[quote:4f6353167e="KrCCTV"]
Short Answer: A Professional Dealer / Installer !

Is Rick "KrCCTV"?

Site certainly wouldn't be useless to them (the professionals)!

Seems you're seeking more than a basic understanding ("keep the great ideas and information coming" ). Better, in my opinion, to educate oneself on who the good dealer / installers in your area are – get references, talk to local folks, see some of the work they’ve done. Find someone good and trust them - - they will serve you well. (and to be honest many of the best dealer / installers in the business will have nothing to do with folks who already “know all about this stuff”... sadly one can never make them happy).

Bottom line: One doesn’t have to study the gory details of something to find a professional to take care of it for them. Anyway I understand this is not your plan so that point is moot.

Sorry… just trying to be of help (and no I don’t do installs - - just strongly believe in them and the value of their service - - I’ve talked to far too many folks over the years who’ve studied this stuff inside out and sideways – very smart folks, in an effort to do-it-themselves… only to later pay more to have it done right). Maybe you’ll be the exception! I hope so.

you come onto this site demanding information? And what have you contributed here?

My knowledge comes from years in the field as an installer, does your doctor or lawyer give free advice? So why should I as a licensed Security & low voltage professional give free advice to you?

I am not going to squabble with you about anything. Last time I checked this site was free, connected to the public Internet and all but one section is available to the general public. I have not demanded any information or service from any user. As the name of this site states this is a "forum" and in fact an open forum for the discussion of CCTV. I asked a question and some readers of the forum have made the individual choice to respond. As for CCTV I probably have very little to offer. As a Senior Software Systems Engineer for a major global corporation if you want any information about software development or software configuration management these are my professional fields. As a educated, seasoned, and certified professional in my field I will be more than happy to assist you in any way that I can with anything within the scope of software development for free if you have any questions.

As for my CCTV system I have more than your average system in my opinion. Yet I am certain that it is small compared to most. And the fact that the system is 225 miles from my main home but constantly connected to my local network is what I feel makes it a little more advanced. The system that runs the cameras uses a Windows 2000 server with a Geovision GV-800 8 channel card connected to a wireless network via bridge. Using a DSL connection with a wireless router and a VPN wired router I maintain a constant IPsec VPN tunnel to my main home. My main home has a cable modem connection with the same wired VPN router and a wireless network. The main home network contains a FreeBSD (Unix) server that hosts my web server, ftp server, and an NFS server. Using the NFS mounts on the FreeBSD box I am able to store video off site from the remote network automatically. The entire remote system including the server, camera's, routers and DSL modem are backed up with enough power from UPS units to maintain power in the event of a power outage for over 1.5 hours. The complete system has been fail safe tested to maintain the power and restart itself in the event of a total power failure when public utilities are fully restored. As it would appear I am not a beginner when it comes to the system configuration. I simply do not have enough experience with the actual camera applications. I have pulled more CAT5 and coax than I care to image.

I am ultimately impressed that you are a seasoned, educated professional in your field. It appears that you offered nothing and that is your choice. I would hope that you treat the customers that pay you better than a potential customer you have never met on the Internet. Keep in mind it is a well studied fact that a satisfied customer will only tell 3 people about their experience and a customer that leaves upset or disappointed will tell 50 other people.

Thank You!

Guys take a day to cool off if need be. CSG and kg6mti in particular, I would perfer it if you both take a breath.

CSG, end users come here for help. If you don't want to give it, fine. Please don't get into pissing matches with them though. If more end users spent time educating themselves then there would be less "can I read a licence plate at 5000' with this $50 camera?" questions.

kg6mti, if I can point out to you that experance in one field does not translate into experance in other fields. I know of a few installers here with networks that compare in complexity to what you discribed. Waving an e-peen here isn't going to get you respect.

