dalepres

Thanks! That's an amazing value. I had searched for hours and not found that. I had in my mind to connect video to the RF, since that is what we had to do in the 80's, but the network connection makes even more sense - and offers more utility.

I was burglarized two days before Thanksgiving. I had two cameras on the front door mounted at the same spot. THe thieves took a ladder from outside by my shed and climbed up from behind the cameras, and cut the exposed cables to the cameras. I know the exact moment when the video stopped; that's about it. A single camera on the inside would have caught them but I didn't have that either. Well, the cameras were there but they were disconnected. I didn't have cameras on cameras. I knew the need of it but just hadn't completed the system. I also had the security alarm equipment I needed but hadn't installed it either. My wife was very set against having either system in place so I hadn't finished either, hoping the visible cameras on the front door would deter a thief. Now I am completing both, regardless. I was lucky, by the way. The kids who broke in were stupid and were trading my stuff at the local high school so they got caught. I'll probably get half of what they took back. I'm leaning to using the network storage as iSCSI so I can trick the PC based NVR software and the GeoVision analog card I have now into thinking the network storage is a local drive but can actually be hidden away in another room. I also just put a trench in to to my 12x30 shed so I can run power, video, data, and security in and out; I could put the NAS out there but it's not temperature controlled. I'll be running the lines for all of that next I live in a rural area and have satellite Internet service so upload speed is pretty poor. I am going to upgrade to the new Exede satellite service which has higher upload speed so that video and images can be sent to my phone and FTP on alarm but it is not good for a lot of storage. The biggest downside of my satellite service, and the Exede service, is that if you go over your data allowance they virtually shut your service off rather than just charge you for the extra. They say that they take you to "dial-up" speeds but I guess they mean the speed from when 1200 baud modems were awesomely fast. So it seems that the best option for me is going to be remote storage in the house, preferably multiple storage devices in multiple locations with cameras strategically divided between the storage devices so no matter what path into and around the house a thief takes they will end up on multiple storage devices. Anything can be defeated but I am just hoping to make it so hard to defeat that they decide to leave empty-handed next time. Of course a simple ski mask defeats the entire video system. Of course if I am missing something, completely wrong about the whole thing, or somewhere in between, or if you just have other ideas or comments, please say so. I really do want to hear it.

This is a very interesting thread; thanks to all who have shared pictures in it. One thing I noticed on the first few and the last few pages (I haven't had time to go through 65 pages completely) is that most of the pictures don't include people, and of most interest to me, close enough views to identify who it is, assuming you know them. Keep posting the great pictures but please think about including a few with people so we can really get a feel for what will help us in identifying thieves or other targets.

Not sure if I should make a separate topic or just add this here. In the same system, I am wondering if it is possible to record the same IP camera on multiple NVRs? I know they can FTP or other things but that is bandwidth limited - at least for my Internet connection - so I'd l ike to possibly record to multiple recorders directly for backup. Can it be done? Dale

I'm getting close to ordering my video system; sometime in the next couple of weeks. In the mean time, I've been researching like crazy. I can attest to the fact that online shopping is not faster than driving 75 miles to the city and shopping in a brick-and-mortar. I started this process certain I wanted a Geovision or AverMedia card. After reading here about other options, I have been researching them as well. The cheap no-name, or changing-names Chinese cards are still out but I am now considering Hikivision and Dahua. The fear I have when purchasing any of these, including Geovision or AverMedia, is getting a counterfeit card. How can I find reliable online dealers?

How did that aliexpress thing work out for you, flyeye? The thing that interests me from there are the hundreds or thousands of things that are made in China that we can't even find for sale. There is cool stuff (if it works) that distributors and resellers just aren't sharing with us. And one of the most scarce things on the net is a positive review of any dealings with alibaba.com or aliexpress.

Windows 3.x was that - a task switcher on top of DOS - but W95 was an OS of its own. Of course, at the same time, NT4 was a good alternative but its memory requirements were higher.

