Kawboy12R

Sounds like you've been having trouble with your HD lately and it finally died. If I were to guess, I'd think that the bearings or platters were sticking and wouldn't always spin up and now it is screaming a death song. That doesn't quite match with the no lights part though. Mechanical high pitched noise or more of an alarm? I'd yank the cover and see exactly what was making the noise. If HD, then replace it. If the DVR is screeching and has no lights, I'm guessing time for a new DVR unless you're really handy with a multimeter and soldering iron.

Just stick "PAL to NTSC converter" or "PAL to NTSC video converter" or whatever into Google, EBay, Amazon.com, or wherever and look for something with the right connectors for you. If your camera has RCA connectors get a converter that matches. If it has BNC then either get a converter that has those or an adaptor plug (composite to BNC). Price? Pick a seller with a price you like and buy it.

Junction boxes? Just go to your local electrical supply place (mine carry better stuff for less money than Home Depot) and tell them what you want to do. They should be able to show you a selection of boxes. You probably won't be able to waterproof the openings, but they'll be proof against all but humidity if you run the wires out of the bottom hole. Conduit will help even more. PoE is pretty standard at 48v. Not all switches provide 15.4w to all ports at the same time. The Zyxel is good for that. Baluns- you probably want ones that take RJ45 in one end and have 12v barrel connectors and BNC connections on the other side (power/video baluns). They also make power/video/audio baluns if you want audio recording out there. Don't worry about pinouts. If you do your wires up right (that's what the RJ45 tester is for and they're under $20 at my local electronics joint), the balun directs everything the way it should. If you do up your analog cameras with that kind of balun, you'll easily be able to swap them out for IP cams if you decide you stuck some in the wrong places or wish to upgrade in the future. Remember though, the analog cams don't take 48v PoE power. Don't plug 'em into your switch. Burial grade cat5? Hard to recommend against it except for cost. Regular cat5 will probably last for quite a while, especially inside pipe or conduit. Depends on budget and how long you think the system will have to be installed to catch the bugger. You might want to leave some of it set up afterwards anyway just to watch the deer eat your stuff. Power supply- I was thinking about how your analog cams will get 12v power. A common way is a 2 amp 12v regulated wall wart with the right barrel connector and a 4 way power splitter. That looks like a 5 way octopus, usually about a foot long, with one connector to go to the power supply and 4 ends to connect to your analog camera power cords. You can also get panel boxes for distributing 12v power. Your cams might come with their own power supplies though. $25 will buy a decent 12v regulated 2a power supply, and the 4 way splitters are about $3 here locally. They look like this- http://www.amazon.com/Security-GW12V5A-GW124CA-Splitter-Surveillance/dp/B005AW84AG/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1355230634&sr=8-2&keywords=cctv+camera+power+splitter I don't know those folks, they were just the top hit on Amazon for "cctv camera power splitter". Some cameras support PIR inputs for motion detection. Your cams will be "seeing" motion a LOT. Not only will they be detecting the usual leaves blowing, shadows shifting, bugs close to the lens, etc, but even at night I bet they'll be going off if the tree they're mounted to shifts a bit in the wind. Not a big deal if you want to review footage after the thieves are gone (standard camera motion detection alerts will be useless unless you're an obsessive-compulsive insomniac with ADHD), but they might give you a fighting chance of maybe catching them in the act if you live close by. Did you get my PM with the manual for the hybrid you ordered?

I've never had a PAL piece of equipment I had to convert. Haven't a clue what's good or bad, but they ARE out there for those that need them. Don't forget about using a compatible power supply to power them either. Frankly you're probably better off selling those and putting the money towards different cameras but it CAN be done.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=pal+to+ntsc+adapter&rlz=1C1GGGE_enCA502CA502&oq=pal+to+ntsc+adapter&aqs=chrome.0.57j62l3.5490&sugexp=chrome,mod=10&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

I guess he's saying that you're maxed out with what you plan to do if you use the max resolution of all of the cameras. DVR will be sluggish. It's definitely capable of much more than D1 on the number of IP cameras you're planning on running. You might try dropping one of the 1080P bullets down to 1.3mp and see what happens, or drop your framerate down as well. Clarity and megapixels count for more than frames per second. Welcome to the confusing world of what's good or what's good enough.

It'll handle 4 1080P cameras as per the spec sheet. Tom knows a ton about cctv but I'm thinking he misread the model number or something. Those IP cams will run on POE, 12v DC, or 24v AC (says optional for 24v). I don't know if Linovision supplies 12v cables and wall warts with their cameras or not. If they do, I bet they don't supply 300 footers. A POE switch is easier and more elegant than running two cables out to each cam but it isn't the only way.

