CSG

It seems their superior officers and Mr Blair should be taking the blame for 1. Not having a helicopter or jet on immediate standby to support these troops. It would have taken one flyby to scare off the Iranian gunboats. 2. Not having a shoot first rules of engagement policy in a war zone. I bet Prince Harry will have a whole brigade on watch 24/7

CSG your post sums you up perfectly. Still waiting to hear what your qualifications are Pfreddy boy????? It appears that you are just a wannabe CCTV installer hiding behind an anonymous online identity.

Damm, that dude should get a job as a stuntman.

Phred, The main reason for my suggestion of adding a plywood panel was to add stiffening to the mount and reduce flex. The added benefit, however small, would be to provide some insulation against lightning strike. It would not help against a direct hit, or maybe even a near miss. But high voltage currents are unpredictable, even at low amperages. There are many ways stray voltages can find their way into electronics, from the power supply, to coax/wiring passing by structural beams. And since cctv cameras operate on 1 Volt PTP signal, you can see that it does NOT take many volts to zap a camera, or the DVR. How many installers have blown cameras hooking 24ac to a 12vdc cam? - many, trust me, especially before dual voltage became prevalent. Since the camera is mounted on the building exterior, the Faraday cage effect you mention does not apply here, nor does it protect against transient voltages. I've seen first hand, a lightning strike about 1000 feet away blow a DVR inside a steel framed masonary building. It's not dramatic, you hear a boom, look at the monitor, and nothings working. Many alarm equipment installers don't connect grounds to security equipment, such as alarm panels. The manufacturers place ground connections on panels for safety/code reasons, however a nearby strike can send currents out that propagate from ground and blow the panel. I don't have an engineering degree in high voltage electricity, but I know enough from experience that I would try to avoid placing sensitive electronics in direct contact with a large conductor. As to my qualifications, I hold a dozen professional licenses, including Security equipment installer, and master electrician. I past president of the Metropolitan NY alarm association, and helped run the training courses for new installers getting certification. (over 60 hours of classroom alone). I run a multi-million dollar company that I built from the ground up. And your qualifications? Pfred, I've installed cameras more times than you've wanked off, which i'm sure is a considerable amount , so take a hike. Oh, I see your a 30 day wonder to cctvforum.com Well if you stay around long enough you will find this forum is about providing a helpful exchange of information, and not about personal attacks.

get the hint?

[is there a big risk of lightning damage to security cameras mounted less than 20' up on a 2-story building? What's building zap? well, sensitive electronics (camera) bolted to a metal housing bolted to a metal mount screwed to a metal building with metal framing into the ground..... summer thunderstorm comes by and strikes the building, or even nearby,, a tree, the ground, camera might get tickled by stray voltages, might blow the cam. a insulator (plywood) will make your mount more ridgid, and provide some protection at the same time.

maybe screw a 2'x2' 3/4 exterior plywood "plate" to the building, painted to match, and screw the mount to that. That will spread the load over a larger area and reduce flexing. Will also help insulate the camera from lightning shocks. metal building zap.