Damn I have been missing all the good stuff!!! So both of you put you noses in the corner for a time out. Actually I see both points especially CSG's if you stay on this forum to long it starts to get to you and nothing personal kg6mti but some people ask the dumbest questions and have outragous expectations. I had to take a little break from here myself otherwise could have told you in the begining that cameras just has a sony chip and for the price you will pay for that speco there are alot of better cameras out there. If you use the search in the forum you will find this has been discussed many times.

I think the only way to solve this is a steel cage match in Vegas. "Two men enter, one man leave." :D

Thomas, Thank you for your input. I can appreciate your position and will constructively take your advice.

I would however like to take a quick moment and point out some minor details. I clearly stated in my post to CSG that I am not going to squabble at all. I have no argument the user CSG. If CSG has any interest in offering any supportive information I would more than appreciate CSG's insight in CCTV equipment. The next item that I would like to point out is that by outlining my system configuration I was not even remotely attempting to declare that my expertise with system configuration had anything to do with having any aptitude with CCTV equipment. I even stated that I have little to offer with respect to CCTV equipment. I am simply trying to learn more about CCTV hardware. I am certain that every CCTV professional at one time knew very little about his or her field. I was merely attempting to point out that I am not just your average users off the street who decided to drape some coax around my house to spy on my neighbors. The installation I have has been installed with as much professionalism as any system that I could have paid a license installer to perform. My weakness is that I am not familiar with different aspects of the camera's. There is a large selection of camera's available and different camera's offer different capabilities for certain solutions.

With that said I will now retreat to my time out room. :D

I do not recall asking for defense or justification of actions, simply that they halt.

kg6mti, I would like to point out something that I belive is the source of confusion. You made a statement about hobby forums, and I think you think that the posters here see it that way. For most of the posters, this industry is how they pay thier bills. The installers who post here see themselves as professionals. Many have seen the handy work of DIYers and it doesn't hold a candle to a real installers work. Running the coax is the trival part. Camera placement, selecting the right kind of camera, looking at how the light will affect the camera, focusing it...those are the hard part.

At the same time, if all someone has add to the discussion is that "find a professional" is your option they are in the wrong. But pointing out why someone should choose an installer over DIY and supporting it is a valid discussion point.

And now to nitpick your system, if I am reading your post correctly the Geovision system is writing to an offsite NFS share?

The Geovision system does not directly write to an offsite NFS share. The video clips are moved to a offsite NFS share via an AT scheduled event on a regular interval. I am also working on an application that will allow me to move video automatically on certain alarm conditions.

I would imagine you ask the question to lead into the discussion of how am I writing video via what would be considered a slow Internet connection to an off site NFS share. Am I correct?

Thomas,

Please refer to my original post:

"I am able to store video off site from the remote network automatically."

It does not say that the Geovision system is directly writing to a off site NFS share.

Thanks!

I was thinking in terms of a failure point rather then speed.

The CCTV system is in a remote location area near the Northern coast of California. More often in the winter months than others there are frequent short power outages. It would not have been a wise idea to have the primary disk storage be off site and still be able to reliably store video.

Do you have any other questions about my system? I don't consider it "nitpicking" at all. It is perfectly normal for another user to ask questions or have comments on a posted configuration. At the very least it might give other users idea's or allow the owner of the system to find methods to improve performance or system integrity.

Sharing idea's and providing constructive criticism is what a "forum" is all about. The "forum" should provide a vehicle for all it's users to gain knowledge from each other by openly expressing opinions, asking questions, and posting new idea's without the fear of being ridiculed or harassed. I am certain everyone has heard the phrase, "There is no dumb question.". That phrase should be every "forums" slogan. Generally a question seems dump when the person that reads it already knows the answer. If a reader knows the answer they should politely post a reply to help out. There is another phrase that goes along with this. "If you don't have anything nice to say, Don't say anything at all."

Thanks! :D

Please note that acting like an arrogent prick is reserved strickly for the mods. Also note that lecturing people on forum etiquette after your first few posts is not a good way to keep a thread going.

So on that note, the next smart ass comment here is going to get the thread locked.

Back on topic.

