fplenin

I love compression BNCs. If you get it done right, it's not gonna come off so easily...sometimes it even takes more than 30 lb to get it off the cable...for me it's the best quality connection you can use with RG cables. Twist ons are a pain in the ass, specially in DVRs side or weather exposed cameras I have used also this kind of connectors: http://articulo.mercadolibre.com.ve/MLV-466466714-conector-bnc-macho-para-cable-coaxial-rg59-con-tornillo-_JM I usually end up using a soldering iron to weld the center core to the connector, specially on DVR side connectors. It's slow, but never problems with them

I was about to tell you that. When this happens you could use a PSU from a PC and start your hard drive using it inteast of the DVRs internal power. Also, swap your SATA cable, try another HDD...

If your cable runs are covered within the cameras point of view, the system is working fine (no HDD or DVR problems) and the cable gets cutted with a knife type cut and there's not video evidence of someone doing it, you should call these guys:

It would be easier to send via FTP pictures of motion events. But whole videos they could be very long and by the time they get the DVR maybe it wouldn't have uploaded...You could a false (useless-broken) DVR and put some cables to it, turn it on and hide the real one. If you are using IP camera's you could use a network cable to put the DVR away from the cameras...as long as the cable is not so easy to track, they are gonna have to waste lots of time finding it. You could use also a remote NVR via Wireless network. Keep in mind there will be false alarm and false push notifications, like IR attracted insects at night This could also help you out if you are so concerned about your DVR being stolen: http://www.hikvision.com/UploadFile/File/201433115208669.pdf

If they are "discrete", they probably aren't gonna have Infra Red Leds to iluminate when it's dark... There are POE baluns and IP cameras that work with POE. Both ways will let you use CAT5E cables to transmit power and video. Also there are DC connectors and video baluns to do the same thing, but a little bit cheaper. Record capacity can be calculated with: https://www.google.co.ve/search?q=calculator+dvr+storage&oq=calculator+dvr+storage&gs_l=serp.3..0i22i30l10.3490.4245.0.4311.8.6.0.0.0.0.173.471.0j3.3.0....0...1c.1.64.serp..5.3.468...0i22i10i30.R7oAZ4AIHF4 What are the distances? do you really need hidden cameras? PD: reputable brands (Hikvision, Dahua, Everfocus...) makes DVRs and Software capables of managing privileges over several stuff like playback, live camera view, etc...

I've installed close range wifi IP cameras (Microseven branded), maybe about a 15-20 m away and two walls appart. It's possible, but you will have to have a STRONG signal in order to avoid delays or getting a camera video a few seconds behind the other or the image to freeze occasionally... As said before: an ubiquity might do the job, I'm about to do something like that, but I'm not going to use Ubiquity M2 Loco in direct connection to the camera, but to a DVR with two analog cameras and a Router. The DVR will transmit to a Desktop Computer where 2 or 3 DVRs will be viewed remotely with software integration. (DVR--> Router <---> Ubiquity --> Wired Network) I saw a good youtube video where he states (nearly at the end) that for real time video you NEED to use 802.11n Wireless, because it's optimized for it It would be nice to see how it worked for you

*hat off* Thanks a lot guys...pretty useful info. I needed to be sure before buying the stuff. I guess in the other side I'll just use regular (single chanel) video baluns to connect my UTP cable pairs to the DVR...

Hi all I have a long distance between 4 cameras and the other ones and DVR...I was thinking about using a balun hub inteast of using 4 UTP cables (1 for each camera). Seems easier to do (just passing one utp cable and a 120v cable together, inteast of several utp cables) and less bulky. Usually I see balun hubs near a DVR, but not in the camera side, far from a DVR...would it work that way also? *see the attachment for details thanks u all

great review, thanks. But I need a clamp also...it can be pretty useful to me because I sell UPS and people might ask "how much Watts do I need?" or even would let me work with simple electrical stuff, like AC wiring and breakers. http://www.amazon.com/Fluke-323-True-RMS-Clamp-Meter/dp/B00AQKIEXY/ref=sr_sp-atf_title_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1405775803&sr=8-1&keywords=fluke+clamp This seems pretty nice for the price, but only measures 40 KOhm...it wouldn't be so useful for CCTV camera testing, would it?

UNI T prices are about half as a fluke...and also measures amps with it's clamp...but sincerely I'm not sure if they are durable

Well, I live in Venezuela, it's a pain in the ass to buy expensive stuff...But I also like tools that lastes and doesn't need me to be careful about them...but I can't afford any "top tool", because things get "lost" easily here...crime here is like a normal thing to see or hear about everyday... Also, I'm not a electronics tecnichian (not sure if that's the name you give to them), I wouldn't mind to lose 0.5% precision for 30% of the price...you know...Just want a quality and reliable tool that can read amps, ohms, continuity and volts, I'm not trying to fix a video card or mod a camera to microscope lol...you know what I mean

Ok, I shall then get a 1.X volts DC from the camera video cable and thousands to million ohms (I'll asume I can not damage the camera by doing so) I'm thinking on getting an Uni-T digital multimeter with amps reading also. I currently have an OOOOOOOld analog multimeter (helped me lots of times with troubleshooting). I like to keep getting knowledge and propper tools to make things faster and better everyday. Do you have any advice on multimeters?

Is it ok making bnc or video balun connections while DVR and cameras are on? offcourse, no messing arround with the 12v or 24v power cables when it's on...I perfectly know it. I measured ohms while video cable connected to DVR, got a (example) 200 ohm reading on a nearby camera, then tried the other one, got 0 Ohm, so, cable was is short. If there's no reading (ohms are infinite) it means there's a broken or unplugged cable. I'm talking about VIDEO cables...

No. It doesn't have any warranty. Neither I'm trying to fix it. BTW, I noticed that resistance when measured the first time started to increase, slowly going to infinite value of Ohms. Then I had to wait a few secs or minutes before resistance goed back to normal and start to slowly grow to infinite again...

Yep...I was testing new bnc compression conectors, first time doing them and I needed to check if it was in propper contact before crimping it (if resistance was equal measured with core vs mesh and then from center pin to outer BNC conector, it was in place). So, I did it with several cameras, no problem with any other. Could this have damaged the camera if it was on? A friend of mine told me that they should be able to handle "interference", such as a multimeter checking resistance with a pretty small current. And there was a camera that I was troubleshooting that had a video cable in short, and was a cheap one and worked that way for days, maybe weeks before I fixed it's video cable... I just wanna be sure about what things I really can do and what things shall never be done (that could damage camera, dvr, etc)