Lolo Wolf

Your welcome Dinosteel, Wizcam, Been outa the North East for awhile but fairly certain in New Jersey electrical work must be done by a licensed electrical Contractor, anything with a potential of more than 10 volts there are exemptions (http://www.nj.gov/lps/ca/laws/ElectricLaw.pdf )if you abide the rules in the exemption you can perform work that falls under but is not limited to NEC article 800. Example: 45:5A-18 Exempt work or construction. But be aware there are towns and counties where a permit must still be pulled along with a inspection dependent where you are located, so its always good to check local.

http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/psb/alarm.pdf Texas law requires any person or company who provides investigations or security services in the state to be properly licensed to offer or to engage in such services. This requirements of law was originally passed by the Texas Legislature in 1969 and has been in effect ever since. To offer or provide a service required to be licensed without a license carries criminal penalties of up to a year in jail and a $4,000.00 fine. Hiring or employing a unlicensed company also carries this penalty. info link: http://www.tbfaa.org/html/licensing_info.asp#BALicensing

Safety (IR Devices) "Extreme care should be exercised when working with infrared illuminators. Illuminator should also be powered down while being installed or serviced. The iris of the human eye only responds to visible light.Looking into a 500-watt infrared light source is like looking into a 500-watt light bulb without your iris closing to block the light.The effects usually do not appear until hours after the exposure.The effects are similar to watching arc welding without eye protection. Mild exposure can feel like you have sand in your eyes, severe exposure can cause temporary or permanent blindness." ( brief from CCTV System Design and Installation NTC training Center)

http://www.mat-co.com/newproducts.htm Matco has a quad with VGA output (top of page left hand corner QVS-104-CV) no loop out though and I cant vouch for the vendor never used them, lotta of OEM Gear.

Youve had quite a bit of suspicious activity and understand your desire to protect your property. I often use a dedicated buried motion sensor to trigger LP and find them more reliable to set for capture, isolated from other cams not dependent on dvr motion software. Less false alarms due to wildlife, wind etc. Do you have your driveway alarm integrated with any other devices (lights etc) or is just a chime type alert? Did some work on a project using some of the EMX access controls, rual area utilizing their solar power post, Ive had excellent results with their driveway probe sensors. Anyway good luck and give a heads up on the lens switch. Regards

Ask the elevator rep if there is a emergency phone system installed and if so can you use any spares also make sure all this work gets signed off and approved....

If the 85mm works and you get a acceptable tight shot then you will be set. Just curious, with the 120ft drive do you get a lot of suspicious entry, whereas cars continue the full length to your house or is mostly nusance turn-around activity back to the 55mph rd? One positive aspect to a house with a longer setback is the time needed to enter giving you more recorded view on your system with additonal cams aside from the LP and the dvr survies a breakin... in the event of a actual buglary, often thieves will either park away from the house after studying the layout (access/exit points looking for activity) and then enter on foot or use a stolen vehicle. The downside to a longer setback,the house is further from view giving a thief isolation and making the target inviting. Anyway I hope your system and setup gives you the results your are trying to attain and improves your sense of security, no matter what it helps to be vigilant.

scruit, if you decide to alter your entry with any barrier or obstruction keep in mind the importance of rapid emergency access fire/medical/police, even if it is removable (in my entry gate builds I always install a Knox-Box or provide local rual fire dept with key code, dependent on the entry system in use) Perhaps if you want you could do a landscaped circular addon to your exsiting drive, offset the house so traffic moves and slowly turns to exit/entry....measure a acceptable sweep for light trucks (propane/fire parcel etc) with some plantings you could make it quite attractive as well add some curb appeal to your home. from a design point of view I would be wary of any width restrictions in a driveway, better to maintain a uniform drive. Your posted #3 option of camera placement would indeed be your less labor intensive choice for sure. If you do decide to place your LP cam central its a good idea to mount a smaller crash post with a footer in front just beneath it for protection.

There are ways to slow incoming traffic to your drive without the use of speed bumps, shoot some grades,work up a layout, and slope your stone, you (may need to add material) compact a good base, establish a crown insure proper drainage, I would use 3/4 rough, you may need to re-dress every so often... here is a good read on speed differential regarding vehicular traffic entering driveways: http://www.ctre.iastate.edu/Research/access/toolkit/11.pdf from the past pics you posted you seem to be rual but even so check with local code before you do if you attempt to do this. If tighter security pertaining to incomming auto traffic is your primary concern I would suggest a gated tele system, with a fence or stone boundry, you can position your cam(s) there with a dead stop and tweak for a excellent LP shot. (allow for a safe backing or turn around) either way slow em down or stop them before the vehicle even gets close to your real property (house) I custom build timber/arch/log gated entrys with cctv and one of the primary concerns with my clients is unwanted or unannounced auto trespass on their land.

