Razer_SE

I sure like the pricing on the D51, I will have to look for some example shots or maybe just go ahead and purchase a few. I have to try the E31 out too, I'll have to order 20-30 bullets soon so I'm hoping they are a nice upgrade to the 1111 that I've been using.

I am streaming multiple sites to our main office. I had to throttle the remote DVR outgoing stream to 128k to keep my bandwidth below 5gb per month. (using aircards) I am streaming multiple cameras and sites, and they are in a rotation. This results in a given site only having one camera up for 40 seconds out of every 160 seconds currently. Still uses a ton of data, then if you have an event and have to look at the recording remotely there goes the rest of my 5gb pretty quick lol. As I add in more sites the length between displays is going up resulting in saving bandwidth so I hope to be able to go to 256k streams eventually. Sites with cable or DSL I just leave unlimited and have never had issues. More upload a the remote site is better of course. I wish I could reverse the standard cable connection, I'd rather we have 20mb up and 2mb down lol, would work out much better as there is no one on these sites to even use the download stream!

Well, it can be tough to get a true standard, but you are small enough that it may be possible. In my case I started and took over a system that was running 4 separate main DVR systems with 3-4 oddballs tossed in for good measure. It was a mess. In the end I was able to get us standardized on DVRs, with Exacq in our case, and sort of standard on cameras. The DVRs being standard is a huge help so I now have to open a single Exacq client and I can see all 44 of my separate DVRs at all my remote locations, and see all my cameras, recordings, and change 90% of my settings without ever being at the locations. Cameras was much harder to get to a true standard for me anyway. We are pretty standard on ACTi with some Vivotek tossed in here and there. Depends on locations and in some cases I could not really find all my options in one brand easily. With ACTi I'm using boxes, indoor domes, indoor hemispheric, and bullets. In some cases Vivotek had better options for me at a specific location so I have used bullets, outdoor and indoor domes from them. ACTi is 85% at least though. I'm still upgrading, in the end there will be 75+ locations and say 800ish cameras. Some locations have 24 cameras and some have as few as two. I'll be done with all existing locations this coming year. Moving to a standard with the DVR at least is huge, others will have better options for you I'm sure. In my case existing locations with 8-16 or more analog cameras got hybrid DVRs so we did not have to recable and replace all the cameras. New locations are IP only if at all possible and I just make the computer and install the DVR software and purchase the licenses. Small existing locations with say 4 cameras get moved to IP right off as I can buy the cameras, licenses, cable and build my DVR for less than buying a hybrid DVR. I agree that you have to look at all the options and try as much as you can. I tried software from 13-14 vendors and got test hardware from 4-5 before we made a decision. Took several months of testing before we found the best fit for us. EDIT - I just added up my rough total costs per channel for a 24 camera system, 8 being IP and 16 analog and I'm less than half of your target cost so it is doable at your budget for sure.

Do they offer a demo? My biggest problem with these guys is the annual license fee. //edit. I see they don't support the two Samsung cameras I just paid $575 a piece for, so no sale. They have a free demo - go here: https://exacq.com/support/tryexacqvision.html I see they support Samsung pretty well, I would try it. They will not go on the supported camera list until they personally try the camera. I have added ACTi cameras and Vivotek cameras with no issues that were not on the list. If the brand is supported you have a pretty good chance. It's free, worth a shot right? The product itself is great, and it's updated several times a year. Yes there is a yearly fee, but the cost is pretty low and the product seems to be worth it to us anyway. I but several years up front, in 3-4 years we can reevaluate our options and renew or let it expire and just replace the whole system if it dies. Waiting to see what we want to do in a few years.

