CraigVM62

Yes, for the most part it is all clear as mud, but that is because much of the detailed discussion is just over my head. It seems like it would be a simple thing. As mentioned, the UPS sees a power outage and continues to provide AC via Battery as it send commands to PC to shut down. There should be plenty battery left for the UPS to monitor when power is restored and then send requist to PC to boot back up. Now I think I understand that the USB and Serial ports are not listening when PC is shut down, and those are how communication takes place with most UPS units. It has been a while since I have played around with BIOS settings. Isn't there a option where the modem can boot up the PC ? We have a good budget to work with so a $300 to $500 unit is no problem.

We basicaly started utilizing structured wiring panels on every house we would wire for the last 8 years or so. With basic panels from Channel Plus or Leviton being so cheap, including nice powder coated metal covers, I can't imagine taking the time to custom build something. They have a very common mounting system that generic modules can utilize. Also electrical inspectors like to see an approved UL Listed panel if any kind of AC outlet is to be installed within it. Often I would not buy their video and phone modules but just float a good quality splitter not even mounting it. I would also ALWAYS run a smurf tube to attic and crawl to easily add cabling down the road. Though the builders would not want to pay for anything beyond just basic cabling for Phones & TVs, so often those buying the homes would want to add additional phone, tv jacks, cameras via modulators or wiring for DBS Dishes....

I used to pass on the majority of retrofit security jobs. Prewired for every wire in the house "AC and Low Voltage" except the stat wire which the HVAC installers had to provide for themselves. Several of our high dollar homes would fly in Home Theater and Home Automation Specialists as we had no experience in some of the exotic systems they were wanting installed. I used to look over their shoulder and ask tons of questions trying to get some "free training"

Even on the spec homes I would utilize a very basic panel for the TV and Phone wiring if there was more that 4 or 5 TV jacks in the home. Compaired to running each cable from the side of the garage where the CATV Interface would be, it proved cost effective to go with a basic panel. If I could get it placed near the center of the home, or near where the majority of jacks are to be located. it would then allow shorter runs to each jack. I found the savings in cable and labor were greater than the $30 I was paying for the panels w/ cover. I would do this without any additional charge to the builder. Ofcourse if the home was to have what many see as structured wiring with dual Coax and Cat 5e runs to each jack location, I would charge a good deal for the larger panels and needed modules. The only set back, but always funny was the first few years, I would often get calls from homeowners when the cable company would show to hook them up. They could not understand one cable being stubbed out at the interface location when there were perhaps 5 or 6 jacks in the home. Often the Cable installer would get on the phone and jump right in lecturing me about daisy chaining coax runs thinking the splitters or taps were burried in the walls some where. I would let them vent their anger, then tell them to go look in the master closet, or where ever the panel was located.

Yes ... I don't know what I did so it became a new thread. Thanks for pointing it out. It sounds like you are envolved with alot more than the typical residential houses I dealt with. Are you doing more commercial applications with the rack systems ? I have used rack fitted commponents a few times, but only on the largest custom homes with whole house audio video systems.

I do the exact same thing but then they are have always been smaller, rather light models of dome cameras. I imagine if it were ever to be a heavier and expensive PTZ type, I would take the advise of some of the secure methods mentioned by others here.

What do you guys think about the "exposed wiring design" of those, and so many other bullet type cameras? When ever they have been within easy reach, I have gone with designs as shown below so the wiring is enclosed within the mounting system. I can't say I have had any situations where wiring has been tampered with.... but sometimes I take the stand as the devils advicate

Those were what we were installing during the mid 90's for entry and gararage driveway cameras. We were having some problems with those getting directly hit with rain. Would hit body and roll down infront of lens. Also moisture and dust would seem to work its way in after a couple years. I have recently installed several of these and they seem much better designed regarding dealing with the elements and being sealed. Have had a good deal of rain lately "here in the Pacific NorthWest" and no problems at all. The allow a great amount of range of movement incase you want to change the direction they are pointed. Funny thing is that several homeowners have asked us to comeout saying an outdoor floodlight doesn't seem to be coming on. I enjoy telling them "No, that is the CCTV Camera" http://www.netmedia.com/pr_vid_main.html

