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Kiwi

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  1. That is a weird question. The wire pair between the baluns must be a twisted pair, preferably the color with the tightest twist. Not good idea to use more than one pair in any way for video, however using one or more pairs for power is common.
  2. As a home user I bought a AV3130 dual sensor day/night camera about 2007. We had used them at work for government projects and they seemed to be a high quality camera. The optional 4mm lenses I also purchased turned out to be virtually useless, a waste of $140. My example was only in service a couple of years as a weather webcam (monochrome side covered) and then the daytime colour sensor inexplicably failed, despite the incoming light level being well stopped-down and the camera well-protected environmentally. Now I use the monochrome side only in a nighttime security application with the free AV100 software which is barely adequate and doesn't seem to have any way to save clips. It does work though and it did solve a recent break-in. The Arecont seemed physically very well made but not well evolved, at least at the time. This one, like most, have no output for an iris control so you have to compromise with one setting for all conditions, not realistic, and I was never very happy with the colours. I also found that JPEGs extracted were not precisely formed to the required JPEG specification and could not be extracted by PHP scripts. I replaced it with an Axis 2MP day/night which has met all my performance expectations, despite being shipped with the incorrect dome.
  3. Kiwi

    Need advice on camera/DVR to go in a car!

    Lol, I guess you have never priced CCTV equipment. You should just buy a consumer camcorder.
  4. Kiwi

    Microphone input

    It'll be the same as any other device with general purpose sound inputs and outputs, "line level." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Line_level
  5. Kiwi

    Wavey Lines

    I'm thinking more high current than high voltage. One last thought - is the metal dome body inadvertently grounded?
  6. Kiwi

    Wavey Lines

    When you tested the camera on a battery were both the normal + and - power wires disconnected? Are the cameras that are OK v.s. not OK of the same type? In particular simple cameras usually have the power (-) connected internally to the video shield, often contributing to ground loops. In my minimal experience I've seen a wavy picture from either insufficient voltage at the camera, or a ground loop between the (-) and video shield. Also having long untwisted power wires raises a flag for me but the battery test should remove that possibility.
  7. Kiwi

    Apartment robbed, need security camera system

    These answers are never easy. The Logitech system still needs a PC which must survive the break-in, nearly impossible without either a strong box or hiding it - both difficult in a rental property. I've put my DVR and other security monitoring kit inside a large, vented NEMA 4 box in a closet but I own the property. It took me years to evolve and cost thousands. It pays to play out all the potential scenarios to see if the proposed solutions will even work and are worth the cost. And that includes trying to get the cops to act and produce results from your CCTV images. I wouldn't limit yourself to ideas which also suit your nanny concerns. The optimum solutions may be different as the nanny is unlikely to mess with your PC but will have more time to notice a hidden camera. Do you have a trustworthy at-home neighbor that can respond to a silent alarm? The big advantage with an apartment is limited access and if your door is impregnable that's the best answer. Perhaps you can limit CCTV to the nanny. Someone should sell a DVR with a battery and single camera looking out the front, all inside a lockable steel box that can be temporarily but securely screwed to the back of the front door.
  8. Kiwi

    Apartment robbed, need security camera system

    I would spend $500 on securing the door better and forget about the CCTV. Other than a nanny-cam built into in a teddy bear, your simply not going to be able to have a covert system without drilling holes and it's very likely the equipment will be gone the next time you have a burglary.
  9. (post deleted)
  10. Kiwi

    Video Server E & Windows 7

    If you right-click on the setup file, "run as administrator" Video server E will install and run. Once installed, I've noticed on many installations that it fails to run the first time, but will on subsequent attempts. Video viewer seems to install incorrectly during the install of Video Server E. Go to the Video Server E folder and re-install viewer from it's setup file - back into the same folder - rather than install to the separate folder it normally uses. When Viewer is invoked from E to play a file, note it sometimes has a delay of several seconds.
  11. Great video - that should be mandatory newbie viewing.
  12. I would suggest an additional IR block filter positioned in front of the lens to supplement the one already present at the CCD. A UV block filter may or may not be helpful but is plenty cheap enough. Also, since the dynamic range you will have is significantly higher, a neutral density filter of several stops may be required.
  13. I used to design x-ray imaging camera boxes as part of my job. Using a mirror is best if the camera receives the direct x-ray beam. If the radiation at the camera is only scatter and it's not too high the leaded glass should work and is the easier fix. Either way be sure and shield the camera with thin lead, likely 1/32" is thick enough. The leaded glass will need to be about 1/4" thick.
  14. Good answers. And that DNS server address can be the local NAT router which would have one or two internet DNS addresses recorded by way of the ISP.
  15. Kiwi

    areconts

    Is the blur from the person due to long exposure or IR focus shift? Not that it applies to my 3130, but with many Areconts you can specify which parts of the image are used for determining exposure. If you have a slow connection the command line interface (using a browser) may be more convenient.
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