cctv_down_under

You will need what is known as a DATA/VIDEO Fibre Mux, you can buy units that will mux 4 cams and one data (for PTZ) onto one or two fibres (usually two) make sure you get one with a return data option for the signal to return to the keyboard. 4 Cameras go in and either your 232 or 485 signal (or you can use a 485 to 232 converter before entering the mux, the main reason is most fibre gear does 232 not 485) and this will go onto either one Multimode Fibre or two fibres depending on the model, failing that you can probably use telephone lines to transmit your keyboard signal between buildings as it is cheaper to buy a standard 4 way fibre mux, keep in mind for every mux you need a decoder at the other end.

My suggested would be webservers with Dual Layer streaming connected to hard wired sensors, in this way you can use a NVR recording and Management package but transmit at very low quality MPEG4 for bandwidth reasons. With Dual Streaming you can store on the webserver (yes thats right kiddies onboard HDD) the higher quality recording and in this way only retrieve high end video upon request or actual alarm event (sensor etc). These solutions are not cheap but they do allow for manageble bandwidth because even the I frames etc can be manipulated and the Data transfer can be concise, it will also allow for motion only transmit to the NVM and NVR suites. Probably not within your budget but, at most points you wont need a DVR so you may actually save.

My opinion is that you would be well suited with almost any of those cameras, I think what you need to consider first is: How long are you going to use it for? The longer you want to use the system then the better quality you should buy. In a room of that size you really are not going to have to worry about resolution, however Rory is correct in saying that the end result will depend on the quality of your recording, luckily you will not need to store months of data, so high qulaity settings will be able to be used without great expense. In a room with constant light you can use almost anything, but consider if the light will change, will a door open for instance, are there any windows, shadows etc. If this is the case then go for a good quality camera, I have tried both of the cameras you suggested, The GE is reasonable and the Bosch good but grainy under low light (night sense) mind you most cameras do not even have this low light feature at that price scale, so it is a good feature all the same. Black and White will give best resolutions but I bet your wife will not be happy with it, Full Body cams will work better but in your case a Dome would be all that you need and easier to mount. I do prefer a good recess mounted full body camera anyday and sensors in full body cams are rarely smaller than 1/3" which is not always the case with dome cameras. Do not buy a cheapo bullet, it may work fine now, but give it some time! Good luck with the Pups!

I am not saying I am right but imagine if I made a negative remark, pretended to be someone else by using a dummy username and listed a PH number of the person I wanted to pretend to be. I think websites are a completely different situation, I can see advantages both ways but I must say it is not hard to PM and why does every person in the world need to see your number when you can make it private. I can only assume that people who want their numbers to appear are not merely trying to assist one person or they would PM that person, therefore it is more an advertisement than an assistance and I do not think this is why this forum exists in the first place but like I mentioned I can see both sides of the decision being positive.

If that is your requirements then I may not be able to help, the main unit I was talking about handles 30Ch Analogue and 32 I.P. Inputs the main problem you will have is that this unit can only record the video at 2 x Ciff and only 12.5Fps for analogue, the I.P. will be as fast as your network allows and although it can stream MPEG2 at 1024x768 it will only record at 2 ciff (I think) if you use the Hybrid DVR. There is always DVtel and VCS (now known as Bosch I.P.) with these units you purchase a NVMS (network video management server) and a NVRS (network video recording server) which is obviously much more expensive than one Hybrid DVR unit. The other cost problem is the fact that with NVR type software you need a license for every remote connection but with the Hybrid DVR you can simply use a Web Browser for free! The Hybrid DVR will do the speeds for I.P. that you need and the display you want but will not give you the full frame you need, the only way to do that is to go NVR!

Thomas will be back on soon. I have a mental image of him pedling a bike to generate electricity to make his post!