A good friend is building a small industrial building complex and moving his business into one of the buildings. Somehow I accepted the challenge if installing a CCTV system. I would really like to get your thoughts on the components I am thinking of using: Cameras will be (5) Bosch Dinion LTC 035620 http://www.2mcctv.com/specs/LTC%200356.pdf (2) Bosch Dinion LTC 045520 http://www.2mcctv.com/specs/LTC0455.pdf These cameras are running me around $[edit by mod] for the B/W and $[edit by mod] for the Color version. Both Claim to be high resolution so I am wondering if their specifications look good for the money, and if anyone has had good or bad experiences with the Bosch Dinion line. Granted these are the cheaper models in that line. Housings will be the EMI HIMAG8 with Heater and would most likely buy them from Spytown. Install is in the Pacific Northwest so lots and lots of rain but no sub zero temps. http://www.apw.com/productsServices/productShowcase/ccevh-14.jsp [link edit by mod] Longest runs for power will be 100' via 18awg "Siamese Cable" to Altronix Power supplies providing 1 amp to each Cam and Housing. Video runs will not exceed 160 feet. I was tempted to use cheap baluns since Cat5E is still pretty cheap, but Rory has struck the fear of God in me that they should only be considered if active and by major name brand. So better safe than sorry This 16 channel DVR was originaly purchased for his home for only 5 cameras, so he now wishes to uitilize in for the new building http://www.hisharp.com.tw/hisharp_eng/information02.asp?xCLASS1=2&xCLASS2=DVR&xCATNO=HS-DVR163 [link edit by mod] I will most likely just install it's max Hard Drive allowance and record 24/7 as I don't know how much faith I should have in it's video motion detection. Since I still have some confusion in how products rate their resolution, will I have no problem seeing the high res claimed by the cameras when being viewed through this DVR ??? From it's video out, I will be feeding two High Res CCTV 21" Monitors to be located in two different offices. Xantech IR Repeater system to allow remote control with the remote control that came with DVR. I appreciate any thoughts and suggestions you may have

Howard, Thanks for letting me know. I went into my distributor and the part numbers I had to get a quote was confusing them. After looking over prices, I will most likely just order everthing through you.

For me this would qualify as a "Larger" project since the majority of my experience has been residential installations of 2 to 3 cameras on average. The 30 and 40 camera installations many do here are what I call "Out of My League" installations All the Bosch cameras mentioned are exterior mounted, mainly looking over side doors and loading areas. Good bit of lighting, all of which will be mounted higher than the cameras, so should be able to keep light sources out of the cameras frame. The 2 color Bosch cameras will be overlooking parking spaces in front of building. These areas should also be pretty well lit at night. I am guessing these are not true "Day / Night" cameras though they mention going into monochrome when light levels fall. There will also be 2 or 3 additional dome cameras inside overseeing a showroom and transaction area. The DVR was purchased for the owners home last year for 5 cheap resident cameras. I had mentioned to him that though it workd ok in that application, it might not be up to the task for his business. I understand that we will not see the higher resolution the cameras will offer through this DVR. When all is installed, I will show him via the monitor what the cameras have to offer when routed around the DVR vs ran through them. Perhaps then it will make more sense to upgrade.

The few small commercial CCTV installs I have done, I have also installed the security alarm system so this option was easy to do.... I ran a security wire and installed a plunger switch in the camera housing with a EOL resistor. If someone were to cut the PVC conduit the cables were ran in were cut, or open the housing, it would set off the alarm

Send me your address via private mail and I will send you a couple ... No Charge

Something I have done in the past with auctions of hardware I am looking at. I check the sellers feedback history and bring up the transaction which will give the buyers name. Often I will contact the buyer and let them know I am also looking to buy the same product and ask for a quick review. Most are more than helpful in shareing their thoughts. Like Martins mentioned, it comes in handy to be familar with some of the quirks of FleaBay.... You can't always judge the quality of a sellers products by the amount of positive feedback. Many times I have received an item and it was not near the quality I had hoped for. If I leave negative feedback expressing that, they will in return leave negative feedback towards me. Since I occasionaly sell items on Fleabay, my 100% positive feedback history is important to me and don't want to have any negative feedback. It is something of a double edge sword in that if you complain, you also pay a price. Many sellers will not be to first to leave feedback and only do so after you, the buyer have left yours for that reason. Because of this, I would only leave negative feedback as a buyer, if they just didn't ever ship product, or blatantly lie in the discription of the item. Is a stand alone DVR completely out of the budget ?

