Soundy

Four wires are only required for two-way communications. Since PTZs are almost universally receive-only devices, they don't typically need the second pair of wires to transmit back. Normally, you'd connect the outputs on the controller/DVR (TX+ and TX-, or TX(A) and TX(B) in most cases) to the corresponding RX pins on the camera (although many cameras will work on the TX pins as well).

I've had several sites where regular box cams in environmental housings (Pelco EH-3512 and the like) have been stolen... seen a few attempts on domes, only one or two that ever succeeded. Had one dome that failed after someone wailed on it with what appeared to be a 16 oz. framing hammer - camera stopped working, but the Lexan bubble only sustained a few scratches. Also had one where it looked like they tried to blot the dome with a large Sharpie-type marker... but painted it on the opposite side of the bubble from where the lens was pointing... Wood screws, self-tapping metal screws, hollow-wall anchors, drywall anchors, concrete anchors, Tapcon screws... depends entirely on what it's mounting to, what's behind it to screw into, etc. Outside domes, I tend to silicone to the surface wherever possible, which adds a lot of extra support, as well as weather sealing.

The answer to both is, "not necessarily". The spec you're looking for is colloquially known as "the f-stop" and is normally listed something like "f/1.4" or "1:1.4". For any given lens, at any given focal length, the same f-stop will allow the same amount of light. It's a inverse ratio of the aperture diameter to the focal length, and quite simply represents a fraction: focal length divided by aperture diameter. For example, for a 10mm lens at f/1.4, the aperture's diameter will be 10/1.4, or 7.14mm. For a 25mm lens at f/1.4, the aperture would be 25/1.4, or 17.86mm in diameter. Either way, the same amount of light is passed. Likewise, if you put a 7.14mm aperture in a 25mm lens, the f-stop would be f/3.5 and would allow about 1/8 as much light. Designated sensor size has no direct relevance; neither does fixed vs. variable focal length, although large-aperture lenses tend to be easier to find in fixed variants. I find most lenses tend to fall within f/1.4 to f/1.8 maximum aperture... I've seen f/1.2, f/1, and even f/0.85, but these tend to be harder to come by, as well as more expensive. Keep in mind that there's always a trade-off, too, and the wider the aperture (lower f-stop number), the shallower the depth of field and the more critical focusing becomes.

From what I can google, the two units listed are simply multi-channel active video baluns... meaning they probably don't transmit control protocols. Check your existing cameras and see if they have separate control wires (probably just a single pair)... if so, you'll need similar control wires for the new camera. Hard to tell much else without specific model numbers of the cameras to look up.

The catch with this is, you need to know which pins are which in that connector. If there are no other connectors (power, specifically), then power will be carried by at least one pair of pins in the RJ-45... probably two pairs. If you connect power to the video output pins... *poof*. Why would you have two different cameras for this? Using this calculator: http://www.isorainbow.com/lens_calc.htm - at a 100' distance, and assuming you need to view an area 10' wide, you would need a lens focal length of about 48mm.

It's a PIR motion sensor that turns on the light next to it, simple as that. If the "LUX" label is related to an adjustment, that's probably intended to set a maximum light level where the light will turn on, ie. so it only turns on when it gets dark in the area. The "TIME" setting would be to adjust how long the light stays on after motion is detected.

Baluns (short for "balanced/unbalanced") are devices that allow you to run signal that would normally use coaxial cable, over UTP (unshielded twisted pair - Cat3, Cat5e, Cat6, etc.), instead, often for much longer distances. A typical balun has a BNC connector on one end, and some way to interface the UTP on the other end - usually either a screw terminal, a tool-less punchdown of some kind, or an RJ-45 jack, which makes it easy to us existing network cables and jacks. Some RJ-45-equipped baluns also pass the power through to a pair of wire tails or a barrel-type power plug. If this IS an analog camera (which I agree with the others, it probably is), RJ-45 would be used to make a clean and simple installation - just plug it in, and go. Video, power, and probably audio would all be carried over separate pairs of the UTP cable, and using the RJ-45 connectors means you don't need separate connectors for each type of signal. Mini-DIN connectors are actually much more common for cheap cameras that want to use and all-in-one cable and connector, but there are a number of models out there that use RJ-45 instead.

In fairness, a lot of meters have most of these features - even my little mini pocket meters are autoranging, do the diode tests, continuity, hold, etc. The time-lapse recording is a nice feature you don't see much, though, as is capacitance. It's the build of the Flukes, and the little touches, that really set them apart... like the stand-up flap and belt clip; the nice little extras that make a technician's life easier.

Fluke has been one of the premium brands for many, many years... I remember drooling over them some 30+ years ago.

And continuity beeper! I actually have one cheap DMM that doesn't have the beeper, and there's been many a time I've cursed at it for that.

That first picture looks more like compression artifacts caused by the DVR trying to process and compress a B&W image as color. I bet if you dial down the saturation on that channel, it clears right up. Ditto if you lock the camera in day mode, I bet it's a lot cleaner.

This is not SPECIFICALLY true - there are other variables involved. Loss of focus at night is usually due to one of two phenomena. Most commonly, an auto-iris lens is focused in bright light, which causes the iris to close down, thus increasing the depth of field. In low light, when the lens opens up, the DOF becomes a lot shallower, and quite often most of the scene will be out of focus. The fix/workaround for this is to either use a manual-iris lens, or force the iris open for focusing, either by focusing in low light, or by using some sort of neutral-density filter over the lens, or perhaps by adjusting the iris/drive level control, if the camera is so equipped. The other possibility for this is when you're using a "true day/night" camera; that is, one with a movable IR cut filter. Because IR wavelengths focus differently than visible light, when the camera goes to night mode and removes the filter, the IR portion of the image can be out of focus relative to the visible light. The fix for this is an IR-corrected lens, often simply designated as an "IR lens". Most likely, only if the camera is a "true day/night" type... but it doesn't hurt to use one anyway. Since you'll be working 90% of the time in very low light, an auto iris will be wide open 90% of the time anyway... so really, it probably doesn't matter. I'd go AI just so the camera can close the iris down a bit for that other 10% of the time. Yup.

