todd2

Given a particular board camera, like one of the .003 lux b/w low light models, how much actual performance will I lose going to pinhole lens from a "real" 3.6mm lens? I assume there has to be some penalty for having a significant reduction in light capture.

I have some of the KT&C bullet cams with the 90 base. By this I mean you can point the camera straight up from the base or down at any angle up to 90 degrees. For a particular application, though, I'm having a bit of a problem. I need to go farther than 90 degrees and/or have a longer or more bendable "neck" between the base and camera. The mounts I have seem to seat the camera on a little screw so I'd imagine it wouldn't be hard to use an alternative mount. Anyone know of a flex mount?

What's the cheapest IP camera that will transmit only when it detects motion? I realize the server software on a PC can detect motion, but it seems silly to send the stuff over a 3G router to a remote PC only to throw away 99% of the data. What's a good server software to use?

[Oops. I was trying to post this to my own thread. Oh well. ] The proprietary format definitely makes things difficult, but it's nothing someone with an engineering degree couldn't figure out with a few weeks of time and the right hardware. One method would be to build a logger to record the EIDE or SATA commands going to the drive as video is written. I say this only because if someone is determined, it's not going to stop them 'photoshopping someone's head' into a video. Actually, the hard part would probably be dealing with motion, shadows, and pixelation properly so it didn't look doctored. I was just asking because if I accidentally wiped the drive from the DVR menu (which takes like 1 second) I know the data is still there, yet the DVR won't give you access to it. If you knew the format, you could pop it into a low level reader and get your video out.

Many board cameras come bare. Assuming I will wear a ground strap during the install itself, do I need to coat or wrap the board in some protective material to avoid ESD issues? This will be a vehicle install. Human hands will not normally come into contact with the board.

The problem with ESD is that it doesn't always wreck the device immediately. You may do damage that doesn't show up until months or years later, or when the device is subjected to stress--voltage surges or high temperature. Any time you're down at 30-40% humidity and your synthetic clothes pop with electricity when you put them on or take them off, it's time for a wrist strap. For me, it's just not worth doing stuff twice because I'm too lazy to do it right the first time. Now, if you're at 60% humidity or better, it's probably not an issue at all.

Anyone know what file system the AVC761 uses? If it's linux, may I assume it uses an ext3 file system? If I attach the drive it to a PC running linux, will I be able to see the files?

Not sure what the correct subforum is for this question, but does anyone know a way to keep a window clear so a clear video can be recorded if it's exposed to rain? Does that RainX stuff work? Which is the best product?

If you have more cameras than DVR channels, have people found it useful to use some sort of interleaver that will toggle rapidly back and forth between two cameras? Obviously, motion detection on that channel will be useless. I assume the other choice is a "combiner" that will reduce the size of each image and stick them together, with a resultant loss of resolution. Is there any device that will combine the top 1/2's of two camera images to form a new image? In my application that might work since my window is not so high but wide. I suspect such a device would be super expensive.

Thanks, ilk, I found a product on that website, called "micro-foursight" that's basically perfect for my application. It will crop & combine two images into one without any scaling, and it only uses 150mA. Only two problems: Do they have any USA resellers? The device has 4 inputs, but only one output. I need the four inputs, but two outputs so I can do two separate "joins". I.e., two 2-joins rather than 1 4-join. Is there any product that does that?

I have several KT&C interchangable lenses with 78 and 92 degree view fields. (These are 3.6mm and 2.9mm lenses I believe.) You just loosen a set screw unscrew the lens, and pop the new one in. I was wondering whether there's a source for special lenses, like say one that has a narrower vertical angle to get more detail (with image squishing being acceptable). For example, suppose you had a wide window that wasn't very tall, you could benefit from a 16:9 lens to get more detail. Or, how about a lens that has multiple lobes to look in two slightly different directions for the top and bottom half (or left and right). That would avoid needing an electronic image combiner (which really wouldn't do want you want anyway, since you want to stitch together the top half of one view with the bottom of another, not reduce them both by 2 and combine them.)