I have installed a good handful of "budget oriented" CCTV systems for homes. To keep them within the homeowners budget, I have purchased many items such as your looking at on FleaBay. Some have worked out very well and were great values. Others were a waste of money and nothing I wanted to warranty or expect the homeowners to be happy with. Often I would order one item to evaluate before I would order the total needed for multi camera installations. I have installed what looks to be the exact same dome cameras you are looking to place outside. Video was acceptible for things like outside entry cameras or to overlook parked cars very near the camera. I would also mount under eaves so rain could not get to them, bugs and dust would though. You really have to do a good job of sealing them so insects can't find even the smallest of openings to get in. A spider the size of a pin head looks like 300 lbs blure when its parked infront of the lens. The board camera within produces enough heat that they attract insects into the houseings. The cheaper plastic housings just had several little gaps that allowed them in. I switched to armored type dome houseing cameras which include seals for the dome lenses and gaskets for mounting. The majority of the budget Bullet IR cameras had problems with condensation forming within and the light from the LED's bleading through around the glass forming a white halo around the edge of the image. They also never seemed to illuminate out near to the distance advertised. I eventualy just convinced homeowners to let me put a motion light near the camera if possible I now am looking at higher dollar bullet cameras that have a built in heater to prevent the condensation problem and would use IR Illumination from a seperate unit I have minimal experience with DVR Cards so can't comment there.

I was about to post this same question, though my budget is a little higher in trying to stay under $350 or so. I have installed a good handful of very cheap IR Bullets, along with a few more expensive getting into the $300 range. I have had problems with condensation forming on the inside despite the fact they claim them to be outdoor cameras, and some even give an underwater depth rating. I now have an application where it must have a good 35 ft. Illumination range out in the open, color during daytime and I prefer the type where the cabling is ran through it's base / mount like this Speco model photo will show vs. where the cable comes out the back of the housing and is exposed. I saw that a few Speco models promotes having a built in heater to eliminate condensation but I wonder if that in needed to prevent the problem ??? This is the camera I was thinking of getting, but notice nothing mentioned in it's specs about an IR Filter. http://www.specotech.com/cart/products/productDetails.asp?prodid=790 From reading the other posts in this thread, I take it is feature that helps performance. I am in the Pacific NorthWest and we do have a bit of fog now and then. I had one installation where I placed an IR Cam that claimed 60 ft. of illumination and was surrounded with some 48 led's around the lensein the housing. On foggy days, it so brightly illiminated the fog infront of the camera, that it provided a visibility of about 3 feet infront of the camera. During those conditions, the naked eye could still see 15 feet or so. Kind of like turning on your cars high beams on a very foggy night. Is this something that can't be avoided without providing the IR illumination from a elsewhere like off to the side ? Thanks for any thoughts you can provide.

I edited it so hopefully it will now ...

This is an interesting article concerning CCTV present and future. May be nothing new to many here. For me it was educational, and at times confuseing. http://www.sdmmag.com/ This link should work, It is the cover story

Thanks for the offer Scott. I have managed to get most everything worked out with the product I purchased from Hermin "$4,000 DVR" with the help from Rory "Big thanks to him" I really didn't mean to be one of those that drags out Dirty Laundry on a forum such as this. It was just after seeing Hermins post about "quality customer support" when he has provided nothing along those lines himself... Could not pass on the opportunity to atleast try and get a working "customer support number" from him via a post since he ignores all emails.... Only resulted in a deleted post to no surprise. Wonder how long this one will last ? I do appreciate the offer to help though

He will take the time to delete the post, but not answer the question ... I guess it shows he doesn't pass his own test...

CCTV-Guy ... How do you usualy address the problem when customers utilize a digital cable box ??? Do you use one of the kits to route the modulated channel around the box? Also for Rory, NetMedia also makes the 3 Channel / Input model which is slightly smaller that three of the single channel model and would reduce the needed power cords from power supply to modulators. I have also found another manufacturer that makes a unit the same size as the NetMedia but with a LED Display showing channel they are programmed for... alot nicer when you have a handful and want to confirm their settings.

Looking for an established distributor for I-View products with good tech support. Any suggestions ?? Thanks

With pretty limited experience with CCTV and means of transporting the video signal, these ideas are really more like questions so that I can understand what won't work and why. Aerial multi pair twisted pair is very cheap and easy to run via from pole to pole with it built in strain relief cable. Is the mentioned distances not a "piece-o-cake" with the use of active baluns and such for the video signal. Would the escessive amount of misc. RF transmissions from the tower come into effect for video over twisted pair? Perhaps I overlooked the details of the required camera, but if twisted pair was used, would the needed power from solar panels/ batteries not just need to provide for the camera, houseing fan / heater and active balun?

I am hoping to utilize the dual video output of the Video Card installed in the I-View 32 ch DVR. At this point we have 21 cameras installed and hopeing to be able to place half the cameras on one screen and second half on the other... is this possible with the software ?? Thanks

I have a couple quick questions but PM's do not seem to get through...