tube tech

check your local laws. in NM you can record a conversation if either party is aware of the recording, but if it is some random weirdo shouting at the world, you can't use it in court unless you shout something back at the random weirdo, turning a rant into a conversation. where all of this started: back in the 1960s recording devices were so noisy, and test equipment was so noisy, that you could cut and splice an audio tape and alter the content with little chance of being discovered. now they can measure tiny abrupt changes in noise reliably, but vacuum tube era laws live on.

a thing to know about IR illuminators: the ones shown above have large LEDs. this is a good thing. you can get an illuminator the size of the first one shown, with 96 tiny LEDs. the problem is, one of them gets hot and burns out, leaving 95 LEDs to suck up the same power source. the voltage across the remaining LEDs ratchets up a notch. the extra voltage burns out another LED, . the voltage across the remaining LEDs ratchets up another notch... pretty soon, you have a dozen surviving LEDs, which all burn up at once. big LEDs can handle more heat. the big LED illuminators operate for years. the ones with 4 vast LEDs in a 4 inch circle outlast the 48 LEDs in a 4 inch circle like a Chevy outlasts a Yugo.

I find systems and packages to be unworkable. 8 identical cameras, 8 identical lenses - one size fits all in some world, but not mine Cameras do not gather information. lenses do that. bigger lenses have a better chance of getting more detail with less light than smaller lenses. bigger lenses are inherently harder to conceal. bigger lenses inherently require bigger cameras I prefer the small black square cameras that take 12mm X .5 thread lenses. unfortunately, they made a change a few years back and the newer cameras are less useful than the older cameras. they took the IR cut filters off the face of the sensor and moved it to the lens. if you pop the filter off the lens you get an excellent low light camera, and white trees on blue grass in the daytime. but not this camera. the cameras to get have a longer lens mount. you can't put a wide angle lens on this camera I have 24 of these in use, and 6 spares. some of them have been in use since 1996. https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/jlEAAOSw5JhcyJ0K/s-l1600.jpg ( the system will not let me post that as an image ) note the threaded area looks like a top hat or stovepipe. that gives you enough thread for a wide angle lens. put them up under the eaves, they are almost invisible. for detecting the presence of but not the identity of intruders: wide angle. for determining identity: long lenses at eye level. no distortion. with these 12mm x .5 lenses the focal length is essentially 1/10th of a 35 mm lens. 1.7 or 1.8 is a fisheye lens, 2.1 is wide angle, 2.8 is wider than usual, 6 mm is human eye like, anything higher is a telescope. DVRs: I prefer more 4 channel DVRs to one 16 channel monstrosity that puts postage stamp pictures on the monitor. I use Annke DVRs, which have NTP protocol, but it does not work. You need accurate time to make the evidence useful in court. NTP protocol is meant to do that.

assuming that it's old: in the usual scheme of things, red would most likely be +12, black is ground, shield is shield and the remaining lead can only be video. put a fuse in line and see what burns up first.

is there an MPN - manufacturers part number - in any of the listings?

eBay search term: HDMI To RCA AV Adapter Converter HDMI in, RCA out to: eBay search term: channel plus modulator I have many of both. set them up once and they grind away for years. as reliable as an anvil.

maybe - search for peephole camera on ebay? I prefer Sony Super HAD CCD sensors. color in the daytime, B&W at night. note that funky junk CMOS cameras can be found in the same housing as 1080P CCD WiFi cameras. the higher end cameras all have CMOS sensors, and make claims about night vision and resolution not in keeping with past performance of CMOS sensors are you in the US, or elsewhere?

more accurately: get a recent DVR with NTP ptotocol. that's how your computer clock syncs up when you get on the internet. if the clock is not accurate, the evidence may be inadmissable in court. the least expensive DVR I have found with this capability is an Annke DVR. it can take up to a 4 TB HDD. ~$65 on eBay.

unlikely. IMHO the only cameras worth owning owning use Sony Super HAD CCD sensors. these produce a sharper, clearer, and and more color saturated image than older chips. if you watch a camera with a Sony Super HAD CCD sensor at twilight, looking at a truck with a red tripe and red lettering, the stripe and letters fade away. the black tires take on a faint green tinge, like dark woodland camouflage. if you want color at night you need to light it up like a football stadium.

1) video evidence must have a time stamp to be admissible in court 2) if the clock is not accurate within a minute or so, the evidence will be inadmissible in court 3) if the time on the video disagrees with the time on the camera,the evidence will be inadmissible in court IR wavelengths: almost any CCD camera will see in 850 nm light. very few cameras see 940 mm light. CMOS is useless with IR illumination. mount an 850 NM light on the building, pointed at your truck. do not buy the kind with 48 or 96 small LEDs. those small LEDs burn out fast if they get too much voltage. this reduces current draw, which raises voltage to the remaining LEDs, which burn out one by one. get the kind with 4, 6, or 8 LEDs the size of a fingertip. those large LEDs can dissipate extra heat. I would use an IP camera, a router in the truck with DD-WRT software that lets me use it as a bridge, a separate "solar battery" ( the battery is not solar; it attaches to a solar system ). I would connect the bridge to a wifi network in the building, and configure the camera to get NTP time. I would record with an NVR in the building. I tend to go berserk with this. all of my cameras are set up in a crossfire arrangement with other cameras. you are never on A camera, you are never on less than 2 and sometimes on 5.

not the answer you are looking for, but a consideration: put up a couple of trailcams. here in the states, $28 at Walmart. look for the kind with no glow IR illumination.

In America, NEC Article 800 applies https://www.mikeholt.com/instructor2/img/product/pdf/11LE-968-sample.pdf you can't just drill a hole, or open a window and run it in. you have to use a conduit, and stuff the conduit to prevent it acting as a vent in case of fire.

I would expect red = power, "cable wrapped around" = shield = ground, yellow = video BNC is a type of connector. I would make yellow center pin and shield the outer shell of the BNC connector.

I get solicitations to review equipment. The formula is, you buy the equipment from Amazon and review it. if you write a sufficiently glowing review, they refund your money. if you are not impressed just ship it back to Amazon for a refund. I sincerely doubt that this is an homage to my polysyllabic pettifoggery. more like, get sleazy people to write up things they would not buy without an incentive.

I'm looking for a different thing. Not a system. parts pieced together. I am an old school electronics tech, ergo a scrounger and cheapskate. my system is massive but inexpensive. most of my cameras are visible only if you look hard. my cheap camera of choice: https://www.ebay.com/itm/700TVL-CMOS-Wired-Mini-Micro-CCTV-Security-Camera-Wide-Angle-3-6MM-Lens/174344059684 I use these lenses: https://www.ebay.com/itm/CCTV-1-8mm-Camera-Security-Lens-170-Degree-Wide-Angle-CCTV-IRCUSN-sh/313260112768 https://www.ebay.com/itm/1-3inch-1-8mm-170-Degree-Wide-Angle-Black-CCTV-Lens-for-CCD-Security-Box-Camera/272594964981 https://www.ebay.com/itm/2-5mm-MTV-CCTV-FPV-Camera-Lens-CL-1180/114168086394 wide angle lenses are far more useful than narrower lenses. DVR: you absolutely must have NTP: the system sets its own time. if multiple DVRs show noticeably different times, the defense attorney can supress the evidence. I use 4 channel DVRs. even a small tv works with 4 images displayed, and you don't have to decipher location from 16 images on the screen. Bummer: DVR network interfaces don't work with any of my browsers in Linux. I can change settings but not view video.