Sawbones

TheWireGuys is exactly right. You could do what you're attempting with wireless-N... since you can get about 370Mb/s out of that protocol (less in practical applications, but far better than 54G)... but I'll bet your cameras don't support wireless N. You're better off using multiple APs to group the cameras. Put four cameras on a single AP, then four on another AP, etc... and see if that does it for you. Make sure you choose your channel spacing to avoid interference, and group the cameras with their APs geographically. You only have fourteen channels in 802.11 space, so space the channel assignments a few channels apart. Put one AP on channel 1, another on 14, and the other two on channels 5 and 10. Wireless is also easy to attack it somebody knows you're using wireless cameras. A single laptop injecting deauth packets into your datastream could wreak havoc with your system, as the cameras all try to re-associate with the APs, and are promptly knocked back off. Such a deauth flood attack could completely disable your CCTV system. It goes without saying that you need to encrypt all of that data... and using something besides WEP, since with the volume of data you're sending with a wireless video install, your WEP key will be cracked literally in a matter of minutes. Wireless sucks for this... it just does... and for all sorts of reasons. Go hard-wired if at all possible.

It's completely dependent on what your installation requires. I've used off-lease corporate small-form-factor desktops to build several NVRs (you can get them cheap as dirt on Ebay)... and other than adding a big fat drive and a real network card (Intel Pro/1000), they're good-to-go. The dual-core processor will run 8-10 cameras in Luxriot with little problem. Here's a favorite: a Lenovo M55 Thinkcentre For bigger installs and megapixel-heavy setups, you need something different. Here's one I built in a 2U case, with a quad-core and four 1.5TB drives: It's all dependent on what hardware and software you're using.

A handy thing to keep in your tool belt is a Lens pen. They're resold by Nikon, Leupold, etc... but you an also get them at lenspen.com

LOL. Unbelievable " title="Applause" /> What's so funny? You post an exe that unexpectedly calls out to the internet. Of course we're going to be suspicious. Once I confirmed it *was* calling out I wanted to warn people while I checked it out. After checking it out I determined it was benign. Sorry if I offended you. I don't see the problem. Scruit took his own time to verify what was going on... it would only be about the zillionth time a trojaned binary was passed around as a legitimate program. Hell... there have been cases of hardware and software coming fresh-from-the-manufacturer with malware pre-installed on the manufacturer's software CD. You can get also get malware in firmware. It pays to be careful.

If they don't quote a shutter speed with that "lux rating," it's utterly worthless.

Oh yes, and for other areas, like schools, offices, factories where people work there is another law that regulates how personal data is handled, only applicable though if you store as digital images. On tape there are no problems at such places. We are held at a short leash in Sweden I'm just gobsmacked by that.

Yikes... I thought you meant that somebody had hunted down and murdered somebody who was harassing them over the phone. If it was a telemarketer, they might have a hard time finding a jury to convict.

Exactly. Either should work.

Ahahahahah! You cheeky bugger, Soundy!

Permission required to point a camera at a public place? Really? Wow...

exacqVision? Pretty much anything, including mobile phones. Best, Christopher Exacq works with everything!!! Windows, Linux, Mac A major strength of that product, IMO.

Update: Mobotix did come through... and they did perform the password reset. This service apparently has to be done through/coordinated with a dealer or Mobotix partner. Now that I know how this process works, I'm sure I'll be able to work it faster the next time. So they WILL support the end-user... with a little help from a dealer... and interestingly, it doesn't look like it matters very much WHICH dealer you go through. I'm sure they're counting on their dealer/partner network to triage some of their support issues... and that's fair enough. Just an FYI for other Mobotix users.

Thought I'd update my Mobotix issue. They did contact me, and the camera was successfully sent in for a password reset. Note: you MUST go through a Mobotix dealer when you request this service. Now that I know this, it may speed up the process for the next time. Just to let everybody know that they did take care of me... and it was appreciated.

Excellent work, Scruit. I've been out of town, and didn't have time to set up a test network to sniff the traffic.

