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kg6mti

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Posts posted by kg6mti

  2. Posted

    None of the lengths that you mention for your cable are anywhere near the maximum length for RG59 or RG6 coax cable.

     

    I had a problem with condensation on the lens of one camera when I first installed my system. The problem was that the camera faced west and the ocean. The combination of cold and damp air from the ocean and fog the image would get distorted from the mist. That was the camera that I replaced with the CAM68CIR. The CAM68CIR has the lens and the IR's mounted separately to protect against the exact problem I had. After I switched the camera the problem disappeared. I did look at camera's with heated housing and another user here on the forum did tell me that the heated housing would solve my issue with condensation but the CAM68CIR seems to have provided a good solution for about $100 US less.

     

    My camera's are mounted at my home on the Northern California coast. It does not get down to 0 Fahrenheit but it did snow a couple of weeks ago which is not normal but it was cold and wet. The camera's have done very well so far. Someone from this forum recommended the Mace camera's to me. I know that they are not the most expensive camera I could get. I am so far very pleased with the quality of the camera's and their performance. I was looking for a good quality camera that was reasonably prices and the Mace camera's seem to have filled the requirement.

  3. Posted

    I have a very similar setup and my requirements were very close to yours. I am also running a Geovision GV-800 card. The camera's that used are a mix of Mace CAM53CIR and CAM68CIR. The CAM53CIR is a bullet type camera that is fairly small and provides a great picture night and day. The night time distance of the IR's on the CAM53CIR camera is good but best for short distances (20 - 30ft). I installed the CAM68CIR for a very large area I have in the back of the house. The IR illumination on the CAM68CIR is really great and very bright (40 - 60+ ft). To back the cameras up that are in the back of the house I also installed security lights that are motion activated. The way the camera's can do their job in total darkness but should something trigger the motion of the security lights the cameras get an even better shot of the incident.

     

    The CAM53CIR can be found on http://www.Amazon.com for $119 US. I bought my CAM68CIR through a merchant on Amazon as well but I can find any listed there today. I paid $232 US for mine about a week and a half ago.

     

    Neither of these camera's meet your requirement of housing color but I would suspect that you could camouflage them yourself by painting the housings. I would just be really careful not to mess with the lens areas when you are painting them.

     

    As for the CAT5 I would stick with RG59 instead of the RG6 unless you already have a supply of the RG6. The RG6 is a little tougher to work with and cost a little more. I looked at the CAT5 option but with the cost of good quality baluns, the cable and ends it was going to cost far more that the RG59. Just make certain that you use a good quality cable for both the coax and the power. The coax should be 95% copper shield. Don't bother buying any of the cheap coax that you can find at places like Home Depot it is designed for cable TV and satellite dish type installations. I did however find a really good price on a 500ft spool of single pair 18ga security wire at Home Depot when I did my installation. Use good quality coax ends as well. The twist on connectors are ok for a temporary install but I would really recommend that you put out the extra money for good quality compression fittings but you will need to buy or borrow a compression tool to install them.

  4. Posted

    It always amazes me how afraid people are about wireless networks. But then they have no problems going into a store and swiping there ATM debit or credit card to make a purchase. The data from that card transaction may or may not be being transmitted half way around the world through several networks using almost any type of connection such as wireless, satellite, or fiber for example. The transaction may pass thought all kinds of switches, routers, and hubs before reaching its final destination.

     

    Moral of the story is no network is secure. Even the US government has been hacked, banks, universities, nuclear labs. If someone wants in they will find a way to get in.

     

    The best you can do is put as much in their way as you can. The following are just some examples of what a user can do. The harder you make it for someone to "hack" or use your network without you knowing the less likely they are to even try. A smart hacker will look for a easier target that they don't have to work as hard at. Install firewalls both hardware and software. Refuse anonymous Internet request. If you are using a wireless network turn the broadcast off, enable some type of wireless security (WEP or WPA) what ever the strongest method your network provides. Turn on MAC address filtering and limit the number of users allowed to connect to your router if you have one installed. Turning off the DHCP server in your router and using static IP address is a good idea also. If you are really worried you can run a packet sniffer (http://www.ethereal.com/) from time to time to detect unwanted traffic.

     

    Other good practices are install antivirus software and be careful what you download and what website you visit. Use some type spy ware detection and removal tools on a regular basis. Make certain that transactions that you expect to be secure really are by checking the status bar in your browser.

  5. Posted

    For a Stable DVR system I would not run Windows XP on anything under something like a 1.5ghz PC.

     

    The Geovision requirements for a GV-250 card state that a Pentium 4 - 2.0 GHz is the minimum.

     

    None of know that he does not have a PC that will meet or exceed that requirement. If he does not then yes he should upgrade the hardware to at least meet the Geovision requirements. But we should not jump to the conclusion that he needs to upgrade the hardware before he even tells us what he has. Maybe the hardware was upgraded already and the owner just didn't want to pay more for a new OS.

  6. Posted

    He will have to upgrade the hardware also though, which he is probably trying to avoid. .

     

    What hardware would he have to upgrade? There are PC's that ran Windows 98 that are fully capable of running Windows 2000 or XP.

