor wire will handle all the power any camera and or illuminator will draw. Similar to doorbell wire, only stranded is much easier to work with vs. solid bell wire. 3. you could do this. Baluns do fail, and add to the cost. But running cat 5 is much easier. They do make injector assemblies to allow both power and video over a cat 5 cable. 4. I've had fine luck using to 60' cables back to back to reach a camera. It was a snowy day, the camera we needed working that day was further than 60 foot. So we skipped one, and added the cable. 2 years since, still running great. (Q-see bullet IR cam) 5. 12 volt will do it. The package cameras don't draw a lot. IF you get into commercial cameras, most will run on either 12vdc or 24vac. At 12 vdc some cameras require up to twice the amperage. My advice. Avoid splices and connectors that are not absolutely required. (ie. doubling up 2 short cables for a longer run). Just adds to areas of eventual problems. q-see cables are not UV proof. If you run them outside, you will be replacing them eventually. I've had great luck running it tucked into eaves and siding of houses. It's a very small cable and easy to conceal. You can get the ends through a 1/2 inch hole, however you'll need to do it one end at a time, it can get tricky. Good luck!!

Or just run cat 5, use baluns for now, They even make power/video baluns for cat 5. (Which I'm sure you know, but for others..)