@voip-ninja - Yes they do, free on both platforms, I use android daily and we also use iOS iPad and iPhone clients for a few users. Also, the web site itself works fine on Windows Phone platform without an app. Exacq start is perfect for home users and is $50 a camera for a year license. $10 more per year per camera at time of purchase, so four years of license would be around $80 per camera unless you find someone selling at a discount. Here is a list of ip cameras from their site: https://exacq.com/support/ipcams.php I have purchased 30 full servers from them this year so far, and have bought licenses only on 10 more systems that I built. Very light on system resources, insanely so really lol. If you have questions feel free as I've used and learned a lot. I'm not a seller, just an end user and installer for our own systems. We will have 75ish systems running 7-800 cameras total when I'm done. We do all the work ourselves, cameras, cabling and all.

If you search online you can find the Avigilon pricing easy enough. Bing and Google have found full price lists for me to go through at my leisure. Usually it has been found for me in the supporting documents for state bids where info has to be public it appears? I just looked at one example a few seconds ago to refresh my memory, and with what New York State is paying I'd say Avigilon is not in the ballpark. There are some good options out there, when I was looking for my company I would have had 4-5 really good options other than a couple of specific features we needed that were unusual. In the end we went with Exacq and it has worked perfectly for us, Avigilon would have been our second option but pricing was too high compared head to head. Download some trials and play with them to see what works for you. Only you know really what is right in your case, with your brand cameras and all. EDIT - Exacq would work with your brands it appears, and would be $50 roughly a camera. Free one camera trial download is out there, might be worth a look at least. Has apps, has a nice web client built in. I use both daily. Almost caught someone breaking in today actually as I got an email alert of video loss from a site 90 miles away. Cut two cameras at 9am, but they were gone when cops showed up 10 minutes later. Likely coming back tonight so I'll be using the apps tonight keeping watch you can be sure!

Has anyone had experience with the new E31 bullet from ACTi yet, or is it too new? I use a lot of the 1111 camera now and was wondering how the E31 compares. Anyone know the sensor size comparison or other details yet? I have looked but not found that info yet, and no reviews that I've seen either. I may just get one and try it I suppose.

Thanks for the videos, the WDR one especially. I've got 14 more of the 1111 cameras to work through and then my next order will be for some of the e31 cameras. At worst I figure if I turn off WDR then it is basically a 1111 again. Anyone know if the sensor itself is physically larger for more light capturing or is it the same sensor? I think for the price the camera is a pretty good choice for a basic bullet anyway. I wish for more options in the day and night settings in the firmware vs the 1111 as there is nothing at all there on the 1111 so if you get just the wrong light it will be too bright for night mode, but look bad and cause motion detection from graininess. Makes it hard at times to get it adjusted just right. Not bad if I just had a couple, but when working with a ton of them it gets worse quickly lol. My default config restore works for 90% of them before sending them out thank goodness. Would be great to have a time setting for day and night mode, so at 8:00 PM it switches to night mode at at 7:00 am it switched to day mode. Other cameras have this but not ACTi for some reason. I've emailed and asked for this to no avail yet anyway.

The camera tail is just a removable tail so you can run the wire directly into the back of the camera as normal if you want. Not sure why the heck they did that, but I might use the tail as all my cameras are box mounted anyway so I can use it either way I suppose. Agree it's odd though, and I despise those cheap mounts but coming with any mount is better than no mount at all I guess?

I'm looking at the exact units you mentioned in your post I quoted, and thanks again for your reply. Several hundred feet would work in some locations I have in mind, some I'd still have to hard wire. I'd be fine with battery operation and only running an alarm wire so that might work. I have 50+ locations with fence lines to cover, though most are not an issue at locations where break-ins have occurred these would really help. Usually thieves hit the same areas of fence too, so something covering it would be great. I'm looking into it more now, thanks. Looked into other full on fence alarms but you're talking $4000-$5000 at the cheapest for only 100m of coverage and physical repairs once they cut it. That is way too much for us as we have way too much fencing lol.