Adamk, you are correct in looking at all angles, in troubleshooting and for expanding your knowlege base for sure. No matter what high quality cable you use if it is not not terminated properly or run correctly problems will arise, without seeing the pic/visual prob it is harder to determine the cause but I tried to walk you through a method of steps and trial in differnt configs without using more advanced cable testing to eliminate some basic known issues such as power related and connects, Ive found that most probs with poor pic with known properly running equip is due to the actual mechanical failure of electrical apps such as cable runs (placement), HV and LV power issues, the use of failed splices,etc... .. the list goes on. With my installs I always work with a approved plan, I review the layout, if possible get a asbuilt and look for any code violations or unsafe work that may hamper my job... some folks go with a plug and play attitude. You did well to bench your cams and that gave you zero issues, however did you test/bench the cams in similar lighting conditions that you encountered on site, if so then really unless there has been a dual failure within both cams at the same time (which I doubt) then it leads me to think that your problem has something to do with the hardwired cables. Perhaps when you installed the cables maybe radical bends, or damaged when attached outside wall/no conduit(hanger/clips/ damage to the jacket/short etc) there are many varibles to visit finding the cause. Most of the call backs Ive had are due to either acts of God or tampering, or after the fact improper electrical device installs that have stepped on my work. I too learn each day as much as I can with life in general, anybody who thinks they know it all is a fool or never been in the real world hands on in the field. Regards

Hello adamk, in so far as the corrosion aspects noted I agree and as stated prior the timmed 95% would be ok, however I still think you are better off without the foil and still think you should revisit all the inter/connects as well investigate any induced electrical interference, when refering to the foil for my own installs I find less problems terminating with the compression fittings that I use, it is very possible that you did not terminate your connects properly and indeed may be that the shield is contacting the conductor, my opinion on the shield to you was in regard for ease of install... by not having a optional shield less likelyhood of that occuring in the first place by a person who is new to terminating a cable. Sorry if you felt my advice was wrong

I am sorry I cant follow up so quick, just now we are in a deep freeze and I gotta fetch some more logs for the wood burner, quickly from a install point of view during termination/crimp etc the outer shield can come into contact with the center conductor and Ive found that additional aluminum shield to be problematic with my compression fittings and have had clean results using approved cable for cctv per the manufacturer spec, others on this forum have used all kinds of cable even alum cable tv touting good results,the optional foil shield some claim to reduce RF interference I just stick to what works well for me, in so far as pic probs I still think you should revisit all the connects,look for any (mechnical)radical bends and (electrical)sources of induced interference work back from the cam itself and maybe run a temp, lay out a loose cable and see what kind of results you get, test with a piece of rg59 95% or 6 without foil.... over the years Ive found that nothing is set in stone, some apps work in certain enviorments while others dont...

I think the the tinned 95% prod would be ok but without the foil, for your cctv app

the alum foil would be acceptable when using (high percentage) 95% copper, not tinned prods, could create probs, the cable listed on Belden CCTV apps does not list your cable, travel over to their site and review the Belden standards for cctv apps they do have a 6 for cctv ..... who advised you to your cable slection?

I only use copper braid for cctv, here is a linfo link regarding cctv cable applications (from Pelco)ftp://www.pelco.com/ServiceBulletinsTechTips/TechTips/5973021.PDF I am not being definitive that this is the source of your pic probs but over the years Ive encountered lot of signal problems repairing and retro fit for clients that used aluminum braid type cable really suited for TV and other applications. 95%copper braid is the standard for cctv. If you browse this forum there is quite a lot of posts regarding reasons (tech notes etc) on the usage of proper cable and termination. If after all your troubleshooting as I stated prior....start at the source (signal) and means of travel (cable) very often pic probs are created within the path.....using proper cable and proper fittings will eliminate most visual defects.

I just reread your original post and noticed that you are using the belden 1694a, doesnt that have aluminum braid? I mostly use 59 but when needed 6 I use belden 5339X5 (outdoor rated) most of my work is in harsh element but they have others in their line for cctv such as the 9290 with copper braid, perhaps that is the ssource of your pic probs, when you did the original bench and had zero issues what was the cable....rg6 or 59...braid type, although at short distance the 6 aluminum may not have produced probs however with a longer run it very well could.

