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Fantastic, thanks. Saved me a bit of time contacting the seller.

IF you have a spare "hot mirror"/IR filter it will work.

there is space in there for it !

 

I actually converted a 206 to full IR with a 16mm lens works great !

z

Hmm, how did you do that? I've got a 207MW which sucks in low light. Is it as simple as unscrewing the lens like cctvnewbie did, and removing the ir filter? I'd imagine daytime video would look bad though?

Well, thewireguys just answered pretty much everything while I was typing, but here you go anyway:

 

I've never used QNAP, so part of my response is just based on what I just read from their website. First, it looks like a pretty good little system. I'm not sure, however, how easy it would be to add additional storage. Looks like you might be tied in to using their hardware for any NAS or esata.

That shouldn't be a problem as it takes standard SATA hard drives, up to 2TB per slot. They can be purchased box-only without any drives, in fact.

It also states up to 36 fps at VGA for each channel. That might drop significantly for megapixel cameras, but if it's listed somewhere, I can't find it. Maximum simultaneous playback is 4 channels. For small systems I doubt you'd need more than that. It might work out pretty well, but I'd really want to try it out before installing one.

Mmm yeah, I can't find too many people who have tried it. There are a few posts here about it, but the posters didn't give a lot of details about their setup, unfortunately.

About exacq - Yes, it has 'smart search'. Works pretty well too. If you're having trouble finding out more about it, check out http://www.exacq.com/blog/tag/release-notes/. Look through the rest of it too.

Ahh yes, that link has some info on smartsearch. Looks like what I'm after.

It does use less resources than a lot of NVRs, but I'd be hesitant to put it on an atom system (the N280 is still below the minimum requirements for an exacq server).

I was planning on using a dual-core Atom N330 as the server. The Exacq EL does use an Atom processor as thewireguys mentioned, although they don't give any specs on it. I was a little hesitant myself, but people here seem to have no problems running small installs on an atom... the EL supports up to 24 cameras too. The atom's lower power usage is quite attractive..

It's the client side that will need a beefier computer. Decoding h.264 or mpeg will use a decent amount of the cpu and memory, which is why the client requirements are usually a little higher. Features like the smart search are done on the computer running the exacq client software and not the server (unless you're running both on one), so doing a smart search from a netbook or something with an atom could take a little longer to give you results. Playback as well might be a little shaky as it tries to process the video as fast as it's coming in.

Does that mean doing a search remotely from somewhere else would be pretty slow, as every frame would have to be sent to the remote PC for processing?

I like Luxriot, just not nearly as much as exacq. One of it's big benefits is being an affordable hybrid system. Compatible analog capture cards are pretty cheap when you compare them to an exacq hybrid server. Luxriot's a little more difficult to set up, and its search is really cumbersome.

Hmm ok, I'll still keep them in mind. I'm trying to see if I can swap the acti cameras for some Areconts while not sacrificing too much on the NVR side.

I'm currently deciding between exacqVision, LuxRiot, and a QNAP VioStor VS-2012 NVR.

I've been trying to get more info on exacqVision, but their website is pretty light on details. I can't even download the manual as it requires a login. Does it have 'region of interest' support, so I can highlight a certain area and look for motion there? Will that feature work ok on an Atom machine?

LuxRiot looks good and is cheaper than exacqVision, but people here seem to have a thing for it so I thought I should check it out. Why would a person pick EV over LR, seeing that LR is cheaper? The only thing I can see is that EV is more efficient, i.e. it can run on a low-powered system like an Atom. Does this sacrifice anything though?

A ready-to-go QNAP VioStor VS-2012 looks interesting too - atom based, supports 12 megapixel+ cameras, pre and post-alarm recording, 2 hot-swappable drive bays, etc.

I intend to hook up 7 ACTi megapixel cameras, most likely the ACM-3511.

Are there any other software packages or NVRs I should look at, that's available in Australia? Milestone is way too expensive. exacqVision looks to be around US$110ish per channel plus the cost of a computer, the QNAP, locally-sourced, works out to be slightly more than exacqVision plus a computer. Nuuo costs way more.

thanks

Hi everyone,

I'm setting up a cctv system for a small office building on a smaller budget. After reading through a whole bunch of posts, it seems like ACTi cameras will give the best bang-for-buck. THe more kickass cameras like Arecont, Stardot, and Mobotix won't fit in the budget, unfortunately.

I'm going to try and push for the ACM-3511 domes for indoors, and a single 7411 for the driveway area. Of course, without a diagram, it'd be impossible for you guys to tell if they're perfectly suitable, but they seem like they'd do the job.

My main concern is aiming the 3511 towards the main entry doors. I don't believe the 3511 has an auto-iris lens, and am unsure of what sort of BLC and AGC it has. There are no convenient power outlets around where the camera will be installed, so I can't easily place a light there. There will be no direct sunlight coming in. Has anyone used a similar camera in that sort of situation?

I'm trying to avoid using a box cam as some people may have itchy hands and the ceiling isn't very high.

For recording, Exacq seems like a very popular option. People seem to have no problems running it on an Atom system even though the requirements on their site call for a dual core Pentium .. I'm assuming it's because motion detection is done by the cameras? Are ACTI's motion detection algos all ok? Is the interface snappy (when accessed from another computer)? Can you tell it to watch for an object and highlight when it has been removed, or when something has been left behind? It's not stated on their features page...

Thanks!