WirelessEye

Their website states that their DB35 and SV35 Series hard drives are meant for DVR applications and are "optimized". My exprience is that it does not matter. We have tons of their ST3750640AS Drvies and no problems yet-- and these things get written with TB's of data every day. If you want you can buy the more expensive ones, but data is data and for $280 you can a 750GB 7200RPM w 16MB Cache (Regular) Seagate drive that will work just fine.

I've been building computers for many years now. I can honestly tell you that Seagate drives are the most reliable. (From my experience). Western Digitals are ok, but I've replaced a few. If you get a Western Digital, only get their Raptor series. Maxtors are Junk. Hitachi's/IBM's are Junk. Seagate does have a 5 year warranty as well, but more importantly... I've never had to warranty one.

Yes, I'd go with ACTi as well. They actually have a tech support department, which is more than I can say for Axis, which has 0 tech support *unless you pay* and even then they can't help you. ACTi does have pretty good stuff although I wish they'd make an interface that doesn't look like it was made in the 1980's. Also, they don't have some of the features that some of the other people have like event server setup, dual codecs selection, etc. but they are very "inexpensive" as far as IP is concerned.

Almost sounds like the spot monitors are frying the video circuits of the cameras. Once the video circuit on a camera gets bad feedback from the device it's hooked to, it's all over with. Sorry, I can't really help you though, as I don't know how it could be happening. (Only thing I can think of is the monitors could be sending a voltage zap through the BNC connectors when the monitor power is cycled on).

Thanks for the replies. I will try this one for the smaller job. Anyone know of a good one for a good 48 channel?

Wow that's a horrible picture. I would say the 0.03 lux rating is "generous". You'd be better off with a UNV2650 and a night light. We've got a couple on our test bed and they work VERY well in low light. The only thing is that they are quite a bit more expensive than the Nuvico's you bought.

Now you are going back to a web site, we are talking about the application; the java, activeX, Plugins, etc, not the website. Im not here to defend my vast experience with internet and browser based technology, it speaks for itself, been there done that; whether or not a person believes it is of no concern to me. And this 'someone" hasn't picked up one book on programming; trial and error, lots of time and dedication, real world experience, a true programmer is a programmer no matter what language or "framework" they code in. As to .net and websites, the browser could care less what server technology is creating the web page. Now, keep on topic please. Browser based are limited because of what I already mentioned in a couple previous posts - but to make it simple for the less technical among us, they are limited because of the browser itself. I don't feel anymore clarification is necessary at this point, there are many posts before this where I have clarified my opinion on that. Please, if you want to continue this conversation, please do so with someone else at this point, as i wont be replying to this thread anymore. What exactly do you think ActiveX controls are coded in? An ActiveX stork does not deliver controls to web pages... ActiveX can be developed in VB, C#, etc. (All of which are .Net Framework languages). Nonetheless, there is no way that programming just came to you in a dream, someone or something must teach you fundamentals before you can even begin to do trial and error (which is a step you really shouldn't have to go through). Anyhow, chances are, whomever or whatever taught you the fundamentals had knowledge or info that came from books. Not trying to stick on this topic, but if I posted your comment "Real programmers don't need books" on any developer forum, it would be torn to shreds. I do agree that browsers are limited, but it's not because of the browsers themselves. It is because of the security issues regaurding unsigned applets and what they can do to your computer. I would hardly call that a limitation, I would call it a security measure (one that can be bypassed by the way). Hope this helps.

I'm glad 11 years of development led you to that conclusion... Perhaps a few more years and you'll know that the .Net Framework is more than just ASP and web based applications. I have several books I could give you. Thats reaching .. but anyway. Real Programmers dont need books, and i know enough about the .lame network thanks. But if you want to live in the past and limit yourself with browser based only apps, go right ahead. And for the last time, im not talking about websites. Ok. Logmein.com probably isn't a website .... Anyway, if real programmers don't need books, then how are they supposed to actually learn how to program-- not only that, but how to program correctly? The answer is, they can't. But then again someone who think browser based apps are limiting probably hasn't done much with them. So, dis the .Net Framework all you want, but just know that nearly every benchmark shows it is faster and more scalable than any other langauge that's currently out there.

I'm glad 11 years of development led you to that conclusion... Perhaps a few more years and you'll know that the .Net Framework is more than just ASP and web based applications. I have several books I could give you.

Thats all fine and dandy, and that ability has been around for years. But did you read my post on the problems with browser based applications as the current web browsers, remote cafes/computers, and users are concerned? Anyone that makes a half decent client based app can easily make a browser based app, so that is nothing new, been there done that, but the companies that are out there marketing only browser based apps need to realize the flaws with their environment. I did read your post, and as someone who has developed web applications for over 7 years now, I can tell you that you are only partially on point. Any open port is potentially a security hole, that is true-- but at the same time, if you shut down every single port to the security system it would sever it completely from your clients as well. After all you could not have remote access for end users viewing their feeds remotely without an open port.... As long as you setup your infrastructure correctly, you can pretty much stop every attacker (short of an organized DDOS attack). It is true that some "Cafe's" restrict some plugin's that are sometimes required to run a web application. But the fact that you have accessibility PRETTY MUCH ANYWHERE is reason enough for web based applications to be around. There is also a new method using flash and scripting that allows the flash plugin (that is largely installed a majority of the computers) that does everything that Java and ActiveX do, but without a lot of the version conflicts. But that is still a few years off from mainstream. Companies the market only browser-based applications are niche companies, but many are very successful nonetheless. The reason being is that many companies have employees that are frequently out of the office and need to update their CRM's, BOM's, etc. or let's not forget the beauty of being able to check your webmail while you're at the inlaws house for Thanksgiving. All are completely web-based apps, and all have open ports, and they all have their place. I actually prefer web based applications because I program in .Net and web based extensibility is quite a bit more robust from an interface end and also from a data end. Not to mention I can recompile on the fly when I want to add/edit/delete features. But hey, to each their own.