I would not bother with the GV1000 I am yet to see one run at its fully rated speed even at 320x240 Resolution, if the hardware compression board is almost as cheap I certainly know what I would choose. I do not agree with anyone robbing anybody, but keep in mind that, we really do not make much money anymore and expenses are expenses, on some jobs you nearly need to sell your soul just to make a few bucks to survive and somehow through the year you are going to have to get that money back. I am not condoning expensive prices but not every company does this kind of work full time and they can afford to be very cheap because they are used to working on I.T. margins so they get excited about undercuting an existing market. I am no fool I.T. will take over this industry but lets keep the price up so that we can all make a living. I know this will draw some flak, but sometimes you go in with a figure because you do not want the job and occasionally you get the job.

My thoughts are that Ph Numbers do not need to appear, if something goes wrong or things are said or things are done it is cleaner to not associate any persons number with these posts. Obviously everybody has been recieveing PM's with people trying to sell stuff, so let that happen, it is just as easy to PM someone as it is to post, so lets keep it private and keep this forum clean from advertisement.

Do not feel bad about asking questions, that is how we all learnt this trade, I am sure we could not walk in and do your trade, this is a forum and that is what questions are for!

Perhaps you should consider if the upgrade is really going to give you that much of an improvemnt in features that you will ACTUALLY use?

I remember trying to get this feature to work for a client and an error came on the screen saying only the sensormatic dome will work. In my opinion it is not all that accurate in the first place, I have tried the Bosch version that is included in the camera and it will not work well outdoors (there is simply too much movement) and I have heard that Panasonic now includes it in its PTZ's but with the same failing. The only way I can see it work is to use hardware detectors to trigger PTZ movement, otherwise the only working demo's you will see will be demo's done indoors without any shadows!

I have to agree with the above postings (why am I posting then I hear you ask? Hermy won't let me into the Dealer section until I contribute more ): Extreme makes an excellent range of IR light lamps, the UF500 is used all around the world and using two of these together will leave you with a result nothing short of incredible, the lower voltage UF100 will work well over shorter distances, you are going to need deep pockets to purchase these lamps and they will need to be replaced therefore it is sometimes better to put in motion activated lighting. When using IR light be sure your camera can remove the IR filter to allow for this range of light and make sure that you use IR corrected lenses that allow not only this light to pass, but allow for a shift in focus when this wavelength is introduced. As for the areas you want to cover, think of these lamps as cameras, you can put lenses on them to make it wider or longer and there are many to choose from, you will also have to consider if you want the more powerfull "red glow" or the invisable and less powerfull option. In my opinion Panasonic and Bosch make the best of the removable IR Filter cameras and both sell IR corrected lenses.

1/ You really should read the specs, you will damage the camera if you try to give it 24Vac and it only does 12Vdc. 2/ 24Vac is better for longer runs as the signal does not have such high and low troughs and therefore can run longer distances without losing signal. 3/ Normally a B/W signal is a signal that is not making 1v Pk to Pk try using a Distribution Amplifier or making sure your monitor is terminated. 4/ I do not think Kobi makes any cameras they simply OEM so it is probably not a reputable branding.

My opinion is that Panasonic make some of the best cameras in the world, I have used quite a few of them without any problems, I might add though that if I had a choice I would not use them, quite simply because of the cost. I have also used a lot of Pelco cameras and can honestly say that Pelco's PTZ range are very easy to use, there are products out there just as good at cheaper pricing though.

Awesome, I learnt heaps! thank you that was very informative and not too technical although I would indeed be keen to learn how to splice fibre

I do not do much in the way of IR. I actually prefer not to if it is avoidable put quite simply; most people can not afford the price for that kind of quality component and I refuse to use those budget IR cameras, so I usually suffice with a higher priced low light camera that allows IR light for example a camera that has a removable filter. There are not too many situations that require much more than this but I have done a lot of expensive houses that back onto water and water is not good for reflecting light at night time so using either the UF100 or the UF500 always gets amazing results!

Thats Gold....Thanks I will try it!

Got it. Thank you very much indeed!