  7. Posted

    I picked up a 7" flat panel DVD monitor the other day. It is designed to be installed in a car so it already runs off 12V DC. The screen resolution is great. It is very light and easy to carry. It came with its own case, cables, and AC/DC adapters. It has input for RCA audio and video and S-Video input.

     

    All I did was make a patch cable with a piece of cut off coax RG-59 and a couple of ends. Then I bought a RCA - BNC connector to convert the RCA inputs on the monitor to male BNC. I have also created a 12V DC Y adapter so I can use power from the camera if I want to. This way all I have to carry up to the camera is the monitor.

     

    So far it works perfect and the total cost was only around $90 US. When I am not using the monitor to adjust the camera's I can use it in my car connected to a mobile DVD player to watch movies.

  12. Posted · Edited by Guest

    But it also states on the Geovision website that the GV-250 only supports "Windows 2000 / Windows XP / Windows Server 2003" operating systems.

     

    Good Luck!

  14. Posted

    I have installed some Mace CAM53CIR and CAM68CIR camera's at a vacation home that I have. I am very satisfied with these camera's. They are not the most expensive camera's. The CAM53CIR camera is a bullet style color night/day camera with IR. The CAM68CIR is a ball/dome style camera. The CAM53CIR can be found for around $115 and the CAM68CIR can be found for around $230 each.

     

    I did install the camera's with a Geovision DVR card installed in a PC. But you can get a stand alone DVR as well with no PC. If you are interested I would be happy to send you sample pictures from the camera's.

     

    Good Luck!

  17. Posted

    My understanding is unless you are using the camera's to "peep" on someone or obtain lewd images of anyone you are ok. Anything that can normally be viewed from a public place is perfectly fair game. For example if you are on the sidewalk and take a picture of a building across the street anyone in the field of the picture can't complain that you took their picture. Another good example is at a park when there are a lot of people around you can take photo's all you want.

     

    Basically as long as your intent is only to monitor your property and the access other people have to it you are ok. I don't know where you live and I am not a lawyer. You will have to consult your local laws and regulations. Everything revolves around your intent.

     

    Good Luck!

  21. Posted

    I assume that you are in the United States.

     

    You don't have to fix it. FCC part 15 regulates radio interference. You can contact the FCC and the owner of the radio will need to fix the interference.

     

    Check out. http://www.fcc.gov/

    Good Luck.

    Think you're getting a little "FCC" happy" there "kg" - - go back to the beginning of the thread and I think you find that the other side of the wall is still his customer (work is at large hotel - other side of the wall is "the security department's radio"). Calling the FCC on his customer might not go over real well. Any other ideas?

     

     

    By the way David... you're not by chance a Ham radio operator bitter over having his over-powered linear squelched... now bent on sicking Uncle Charlie on the rest of the radioing world...are you

     

    Sorry didn't see the part about the security people being part of his customer back in the earlier part of the thread. It might not be the customer that is at fault it could be the manufacture of the radio equipment. All (in the US) radio equipment needs to comply with FCC Part 15. It could possibly mean the manufacture needs to fix or replace the radio equipment. I doubt that his customer would be upset if they got new or upgraded radio equipment for free because the other equipment is faulty. If the radio equipment is leased or was professionally installed the fix could be the responsibility of the company that maintains the radio equipment for the customer.

     

    Yes, I am a ham radio operator. I am happy to say that no I have never had a complaint filled against me. Nobody near me has never complained about interference. All my radio equipment is installed to comply with all the FCC rules. I use good equipment and professional level installation equipment.

     

    I don't view the FCC as an opponent but a tool to make certain that everyone is following the rules. Unlawful interference can be anything from annoying to completely frustrating.

     

    In any manner good luck with fixing your problem. Make certain that your installation has covered all the possibilities to resolve the problem. Keep in mind Part 15 can be used as a tool to help you and your customer not just to attack people that use two way communication equipment. People need to not be so paranoid about the government. Just because you use a tool provided by the government doesn't mean that you are attacking anyone.

  22. Posted

    Just in case you guys are interested, I finally figured out the problem. It actually doesn't have to do with the power. It turns out that on the other side of the concrete wall it is mounted on is the antenna for the security departments dispatch radio. Every time it is keyed the camera "fuzzes" out.

     

    Not sure how I'm going to fix this, but I sure am happy I now know the why.

     

    I assume that you are in the United States.

     

    You don't have to fix it. FCC part 15 regulates radio interference. You can contact the FCC and the owner of the radio will need to fix the interference.

     

    Check out. http://www.fcc.gov/

    Good Luck.

  23. Posted

    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 http://robust, 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!

  24. Posted

    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!

  25. Posted

    The main problem that I have is cold weather condensation.

     

    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.

     

    The condensation is on the outside. The site where the camera's are located is near the ocean. At night this time of year is get cold out. The condensation is not so bad that the camera is worthless it just doesn't look as good as it could. I have other CAM53CIR camera's around the outside of the house because of their position they are protected more from the cold and look great at night. During the day all the camera's have a fantastic image they are all very clear. It is basically the couple of camera's that face west directly towards the ocean that get the most condensation. It's not spray directly off the ocean I am not fortunate enough to be that close to the water. However I would imagine it has something to do with the direction of the air movement off the coast. I have even gone out at night and wiped the lens off and then those camera's look great for the rest of that evening. So basically I know the camera is working good.

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