hiigaran

Is there any specific name for the mounting point of the camera, or do I just look for 'universal'? I'm in Sweden, so I'm going to have to look around for distributors that can deliver to me.

I have three outdoor cameras enclosed in GH-F24 enclosures (old age has worn out the brand name, but I think it says GANZ), and for about a year now, the plastic at the front has been cracked, which interferes with what the cameras see. Over time, the cracks have grown in size, and it's now at a point where it needs to be replaced. However, as someone new to CCTVs, I have no idea what is a suitable replacement. I'm going to assume that I can't simply take any enclosure, due to potential incompatibilities with securing a camera within it, etc. So what do you folks recommend that is similar to this model? The enclosures must be able to withstand -30 or -40 degree temperatures.

Both ZoneMinder and iSpy should be able to handle as many cameras as you can throw at them.

Couldn't get my old NV5000 card to work on Windows 8. iSpy showed nothing on the video feed, but it looks like a driver issue, since VLC couldn't play any footage either. So, looking around some more for cards, the next best option I could find is about 2.5 times more expensive to buy, compared to the PCI card I linked earlier, but two of these on PCIe should work fine, no? http://www.dinodirect.com/jvs-c960e-audio-and-video-compression-card-monitoring-card-monitoring-card-960-times-576-wd1-p8092512.html I'm hoping they will work with iSpy, because if not...well, let's just say that I hope Chinese isn't the only available language for the software it comes with. Apparently it's compatible with Windows 7, but so far I haven't been able to determine whether it works on Windows 8. I suppose if worse comes to worse, I could 'obtain' a copy of W7, but hopefully I wouldn't have to resort to that. EDIT: Or how about this: http://www.prylstaden.se/kameraovervakning/overvakningskort-pci-16-kanaler-25fps Exactly how bad is this PCI bandwidth limitation? If the only PCI card(s) are DVR cards, how much bandwidth is actually required?

I downloaded the NV5000 drivers from the product page below: http://www.averusa.com/surveillance/support/downloads.asp?product=NV5000%20Card Unfortunately, there's no Windows 8 driver, since it has been discontinued. However, I ran the driver setup in compatibility mode for Windows 7, and it seemed to work. So I opened up iSpy and tried to add the cameras as local. Under the video device list, there are 4 DVR Audio Source options, and 4 DVR Video Source options. However, there are supposed to be 8 video source options, since there are 8 video inputs. At the very least, there should be six, since that's how many cameras are connected. Either way, I continued and added all the Video Source devices on that list, but I just get four camera feeds that are completely black. They aren't shown as disconnected, either. Ideas?

I gave up on trying to get ZoneMinder to work. Linux gives me a headache. Currently running iSpy in Windows 8. IP cameras are already working, and tomorrow I plan to test my existing cards in it.

My intention is to use ZoneMinder as the software handling the cards. I have two PCIe x1 slots, so I might look for something that uses those. Assuming the price isn't that much higher, of course.

Alrighty, so what's the significance of "960H"? What does that mean? I might go with this one, then: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Security-CCTV-8CH-960H-Resolution-PCI-Port-Video-Record-Capture-DVR-Card-/271341106815?pt=US_Surveillance_Digital_Video_Recorders_Cards&hash=item3f2d30b67f I'll give it a few more days, in case I find something better. Do you know if this card is compatible with Linux?

I've been looking around for cards to use for cameras, and I've come to the conclusion that I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing. This is currently the card I'm looking at: http://www.lightinthebox.com/sv/16-kanaler-dvr-videoinspelningskort_p211144.html I'm assuming it's a decent card due to the 480 FPS capabilities which mean it can take 30 FPS per channel if all 8 are used, but I have no idea if there are any other factors involved with picking a card. The FPS matters, thats obvious, but what else? Also, if that card isn't good, what suggestions are there for good ones?

That would be too short a distance, I'm afraid. I think I'm going to look into those Bosch ones mentioned and continue researching, but in the meantime, I also need suggestions on a DVR card for a computer. I saw the following, and it looks fine to me, but I'll let you folks be the judge of that, along with its quality: http://www.lightinthebox.com/sv/16-kanaler-dvr-videoinspelningskort_p211144.html It says 480 frames per second, which I assume is divided amongst the 16 channels to give each channel 30 FPS. Is my line of thinking correct here? Seems highly unlikely that each camera would have that many FPS.

Sweden. Which unfortunately means that prices here are almost twice of those in the US. I think our budget would be around 10 000 SEK, which would be about 1500 USD. I'll need to confirm how many cameras would be needed, though. I'm guessing three that can read plates from afar, but I'm still unsure as to what else would be needed as far as specifics are concerned. Regarding your license plate camera, how far away is the vehicle in that image?

Been using eBay for years to get electronics. Nothing wrong with it. You could find a good model of anything at a cheaper price. Granted, you get what you deserve for buying no-name products over the site, but so long as you know your way around it all, it can be just like any other online store. Anyway, you mention LPRs. From a quick forum search, that stands for license plate readers. Does this mean they automatically read the numbers and store them? If so, while handy, I don't think we need something that good. Watching the footage manually works about half the time on our 540 TVL cameras. Also, I'm amazed and frightened that a $600 camera is considered entry level. I think I was expecting something in the $100-$150 range!

Alright, a little backstory: My family owns a large petrol station, and the cameras both inside and out need to be upgraded, along with the computer they are connected to. As the family tech dude, the responsibility for finding a suitable system falls to me, because apparently being good with computers means that you are also a camera expert. Oh well, not a big deal. Problem is, I don't know the first thing about CCTV cameras. CCD vs CMOS, TVL and effective pixels (seriously, what's the difference?), and so on. It is my hope that by outlining what I'm looking for in a camera, I might be able to get a few suggestions from people who know more than I do on the matter. That said, here is what I need: First and foremost, during the winter, it can get as cold as -30C. So far, the lowest operating temperature I've seen on a camera is -20, and I'm looking for something rated for -40 (C and F), just as a bit of a buffer in case we get a colder winter. Being a petrol station, the most important thing that the cameras need to be able to do is to clearly see a car's number plate up to approximately 25 meters away. This is a must during both the day and the night. I think at this stage it's also obvious that the cameras would have to be weatherproof as well. While I don't have any values, I'm on a tight budget, so I need the cameras to be as cheap as possible (I'm more than willing to buy from eBay, and that's probably the route I will take). That said, this is an investment, so I'm also willing to spend more where necessary. My intention is to hook up several such cameras to a Linux computer running DVR software via either ethernet or coax through one of those camera cards. I have no preference either way, since the current surveillance system uses both methods, and as far as I can tell, neither seems better than the other. I would greatly appreciate any help.