New York city just passed a law requiring a CCTV system for bars and clubs. It should result in work for NYC system installers. :^) COPY OF THE LAW: A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to requiring certain cabarets and public dance halls to install video surveillance cameras at all entrances and exits. Be it enacted by the Council as follows: Section 1. Subchapter 20 of title 20 of the administrative code of the city of New York is amended by adding a new section 20-360.2 to read as follows: §20-360.2. Additional security measures for cabarets and public dance halls. a. No one shall operate a cabaret or public dance hall unless all entrances and exits used by patrons are equipped with digital video surveillance cameras, provided, however, that this section shall not apply to an establishment that operates primarily as a restaurant, as defined by section three of the alcoholic beverage control law, during all hours of operation. b. Digital video surveillance systems shall comply with the following provisions and with the rules of the commissioner: 1. The video surveillance cameras shall be digital in nature and shall be of sufficient number, type, placement and location to view and record all activity in front of and within 15 feet of either side of each entrance or exit; 2. The video surveillance cameras shall be sufficiently light sensitive and provide sufficient image resolution (supported by additional lighting if necessary) to produce easily discernible images recorded at all times; 3. The video surveillance cameras shall record at a minimum speed of fifteen frames per second; 4. The video surveillance camera images shall be capable of being viewed through use of appropriate technology, including but not limited to a computer screen or closed circuit television monitor; 5. The video surveillance camera system shall be capable of transferring the recorded images to a portable form of media, including but not limited to compact disc or digital video disc; 6. The video surveillance cameras shall not have an audio capability; 7. The video surveillance cameras shall be maintained in good working condition; 8. Except as otherwise provided by rule, the video surveillance cameras shall be in operation and recording continuously during all hours of operation of the cabaret or public dance hall and for two hours after the cabaret or public dance hall closes; 9. The recordings made by video surveillance cameras installed and maintained pursuant to this section shall be indexed by dates and times and preserved for a minimum of thirty days so that they may be made available to the department, the police department and other government agencies acting in furtherance of a criminal investigation or a civil or administrative law enforcement purpose; 10. All recordings made by video surveillance cameras installed and maintained pursuant to this section while in the possession of the cabaret or public dance hall shall be stored in a locked receptacle located in a controlled access area, to which only authorized personnel have access, or shall otherwise be secured so that only authorized personnel may access such video recordings. All personnel authorized to access such video recordings must certify in writing that they have been informed on the appropriate use and retention of recordings as set forth in this section, and on the legal issues associated with video surveillance and the use and retention of recordings. The cabaret or public dance hall shall keep a log of all instances of requests for, access to, dissemination and use of, recorded materials made by video surveillance cameras installed and maintained pursuant to this section. Copies of the certifications by authorized employees and of the access log shall be provided to the department in accordance with its rules; 11. The use or dissemination of recordings made by video surveillance cameras installed and maintained pursuant to this section in violation of the penal law or section 50 of the civil rights law shall result in suspension or revocation of a license and a fine of not less than $5,000 nor more than $50,000; and 12. The cabaret or public dance hall shall post signage at appropriate locations, as determined by rule of the commissioner, to notify the public of its use of video surveillance equipment and the locations of video surveillance equipment so that the public has sufficient warning that surveillance is in operation. c. Each person subject to the provisions of this section shall submit, or ensure the submission of, a report to the department within thirty days after the effective date of this section, or, in the case of a new cabaret or public dance hall, within thirty days after the establishment of such cabaret or public dance hall. Such report shall certify that the cabaret or public dance hall is in compliance with this section. Reports filed pursuant to this subdivision shall be submitted in such form and manner and containing such information as shall be provided by rule of the commissioner. d. The department shall conduct periodic inspections of licensees to ensure compliance with the use and retention policies set forth in this section. e. The commissioner may suspend or revoke a cabaret or public dance hall license if the licensee violates the requirements of this section and, in addition, shall impose a fine of $1,000 for each violation of paragraphs nine, ten or twelve of subdivision (b) of this section, and any additional penalties and fines as required by paragraph eleven of subdivision (b) of this section. §2. This local law shall take effect one hundred eighty days after its enactment.

Vista is a mixed bag with many applications. Dedicated Micro's Network Viewer works fine, SamsungGVI Smartviewer won't work, haven't tried Geo yet. I would expect most DVR companies will be releasing Vista compatible updates soon. I keep my laptop with Win2K next to my Vista PC to cover all the stuff that won't run on Vista.

Interesting article,, too bad they didn't give brand comparisons. I've used quite a few Maxtor's without incident in desktop and server applications, with no issues. I've had 2 Seagates die on me, one a Seagate Cheetah and a Barracuda. I got warranty on the barracuda. Well the're all one happy family now,as Seagate owns Maxtor.

Your gonna want to use a box camera with adjustable shutter speeds, choose the higher settings like 1/100000, make sure there is enough lighting.

Hi Shaun, I've installed quite a few DM DVR's. I would assume from your post that DM may come out with an IP DVR? Will DM ever make a DVR where the harddrive is field replaceable? That seems to be a major objection amoung some users.

write to the NEC and ask for a waiver

i'd be careful with Vista, many programs are not compatible with it. Even routers need their firmware updated. I just installed Vista and I'm keeping my older harddrive with Win2k for dual boot. stuff I've found that doesn't work, Linksys QuickVPN client, PCanywhere, Samsung GVI Smartviewer.

why not just cut the plug off and wire it directly into a surface mount wall outlet. Of course someone can always turn off the breaker.

I was looking at microATX's to upgrade my home PC. I wanted as small a PC as possible to save space. It seems all these mobo's have onboard VGA, which I didnt want. (at least all the ASUS boards). Also, micro ATX have fewer PCI slots. If your building a DVR as you sure your gonna be happy with onboard VGA?

yes, more costly than a ladder, but worth its weight in gold when doing warehouses and garages. Plus I do alot of HVAC work in the winter and we use it for that too. http://www.consumerssecurity.com/images/trailer.jpg

I like my JLG sizzorlift for installations

You should charge by the hour to install such equipment, no flat rate deals. That way the time you waste playing around with defective equipment will be paid by the customer.

That's what I tell myself as I am hanging on a ladder with a camera that won't work !!!

I would question a reseller of OEM cameras where they describe everything as a "Sony" camera. It's only a Sony camera if it says Sony on the outside. Otherwise who is going to check the inside?

youtube.com

Is it possible to have windows automatically re-boot let's say every 24 hours?

I just take my JLG scissorlift to the job, go up on the lift, and drive the lift where ever the cables need to go.

color looks pretty