mattaggie

Solar powered and good flood light just don't go together. Solar powered flood lights do exist, but they just wont be anywhere near as good as a traditional flood light using hardwired electricity. Can you install flood lights near where you would mount your camera? Cameras can be set to ignore motion in certain areas. You can also change the sensitivity to motion in different areas. You should be able to find some type of pole at any home improvement type place. Electrical conduit, fence pole, steel tubing, etc.

The one aspect of your system that is going to be tough is license plate reading within your budget. A good IP can get license plates during the day, but not at night. For that you need an LPR (license plate recognition) camera and those can be pricey. Remote view and mobile app is pretty standard these days with any brand. I think PTZ is over rated because who has time to constantly monitor cameras and move them around. Also, they cost more.

This is a tough one, long distance and no electricity. As far as how to get a camera there, you could use an "IP over Coaxial" device, which can go much longer distances than Cat5. http://www.amazon.com/Etherstretch-Cameras-Over-Extender-EL1500C/dp/B009PHC88Q/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1458401148&sr=8-7&keywords=ip+over+coaxial I'm not sure how you would open the gate.

I suggest you hire a company to handle this. Just google "camera security Houston" there are lots of choices.

I think you should be able to because I at one time had a 1480B card which is 16 channels and I was using 8 analogue connected to the card and probably 20 IP cameras. 32 cameras was my limit. You may need to update to the latest software. http://www.geovision.com.tw/english/5_8.asp

Personally I'd just run new cat5 cable so that you can install an IP system. It is possible to use your current cabling but you'd have to buy SDI cameras and SDI DVR. That would get you 1080p. I know you probably don't want to re-run cables, but doing so would set you up for the 21st century and beyond. Coaxial limits what you can do.

First piece of advice is drop the capture card and just go with IP cameras. Only get a PTZ camera if someone is going to be monitoring the camera and making adjustments to it. Many people think they want a PTZ but someone has to be actively monitoring the camera for PTZ aspects to be used. Also realize a good outdoor PTZ is going to cost you, well over $1000. Also, getting a PTZ may restrict the ways you can mount it. You are wanting to mount sideways and that may not work with a PTZ. It may not be designed to keep out water when mounted on its side. A dome or bullet camera can be mounted any which way.

Tried using latest version 15.10 of VMS. It kept crashing on me. Called Geovision and they tried to help but kept saying they have no record of complaints, so they didn't know what to do. They thought the latest version worked out all the bugs. I did 3 "deep" uninstalls, and never could get it to work right. Going back to NVR/DRV program. It wasn't pretty, but it was reliable.

I'd invest in something to physically keep the tools safe. Even if you get them on camera, there is no guarantee that stops them from taking tools or leads to an arrest. In my retail store I have an $8,000 robbery all on camera and that hasn't helped a bit in getting back my stuff or catching thieves. Cameras are wonderful for many reasons, but the only way to guarantee no theft is to lock it up. How are you gonna get a good nights sleep constantly investigating alarms going off on your phone? So many things can trigger motion like bugs, changes in light, trees blowing in the wind, etc. I hate to sound so negative, I just think you're going to go to a lot of trouble and its not going to be the answer to your problem.

I've always been of the opinion that I want my cameras to be seen. I think its a deterrent. Personally Ive never equated cameras with nice stuff inside. Im sure plenty of crappy houses have cameras (probably because the area is bad).

Never used this camera but I don't see why you have to use the wall mount arm. This camera by itself is rated as "IP66 weather-proof protection." I use geovision dome cameras and have never used an additional mount arm. Also be aware that I don't think using wall mount or not makes any difference on thief's ability to steal camera. I doubt the camera can simply be unscrewed off. It attaches in a more complicated/secure way. But with the right tools, the camera can be stolen with or without wall mount.

like you said, its 2016. Build an IP system. As far as bandwidth issues go, you put camera system on its own network and you will have no troubles.

Style of camera doesn't play into your issue. It has to do with the lens you get. You probably want to get a variable lens so you can play around with what angle suits you best. So something like 3mm-9mm. Since you are trying to monitor the garage which will be directly below the camera, you'll end up using a pretty wide angle view, much closer to 3mm than 9mm.

it says 90 degree viewing angle. That's pretty wide, so probably 2.8mm lens. 25FPS at 1080p. Personally I'd look into getting an IP system rather than analog.

How will this system connect to the internet? In my opinion, the headache of trying to manage this system is going to outweigh the headache of occasional stolen tools.

Pretty much any system can do that these days, so long as you have internet at your house.

That's an analog system. I'd invest my time and money into building an IP system. Do you currently have a newish PC that you could use as an NVR? All you'd have to do is add a hard drive and a network card. Then you just buy a POE switch and the cameras you want. I too am a small business owner and have never been happy with the systems I had installed in the past. When you build the system yourself, you can handle any problem or make any adjustments to it. There is a learning curve, but once you get it, its very rewarding.

Personally I would separate the networks. You'd just need to buy another switch and change the IP address to the NVR to a different subset. So if the main network is 192.168.1.xxx, make the camera network 192.168.0.xxx

definitely go IP. If there is any lag, its only a few seconds at most. Also, you cant watch 24/7, that's why you record the cameras. Even if you see someone doing it, how are you going to "catch" them? I'm assuming they will just run away when you walk outside. I have a retail store, and even when we see someone shop lifting, they typically just walk out and don't acknowledge us. Unless you're willing to get physical, it comes down to letting the police search for them.

to clarify, are the cameras on their own network or are cameras on the same network with everything else like PCs? NVR bandwith is determined by the network card. Its either 100MBPS or 1GBPS (1000MBPS). If it is a 100MB, it can easily and cheaply be upgraded to a 1GB card.

I don't think that camera is POE. Also seems overpriced for a simple cube camera. Im not sure what the picture would look like viewing through the window, but all you could do is try it. Outdoor mounted camera would def be better, but its obviously a little more complicated to install. I'd do an outdoor dome camera mounted underneath the over hang to the right or left of your window. Something like this http://www.amazon.com/Hikvision-Multi-language-DS-2CD2132F--Camera-1080P/dp/B018TZN3VA/ref=sr_1_1?s=photo&ie=UTF8&qid=1455687083&sr=1-1&keywords=hikvision+3mp+dome+4mm

I use Geovision, so I cant really comment on the brands your looking at. Attaching the Ethernet ends isn't rocket science, but it does take a bit of practice. The only downside to buying pre-made cables is it may be easier to run cables that don't have a head. The head obviously makes the holes you go through need to be bigger than if it were just cable. That may or may not be an issue for your installation. Its not a bad skill to learn to be able to crimp on RJ45 ends.

call geovision support. they are very helpful. 1-949-583-1519

when you say remote viewing, do you mean on another computer on the same network or a computer a a different location all together? Multi-view is for viewing cameras when the server is on the same network. Also, Geovision has a better program for that now, called Edge Recording Manager. And there is a Mac version. http://www.geovision.com.tw/english/5_8_VMS.asp

You are confusing what resolution the cameras record at and the resolution that the software can output to the monitor. If you watch a 360p video on youtube on your 1080p monitor, it doesn't make the video 1080p. For what you are wanting, you should have gone with an IP system. Live and learn.