You'll need a POE switch with lots of power for the IP cams, like a Zyxel 8 port with 4 POE ports. Those 2mp Dahuas take a more power than some low power switches will dish out. Some waterproof junction boxes for the connections next to the cameras (installed with drip loops), baluns for the RJ45 wires for the analog cams, probably a power supply and splitter for the analog cams (your choice 12v DC or 24v AC according to the camera specs but 24v ac is probably better for long runs outdoors), lots of cat5e wire (1000' per box), rj45 stuff (ends, crimper, tester), conduit (3/4 black pvc water pipe might work for long semi-covert quick and dirty runs over the ground outdoors if you can get it sealed decently at a junction box out there). Might want to run the cat5 through the pipe before crimping on the ends. Oh, maybe some plywood to nail to trees to mount your cams and junction boxes on, but screwing them into just about anything in a wooded area might work. You might also want some black paint so those big white Dahuas don't stick out like sore thumbs at night and maybe a black flash game cam or two as backup pointed at the Dahuas for if/when the thief sees the other cams and disables them. PIR sensors for more reliable person detection than camera motion detection (everything from bugs to rain, fog, moving shadows, moving leaves, etc can set it off). If it's just outside your house, if one of the PIRs go off you'll want to go outside or start watching your cameras. I've never set up a PTZ so I can't help there. You want to watch the length of your wire runs to/from the POE switch, IP cameras, etc. The 300ft you mentioned is close to the max 328ft length allowable. That includes fixed cable, patch cords, etc. Any longer and you'll have to stick in another switch as a repeater.

Is white light shining directly on the lens from your light pole? That will cause problems like you are seeing as well.

The cam is now pointed slightly to the right of where it was. You still have the same reflection problem but with less emphasis on the lines of the siding. The change in positioning is much more likely to have changed the problem than the change in cable. Climb back up with the cam running and move it out past those edges and view what the dvr recorded. Better yet, get a small LCD TV with composite input (and bnc adapter if needed) and another short cable and view it live from the roof while you're moving it around. Might even be able to use the dvr monitor. Also, make sure the lens is clean. IR reflection lighting up dirt on the lens cover will make the problem worse.

I think Steve and Groovy both hit it- IR reflections. Bullet cam, so it's not a dirty dome. Looks like siding and a gutter close by, so I'd unhook the cam and move it to be clear of the house and wave it around a bit to see if it clears up. If it does, then it's a bad mounting position. If not, most likely bad cam. Either dragging another cable to it to test or bringing it inside and connecting it to the DVR and see what's up is an easy test though.

15 on my crappy Lorex DVR. 7 seemed to cause some problems in quality after compression but 7 was fine in terms of smoothness. Anything higher is nicer to watch but is harder on bandwidth and storage.

You'll probably need conduit to run your wires from the cam to a junction box plus conduit from the box to inside if you want to keep water away from the wires and their connections. Depends on if you're surface mounting or flush mounting. There's a big screwout plug on either the top or side of the housing for surface mounts that either leaves a big gap or can have conduit screwed into it. If you cut a hole for flush mounting then the wires should be weatherproof and indoors sitting in your eaves or ceiling. This may depend on the different models though. I only have experience with the VCM-24VF.

There's a button on your phone that magically jams ALL incoming calls so you won't have to be disturbed. That way your phone can be used Only For Fun And it's FREE! No need to spam cctv forums for products that we don't need!

Usually just night-time motion events unless I suspect something funny's going on that isn't captured at night. 8x speed seems to work fine. 16x seems too quick for something that triggers and moves quickly. This is a homeowner system though. The one at work is more complex in its benefits and a person could spend hours a day analyzing footage. After spending more time on it than it was worth I ended up just scanning motion events for stuff when I knew there was a problem.

Hard to say if you'll be happy with it. That's a low lux rating but many cameras with the same advertized lux rating are quite different when they actually get used in the field. I'd bet that you'd be reasonably happy when someone was facing the monitor within 10 feet or maybe a bit more but that is very subjective. What you're happy with when you first look at it and what the police would be happy with might be two different things. The camera would also have to be pointing in the same direction as the monitor was shining for the best use of the light.

Max, did you ever find the time to do this?

