survtech

I've compared the measurements to an accurate scope and they are way off, even with a clean signal.

I prefer WD. Their drives are quite reliable and their support beats all others hands down. An example - they replaced 830 250GB desktop drives with raid edition hard drives free for my work a couple of years ago.

1200 cameras with 30-day retention? I doubt if you'll find anything in your price range, especially if you have to meet NIGC MICS or other requirements for frame rates. The absolute minimum you will pay for an Enterprise-level system with those capabilities will be approximately $400(+) per channel, not counting network, viewstation, software and connection costs. This makes the total at least 1/2 million. A good 1200 channel system would set you back well over a million, depending on storage requirements.

I have used the FM Systems Camera Master and I don't think much of it. The readings are inaccurate and jump around so much as to make it unuseable for focus or signal levels. I find that a good oscilloscope is far better.