If you need to go wireless, then your best option is probably the Optex VX-402RI PIR with Inovonics transmitter, and the Inovonics EN4204 receiver, or if you need relays, then the EN4204R. You should be able to get the PIRs for about $170 each and the receiver for about $120, more or less. Best, Christopher Yikes, did not realize how old this thread was. I'm new to the thread but this looks like a product that I could also use so thanks for the information anyway. I'm looking at the long range photobeams that they offer advertising a 350' range. I would like to use these for fence line protection, they look as if they would suit my needs well. Do you know the range of the wireless units reliable reception? That would make or break the wireless functionality for me, otherwise wiring would work for me I suppose. Still a great looking solution. Now for one that works longer than 350'...

I am using ACTi cameras mostly, but I also have Vivotek cameras and a few Axis cameras and they have all worked perfectly for me, no issues at all. I have even got ACTi cameras to work fine before they were even added as a supported camera in Exacq - worked fine for a couple of months and then they were added fully. I am using indoor domes, outdoor domes, outdoor box, bullets, and hemispheric cameras from ACTi. I am using indoor domes, outdoor domes, and bullets from Vivotek.

I use all eight ports on my Cisco switches with no issues at all, but I know it is dependent on the cameras you are using. I use ACTi and Vivotek mostly and can use all eight with no troubles. That is usually 7 ACTi bullets like the 1111 and one 5611. If someone needs more power then Cisco makes the same switch but in a MP (Max Power) model that will work. But for that cost, then I'll be using the ZyXel too!

I use this Cisco switch, great switch and I've never had to replace one as of yet. Managed feature is nice for remote power cycling and such if you need that function, plus remote switch rebooting. No back http://www.amazon.com/Cisco-SF-302-08P-SRW208P-K9-NA-Managed/dp/B004496TFS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1353096999&sr=8-1&keywords=cisco+302-08p I use ZyXel switches for my 4 camera installations with no issues at all and they make a nice 8 port one also, but it's close enough in price to my Cisco that I stick with that one. My only wish with the Cisco is that it used a standard power cord like the ZyXel.

I've used many software packages and for us what worked out best was Exacq. If we had not gone with Exacq we would have chosen Avigilon. After testing a ton those were the only two standouts that would fill all of our needs. In our case Exacq was more cost effective by a big margin in the end, but that may not be everyone's experience. If Exacq is giving you issues I would recommend Avigilon for sure.

Oh, I should have mentioned the next couple are fully indoors so the Vivotek will be fine. I just prefer to keep all my domes the same usually and use outdoor domes even indoor for many of my facilities. Dahua can bee seen by my NVR, but it will only record all the time, or none of the time. I only use motion, and there is no working motion settings that will work. I have a single Dahua camera here for testing purposes. I keep hoping for a firmware upgrade that could fix that as the form factor and overal performance would be great for some places for me. No joy yet though.

I need an inexpensive outdoor dome camera that will work with Exacq. I have been using a lot of ACTi cameras but cannot seem to find an outdoor dome that is cheap enough for my simple needs. I'd like to find one in the $300-$400 range but they almost all are at $600 or so. This needs to be an outdoor dome, but the camera itself will be in an area that is lit and covered, and my distance of the shot is literally going to be under 10-12 feet so 1mp is more than enough really. This is a camera in a small vestibule area for something like an ATM. No IR is needed, but it will need a night mode of some type. Any suggestions? Cannot be Dahua as it will not work with my DVR. I'll need 20-30 of these total roughly, so it's why I'm trying to keep costs down. I know some newer cameras are coming, but I've seen no details and cannot seem to find something in my range. Thanks for any suggestions all, I appreciate it.

I have seen and heard more are coming, but there has been no info at all that I've seen personally yet. I gave up and ordered 4 of the Vivotek FD8134V cameras for now and that will get me through this year I think. That should give me time to see what exactly ACTi is bringing out.

