rory

Paint Shot Pro But whatever you use, like WireGuys said charge for it, unless maybe its a huge job. You could spend hours with a client and still never get the job.

I generally record motion detection, then use Continuous if there is not enough light - for example I would do motion in the day and continuous at night, on scheduled recording. For inside a store (with visible light or IR) I would just do motion detection round the clock. As mentioned 1TB is alot for 4 cameras, I would do 2 schedules, continuous AND motion detection, both round the clock. Depends on the client, I also have one that does continuous in the day and motion only at night, has light all the time but for them day time is the most important.

I used AC for the first time today since December, it was almost like Summer again

No disrespect intended JD but that does not matter, they are not out there on retail and distributor sites, and if under different brand names then would need separate forums just for those also. Either way it doesnt matter how much sales they claim they have, I would not see a reason for a sub forum until such time as there are alot of threads for them or any other brands. Its like saying we should have a sub forum for Dahua which is also not sold under Dahua in North America but instead under other brands, but I would not support that either at this time no matter how many sales they have. If anything looks like it is trending towards a sub forum it might be CNB, and they are sold at Retailers and Distributors under their name. I mean why not have a sub forum for Conexant while we are at it? But you could always ask Larry, he is the admin and makes those decisions not me. Id say if we were to do sub forums for Hikvision, then would also need to do it for alot of other brands.

Thanks I appreciate the offer, but I only buy from large distributors at this time. In fact I dont buy anything myself, the others do the purchasing so they choose who they buy from, I have no control over that.

If they are so big, then where are they? I once inquired about a card and I was directed to some "guy" in NY. Please find me a few large retailers or distributors in North America selling their cards then maybe we can look into it. On the other hand, Geovision and Avermedia are literally EVERYWHERE, and the sub forums for those cards were primarily created after the fact that there were just so many threads related to those cards that threads for any other dvr card would hardly ever show up.

Nope, no snow here boss, just alot of sun and sand

It IS a Windows 7 issue, not Geovision.

Yes the CNB are a decent choice for your budget. Adding more visible light is always better than IR anyway if possible - get a better image, and can go Color at night with enough light. If you choose to use IR then blast it with IR - not cheap though. Couple things to look at also though, the Monalisa CNB domes do not have a way to control the OSD (camera settings) other than being right at the camera. This means that if you want to change a setting after installation, like you might want to turn the AGC level up or down or adjust the Gamma, or the SBLC, then you would need to climb the ladder and remove the cover and go at it. If however you got one of their cameras with the RS485 connection you could run cat5 to that and then control the OSD as you would a PTZ, from the DVR or the software, locally or remotely. That said only a few of their Domes come with that RS485 option in North America, the Blue-i ones like the 34VF models, which are not as low light as the Monalisas, or most of their Box cameras including the Monalisa Box cameras - but these require housings for outside. One thing if you use a box camera you can then use an Aspherical lens which is not available with the Domes (that I know of), meaning the edges on a wide angle 2.8mm lens view will be clear and not blurry - set to that wide on the domes in most cases at least one side will have a little blur. The decent IR corrected Aspherical lenses are not cheap though, cost is more than half the price of the Monalisa Box camera - but this would be the better image - additionally the lens I speak of is a 3-8mm and has an F stop of 1.0 where as the Domes are 2.8-10.5 and F 1.4, so you would see a little more in low light, sacrificing some of the lens range - I find most times the domes can only be set from around 3mm anyway possibly due to backfocus/camera/lens design issues. Depends on the DVR, you may be able to add cameras per user, so for a user setup for remote video you would just enable the outdoor cameras - depends on the DVR. For example with the Dahua DVRs, you can deselect/select cameras in the User Account setup. Same with Geovision and many other DVRs. Yes that old rig would be too old, would need a new computer if you choose a DVR card. Not only due to hardware issues you may find with the older hardware, such as failing hard drives or even a bad motherboard, but newer software is designed on faster newer computers, and will generally run slow on older computer hardware. I used another variation of the CNB DVRs branded under another name, but by the same manufacturer, Indigo. Nice DVRs and solid, they work, software works, CMS GUI is fast and I even used their CMS for the other DVR as it worked better than the original manufacturer supplied software. But we had issues where the price was still too high for most of our clients here, slower recording rates and some limitations with the remote software such as less mobile phone support etc. But also no HDMI and that was a kicker after using it from another brand, for alot lower price. Still the CNBs are a solid DVR. Yes the Dahua's are a good choice for a budget DVR, and has many features some other higher end DVRs do not. Overall I am pleased with them so far, and selling them like lemonade right now, the price is so low and the product works. Also most of their units have HDMI which can be a plus. They also have support for almost every Mobile device you can think of, constant firmware and software updates fixing bugs or adding features, great support via their site or even email, and an SDK for developers available for download on their site. It could use better search features though, but for the price it has what is expected. Price is not much different from the Dahua's but is SO much more limited in features, also the quality of the local video is not that great, their network video quality is terrible. It was once a good price for a cheap DVR but we replaced them for the Dahuas which just literally blow them away now. Nuvico looks good but I never used them. The price is still too high for me, for that it has to be amazing, even Hybrid now, dont think they are. But if you have the money, they seem to be good, CMS software looks good also but I never tested it. As for Cantek, looks more like a 123 custom brand as we could never find the manufacturer's website. I cant take a chance on that, I need to know who makes them. Dont get me wrong, I use 123 and they are great, but I need direct support or contact with the manufacturer. Price is not low enough to make it worthwhile for me, I get the Dahua's for much less. If you plan to use the IR Remote control with the DVR, make sure it goes somewhere in the line of site so that will work. Most have built in IR so have limited options for that, if its an external IR then you can extend that to where you need to monitor it. IN the case of the Dahua it is built in, however it does come with a USB mouse so could always extend that if need be and use that instead of the IR Remote - quite possibly even replace that with a USB IR remote (havent tried that yet, commands would need to be programmed no idea if that is possible with the Dahua or other stand alones). I dont mean to sound like a broken record, but since you mentioned the brand, Dahua supports PC, IE, Mac, Nix, Iphone, Ipad, Android, Windows Mobile, and Blackberry. All under the downloads on their main website. Dual is nice but more expensive. But if that the way you want to go, yes Altronix have the Dual Power Supplies, or get 2 individual ones, up to you. If for example you only have 1x 12VDC camera then you could just get a 24VAC fused box then get a single plug in adapter for the 12VDC camera - in fact the retailer normally supplies this now a days for free (eg. 123). There are benefits to 24VAC as mentioned by Soundy, though I used it for years and am using mostly 12DC now, except on long runs over 200' (depends on the camera). If the runs will have enough space and you can afford it, then run both. BNCs are cheap. You can always utilize the cat5 at a later date. Headache over.

