cachecreekcctv

Just made my reservations at the Palace Station. Right on Highway 15. Will be driving. A friend of mine who lives there will get me passes to Rain and Ghostbar at the Palms. Will try to get a few of them.

Tough to hide those larger housing sizes. I end up with quite a lot of the Pelco 3512 housings, as many people will contact me and want them taken down after a few years. I have built my own housings for the larger box-type cameras, but the housings were meant for friends "out in the country" where local kids had shot them with their.22's. I had to make them " .22 bullet - proof". Wouldn't look too good in a residential environment, though. You are right about the heat inside the enclosure. In the summer, it is a "must" in most areas, to get rid of the heat inside a housing with a fan of some sort.

Maybe they will be at ISC West ? So we can all experience their "new , great, and better product". ? If they give out free beer at the sales booth , I will make sure I actually listen to their sales pitch, and not just nod my head.

Hope the pics come through, but one is my normal 24v Siemens transformer for most of my panel builds, and one pic is of my new transformer, 6 amps, for a special project that includes a couple of Vicon PT units, running on 24vac, quite a distance from a home in the Mountains. Not too hard to build your own enclosures and power supplies. A little more time consuming, but when I am done I know they are built right, and with more than enough power to run anything I come across.

I use to almost always use the Siamese-type cable. But, when going in an attic, or crawlspace, I am not sure if it is "plenum-rated", though. Had to run Belden Plenum-rated cable in those cases. I sort of changed my philosophy on that, as with the Belden 16/2 or 18/2, I can put my power supply somewhere different, usually on a wire shelf, so I can have a UPS ahead of it, and not have it in the same location as the DVR, monitor, etc. Most of my power supplies have cooling fans on , so the noise is something to consider also.

I also have problems many times with new IR cameras on installs. For the first few days, they will fog up for awhile, then I guess the heat from the IR will get rid of the condensation. More than likely just condensation inside the camera, as it has changed climates many times. Just need to let it "settle down" for a few days, at least that is my experience.

I think I'll stick with my Avermedias. I need to upload some video from my 4 year old JPEG2000 DVR also. Viewing software sucks, but the video is still great. Uses a lot of hard disk space, though. I installed quite a few of the JPEG2000 DVR's before I started using the Avermedias, but they are all still going strong. Not one complaint from anyone on the video. Built-in CD writer on them. I really can't knock them for smaller applications ( 4 to 8 cameras).

In general, use the most powerful transformer (AC) or Power Supply (DC) that is normally available. If I knew that my "load" was going to be around 2 or 3 amps, I myself would make sure that I had a 4 or 6 amp power supply. Will just run a lot cooler and have less strain on the transformer and Rectifier circuits. I just got in several 6 amp 24vac transformers for a project I am working on. Those 6a transformers are very heavy, but I know they are way more than what I need, and they will run cool inside the panel.

I found a great deal at Circuit City a couple of months ago. 19" Flat screen LCD for $140. Bought several of them. When I did a small business, I put them right up front in the business, so the customers can see the video feed. I made my own mounts for them. All still working great. Of course you have to have DVR's that have VGA feed.

Just always make sure you have an OverCurrent device on any power feed. I don't think I would ever power straight to a camera, without having some sort of inline fuse, CB, etc. To me, fuses are preferable. When you plug something into a receptacle, that circuit feeding the transformer has an overcurrent device (probably a home circuit breaker) but when you take power from the transformer, DC power supply, etc. you don't have the same overcurrent protection on the load side. Fuses serve 2 purposes, #1 overload, and #2 short circuit . In a large commercial building, with 3 phase power feed, even on a single-phase circuit inside that building, you have to take in account the possibility of tremendous short-circuit current . I am a firm believer in fuses, that's for sure.

Your first post was on a Saturday, and you got this DVR already on Tuesday? And you had never seen it before?Man, that was fast.!! So I guess you are able to upload some videos to Youtube for the rest of us ? Let me know this time next year, what you think about this DVR, OK? I might just stick with my Avermedias for now, though, and wait until I see this DVR at ISC West. Going to look for "Magicradar??" when I am there. I will be the tall guy, wearing Cowboy Boots, with a Budweiser in my hand, at the Avermedia Booth.

Does the camera you are using have built-in IR? A motion sensor, with floodlight does a lot better than an IR Illuminator, in a residential application. I "redesigned" my motion sensors so that the lamps are away from the sensor. Just run EMT conduit underneath an eave, etc. to a lamp fixture, pointed at what you want it to light up. I have been using the new CFL type lamps here at home. 16 watts instead of 75. A little different type of light, but for residential it works great. Also "startles" anyone or anything that makes the light come on. I used to have the IR illuminators on my home, but were just way too powerful for residential. I lent them to a friend out in the country, and they do just fine out there. Just a thought.