Several people here are using grandfathered unlimited data accounts, but that's cold comfort to me who's looking for a new setup. Anyone know if any US provider will sell unlimited 3G data service for remote monitoring of a DVR? The ones I've seen charge extra beyond 5G per month, which isn't even enough to allow 24/7 audio monitoring.

I've seen equipment damaged from heat from the sun in a hot car, but neglecting heat issues for the moment, will the light from the sun actually permanently destroy a board or bullet camera like it would if you stared at the sun? (I.e., not from the heat, but the light intensity?) I've seen a plastic wireless camera actually melt from heat, but there didn't appear to be any permanent optical element damage, even though the sun was in frame for several minutes.

In my experience Frame is not the same as 4CIF. It's much worse, at least using the AVC761 as a yard stick.

Only if it's in the sun. If the camera is inside, or in the shade, painting it black should lower the temperature by increasing the the radiated heat.

Say you have an installed setup (with wires disappearing into walls) and need to replace a bullet camera. I'm talking about the little lipstick case ones. I notice the cylinder seems to be in three parts. The front piece can be removed to change lenses, but I see a seam near the back too that makes me wonder whether you also unscrew it at the back. Is the power & video socketed inside like a board camera? Will unscrewing it at the back let me change out the camera that way? Cause otherwise, I either need to fish whole wire out of the wall to replace the camera & wire as a unit, or cut the wire and resolder the new one. I'm worried that such a "splice" may reduce video quality since video lines are usually high quality for maximum bandwidth.

Yeah the cable is 1-2 feet long and the junction is inside the wall. That's why I was hoping the camera had a little header connector on it like board cameras do.

Suspect cell phone transmitter hidden in vehicle. I bought one of those cheap broad bandwidth "bug detectors" with the 4 LEDs but it doesn't work that well as it seems it's always detecting some signal if the sensitivity is high, or detecting nothing otherwise. What would a professional use to locate a hidden cell phone? (Yes, if it wakes up only periodically, then the sweep will take a long time.)

I'm talking about the small "lipstick case" type bullets.

My experience is that non IR cameras seem to work as well as 9V or 12V. My question is there any difference in camera life between the two? Does running it at 9V make it last longer? What little I've seen indicates it'll just suck more current as 9V and get just as hot.

Good point, scorpian, most board/bullet cameras are designed so that they can run off a 9V battery, which is part of why it should work OK. As to why I asked the question, that was part of my question! I'm trying to find out whether the cameras have extended life running @ 9V. Some circuits, for example PC CPUs, will age faster at higher voltage. (Typically used to make them stable when overclocked.) I wouldn't expect a *reduced* life at a lower voltage; that wouldn't make sense from a digital circuit engineering point of view. (A motor might fry at a lower voltage if it never started turning, but digital electronics are a different ball game.) As to the general knock against bullet cameras, I'm not sure what I'm supposed to use. I don't need SLR quality for vehicle monitoring.

Hmm. Well, I've never seen a board/bullet camera not spec'd to 12V, and all of those will run just fine at 9V. (The only issue I've ever seen @ 9V is IR cameras, which have greatly reduced IR output.) You won't blow it up at a lower voltage, though it's possible it may not work. Anyone have any feedback on camera life?

Concern is with device as part of a tracker. I read the responses and understand it may be difficult to find physically. That's why I was looking for a cell phone detector device--to pick up the transmisions. I had an alarm shop look for it, but I got the feeling they only ever dealt with dealer installed (non-criminally-installed) units, since they kept telling me it would be under the dash hooked up to the ignition. As you say, if it's not hooked up to the car wiring, it won't last more than a few weeks. Camera and alarm system will limit the perps options to somewhere underneath the vehicle on his back. Should I have a private investigator look at the vehicle rather than another alarm shop?

I got a motion trip from what I think is a bug flying around on an IR LED camera, except that the thing glows white. When it approaches the lens, it's just a big white square or polygon; I never get a resolved image of the bug at any distance. Is this just because it's wings move too fast to capture and it reflects IR light strongly, or do I have a UFO sighting?

Anyone have a serious answer? Can I confirm that insects appear as glowing blobs on IR cameras?