excableguy 0 Posted February 18, 2012 I'm a radio operator and have a 50ft tower at my place. What would be a good PTZ camera that I could throw up there to have a birds eye view of my property? Cost.. i'd like to keep under $600 USD. This would give me a great aerial view of things and it's something i'd like to take advantage of. I have a dvr that was given to me that has ptz control functionality as well. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rory 0 Posted February 18, 2012 Might be a little heavy? Maybe just install several mini bullet cameras instead. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
excableguy 0 Posted February 18, 2012 Weight isn't much of an issue on this tower. After looking at the specs and speaking with the manufacturer I could do something up to about 35lbs or so where I want to place it. I like the idea of the bullet cams too! Thanks tomcctv! The picture is of the base of the tower.. 4x4x5ft hole and that's a 5ft ladder in the hole. Might be a little heavy?Maybe just install several mini bullet cameras instead. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Numb-nuts 1 Posted February 18, 2012 Nice picture, don't forget to remove the ladder before you pour the concrete The kind of view you'll get half way up at say 25ft will be about right to utilize a good PTZ's zoom capability. The problem is most people new to CTV believe PTZ cameras to be capable of a lot more than they are. A security guard is usually operation these in corporate premises and even with tour and presets they are not a lot better than a few static cameras. The other thing is that you could use the tour presets function, but even so you may miss something that occurs when the camera is elswhere and it may catch something but continue to move through it's tour. You need to have one PTZ, supported by at least three static (overview) cameras on Motion Detection, or some good PIRs to alert you to actual alarms through beeping on activate. Then you can swing the PTZ to where the action is and zoom in. The higher you go the less detail you will get, unless it's the tops of cars and people's heads you are interested in. Height can have advantages, but it can also ruin a good view. Those that you see high up on corporate buildings and traffic masts are watching wide areas for traffic control and car park security. They are practically used for an overview rather than security and detection. They do have greater capability but can typically cost in the region of several thousand dollars. I doubt even Nelly's can supply a used one for that kind of money but definitely a surplus PTZ in your price range for your purpose is a strong possibility, you will also require a Controller. You can get some static zoom cameras but frankly I'm not impressed with those at all. If you do, remember to align the view at full zoom as once the zoom is at 1:1 you won't be ale to move the view only to zoom in to the centre of the picture. With this type you will also need camera housings. What power are you transmitting at? I ask because RF interference may be an issue. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
excableguy 0 Posted February 18, 2012 Thanks for the advice. Lets just say that interference wouldn't be an issue due to out of band harmonics. The only way my broadcast would cause interference is due to front end overload or poor shielding of cameras or the dvr. Time will tell since I haven't completed installing my cameras and dvr yet. I acquired one of those 8 channel aposonic kits for free. I ordered a spool of 18/2 Siamese cable to install the cameras with instead of using the junk cables that came with it. Installing connectors isn't an issue for me obviously. I'll probably do twist on bnc connectors and I can solder and heat shrink the power leads.. As far as the output goes, lets just say that my amplifier uses a 220v line, and in the USA that's the same power line that a household dryer or electric oven uses. Nice picture, don't forget to remove the ladder before you pour the concrete The kind of view you'll get half way up at say 25ft will be about right to utilize a good PTZ's zoom capability. The problem is most people new to CTV believe PTZ cameras to be capable of a lot more than they are. A security guard is usually operation these in corporate premises and even with tour and presets they are not a lot better than a few static cameras. The other thing is that you could use the tour presets function, but even so you may miss something that occurs when the camera is elswhere and it may catch something but continue to move through it's tour. You need to have one PTZ, supported by at least three static (overview) cameras on Motion Detection, or some good PIRs to alert you to actual alarms through beeping on activate. Then you can swing the PTZ to where the action is and zoom in. The higher you go the less detail you will get, unless it's the tops of cars and people's heads you are interested in. Height can have advantages, but