One poster on here commented that his cheap Samsung system came with 940nm IR LEDs. Those are the invisible ones. Searching this site for ""Samsung 940nm" will probably turn up his model number. 850nm glows red. Your low light camera may or may not see IR light. That isn't related to the white light sensitivity of the camera (lux rating). Look for "true day/night", TDN, ICR, or infrared cut filter in the camera specs. Most TDN cams have mechanical IR cut filters, which is what you want. A cheap camera without the mechanical filter that sees IR light works fine at night but is either blinded or has lousy colours in the daytime. 940nm isn't seen as well as 850nm though, so more power is needed to light up a scene. If you want invisible, my setup works fairly decently. $135 CNB VCM-24VF TDN vandal dome without IR with an $80 CMVision 940nm illuminator. It has a light sensor that fires it up when it starts getting dark out. This system is completely invisible under my deck at night. You ordered an indoor dome though and my CMVision would look out of place in any indoor setting except industrial. It looks like a large 500w halogen floodlight enclosure filled with LEDs. This link may work out ok and definitely blends in better during the day than mine indoors. I've never used one though. If you want invisible and can't find cams with 940nm LEDs look for IR cams that are able to turn off their built-in IR or an IR-free TDN cam with cut filter and use an external illuminator. Both are much more common than inexpensive bullets with 940nm. Cheap and 940 don't go together very well as you'll find out if you throw "940nm illuminator" into Amazon.com's search box. The specs for your camera say 850nm so you'll see them at night. I also didn't see anything in the manual saying that they could be turned off. I skimmed it though. As for your last question, a low lux rating for a camera doesn't mean NO lux. Black is black, especially indoors, so a low light cam will need something to see by.

It's possible that the monitor isn't being totally accurate when it says that it runs on 12v DC. Car stuff actually doesn't run on 12.000 volts DC. It commonly runs on 14.4v (give or take) when the alternator is running and either high 12.something volts or low 13.something volts when it is turned off. By the time the battery is flat (getting near 12.0 volts or, worse, dropping below that) many things stop working properly. You also said that you connected red to red and black to black and the other way around. If you did that first and you really DID have power there then that could be your problem. I'd try and power the monitor from a car (or a DC power source close to 14v) if you aren't currently doing so to verify that the monitor is still working. If it is, and your multimeter shows power coming from the connector you are using (shared with the camera), is the cam plugged into the right video input on the monitor? That one has two and is switched via the blue wire. What happens if you touch the blue wire to your DC+? You might not get video, but you might see a flash or flicker when it's trying to change inputs to show that it is alive. If it's a low voltage issue with the monitor then maybe it and the cam would both run on a higher voltage adapter, say 13v? Check with the manufacturer or supplier of the cam first though. Don't blame me for blowing it up, but I suspect it'll work fine at a bit above 12.0v. Some stuff that runs on "12v" is extremely tolerant of different voltages and some stuff isn't.

The Samsung, CNB, and Speco cams I mentioned are analog cams- not compatible with the IP system from Costco. You'd need an analog standalone DVR or DVR card for a computer to use them. Here are a couple of links to videos of the Samsung and Speco cams. The Speco gives good colour in low light without the drawbacks of IR. When it's REALLY low light, you need IR. The Samsung isn't terribly expensive and gives good detail under IR without washing out faces. CNB makes a decent low cost vandal dome that's decent in low light for a colour camera and has a varifocal lens (zoom in or have a wide angle cam- you pick). It also sees but doesn't throw infrared. I use mine with an $80 940nm CMVision infrared illuminator (got it off Amazon) which doesn't glow a bit. Totally invisible at night under my deck and lights up my driveway quite nicely. The Samsung SCO-2080R is under $250, I got my CNB VCM-24VFs for $135 each, and Speco Intensifier bullets are available for about $270. They each have their strengths but are analog and won't give the detail that the QSee 720P hi-def IP system from Costco will give. Take the Costco system and get a batch of mixed lenses from dx.com to give you, say, a 3.6mm wide view cam or two, maybe leave one or two 6mm lenses stock if they work for you, and maybe throw in a 12 or 16mm to zoom in for facial detail where you park your car, or whatever. That's a bit of a DIY project that someone else on here tried out. It worked for him but had some drawbacks as well. You'd get better results with a 16ch Dahua NVR (you'll need 16ch because higher resolution IP cams eat bandwidth and you won't get 16 1.3mp cams attached, and DEFINITELY not if you start adding 2mp cams), a Zyxel 8ch POE switch, and mix and matching some different IP cams from someone like Kyle at Empire Security on EBay. He doesn't stock a lot of different lens options in the ESC-2100 1.3MP bullets but I've heard he might special order some in if a customer doesn't mind waiting. You could also add a 3200 2MP bullet which is a varifocal and much better cam than the 1.3mp bullets, but at $350 a pop they'll strain your $1000 budget a lot quicker than $170 a pop for the 1.3mp 2100 bullets. It just takes better planning to match the proper fixed lens to the 1.3mp bullets than adjusting the zoom on the 2mp bigger bullets. You can save quite a bit of money on a system if you hit alibaba.com or aliexpress.com but you'll probably get a lot better support after the sale from someone in North America. Plus, even if something dies on you and they will replace it, shipping to and from China isn't cheap. Also, if you have a decent computer to use with the network cams, you can get Blue Iris NVR software for $50, a switch for maybe $70, and add cams and Cat 5E wiring after your $130 outlay for your computer. 1000' of Cat 5E can easily be had for $80 and a crimper for $30 (plus connectors), RJ45 tester for your homemade cables for under $20, and then you can use the leftovers to run internet through your house wherever you want, plus wire up your friends for giggles and beer.