I guess since you mentioned Apexcctv first, I will go ahead and state that Apex is where I get them from. I normally use the fixed 3.6mm lens on residential applications, but that is just my preference. I have used these in many small businesses also, both inside and outside. I have one watching my front porch right now. I did a "test" with about 6 different cameras, all around the same price range, same lens, etc. For the price, I just can't beat it. I have narrowed my residential cameras down to 3, just because of my tests. 2 of them are from Apex. The 3rd, excellent little bullet cam, is from Deluxecctv. I have 4 of them on my home.

If I had to find a mount for this camera, I would just make one. Flat piece of sheet metal, mount camera to it with 2 screws, drill 2 holes in other end of metal, secure it to wall/ceiling with 2 more screws. Of course I would use Stainless Steel if I were outdoors. Would take about 15 minutes to make a mount.

I'll have to post some pictures/video, as I have the exact ( I think) camera, watching my front door. 3.6mm lens. SonyCCD. I love it for the price !! Everywhere I put these, customers love them. I will post some video on Youtube of these. I had to mount it on its' side, as I got a better shot that way.

One reason I take my Plextor M402U along with me to customers. Can encode video directly to my Laptop hard drive in many formats, all of which can be played back immediately on my laptop, using Windows Media Player, or made into Video CD. I use this at home a lot also. The model TV402U, with TV tuner, is on sale at Tigerdirect until end of the month. I am using Windows Media Center on laptop, and Windows XP Pro on office PC. Not sure about Windows Vista, as I am happy with my XP systems.

I have mounted that exact camera, both on an inside ceiling, and on a wall. They tilt on several axis to be able to move in many directions. What is the need for a mount? They mount themselves very well.

Hey Scruit, can you post some video of the difference on your Youtube site? Would like to see the difference in motion. Thanks.

What size of lens are you using for the License Plate Camera? To get the entire car in a shot like that, you must have to narrow down a gate or something? Is that the camera the one on the front of your house? I tried to build my own design last year, but could not find a "happy medium" on the roadway, so as to get passing cars to stay in a certain path. Pretty good shots.

The 2nd one is just a transformer. I didn't even see a name brand on that, so not sure of its' origin. The first one is just a charger to keep a battery inside an alarm panel charged up, probably for battery backup. You need a ready-made enclosure that has either a 24vac transformer, or a 12vdc power supply, with fuses on the outputs. You would then connect your camera wiring to a "neutral" and "hot" ( in the case of AC) or a "positive" and "negative" (in the case of DC). I see you are in Europe, so your systems are a little different. Probably 220 VAC 50 Hertz is your standard incoming residential power? Not sure of European CCTV suppliers, might have to ask others on this forum.

Just my opinion, but in this application, I would run rg59 and either 16/2 or 18/2. If your cameras are using 24vac, then you are probably pulling, maybe, 1/4 of an amp or so. Most , I think, pull around 3 or 4 watts. I just like the video from the copper braided rg59 I use. When I install 12vdc cameras, I have been using Plenum-rated Belden 16/2, but nothing over 150 feet. Will keep voltage drop to a minimum with the 16/2. I don't do large installs, so this would be my opinion for residential and small commercial designs. I often will mount my camera power supplies in un-conspicuous locations, away from the DVR, to allow me to add UPS backup and keep the fan noise down.

Forget the "wall wart" type of power source for CCTV. Find a powered enclosure, designed as a power supply, either in 24vac or 12vdc, that has each output fused. I usually build my own from parts that I have on-hand, as I know what type/quality of materials that I like to install. Use an enclosure such as Altronix, etc. that is top quality, and UL Listed. I always use Plenum-Rated cable for my camera power runs, normally Belden 16/2 or 18/2. I can buy the 16/2 for not much more than the 18/2, so I have lots of that around.

Probably not a good idea. Better to use a fused power source for all cameras. Each camera should have its' own overcurrent device (fuse, circuit breaker). Use a separate power supply with at least the capacity of 1 amp per camera. Will keep things a lot cooler that way, when the transformer is not overheating.

I agree. I don't find any benefit on my Avermedia for the D1 setting. I normally set them at 30fps in CIF, the 1304, 1504 & 1704. Still get great video in CIF setting.

Have been asked by a customer if I could install Network DVR and add VOIP somehow. Never done this, not even sure it could be done. Basically customer wants to be able to access a DVR with web server over IE, and be able to speak into PC phone/microphone ? and have it heard over speaker setup at his business. Going to throw this out to the more experienced on this forum with VOIP. Customer would be using High-speed internet at both locations. Any help/suggestions would be appreciated at this point. Many communities going to "verified response" and will not respond to alarms without visual. Thanks for any and all suggestions. Not given a budget of sorts, but just have to come up with something workable.