I have two that I normally use... a really nice Fluke clamp meter that I found in a ceiling and a little wallet-style meter that fits nicely in my tool pouch, similar to this one: I have one of these somewhere as well, with one test lead pulled out (just haven't bothered to fix it): And assorted other cheap ones laying around... got a couple different ones on my test bench, including an analog version...

Nice try.... but if you're in France, why does your IP show up as being in China? IP Information for 124.72.22.63 IP Location: China Beijing Chinanet Fujian Province Network ASN: AS4134 Resolve Host: 63.22.72.124.broad.fz.fj.dynamic.163data.com.cn IP Address: 124.72.22.63 inetnum: 124.72.0.0 - 124.72.255.255 netname: CHINANET-FJ descr: CHINANET Fujian province network descr: China Telecom descr: 7,East Street ,Fuzhou ,Fujian ,PRC country: CN admin-c: FH71-AP tech-c: FH71-AP remarks: service provider mnt-by: APNIC-HM mnt-lower: MAINT-CHINANET-FJ status: ALLOCATED PORTABLE changed: 20060123 source: APNIC person: FUJIANNET HOSTMASTER nic-hdl: FH71-AP e-mail: address: 7,East Street ,Fuzhou ,Fujian ,PRC phone: +86-591-83309761 fax-no: +86-591-83371954 country: CN changed: 20100105 mnt-by: MAINT-CHINANET-FJ

Always check the DVR manufacturer's "supported drives" list. Keep in mind that this is generally just a list of drives that have been tested and confirmed to have sufficient performance for the DVR; it doesn't mean other drives won't work, it just means other drives MAY not work well.

I think you've answered your own question. search.php?st=0&sk=t&sd=d&sr=posts&keywords=mona+lisa

If the voltage drops too much when the IR comes on, it will usually result in the camera simply dropping out... it wouldn't cause it to wash out during the day (when the IR isn't on anyway).

Under "weakest link" theory, a higher-res, higher-TVL camera should provide a slightly better image than one that's below the DVR's maximum resolution... but once you're past that resolution, the difference would probably not be noticeable except MAYBE in very specific circumstances, if you were comparing the cameras side-by-side.

They're also a lot easier for someone to toss a rope over and yank the camera down. A dome bolted straight to the wall... not so much. I haven't used a *new* bullet cam in an installation in about 6 years (although I have repurposed a few that were removed from other sites).

Sounds like you've covered just about all the details we normally ask for Only thing that would make this a LOT easier is a floor plan drawing of some sort, but on a general note: I'd recommend wide-angle views sufficient to watch the areas of concern, and some sort of tighter "ID" shots over each exit point. Since employee theft is the main concern, this would mean a camera right above each door, INSIDE the warehouse area, to get a clear shot of anyone leaving. Ideally, the overview shots also see these doors, so if you capture someone scooping something off a shelf or workbench, you have an uninterrupted shot of them leaving the area, as well as a clear identification shot to match. For cameras, you really can't go wrong with the CNB Mona Lisa line. VCM-24VFs will allow you to flush mount in ceiling tiles or drywall, and surface mount on concrete where necessary. They zoom from 2.8 to 10.5mm, giving you a lot of flexibility in setting up your views and angles. And they're great with very little light - if it's bright enough in the warehouse for people to move around safely and see what they're stealing, it's bright enough for these cameras to get a great picture. For DVR/NVR, my go-to brand is: http://www.3xlogic.com. Little pricier, but worth it, IMHO. Great support for a wide range of IP cameras, if you go that way, and being PC-based, they're easily expandable with internal, external or network storage. One other thought: check your local laws regarding audio recording. Its use is restricted in various ways in most areas, and outright illegal in many.

I rarely use anything BUT armored domes anymore.

Really depends on the specific DVR and its design. I'd say, check the manufacturer's recommendations for a list of "supported" drives.

Got this on my Android phone... drives the wife nuts anywhere between 14kHz and 18kHz http://www.mobeezio.com/apps/dog-whistler/

^That applies to MOST domes, anyway... depending on the surface, and/or what the screws are actually anchored to, a crowbar under the camera might get it off. Some cheaper designs are pretty easy to get open. We had one that was closed up with security screws, but someone actually took the time - over an hour in total - to remove them with some sort of needlenose pliers. Those were pretty basic pinned hex heads, though, so it probably wasn't hard to get the pliers in there. Something like a Torx would be harder. AND in this case, there was an ice machine right under the camera (added by the site AFTER we installed the camera), so they had super-easy access to spend the time on it. One of the most robust designs I've seen are the old Extreme domes - they're tapered right to the base, so you can't toss a rope over a wall-mounted unit and yank it down, and the bubble is held in with an inch-deep ring that screws in around it, and then is locked down by three very, very tiny setscrews which require a very, very tiny Allen key to remove them (I had to go to three hardware stores to find one that would fit properly). THESE things are the very definition of "virtually impossible to steal". But yes, in general, most vandal-RESISTANT (not PROOF - nothing is ever completely vandal PROOF) domes are very hard to damage or steal without a lot of effort.

The problem with making something idiot-proof is that the universe always comes up with better idiots.