Not a problem. I never thought I'd hear you say that though.

Tweaked with cheap modifications to fit his particular needs, yes. I then elaborated on the budget-friendly IP camera theme that stretched his budget a bit more but had a worse warranty and possibly worse support. It's hard to make accurate recommendations for a generic "outdoor" system without knowing distances and ID requirements. I guess I fail to see where modifying a package system goes completely against what he was asking. Most package systems have lousy lens choices for anything beyond general observation. The Costco QSee package at least has the benefit of price-class leading recorded detail, good night performance, and the ability to swap lenses for a better custom-tailored installation, no? I do however admit to having limited time and typing that recommendation up on my phone while waiting in the car for my daughter to get out of theatre.

I'm not surprised you missed the purpose of the extremely colourful language I used to illustrate my point with Tom. It wasn't a personal insult. There is no need to "prove" that you're offering demos on here to those you think are potential customers. You are and I'm fine with that. It's a public service, more or less. No troubles at all. The trouble would be if you were offering up national security secrets for money to anonymous people on a public forum, which again you obviously aren't, but that is a conclusion that could be drawn *IF* Tom's language and some of your actions were combined. You must agree that Tom was obviously in error, right? You DO sell products that are a good blend with average people who have a budget over a thousand dollars, correct? As far as posters go on here who are obviously doing business, you definitely don't push your stuff like many of the first-time posters do on here. Some of them are as bad as some guy hawking fake Rolexes out of his jacket on a streetcorner. My issue with Avigilon's business strategy is that I'm not comfortable dealing with individuals I don't know and paying them whatever they think I can afford. That is how I interpret unpublished pricing. That's fine when dealing solely with large business and/or government-only products that are sold exclusively by sealed bid but, IMHO, isn't suitable for the average guy who wants to shop around because there isn't an Avigilon corner store near him to see things in person. Avigilon's reps would therefore have to be EXTREMELY professional and trustworthy for me to be able to judge whether or not I wanted to do business with them. I'm sure that there are others on here that feel the way I do and whose need and budget fits with a system that isn't sold in a dollar store.

would u sell product for free ? would u like to do review ? I most definitely would not support my family trying to sell a product for free on here and neither should you. Unless, of course, it was a top secret national security product that was exclusively for military or homeland security. Which, of course, Avigilon's products aren't, but then I'd charge the gov't through the nose to ensure that I stayed in business and eager to provide future support. That's the benefit of capitalism. I used the language I did with Tom to show that his language was inaccurate when describing buellwinkle's situation and the reasoning behind him being denied a copy of software (or whatever else) appropriate for a homeowner or businessperson monitoring their property. I bet Avigilon has products that would fit nicely into a budget of $2000 or higher. Buellwinkle reviews products and systems in that price range or quite a bit higher in multi-camera installations. You guys are on here to promote your products, make money, and hopefully give the general public some advice in areas that you have expertise in. I don't have a problem with that at all. Thanks for the offer but I'm not in the market for an Avigilon product at this time. Perhaps later.

The national security thing is a bit over the top. They're pimping out demos to everybody with a screen name and the possibility of a profit. The unpublished price structure has only one purpose- a sliding pricing scheme where they can overcharge entities that can afford it without it being gouging while still enabling sales and profits in situations where pockets aren't infinitely deep. As for getting an unbiased review, all someone would have to do would be to log on here with a name other than buellwinkle and say they were interested in spending money. Ka-ching! Suddenly a pm would be sent without a background check. I bet a credit check would be higher on the list.