I have used the AD-2000 dialer in the past though thats for regular phone line, it can dial phones, pages, cells, etc. Some alarm panels have that feature built in though limited. But also search for UNIVERSAL CELLULAR DIALER.

The LDM-20s is basically the DFL-20s with IR and no IR Cut filter so its a color IR. no OSD, no settings. Different chipset from the VBM-24VF. The VBM-24VF work great with external IR by the way But for indoors I think that would be overkill.

Im not talking DIY, talking regular Burglar Alarm systems, all Honeywell alarms. BTW you can also use a null modem and do a direct connect to the panel.

I did this for several years, still work on the computers and software. Initially the user has to "send" the panel to you so you can get into it. Your software will have a manually set ID for that account called the CSID, once saved it then uses that ID for future connections which can then be done without them sending the panel to you.

Green is the power, using RG59 Siamese connect red and black to either side, polarity does not matter in this case. Yellow RCA jack is for a service monitor. This should have come as an add on only, in other words not previously connected to the camera. The other cable is the BNC video, put BNC connector on the end of your RG59 coax and connect that to the Camera's BNC - twist and lock. It may come focused, most times it does. This is a manual zoom camera meaning not a Pan Tilt with Zoom lens, but instead it has a varifocal lens which is manually adjustable at the camera during installation - if you adjust the zoom you have to also refocus it.

No, only some of the domes do such as the 34VF blue-i models, most of the box cameras have it.

Compass Downloader software (free), you can get a modem and also do it yourself with that. BTW the software was from Ademco days, 16 bit, still old and fragile. Dont see why its never been updated, but anyway it works.

I installed Raymax white LEDs for a client .. never again .. the price is WAY too much and the light output is not close to IR or a dusk to dawn. I dont know, I havent replaced my dusk to dawn bulb or photo sensor in 10 years now. In any event, Im only talking about 1 in my case

well i love my dusk to dawn and not about to replace it with some measily little LED http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KE9f8Z3bjs

Hmm, good idea but I don't have one of those. I'm not sure we could see it as it happens so quickly, I notice it on playback on the computer. I'll add that to the list of things to try this weekend, we could drag an old CRT TV down from upstairs and use that? If it would work better I could just hook it up to the HDTV. Ive never seen it as mentioned .. even snapshot from a video, and I playback video all the time .. unless its like a car going really fast.

What does it look like plugged into a service monitor?

anything from the 60's and below but recall, when i lived in NY we were sun bathing in the low 40's One adapts to their surroundings. Here we really dont have seasons. 2 months of cold around New years then thats it, 80-100 rest of the year.

LOL .. ive shoveled snow before you know ... I lived in NY .. also the UK. But yes although it has been cold for us lately, Its not so bad right now.

Thats the only reason I like the Turret domes.. has the split window like the bullets. Most are just 12VDC though, difficult to turn all the way to the right or left, or hard to adjust the lens if needed.

What are the odds that cameras have back doors by design or otherwise? Fairly high, I would guess. Best, Christopher Windows by default is a security risk. If they can gain access to an IP camera .. they can certainly gain access to the NVR (unless its setup properly)

120/100 FPS @ 1080i comes with 4 TB HDD .. guess $1000 per HDD