The UF500 is certainly the best IR i have seen yet, I particulary like using two of them at once, it really is almost too brght in some cases. You should be carefull to select a good B/W camera when using IR lighting or a camera with an excellent dynamic range as the contrast differences can be very extreme with IR lighting. As for fog, there are at least two cameras in the market that can actually see thtrough a smoke filled or fog laden environment, they can do this due to their ability to increase the contrast level.

My opinion is that you first need to calculate your lux level and your scene reflectance (am I the only person who uses a digital camera to get this reading?), sometimes spending money ona good "Day Night" camera is all that is needed, it would be pretty rare that you would actually need IR Lighting to get a result. I have found the best IR lighting equipment to be Extreme CCTV, they have several options and several different lens options which can spread the IR beam either short and wide or long and narrow, the best of these would be the UF500 or the UF100 (less voltage), I would only use this equipment if you are using a True B/W camera or a REAL Day Night camera with the filter removal option that Rory mentioned. Lens F-Stop will also be a contributing factor, the camera you showed with that link, will be ok for a life of 12 months and will work ok on a small narrow beam for about 6', remember that when choosing the correct IR equipment you also need to consider the nm value, there are usually three options, ranging from Bright Red to Invisable and the perfomance is better with the Burning Red Glow (even if you could sunbake next to one) I would not buy that camera option for inside and would buy a camera with removable filter and a IR Lens, this means if you really need the IR later you can add it and you can still take advantage of the moonlight IR.

I have mainly used Cisco on larger jobs, I have never had a problem with them at all, excepting needing technical support in a hurry. I only have a DLINK router at home, but it has served me very well indeed but I would have to agree with Thomas that the DLINK is good but for home use only. I find Cisco very easy to use and most of their equipment follows the same pattern.

I must say I was hoping to be able to get that presentation, do you have another link for that, it becomes increasingly hard to explain the cost benefits to end users of using network equipment that can support Multicasting Packets

I have seen the Geovision units and they look quite good, the best thing is that you will only need to give them access to the HTML server, so they can hardly wreck the software. Keep in mind that it is the Up speed that matters more than the down and I agree to stear away from cheaper cameras, another option would be to offer each person a wireless internet connection (if it is legal to share) and also offer them a web server hardware device, this way you can still record for them and they can use the device themselves to look at things as well as them feeling glad that it is mounted on their own property, this should also remove the need for public mounting of devices and long range lenses.

The first thing you need to achieve is to make sure your Internet Provider will give you a Static I.P. address. When you are on the net your address can change unless you ask for a static one, you wouldn't ask the mailman to try to deliver you mail if you ket changing places so that is the first step. This address will need to go into your router (obviously you will have to do this before you can view the internet at all), this address bocomes the main address, almost like a front door to a shopping centre. Obviously a shopping centre has many shops and many places you can go (unless of course you are like me and only shop for clothes) so when you get to the front point you need to look at the map (routing table- a set of rules in the router telling you where to go) decide what you want and follow the directions (rules) to get there. If you wanted to see the doctor in a shopping centre then you would still go to the first address but then you would have a second address to go to, this is called an internal address, however internal addresses can also change so we also need to make that static. What I am trying to say is that many things contact your router (front adress) and your router needs to tell those elements where they need to go to get to see whom they need to see (which computer on the network and what I.P. address) it does this through rules and ascertaining your purpose at first. When the router recieves information from the outside it happens on several ports (several front doors) and depending on which door the information comes in the router then uses its port forwarding rules to direct it to the correct relating internal I.P. Look in your router settings for "Port Forwarding" it is sometimes hidden under the Firewall section, from there direct your ports that your DVR uses to connect to the I.P. of the DVR on your network.

May I ask if this is done through Multicasting? Rory, As long as you can establish a good wireless network you should have no problems other than the limits that the NVR has on incoming and outgoing traffic. There are plenty of DVR's now that actually allow for the use of both I.P. and Analogue Cameras, these are usually more cost efficient than using a fully fledged NVR becuase they usually include a HTML server for free, rather than having to pay a license fee, most are well over 50ch so this may help with your solution.