AK357, I go to forums on some topics where only those in the profession are allowed to join. I find that in some electrician forums, building inspection forums, etc. I'm not in either of those professions; I am building a house and go there for information so I can read but not ask or post. CCTV Forum could do the same and that would address your concern. It would be too bad for the rest of us. But as it is, with it being an open forum, the pros don't have to answer us. You do it by choice. I suppose that those pros who are here year after year (6 years for you! Wow!), do it because they are passionate about the technology and love to share their knowledge. I am a software developer (well, now manager of software developers). The development community is also made up of mostly such helpful people as well. I have to tell you, though, and I hopefully speak for all of the amateurs here, that I (or we) really do appreciate the replies and support you pros willingly share with us. We appreciate that your passion for what you do generally overrules your impatience with the rest of us. So, yes, you are right about us cutting the pros out and then coming here to get free help from the pros. But thanks for your help just the same.

I long for that day. Actually, the best OS Microsoft ever created, in my opinion, was Windows 95. I ran Windows 95 on 4MB of RAM and 20MB of hard disk. Of course to make it really usable I had to upgrade to a 120 MB hard drive and 8MB of RAM. And considering that, from an UI perspective, everything up through XP was still pretty close to W95, it really was the best.

I wouldn't want them to give me software for free. But I am dead set against pay-per-use software. If I buy it, why do they care about how many cameras I connect? Would you buy Microsoft office if they charged you for each document you edited? Of course not. When I buy a microwave oven, they don't charge me more if I use it 3 times a day versus 1 time a day. It costs no more to develop and distribute software that works with 4 cameras than it does with 32 cameras. Granted there are performance issues and optimizations that have to be made to make software reliable at the higher load level but my argument is supported by the fact that vendors don't sell a separate, less-costly-to-develop version of software if I buy for 4 cameras. They sell the same version as they provide for 32 cameras but with a throttled license key. That means that large users are actually supplementing the purchase cost of small users. I'd be perfectly willing to pay $300, $400, even $500 dollars for recording software. But to have to pay another hundred or so dollars to the software vendor every time I buy a camera is ludicrous.

Also, I am considering making two of the cameras megapixel IP cameras for now (as in 2 for now, maybe more later). The QNAP product I am buying will directly record two IP cameras so I may go with the megapixel cameras for the front and back door. The hold up on that decision is that I am not finding great information on how affordable megapixel cameras perform at night. Affordable in this case probably means $300 or less. In the future, I am planning a 3 or 5 megapixel camera on a PTZ mount for looking down our 150 foot driveway - depending on what I learn about megapixel camera performance at night.

Mr. Boston, I am planning a total of 16 analog cameras but will be starting with just four - mostly so I can test a small amount of cameras and make sure I am getting expected results before ordering the rest. I have an existing home server that is dual quad-core Xeons running W7-X64 and 12GB of RAM. On day one of my installation, that server will be recording and home server. If I run into performance issues, I will either build a new box for the recording or a new home server. For storage, I am planning an iSCSI based SAN so when thieves steal the server, thinking they've taken the video with them, I will still have video hidden away. At the entry points to the house - front and back doors, inside and out, I want to record at D1. Otherwise, CIF might be OK but I'm struggling with that. One side of me wants to buy top quality (within reason) and the other side is being cautious about over buying. I'm not against spending $2000 for the first order - to include the card and 4 cameras - but if I can meet my objectives, while still allowing for 16 channels total in the near future, for less then that's even better.

I"m in Oklahoma.

Another question I have is that the HikiVision site lists a very small set of Intel-based mother boards in their compatibility list - and I couldn't find any that were still made. I did find a new (old) DP965LT board on Amazon and I suppose I could build a new PC just for this project but I would sure like to build something newer and more powerful - especially for running W7 X64 on.

The problem I have with IP cameras is that the software vendors want to charge per camera - like a troll on a toll bridge, they want their cut. Sort of like big oil wanting to control hydrogen. They're ok with new technology as long as they find a way to get their cut.

