survtech

Arecont does make them for CBC. I have talked to Computar/Ganz and they admit it.

You might want to look at 900MHz systems. Their lower frequency will do better through walls, etc. They are also subject to interference but since modern equipment tends to be either 2.4GHz or 5.8GHz, you may find that they have less problems. Just a thought.

Try the links. Each company has models that have serial data ports - most are bidirectional.

What you want is called a "video server" and several companies make them. The most well-known are Bosch, Axis and ACTi. The ACTi's will be the least expensive of the three, but still pretty pricey at $250 and up per input. You could also use IP cameras and do away with the video servers.

Not really. That's like saying a USB cable can only support html or ascii data. Data is data. All it has to do is transmit and receive it as serial data for RS-xxx. The protocol has nothing to do with it.

Yes, but the catch here is, do they also include serial control? That's the point of 2-way.

There are a number of companies who make 2-way fiber transmission systems for CCTV: Versitron - http://www.versitron.com/cctv_systems.html GE Security - http://www.gesecurity.com/portal/site/GESecurity/menuitem.f76d98ccce4cabed5efa421766030730?selectedID=265&seriesyn=false&t=prod&leafNode=false Optelecom - http://www.optelecom.com/ American Fibertek - http://www.americanfibertek.com/ Pelco - http://www.pelco.com/products/default.aspx?id=822 AMG (UK) - http://www.amgsystems.co.uk/ ... and many others. Just do a web search for "CCTV fiber transmission". Also, 1000 ft. is not pushing it for RS-485 over twisted-pair. With CAT-5, RS-485 can be run up to 4000 ft..

I've never heard that. We run up to 25 cameras on a CAT-5 25-pair and haven't had any problems. In some cases, we also run RS-485 control for PTZ's on one of the pairs. We also commonly run 4 cameras on 4-pair without problems using both passive-passive and passive-active. We have yet to use active-passive or active-active, though.

V Phase will have no effect on your picture. It is just for use when you are trying to synchronize two cameras. Level is for use with an auto-iris lens. It is used to adjust the iris opening. It will have no effect if you are using a manual iris lens. You can not "split" composite video signals and that may be the source of your problem. To feed video to multiple monitors and/or recorders, you must use a Distribution Amp or an RF Modulator.

Have you tried Rain-X? Or, Pelco recommends using a furniture wax/polish suitable for acrylics.

Probably not. Most Pelco keyboards use a different protocol that their PTZ's and it is proprietary (Pelco M). I would suggest sending the keyboard to Pelco's own service department.

If you are in the U.S., try DigKey: http://search.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?Detail?name=ED1962-ND http://search.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?Detail?name=277-1163-ND http://search.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?Detail?name=281-1056-ND Or go to http://www.digikey.com and do a search for Terminal Blocks - Headers, Plugs and Sockets and filter for 4 pin plugs. They carry a number of different designs.

There are only two ways that you can use a SATA hard drive: * If your DVR has SATA capabilites built in. * With a SATA-to-PATA (SATA-to-IDE) converter: If you buy a SATA-to-PATA convertor, make sure it is refundable because it may not work in your DVR or with your application. I have one installed in an older computer just to test SATA drives that are "kicked out" by our RAIDs and even with a new SATA drive connected, it takes forever for the computer's BIOS to recognize the drive. I'm not sure how the drive would perform in an application once it is set in BIOS, but the long time it takes to recogize it doesn't make me confident the drive would work properly. Also, depending on your DVR's configuration, you may have trouble installing the SATA-to-PATA convertor for lack of space.

Two thoughts: Were you hired as an employee or a subcontractor. If you were an employee, you could have a case with your state's labor department. If you are a subcontractor, it might pay to take them to small claims court, since you wouldn't need a lawyer for that. The second thought is a quote from Sam Goldwyn, of MGM fame: "A verbal contract is not worth the paper it's written on!"

Snowy pictures in dark scenes are the AGC kicking in. If the camera has an AGC switch you could try turning it off but most likely the resulting picture will be too dark. You will either have to add light (visible or IR will do), or get a camera that has better low light capabilities. By the way, I don't know about Avigilon but my understanding is that megapixel cameras aren't very good in low light situations.

VA = Watts (approximately).

If all else fails, you can try a SATA-to-PATA (SATA-to-IDE) converter:

I seem to recall that Windows XP handles comm ports differently than Windows 2000. Maybe also try disabling your firewall, at least as a test.

Still, you can find suitable hard drives at a number of sources. For instance, the Seagate SV35 drives are specifically designed for video recording applications. They would likely work for most DVR's since they are available in PATA (IDE) and SATA configurations and are available online from newegg.com, amazon.com, B&H Photo/Video and many other etailers. They have 250-, 320-, 500- and 750-GB, and 1-TB capacities. Western Digital also makes drives for Surveillance DVR's, both PATA and SATA type. They are the WD AV series and are available in 80GB to 500GB sizes.

Where you buy drives would have nothing to do with their performance. If Staples sells drives that your DVR manufacturer recommends, you could buy it from them. You could also buy the drives from many computer stores or online.

I don't see why it wouldn't work but you can't just put one on a solar cell. Since solar cells put out DC, you will need an inverter to convert the DC to 120VAC and a transformer to convert 120VAC to 24VAC. You would also need a battery system to store the power from the solar cell so that the PTZ would work at night and when it is cloudy, etc. outside. The entire system must be designed with enough reserve to account for inefficiencies in the inverter and the camera power supply (they are usually each about 75-80% efficient, so the total efficiency would be 56% (.75x.75). You will have to have a battery power system capable of handling the PTZ motors, camera and lens (usually 20VA or more) plus any heaters/blowers for at least 12-14 hours and the solar cell must be capable of powering all of that and recharging the batteries simultaneously. EXAMPLE: Say your PTZ needs 40VA. Your power system should be able to handle at least double that plus extra to recharge the batteries. With a 12 volt battery, 40VA equals 3-1/3 amps. Double that (for inefficiencies) would be approximately 7amps times 12 hours requires an 80(+) ampere-hour battery. The solar cell would need that much power to run the PTZ plus enough to charge the battery, say 160VA. NOTE: VA (voltamps) is approximately the same as watts.

What brand of baluns are you using? It sounds like they could be the problem. Also, copper alloy CAT-5? Sounds like BS to me. As far as I know, all CAT-5 is solid copper wire. Plus we have never had a problem with any CAT-5 with any passive baluns for runs from approximately 100 ft. to well over 1000 ft.

A nice idea but we can't install them in the driveways.

Are you sure the RS232 port is set properly for the PTZ's that are connected to it? Is the port enabled in BIOS? I'm kind of surprised that you could set PTZ control for two different ports simultaneously. I've never tried that since all our PTZ cameras are Pelco's. I guess it would depend on your control software. In fact, I'm somewhat surprised you could use USB ports for PTZ control at all, since I've never seen any settings for bitrate, parity and stop bits for them.

USB-to-RS232 adaptors are notoriously buggy, plus you are adding a second conversion in the RS232-to-RS485 adaptor. Try different adaptors. Here is a link to a USB-to-RS485 adaptor that might work: http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.8504