Thanks, I'll take a look at OpenEye as I see at least one of their cameras is supported via onvif. My main supported brands appear to be: ACTi American Dynamics Arecont Vision Axis Basler Canon Ganz HikVision illustra Inaxsys IOimage IPX IQeye ONVIF Panasonic Pelco Riva Sanyo Sony Stardot UDP Vivotek I have used Vivotek and Acti extensively and would love to stick with ACTi as I'm using the 5611, 5211e, and a ton of the 1111 bullets too. I have 26 of the 1111 cameras sitting in my configuration area now actually. It would just make it easier to only use one IP camera utility and such and I already know the firmware and such well. I've thought of just using an indoor dome though it is outdoor but hate to take the risk. It's covered well and will not have any chance of water, but it will freeze in the winter and bake in the summer. I may figure out how to just use a 1111 bullet there, but I would sure prefer a bullet. I need a dome version of the 1111 really. Going down the list one by one for now, I found a Brickcom MD-100AE that seems to be priced right and should work with my DVR. I know nothing about them though. Still looking.

Well, the first thing I think of over speed is reliability. Having a fast reliable OS drive is great, then you just add a HD or 6, or whatever to store the video on. If you lose a HD then the OS and all your settings and such are secure and it's much less downtime with just a storage drive. Speed is impressive on the newest generation SSDs, one of the new s3700 enterprise class drive from Intel is rated for 14.6PB of writes on the drive! That is a lot of data, they rate them for 10 full drive writes a day for five years. Really once I'm booted and in my software 99% of the work is now on the storage drive on a DVR so an SSD should last for a long, long time. I am currently not using SSDs in my DVRs, but I use them in my laptops, desktops, and servers. I use them as primary in my laptops, and as cache drives on the servers and desktops and it is a world of difference. Took a huge load off the drives on the servers and made a big overall speed increase with just 200gb of caching SSD.

Thank you very much for the information, I will be looking for more info in the next week or two. I usually get emails from them with new product info but got nothing on the e31 and a couple of the others I see out there now. Anything in a bullet performing like the 5611 interests me greatly depending on the price. Bullets are 90% of the cameras we use. 3mp and 5mp sounds good, but night performance scares me currently. Also interested in lower end bullets as many times that is what I'm looking for for my basic shots. Going to be a busy week or two for me, Apple, Google, and Microsoft Windows 8 launch announcements plus camera stuff going on. Good times!

I run 8 IP cams on old hardware all the time now with no issues, but I use Exacq. It puts everything motion wise on the camera side so the load is lower on the CPU. I have 8 cams with 7 being 1 mp and 1 being 4mp running on a pentium e5500. Thats dual 2.8, with 2gb of ram though some of my systems only have 1gb. No issues with exacq. Maybe try the trial and see if it works with your cams? With 5 IP cams and the client open showing all 5 at once it idles at 44% CPU. I normally have this not run the client so they idle at like 6% or so, then I view on the client connecting over the network on my laptop. I'm also seeing the CPU numbers as I'm logged in via VNC, so that will be a small part of the overhead I'm sure.

Is the new bullet the e31? I was interested in this camera but have not been able to dig up any real info like sensor actual size and such. I ended up just placing an order for 20 of the 1111 models along with even more of the 5611 cameras. ACTi should be loving me right now as I've been using a ton of cameras from them. I really, really need an affordable 1mp outdoor dome right now and I'd prefer an ACTi but they have nothing. Not even a great price on the indoor domes. Maybe some hope coming?

It's not just POE dropping off, it is IP packets in general. You need to keep all your runs under 300 feet. If you are going longer the easiest way to to have a central second connection point with a second switch. Have a good location about 300 feet from the DVR to set a second switch and then connect cameras another 300 feet out. There are other solutions, but that is the simplest and cheapest. In some cases I have extra switches 100-150 feet out, but then I'm able to get cameras that I'd otherwise not be able to. Then I also only have one cable running all the way back to the main DVR which can save hassle at times.

That must be really dark, I have what I would consider low light and in most cases my 5611s will not even go into night mode at all. Then I get blocky images from the camera increasing the gain so far in color mode. When I do get them to go to black and white night mode they look alright for me anyway. I have 10 of these so far, I am still playing with settings myself.