Hello, I'm Dale, just joining the forum to get help in designing a video system and choosing components for a home security system and a vehicle security system (I've been wanting to do a car PC for a while and now after two separate car burglaries I think it is time). I have 25 years of electronics experience including 10 years in the US Navy and another 15 years in the two-way radio business including video system installation and camera repair back in the days of vidicons and when IR illumination meant a twenty-thousand dollar tube in a 30 thousand dollar box. But I've been in IT and software development for the last 15 years and am woefully behind on electronics technology - and it's amazing how much one can forget in 15 years. So the bottom line is that, between my electronics and IT experience, I am a very technical end-user and have the background to understand and learn but not at all an expert on video system design or on new devices or their implementation. I look forward to learning from and sharing with you all. Best Regards, Dale

Sean, I"m in Tahlequah but have a granddaughter in Claremore. Oh, and a son and daughter-in-law, too. So it's on my agenda to stop by and see what you have. Do you sell new equipment? Dale

I am putting together a security system for my house and yard. I am planning a 16 camera PC based system. I'm undecided between a GeoVision 1480A, an AverMedia 8416, and a cheaper Sharx Security SCXSC300. What I can't determine from any of the websites is what software comes with these cards and what the licensing is. I got a clue, on here, I think, that GeoVision requires a USB key for their software. Is that true? After paying a thousand dollars for a board, do I have to pay even more for the software to use it? I'd appreciate any reviews on the out-of-the-box software for any of these cards. Thanks, Dale

flyeye, did you get your orders? What was your experience? I was looking at the cheap Chinese stuff (as compared to the expensive Chinese stuff from AverMedia and GeoVision). I had to look. In the end, what has my mind changed is that I could not find any reliable places to buy them online in the US. And I certainly cannot find anything that makes me feel comfortable buying from companies like alibaba.com, aliexpress.com, dinodirect.com, etc. I read that even PayPal won't help. What I read was that they don't guarantee against items that are not as described so when you lose your arbitration there, you have to go to your credit card company for a charge-back - a practice that will get your paypal account closed. Apparently paypal only really protects when you buy on eBay. So I went to eBay to see what cheap Chinese stuff was there. Surprisingly, I couldn't find many NIB modern DVR cards listed on eBay and those that I found were 600 to 1000+ dollars. It seems that if these places were all legit, they would at least sell on eBay if they don't have real US online ordering. My personal choice is that I don't buy much on eBay but I was willing to stretch to save a few hundred dollars. With eBay prices so close to what I can find from legitimate online sellers, why would I buy through eBay? So, for me, it is still a choice between AVerMedia and GeoVision so far. Which sucks only because I'd love to get 16 channels D1, real-time for under 300 dollars. Who wouldn't? Of course I would love to hear any other solid recommendations.

Soundy, I looked at the thread you suggested. Lots of good screenshots there. I see a couple common thread among them all. Seems they waste a lot of screen real estate with stuff other than showing video. Hopefully they have a way to hide all the control and setting stuff when not needed (that's the software and usability guy in me). They also seem to have spent a lot of time on what I call "gummy" features - from the common term for the gummy look of Windows XP. Things like fading colors on background, gummy buttons, Hopefully building gummy features doesn't take away from time that should have been spent on reliability and quality of the basic functionality. But there's nothing there on AverMedia or GeoVision software.

I'm planning on using analog box cameras throughout so I can fit the right lens to the right task without spending a fortune on megapixel cameras or IP cameras. I might later add some of the cheaper IR cameras you see on various online sites around the fence line where I just want to know someone is there but I want better cameras, the closer someone gets to the house. I am planning wide view around the house but some zoomed in around the key places like gates, doors, ground accessible windows, etc.

Thanks, Soundy. That's good to know. I think I'm going to skip the Sharxy. It appears it doesn't come with software; I found on their site that the board works with a few popular software packages but nothing about any software coming with the card. Their card + software would be as expensive as the GV or AverMedia. Has anyone used the GV or AverMedia software? I really would like to find some details about it such as whether the cameras can be viewed on two PCs (wife's and mine), online access, mobile phone access, etc., as well as just some details and screenshots of the apps to help me decide what to buy. I'd like to also see installation/user manuals in pdf to read ahead of time. Regards, Dale