What is the lux rating on the camera (without IR)?

Actually... SSL is port 443 by default. Although, it really doesn't matter what port it is... if it has 128bit SSL on it, you're safe. The whole point for a web based application, beit a shopping cart, itunes, logmein, etc. is that it doesn't tie you down to 1 or 2 computers. It will allow you to do it from any computer via the browser. Otherwise, everyone would just run TightVNC or something else that is Client/Server based.

True, but as my original post stated, if he doesn't have the 4Mbps to handle 4 MPEG-4 cameras, then his office needs to upgrade anyhow (whether or not they install cameras). If they have no room to upgrade (they are already on a 1000Mbps network and are almost out of room) then they will need to use seperate LAN's. Most small to medium businesses do not use all of a 100Mbps LAN, much less a 1000Mbps LAN.

Rory, I was just curious... have you ever bought anything online before? Done online banking? Sure everything has risks... but 128 bit encryption is hard to break... especially during an hour long remote session on a computer. I would say you probably have nothing to worry about. What you really should worry about more is the database holding any information that can be comprimised. I've seen that once, but I've never seen anyone break 128 bit encryption.

Something like: http://www.hw-group.com/products/ip_relay/index_en.html ?

Typically, you get what you pay for. If you have a home system that you would like to use an ebay video server on, then that is an option. However if this is for a client or buisness, I wouldn't recommend using a sub $200 video server.

Acti is one of the cheaper 1Channel Servers ~$350. Axis 241SA on the other end of the spectrum is ~$725 and has 2-way audio built in.

Depends on the IP cameras. If the 4 IP Cams are MPEG-4, then you will be able to stream full resolution @1Mbps/each, which will have nearly no impact on your current 100Mbps network. If you don't have enough space for another 4Mbps on your current network then you really should upgrade to a 1000Mbps network whether you install the cameras or not.

I agree. She was on some heavy-duty "over the counter" pills. She probably was used to taking a certain amount when whe was in her "heavy" stage and kept taking the same amount after she lost her 75lbs. Body weight fluctuations like that are a double whammy when you are already taking waaay too many pills.

I'm most impressed with the IP PTZ's but I have more experience with them. As for analog PTZ's I like, the Pelco's are dead nuts reliable and have a decent feature set for the price. I have been really been wanting to test out the WV-CW964 from Panasonic because of it's feature set and it's auto tracking feature, but haven't had a scenario pop up to use it yet-- although it's priced competitively with the Sectra IV.

I bought one about about 2 months ago. It's ok, wasn't shocked at the improvements by any means, but it is slightly better than the Spectra IIIse-- but the zoom range doesn't seem all that much further than the 23x surprisingly.

$2k is a little low, but the pricing on Solar varies so much based on when you are putting up the systems. Our typical installation area is the Central Valley, California, and fog is horrible here during the winter, so we pay more, but a system for Los Angeles would be be pretty close to the $2k mark. It really depends on your power draw. BTW- MorningStar is OK, but there are MUCH better controllers out there that make MUCH more power.

A lot of it has to do with frequencies present at the location and what you can safely operate with. Typically if you did a survey with a spectrum analyzer (I'd rent one, they are expensive) and found out what other frequencies are present, you'd have the first hard part done. You would have to go through the entire sweep of where your signal(s) must travel. Next you would have to make sure that you don't use anything in the 2GHz range, as hospitals are places where pacemakers are present all the time and just like microwave ovens (most of which use ~2.5GHz to cook food) you would have a liability for making someone have a lot of problems. I would check to see if 900MHz was clean in the facility (it probably won't be) and use that to try and penetrate walls. If you can't use that, then the 400MHz band is available but data throughput would probably be limiting for video transmission.

That all depends on what you call a "good price". If you want to use solar and wireless and want it to be dependable, there are few shortcuts you can take. Not only that, but if you are talking about powering IR from solar, you are going to run into an issue. To run even a fixed IR camera will make your solar system $2k+ (depending on your location in the world and the power draw of your camera/wireless equipment). Tack on the cost of the camera and a reliable 802.11x setup and you're looking at a good chunk of change. My advice would be to call a reputable solar company and give them your location and all of your power draws, then have them do the calcs for you. Remember- they'll be spec'ing a system that can last through December and January- the worst solar months of the year. Why not just tap the power on the light poles?

I've been using a Reg cam from Extreme for a few months now, I can post a sample video of what you can expect. I talked to extreme about the ANPR software that works with their cams, they said "We price it on a case by case basis". I gathered from that comment I need not ask...