Is this a Europe/UK install? If so the cam ground maybe required code, as well the PS can be bonded for safety (metal cam supply boxes should have a binding nut) Being a museum with public access, were you inspected? Always follow electrical codes in your vicinity to insure a safe legal install that wont bite you later in the event of a problem, liability, fire, insurance etc. Aside from this...revisit the cable/runs/connects also is there a Flicker switch within the PTZ menu, check and see if that is on/off. I hope you resolve these problems, perhaps your PELCO rep has info related to any know issues for that model cam, best of luck and health.

Hello adamk, do you have access to another cam (doesnt have to be PTZ) and hook up to your DVR/puter on a vacant imput, see if you get any pic issues, also have you tried differnt configs on the PTZ such as aperture settings, are the two cams set up with identical setting in so far as detail etc. From what you are describing as random issues perhaps these cams are having problems with adjusting to difficult low light lighting, is there a D/N function.... what if any pic probs occur when the cams are in BW mode. Do the problems surface when the cams are in static mode with quality lighting.... Asking a lot of questions but trying to troubleshoot with a method. Are you using a LCD monitor for your visual? If you benched these cams with zero issues did you bench with the same DVR/puter and PWR supply (isolated) or was it done direct to a cctv monitor? I ask to try and isolate the pic probs to perhaps the signal imput to your DVR and related cable/connections. If the cams were benched using the same system that you are using now and there were no probs then, either your signal is being interfered with (cable runs) or cams itself are problematic with the setup/settings. You said that you did observe the problems with bypassing the puter/dvr..... seems to be you should revisit the cable and related connects as well the power supply (to cams) Aside from manufacturers defects, most PTZ/cam issues I encountered after install tend to be cable/pwr related. I always try to bench my cams with identical PWR supplies used for the install and always with a dedicated cctv monitor to insure a clean pic that wont come back to haunt later after cableing is in place making troubleshooting leading to the actual run itself or a defect within the cam.

Did these problems occur at first install, or did they start recently, was the pic ever clean after original install? You mention some other sensors and related security gear near or around the cams, does the distortions occur with the sensors and related devices off? aside from cable and actual mechanical PTZ suspect probs (lens etc) perhaps there maybe some outside electrical issues causing probs....just a thought.

Are the distortion/noise issues being observed on the PC monitor only, have you tried a direct connection to a cctv/crt monitor, bypass the DVR card/puter, (wire in a stand alone controller if you have one) and observe the pic with direct input to a test monitor run all the functions. I would start by trying that first. Some of the issues you raised may be puter video card related. A good start to troubleshoot would be to first start at the source of your signal, isolate the signal direct to montitor,if that doesnt come back clean then then continue back to the DVR/puter and check for other failures, wire intergrity, connects, voltage issues firmware probs, cam settings etc.

Metal Mickey (UK) aka Extreme Moondance, good choice but there are cheaper scanner/ptz alternatives for his application dependent on his budget.

Hello Cachecreek, working with phone lines you may want to check out some of the Viking http://www.vikingelectronics.com/products/ some of their controllers have remote operation thru phone line with multiple relay and page features.Your client would be able to activate lights,strobe or page a warning on the fly while observing a intrusion/incident after his alarm co notify. You could intergrate this gear without any major changes aside from loudspeaker and lighting install. Ive used some of their products for remote thermo/gate/house control in secondary residences.

Perhaps you may want your client to look at the VX-402REC from OPTEX as a trial/test before you follow through on your design/layout for the realtime voice feature that you want to do. See if the voice/warnings will even deter or stop the vandals near the property. You can custom record differnt warnings and change them on a routine to try and fool the suspects into hearing the same message. Dependent on the police response time window and if he has the time and resolve, he could stake out the store around the time that the first incident took place with a cell phone in hand, try to catch them in the act, but not to interact with them, wait for the police.

Ive benched several mini and full size PTZs for weeks on end upside down, (the units on the bench placed on styro blocks) in the menu switch on Pic Flip. Never had a motor or failure take place. However if you were to do this outdoors probs may arise with sun, water and other conditions distorting view. Perhaps you need to look at scanner type zoom cams (web IP and traditional) there are several on the market.

I agree. Thank you CCTV_Suppliers for the heads up.