Does anyone have any other information about good outdoor cameras. With the input I have recieved so far I can't decide the route to go.

1. Day/Night Outdoor color IR camera
2. High Resolution outdoor color.

It appears that I might need to use a heated housing to resolve my issue with condensation but I have not been able to confirm that,

Any ideas?

:D

IR Day/Night Camera with 1/3-inch Sony CCD, Built-in 16mm, IR View Distance 40 to 60M Horizontal resolution: 420TV Line
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Simon woo,

Thanks for the post. I am guessing that is not an outdoor camera? If you put a camera like that in a housing wouldn't it block or interfere with the IR LED's?

Thanks!

I have used that same camera many times, less the IR's. Very decent camera for the $. Low light is pretty bad without the IR's, wonder what it would look like with the IR's at night.

Simon, do you have any nightime snapshots?

But, what if you want to put it outside?? How could you put that camera in a housing without IR reflection?

I called to the IR camera housing sellers and they told me that if you
mount the camera in the front side of housing or remove the glass, IR would be seldom blocked or reflected

A $7.00 Chinese made housing will last approx. .....um well, 7 days outside.

You get what you pay for guys, buy something a little more reputable that offers "quality", a term often overlooked by cost.

Scottj

what about this? kg6mti

sorry kandcorp, i don't have any nightime snapshots but some nightime video, and I know its minimum illumination is 0Lux/F1.2

Is this a CMOS camera? If so, I've seen a demo on it and its horrible....

A $7.00 Chinese made housing with one year warranty.

Style wise that camera is very similar to the Mace CAM53CIR that I currently have in the position that I am looking to replace. I am happy with the basic performance of the CAM53CIR. The main problem that I have is cold weather condensation.

I appreciate any input you have though.

The bullet itself may be sufficient, but that mount couldn't hold up an eggshell............A real pain to work with if that camera weighs anything.

Is the condensation inside or out? If it is inside, is there any room in the housing for one of those small silica packs? Some people I scuba dive with use them in the underwater camera housings and they help.

Also you may want to try taking the camera apart on a low humidity day, letting it dry out, and then sealing all seams with some silicone upon reassembly.

Of course if it condensing on the outside of the lens none of this will help.

These housings I hate to say are horrible. Used to carry them at my old job and never sold them for outside apps. The rubber/plastic gaskets DO NOT keep the moisture/water out of the housing. The only way you can mount these outdoor is if you caulk all seals...and still I wouldnt trust them at all. And if I remove the glass...I cant mount the camera outdoor Simon.

[quote:277079552c="MrSquid"]

Is the condensation inside or out? If it is inside, is there any room in the housing for one of those small silica packs? Some people I scuba dive with use them in the underwater camera housings and they help.

Also you may want to try taking the camera apart on a low humidity day, letting it dry out, and then sealing all seams with some silicone upon reassembly.

Of course if it condensing on the outside of the lens none of this will help.

[quote:1d7be57fa3="Simon woo"]

A $7.00 Chinese made housing with one year warranty.

You need a heated housing to combat condensation well, its just physics whatever is colder then the dew point in that place that day will get condensation.

That's what I figured and now several people have confirmed. Now the hard part is selecting a good quality camera.

Thanks!

kg6mti- What type of camera housing you wish for your home? Are aesthetics a concern? Do you wish to be somewhat discreet? This may help determine what direction you go, understanding the quality trade-offs.

Choices:

1. Traditional box cameras in a [url]robust[/url], heated outdoor rated enclosure. OEM tested to IP65/66 rating.

2. How about a mini dome? These are nice for homes-under sofits etc. They also are available in IP65/66 ratings.

3. Bullet type cameras, hmmm....

I like to keep IR illuminators outside of my camera housings...

I am probably asking for to much. I want to be somewhat discreet this particular camera is in in the rear of the home up high. So a good looking box camera with a decent enclosure could work out well.

Currently I have Mace CAM53CIR mounted under the eave of a flat portion of the building.

Thanks!