Mr. Anonymous

Even the white balance/sharpness looks better on the mini ir dome. I do not think these WDAC's have an IR CCD or else I would just use an IR flood light. As far as lenses the manual says they accept C & CS type lenses, the one I have is a CS. Maybe I can just get a cheap fisheye for a few of them I think the adapter rings are for 16mm and 8mm lenses? (manual does not say) I assume the F & N stand for far and near focus? The C & O for open and closed iris? T & W though?? This lens seems best suited indoors in a set lighting environment like stores because of that manual iris....my Hitachi VK-C77U has an auto iris but I do not think it is working it stays over exposed all day. You can buy these for about $40-$50 that power up to 8 cameras so I was thinking about just buying a 120VAC-to-24VAC 50/60hz transformer and wiring it up myself because the transformer costs $10-$15 But for $20 I can but one of these...which would you use?? This block can run more then one camera anyway @50w right?

My friend has a box of these WDAC-5700C's sitting in his closet, they are used but all in the box I can probably get them dirt cheap. Only thing is he only has one lens and it is not even the right lens for the camera (with the cable) but it fits and seems to be a higher quality lens. Are the rest of them useless without the lens? They all include 2 adapter rings...does anyone have any opinions, comments, experience with them? Must be comparable to my Hitachi VK-C77U??

That is quite the step up from $2 haha it must convert the signal/resolution I may just try one of these cheap PCI cards that support video input I have laying around.

So I got fed up with the brightness and the lack of knowledge here...bought an adapter to connect the camera to one of my computer monitors (I only have 2 HDMI and 1 VGA input) so I bought this cable on eBay for $2 I connected the BNC to the composite with an BNC-to-Composite adapter and the monitor does nothing; no signal. So I tried going from BNC-Composite-SVIDEO then an SVIDEO cable from the adapter to the SVIDEO on the VGA cable...monitor would flash quickly something about the resolution it was hard to read. My monitors are 1920x1080 so I tried on a 17" 4:3 with no results!

Let me start by stating the intentions of my design, basically I'm just a techy person so it's a gadget/novelty but I do have some true need. I live in a good neighborhood however I think my neighbor is up to no good he comes and goes at all hours of the night so I hear a car door outside my window and have to look every time to make sure it's not someone jumping out of a car to mess with my truck which contains a lot of valuable electronics. Besides for that minor threat doorway surveillance/etc is just a convenience so I'm going to start on a small budget with this, here are some photos to help you get a better idea of my property. This view is out of a middle window on the second floor: I set up a full D1 Hitachi VK-C77U in the basement window if you look in the blue circle, this is zoomed in and framed up wit the windshield and doors for a clear face shot and identification: I would like a birds eye view of the area surrounding my truck so I'm thinking about mounting a camera in the blue circle, it would hide well behind the gutter: The same birds eye view location could mount a second camera (see blue circle) to monitor the doorway activity on both floors, face identification on second floor...both of these being cheap D1 cameras: Motion lights will be in use, possibly not on the stairway but at such a close range the camera IR might be strong enough for the second floor door which is approximately 5ft away. I won't put the motion lights for my truck next to the birds eye view camera for range purposes but on the opposite corner of the house which is closer to my truck. Anyone have some advise and/or opinions?

What?

I have a bunch of TTL high frequency 75 ohm cable laying around and this cheap small black and white camera so I'm going to mount it in a tree in front of my house on the sidewalk really stealth like: I am going to hollow out this scared branch crotch and drill a hole for the lens out the front where the dead wood is. That way it can be screwed onto the tree in front of my house, I removed all the useless IR LEDs that were consuming power and heating up the unit now it runs much cooler...I just need to waterproof the casing and I am good to go (the cam was free anyway eve if it lasts a year it's only black and white but sharp). The question now is can I run a 35ft wire between the AC/DC adapter and the camera to keep from having wall voltage in a tree??

Are you saying cold weather will make a cable "fail" rather than just become interfered? I connected a red to the black on one end with the black going to my TV on the other end and the camera on the red to make an 80-100ft loop and I had zero quality loss.

*BUMP* Sooo...what to do? If 75-ohm makes it brighter/more washed out then do I up up in ohms or down in ohms to correct this problem? 50-ohm? 100-ohm?

Started working today for some reason and I added a 75ohm resistor IT MADE IT BRIGHTER! Who suggested that because it made it more washed out...