Daggone it... you're going to make me bust out wireshark, aren't you?

Considering I used that to view your video, I'd like an explanation as well.

Jeez... they could at least use a hole saw or something.... that just looks like sh*t.

Can't really make out too much on that video... lighting is bad, and not enough pixels-per-foot. What a pack of assholes... hope you catch them. The police are really doing some investigation on this one... nice to see that.

I'm just now reading that link, here's how I interpret it. It seems to say that you cannot take video inside a residence, in an area where privacy would normally be expected, without the consent of the person being filmed, OR a resident of that home. I'm not sure how that's very different from what we have now... would that really outlaw nanny-cams if they were installed with the permission of the person who lives there? ‘‘(1) the individual is in an area of a temporary 11 or permanent residence that is not readily observable 12 from a public location; 13 ‘‘(2) the individual has a reasonable expectation 14 of privacy in the area; and 15 ‘‘(3) the visual image or images— 16 ‘‘(A) are made without the consent of— 17 ‘‘(i) an individual present in the area; 18 or 19 ‘‘(ii) a resident of the temporary or 20 permanent residence; and 21 ‘‘(B) are— 22 ‘‘(i) produced using a device, appa23 ratus, or other item that was mailed, 24 shipped, or transported in or affecting 25 interstate or foreign commerce by any 26 means; or 3 HEN10303 S.L.C. 1 ‘‘(ii) transported or transmitted, in or 2 affecting, or using any means or facility of, 3 interstate or foreign commerce, including 4 by computer.

It's already been said, but viewing the DVR via a web browser generally requires some sort of web server on the other end (IIS, Apache, etc). Most browser-based connections go over port 80. On the other hand, DVR client software can use any agreed-upon port, and there is still a client-server architecture in place, though it might not be technically correct to call it a "web server." It would probably be more correct to just call it a video server... just like an FTP server takes FTP requests, and a mail server relays mail... a video server serves video. But to answer the OP's question... What interface you need to use (client software versus web browser) depends entirely on what software or camera manufacturer you use. Dedicated Micros? Active-X or Java... eg. firefox will work. Panasonic network cameras? Active-X only Acti network cameras? Active-X only Axis? Active-X, Java, or even some mobile phones Mobotix? Pretty much anything, including mobile phones. Luxriot? client software. Etc, etc.

Depending on how far away he parks, you might consider having a house-mounted camera watch his parking place. I did this by changing out a single-lens ACTI megapixel camera for a Mobotix D12 with dual-imagers. One imager now covers the area where the original ACTI camera was pointing... the other is zoomed right in on where I park my car. Easy.

Ebay can be OK, but ONLY if you know what you're buying. If you don't, you're better off having somebody help you out.

Just add an illuminator. Trust me... that will do a WHOLE lot more for you than slowing down the shutter speed. The mobotix cameras do quite well when you add some IR. For example... here is a D12. This one has one color imager, and one B&W imager (the latter is IR-sensitive, of course). Here is an interior scene with little illumination... note the difference: Here it is with NO illumination. You can see the B&W imager is more light-sensitive, but even that's not enough in full darkness. Here is the same scene with a cheapo Ebay IR illuminator on the floor behind that chair: Sold on the IR light yet? I thought so. Add some IR sources.... that will keep you from having to slow your shutter speed down. Slow the shutter speed enough, and you'll get blurring of any moving people or objects. Adding IR prevents you from having to make that compromise.

I've built a few PC-based DVRs, using the Luxriot software. Here's my latest one... a rack-mount NVR (all the cameras are network/IP cameras or analog cameras on Axis camera servers). All video comes into the server over gigabit ethernet. Parts: case: Built: Server load: That server easily carries a dozen+ network cameras, and writes to 6TB of storage (four 1.5TB Seagate drives). The processor load is what you see, and the network load doesn't even come close to saturating the gigabit connection (even when serving multiple remote clients).

Striking difference. I love my panos... they're really nice cameras. Tough, too.