it can also ruin a good view. Those that you see high up on corporate buildings and traffic masts are watching wide areas for traffic control and car park security. They are practically used for an overview rather than security and detection. They do have greater capability but can typically cost in the region of several thousand dollars. I doubt even Nelly's can supply a used one for that kind of money but definitely a surplus PTZ in your price range for your purpose is a strong possibility, you will also require a Controller. You can get some static zoom cameras but frankly I'm not impressed with those at all. If you do, remember to align the view at full zoom as once the zoom is at 1:1 you won't be ale to move the view only to zoom in to the centre of the picture. With this type you will also need camera housings. What power are you transmitting at? I ask because RF interference may be an issue. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Soundy 1 Posted February 18, 2012 I wish I could find my pictures of this site... we have a FLIR wide-eye camera and two FLIR SR-19s (all thermal imaging) feeding an ObjectVideo analytics system, triggering a Pelco Esprit PTZ, all on top of a 50'-ish tower. Nice setup. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Numb-nuts 1 Posted February 18, 2012 Sadly, I can only dream of such installs just at the moment. Need a hell of a set of ladders for that though. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
excableguy 0 Posted February 18, 2012 Ladder? When doing tower installs you usually climb the tower, or use a scissor lift. My tower happens to tilt over. Sadly, I can only dream of such installs just at the moment. Need a hell of a set of ladders for that though. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Soundy 1 Posted February 18, 2012 Yeah, well, since ours was for a crane company, we did it all hanging in a basket under an 80' truck crane... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Numb-nuts 1 Posted February 18, 2012 Ladder? When doing tower installs you usually climb the tower, or use a scissor lift. My tower happens to tilt over. Sadly, I can only dream of such installs just at the moment. Need a hell of a set of ladders for that though. It was a joke about ladders. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shockwave199 0 Posted February 19, 2012 Are you a ham radio operator? CB or both? Nice tower. You can find a CNB, SDN-22Z27F, 27X Outdoor Speed Dome Camera, 600TVL, 10X Digital for around 700 bucks. That would probably do you well. Besides that one from CNB, which is usually asociated with quality, all other brands worth considering such as pelco, toshiba, samsung, etc, are over a grand. Nelly's has a Costar on the cheap. Might be worth considering. He has video footage to check it out in action. Not bad from what I've seen. Good luck. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
excableguy 0 Posted February 19, 2012 CB.. Shhh! lol Are you a ham radio operator? CB or both? Nice tower. You can find a CNB, SDN-22Z27F, 27X Outdoor Speed Dome Camera, 600TVL, 10X Digital for around 700 bucks. That would probably do you well. Besides that one from CNB, which is usually asociated with quality, all other brands worth considering such as pelco, toshiba, samsung, etc, are over a grand. Nelly's has a Costar on the cheap. Might be worth considering. He has video footage to check it out in action. Not bad from what I've seen. Good luck. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rory 0 Posted February 19, 2012 KT&C have some moderately inexpensive 37x PTZs at least much less expensive than the bosch, pelco, ge etc Google this: KT&C KPT-ON37TW 37x Optical Zoom Dome Camera Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shockwave199 0 Posted February 19, 2012 That looks like a nice one, albeit over a grand as well. I was looking like all hell for that brand in ptz. Thanks for that. CB.. Shhh! lol LOL! Some years ago I had up a 'splashtron' attena with a cobra base unit, a really sweet one btw, with a 400 watt amp in line. Needless to say, I came through the neighbors tv's while they were OFF! LOL! There was no 'shhh' about that rig! Still have it all, including a smokin mobile rig. But I didn't have the heart to keep torchering the neighborhood, so I took it down. The radio got too quiet after a while anyway. Everyone got a ham license and started in with that. No interest in that for me. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rory 0 Posted February 19, 2012 That looks like a nice one, albeit over a grand as well. I was looking like all hell for that brand in ptz. Thanks for that. 37x though, their 10x runs under $500. They have 10-37x models. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shockwave199 0 Posted February 19, 2012 Ohh- the 10x sounds awesome- toss me a link to one, even pm if it's direct. I've been looking for a good one for home lately. Thanks. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