I'm adding some peace of mind with a chain-link fence I got for free I just had to take it down and move it, the fence is 7ft tall but I will be burying 1ft of it so it will be 6ft tall from ground level. This is an angle you have not seen yet, which is where the fence will go continuing where the neighbors brown wood fence left off: This is a 10 year old satellite photo, the house looks nothing like this anymore tons of trees have been removed, the pine tree no longer exists, we have a new roof, more driveways, a parking pad out back, etc. I have highlighted the neighbors brown wood fence in red: The red lines I added are the chain-link fence and gate, no need to go all the way to the road just far enough away from the basement door to allow the gate to swing inward without blocking it. This leaves the other side of my yard open which is a bit of a trek and you would have to sneak by an old ***y lady that sits in her kitchen downstairs so this alleyway side is all I'm concerned about plus just making it even harder to see my truck from the road than it already is: The gate will be 10ft wide split style between two 5ft gates, fully automated with pulleys, spindles and electric motors. I plan on doing a magnetic strip on my truck with two sensors, one up by the road and another on my parking pad so it opens before I reach it and closes when I park:

No I haven't only because I hear it click when I unplug it which must be the shutter springing shut. Maybe I could try shortening the power cable which is way too long and possibly picking up interference?

I haven't been able to find an Axis 2400 for under $150 Over the winter/now spring I have been having an issue with this camera, it just goes MIA some days. Unplugging and plugging it back in does nothing it just works when it wants to but I know it's getting power because when I unplug it I can hear it click. Temp seems to have nothing to do with it, my TV will just show no signal...I have a new thoughts maybe you guys can help me with. I have not added the 75ohm resistor yet to knock down the brightness do you think that will help this signal issue? Remember it's run to a TV composite input (BNC-to-Composite). My other idea was the cable is too long; it's 60ft but I probably only need 40-50 so I was thinking about trying to shorten one end? The only thing I have not tried yet is bringing a TV down there and trying the S-video output when it wont work to make sure it's still putting out signal...

I got the camera up and running on a live feed base only for the time being, connected to a 19" LCD television using this cheap $12 cable. There is no interference but I do need a 75 Ohm resistor because the highs are blown out: Someone mentioned something about spiders being a common problem, well even inside since it is in my basement I am already having that issue since they like to trap things at the windows. I read they smell though their feet and they hate oranges, limes, lemons; citrus. So I soaked the dried out window frame in this super orange cleaner and it sucked it right in, this stuff leaves your hands smelling like oranges for days! The system is still completely useless after nightfall, and my grandmothers bedroom is downstairs on the corner facing my truck so a motion light will bother her at light. I will go with infrared floodlight(s) at a future date, possibly home built to save some money and end up with a better product.

Ohh that makes sense, sounds like a cheap fix. I found the solution to the spider problem, they don't like oranges, limes, lemons; citrus because they smell through their feet. The wooden window frame in the basement is really old and dried up so I sprayed some of this super orange cleaner on the wood and it sucked it right up. This stuff will make your hands smell like oranges for days: Besides for the blown out highs the image is sharp and this is a photo of the TV:

They look like a BNC cap, I Googled them. Are they a BNC-to-Composite adapter with a resistor in it? Also, I'm having a problem with spiders on the basement window which is where the camera is. Any remedies I can brew up to spray on the window that spiders do not like?

SO I tried the cheap cable, it works! I installed it with a staple gun and held it loosely so that the cable was snug but it could still be moved. I don't really see any noise or interference however if you look really closely the highs/light spots have a very slight flicker, I couldn't even really call it a flicker it's so slight. However the highs are very blown out, if I manually control the iris then sunset and night won't be correct. Also when I switch my TV to it's coaxial input my camera does not always come up sometimes it takes a few seconds for some reason even though the L1 text/label is smaller then normal which indicates to me as if it's getting signal immediately but possibly it's weak?? Now I'm not sure if this could be the problem but I accidentally stapled through the wire pretty close between the core and shield so I'm thinking maybe a strand or two of the shield is touching the core, is there a way to rule this out maybe with a multi-meter?

*peace of mind* nobody is going to expect a driveway alarm, there is no other reason to jump the fence it would complicate things. I also planned on making the alarms stealth so you can't detect their presence. I'm going to start with these cams I'm on a tight budget.

lol Canon SD980IS it's just a point to shoot 12.1MP but I use it on manual and most the photos are heavily Photoshopped.

Possibly florescent lights but as far as 120v power I should be okay, we will see.

I found a box of 500ft good quality 95% copper with power leads for $100 shipped, so just to get up and running I was thinking about trying the $15 cord then when I get another cam re-running all copper RG59. What kind of problems can I expect with the cheap cord?

That's what this bad boy is for at ground level framed up with my truck but if someone knew in advance they could easily come in from the side and stand in front of it. The other high camera for the door will work well but the lower stair case is just a plus within the frame; not of concern. That leaves the high camera on my truck but that is just for a wider angle further around the truck than a ground level can capture.

Well the blue circle IS under the eave and accessible from the top of the stairs (both blue circles are the same spot) but I see what you mean...so more like mount it where the red circle is? I was looking into the driveway alarms, I think one for each red line will work sufficiently beaming off the house. Other zones of the house and doorways will be a future thought:

RG-6 right??

I'm having a hard time finding pure copper core 95% copper shielding... any suggestions?