myiicu

Install/mount a camera to cover your front door and install/mount another camera to cover your front yard ASAP. Install wiring, set up recording later. These cameras will be an immediate deterrent. Nobody but you will know if the cameras are wired/recording or not...

I recommend Belden 549945 Siamese cable for most analog camera installations. http://www.belden.com/techdatas/metric/549945.pdf Belden cable is very consistent and reliable. Comes in black or white and footage is sequentially marked every 2 feet. If you choose another brand, make sure the solid center conductor is pure copper and not copper coated steel or copper coated aluminum. (Check center conductor with magnet and knife/sandpaper) Also, power/twisted pair must be 18 AWG.

Try mounting the camera to the top of a pvc outdoor utility box. This should "add" some height and help reduce IR reflections. Separate IR illumination is the best. Disconnect internal IR board and add separate IR illumination away from camera. Moths, flies and spiders love IR leds...

Check your Exposure Mode, Auto Iris, and Day/night Mode Settings. Does focus shift problem occur when in auto exposure mode as well? Also, manual exposure mode might disable day/night settings.

The Fujinon DV4x12.5SR4A-SA1 is a manual iris lens. Use auto iris lens to correct focus shift...

Fire the Owl!!!

A commercial IP camera with frame rate over 60fps will be difficult to find. The Axis Q1615 is rated at 60fps. Shutter time = 1/143,000 to 2 sec http://www.axis.com/files/datasheet/ds_q16_59000_en_1502_lo.pdf

The Samsung SNB-5000 is a 1.3MP IP Box camera with 1/3" CCD and True Day/Night (ir cut filter) The SLA-550DA is Auto Iris and 1/3" lens but is not MP rated so the image might not be sharp and edges/corners might be fuzzy. That lens is not ir corrected or Day/Night rated so images might be good in daylight but fuzzy under low light. Also, specs show F1.4 not F1.8 (lower F is better for low light)

Lasers are effective for nocturnal /active in low-light birds such as geese and crows. http://aviandissuader.com/

A 2% slope is recommended for burial conduit containing high current conductors that has not been derated. In this case, the higher temperatures might cause some condensation to build up and a slope would be good to help drain any condensate. Because of the low current requirements of CCTV, I have not had to worry about derating. If possible go big diameter with conduit to avoid heat buildup and allows for future expansion.

Not too sure about an all in one guide to trenching/burial/conduit for CCTV. Try searching terms on this forum for valuable opinions and comments. Electrical and building codes vary from town to town and state to state. Related threads... viewtopic.php?f=6&t=40070&hilit=burial viewtopic.php?f=6&t=38559&hilit=burial If all else fails, google works for me. A good place to start is trenching safety for some basic notes. Don't forget to notify your local utilites companies to mark and locate your buried wiring/water/gas lines first before you start any digging. Most municipalities do not charge for this service.

Pvc conduit must be installed properly to ensure that water cannot enter into the joints. All connections must be sanded, deburred and glued with correct solvent. Slope is not required for conduit.

SF300 is 10/100. SG300 is 10/100/1000. What model do you have?

I use Avigilon VMS for my time lapse projects. Avigilon's software is easy to set up and help reduce time consuming editing. I stitch and do final edits in QuickTime Pro. Regardless of the system you choose, make sure cameras are mounted very solid. Any small movement from wind/cleaning will be noticed in your time lapse.

How many Cisco SF300's do you have in your network? The Cisco SG500 has a capacity of 41.67mpps and a switching capacity of 72Gbps. The Cisco SF300 has a capacity of only 9.52mpps and a switching capacity of only 12.8Gbps. You will notice improvement by removing this bottleneck in your network.

What is the night-time lighting like? Do you have street lamps or motion lamps? Most 360 degree/fisheye lens cameras are terrible in low light conditions, so you will need some external lighting for sure. Hikvision has a new fisheye camera with built in IR. http://www.hikvision.com/en/us/products.asp?cid=270514 http://www.hikvision.com/UploadFile/image/2014061108302335283.pdf Have not tested this model yet.. Your best option is mounting a minimum of 2 low light dome cameras to cover that corner effectively.

Mounting a camera behind glass is not recommended. Reflections and light leakage is hard to control. Also, glass makes it difficult for a clean and professional look. An external mounted camera (dome, bullet or covert) with IP66 rating is best. Here is a related thread... viewtopic.php?f=53&t=31581&hilit=window+glare

Most cameras cannot handle both bright lights and low light equally well. Cameras that are optimized for wide dynamic range are good for bright light conditions but not so good for low light conditions. Also, cameras that are optimized for low light are good for low light conditions but not so good for bright light conditions. The new Q3505-VE from Axis offers the best of both worlds with optimization and auto switching for both bright light and low light conditions. http://www.axis.com/products/q35_series/index.htm http://www.axis.com/files/datasheet/ds_q3505_v_ve_58180_en_1408_lo.pdf The colors and blacks look much better on the Avigilon bullet than the Sony camera...

http://www.engadget.com/2014/11/12/DJI-Inspire-4k/ http://www.dji.com/product/inspire-1?ncid=txtlnkusaolp00000618 http://www.dji.com/product/dji-lightbridge

If I can't get the 4K camera, I want the machine gun option...

Samsung SCB-4000 Box camera is nice. http://astrovideoforum.proboards.com/thread/16/samsung-scb-4000-screen-grabs http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/113265-snaps-from-my-scb-4000/ http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=72230

Sony's ViewDR (WDR) is very good. Sony's low light capability is not so good. Avigilon's Lightcatcher is very good for low light conditions.

Hikvision has just announced a new Ultra Low Light 2MP IP Box Camera with DarkFighter. DS-2CD6026FHWD. http://www.hikvision.com/en/Press-Release-details.asp?id=2619 Some new features are: 2MP 1/2" progressive scan cmos image sensor 120dB WDR 1080p @ 60fps Color 0.002 Lux B/W 0.0002 Lux 11.0mm-40mm or 3.8mm-16mm lens. The final specs pending approvals, should be released next month. No ETA on shipping yet...

cliff369 found this.. viewtopic.php?f=19&t=38272&hilit=lightcatcher

Bosch makes the best IR illuminators. Their 940nm IR illuminators are true covert and not visible to the human eye. http://us.boschsecurity.com/us_product/02_products_3/st_bu_f_277305_tams_catalog_prod_us/st_section_f_278110_tams_catalog_prod_us/st_chapter_p_278110_tams_catalog_prod_us_277896 http://resource.boschsecurity.com/documents/AEGIS_UFLED_IR_Data_sheet_enUS_1750994571.pdf Raytec 940nm IR illuminators are not true covert and is visible to the human eye.