Soundy

My first thought would be, return it for a refund: you didn't get what you were paying for and they should take it back. Beyond that, this thread may help: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=25261

We do installations and service for two of Canada's major oil companies. To their day, their corporate spec only calls for 1fps recording. Naturally, we go higher where possible, but that's all they require. It's not like you're watching blackjack dealers or something.

All the more reason to just dump it. You MIGHT find a working one in fleaBay... something tells me if you get the drive from Pelco it'll probably run in the hundreds of dollars, IF they don't just tell you it's not supported anymore. All in all, I think it's going to be more cost and hassle than it's worth, especially considering you could probably find something for under $200 that will outperform it and then some.

Wow, that's, um... old. From what I can find, it should work with any IDE drive of the proper size. Try your local computer shop. Better yet, replace it with something made in this century.

Ummm... "varifocal" DOES NOT mean autofocus.

Pretty sure I've seen them at Home Depot up here... most electrical suppliers and building supply places should have them. I never heard them called "glands" before so you may need to search under another name.

Oh yeah, we use those all the time... Pelco outdoor housings come with them... so do a number of outdoor-rated cameras I've used. They work great, just make sure to get one that will clamp down enough to make a solid seal on the cable. I recommend a little vaseline (petroleum jelly) smeared on the cable where it goes through as well, for a better seal (also a good idea to put some on rubber grommets and gaskets to maintain the seal and prevent them from drying out).

You'll get less drop using 24V vs. 12V... AC vs DC will make no substantial difference. How long is the run? 12W at 24V is about 500mA current draw... going by this calculator (http://www.netkrom.com/voltage_loss_over_cat5_calculator.php), if the run is 100', you'd have only 0.1V loss. If you used 12VDC instead, that would be 1A draw, and you'd get 0.3V loss. Since it can also accept 12V, it should have no problem running at 23.9V.

Well, as long as the DVR supports the encoder, that would work too, but it would be kind of redundant with a hybrid.

Selective reading: the 160 was the original drive. He already replaced it with a 250. Given that the DVR uses IDE drives, he wouldn't have a lot of selection any more anyway, and nothing over 500GB.

Seen those around here at Home Depot and similar stores. Never used one, never seen one used. Looks like a nice idea, but I need step/A-frame ladders far more than I do extension ladders, and an articulating ladder will open out to work like an extension ladder... so really had no interest in picking one of these up.

Welcome aboard! Look forward to having you participate!

How about a standard pinhole analog board cam feeding an IP encoder?

What are the markings on the RG59? Suggestions: - check all your terminations - use better-quality RG59 - use ground-loop isolators - use individual power supplies - live with it

^In short: anywhere you want to have absolute control over exposure and/or DOF.

What sort of RG59 are you using? If it's not solid-copper-core, solid-copper 95% braid shield, that's part of the problem. Best fix IMHO is cameras that don't cheap out with common grounds - something with a built-in regulator, or dual-voltage support. Eliminates the problem right there.

Does that also go away when you use the separate power supplies? If the problem is what I expect it is... A ground loop occurs when you have two or more signal-ground paths that are at different potentials. In a camera, your main signal ground would be via the coax shield, or with baluns, via the wires connected to the BNC shields - if this is the only signal path, all is happy. What happens when you have a camera with common power/video grounds and a common power supply is, you then add more separate signal paths: one normal one via the camera's shield, and another via the camera's power ground, into the power supply's ground rail (NO relation to the power-line earth, it's just a common connection for all the outputs), then back to another camera via ITS power ground, and back to the DVR via that camera's signal ground. Normally the difference between these two paths is very small and thus not a problem... however, if you have the wrong type of coax (foil shield), or a poor shield connection anywhere along the way, or defective coax, or are using baluns (which effectively put a wire coil inline with the signal, thus adding substantial DC resistance), you then have a significant, maybe even measurable difference between the two paths... and you get the classic ground loop. Add more cameras with the same difference, and the problem gets worse. When you use a separate power supply for each camera, you break the multiple paths, as each camera then has its own power ground separate from all the others. The issue tends to be worse with baluns because of how they work, but as you see, it CAN happen with coax as well. Yes, because it has no relation to the particularly problem.

Does it do that with the RG59 as well? Symptoms sound like a ground loop caused by the combination of a shared power supply, baluns, and cameras with shared video/power ground... very common issue with cheap cameras that have a shared ground.

That really doesn't help - there are thousands of DVRs out there with VGA outputs. Make and model would help... maybe photos of the DVR...

If your camera doesn't support AI lenses?

That depends on what DVR it is....

One thing to keep in mind: if the problem is power loss, baluns WILL NOT solve it. In fact, running the power over Cat5 may make the problem worse: three pairs Cat5's 24 AWG is about equivalent to one pair of 18 AWG wire, so if you're getting enough voltage drop over 18/2 to cause an issue, you'll see the same loss over 3x24... if you only use two pair for power, the camera will probably drop out completely.

Erm... if his problem is voltage drop over that distance, it won't matter how many amps his power supply is capable of... Decho, quick test is to power the camera locally (ie. put the power supply close to the camera) and see if the problem clears up. If it does, then your problem is voltage loss over the length of the run.