Soundy

Not correct. The IR cut filter exists in the first place because normal ambient IR affects the exposure and color balance of a color image. The reason for removing it at night when the camera switches to B&W is to allow the extra IR light in, when the color won't be affected. Without the filter in place, a non-corrected lens will cause the image to go soft at night, as the IR light focuses "shorter" than visible light (ie. the point of focus is in front of the sensor, instead of on it). In short: yes, you DO need IR-corrected lenses for proper operation of a true-day/night camera. I don't know about Sanyo's implementation, but I've played with day/night auto-ABF on a Pelco Sarix and found it iffy at best. Give the above IR issue, auto-ABF alone is not a perfect solution, as without the proper lens, IR and visible light are still focusing differently.

Well, I've had mine for about 16-17 years, so maybe their quality control isn't as good now as it was then (or more to the point, maybe they've changed OEM suppliers). Although I will admit, the test leads are becoming intermittent where they enter the unit, but I'm sure that has more to do with the regular flexing they see... they are only 18ga. stranded wire, after all. I think I've had to measure current, oh, maybe three times in the 7+ years I've been working in CCTV.

Expand your search to "megapixel" or "MP" lenses, as well as "HD".

It really depends on the dome. Almost any PTZ can be used for auto-tracking with the proper support software, where the software tracks and controls the dome... but there are also several that do all the auto-tracking internally.

Welcome!

Keep in mind that there are no network cameras (yet, anyway, that I'm aware of) that have or even require gigabit ports on them... and your stack of 10/100 switches with fiber uplinks are ideal for dedicating to camera use. Aside from the Layer 3 support for SOME cameras (not all require it), the only other nice-to-have item is PoE support to power the cameras.

The camera board itself should be screwed to its mounts, but the rotation ring, where the whole assembly clips into the housing, does just sort of float free - if memory serves, there's nothing that actually locks it down. You're right, they are a really poor design and feel like really cheap construction. A bigger frustration with the Pelcos, for me, is their use of a submini-TS jack for the service port... and especially, the way they bury it deep in the bottom of ths IS90. It wouldn't be so bad if they actually provided a cable of some sort with the camera... but they don't. But enough ranting... we've long since abandoned the Pelco domes for CNBs, which are much better designed and cost far less

Pretty much any basic multimeter will do 99% of what you need. I have about a half-dozen of them, from a little credit-card-sized Radio Shack meter that I carry in my tool pouch, to a couple of bargain units from a clearance store, to a really nice Fluke clamp-on meter that I found in an attic. As often as not, the one I use is the one that is easiest to find in my work van at that moment We have a Test-Um LanRoamer Pro TP-600 (actually, the TP-607 kit, which is this unit with seven extra termination modules, for doing network IDs). Great tool, and not that expensive.

That's another option. The foil-shielded stuff is crap for CCTV and is almost certainly the source of your interference. Best option is all-copper center conductor (chances are your stuff is copper-clad steel) and a 95% braided copper shield... RG-6 or RG-59, not RG-58. That's a good idea too... you could replace the two old coax with one UTP and have capacity for up to four cameras, if you use the existing power run. Just remember you need a *pair* of baluns for each camera as well, if you go UTP.

Yes, although what I'd probably do is terminate the run in a junction box somewhere between the two, and do a separate run of UTP OR coax/power from there to each camera. The only other question is whether you'll see too much voltage drop... that will be dependent on the voltage and current draw. What kind of cameras are these? That depends on the actual cause of your interference problem.

Wow, same thing just happened to me. Neat captcha there, Larry

White would be your video then; the black is a common ground for power and video.

Do you still have the cut-off ends? Is there still some wire coming out of the camera? Judging from the style of camera, I'd guess there are two coaxial wires coming off the camera, one possibly with a red center conductor, one with yellow or white?

Love the definitions, bpzle... I think you've nailed it. Most like that aren't DIYers though; they're gathering info to play the pros against each other and get bargain-basement quotes. A more general thought: depending on where you live and local laws and building codes, a pro may sometimes be necessary, especially when it comes to things like electrical work.

On retail side I sell lots of Optex 1000 and 2000 the same 9 Volt inside easily last 7-8-10 month ( that what my customers saying) The cold up there probably kills the battery faster in the winter...

You want to INSULATE the cameras from earth grounds (ie. metal mounts), to remove that path.

Sounds like a good plan! We have a lot of that going on around here these days with bridges and overpasses... they're replacing probably a dozen overpasses as part of a major highway expansion, so they're building all the new ones, diverting the roads to them, then demolishing the old ones

*facepalm* No. It means you need to determine the source(s) or cause(s) of the ground loop, and correct it/them. First thing, again, is to see if any of the cameras are mounted to metal objects. If so, and those objects are grounded (metal house siding, poles, etc.), that can create mis-matched ground paths between the camera, its power supply, and the DVR. You can also try ground-loop isolators, which are devices that are inserted in the signal line to separate their ground connections... but those can be expensive, and are technically a "band-aid" repair, as opposed to actually finding and eliminating the problem.

Ground loops don't care about the quality of the camera. Cheaper cameras are MORE susceptible to them, but even expensive cameras can get them from poor mounting or wiring.

This really suggests a ground-loop issue. The problem occurs when you have multiple ground paths from a camera to the DVR, and it's particularly bad with cheap 12VDC cameras that share a ground connection between the video and power. What are these cameras attached to? Are they mounted to something metal? That can create a ground loop right there...

Aszbaz, we can only offer advice based on our experience... it's entirely up to you whether you take it or not. Keep in mind, though, that this forum carries probably several decades' worth of combined experience in the field, a lot of it hard-won. We're not here to tell you how to run your business, but we do have a bit of an idea what we're talking about, whether or not you like the answers we come up with. For example: I'm sure your customers will love you for offering a five-year warranty; there are very few DVR manufacturers who offer any more than one year on hardware. However, I can pretty much guarantee you'll lose your shirt that alone, especially if you're using low-budget computers and parts, which are far more prone to premature failure. Your hard drives, for example, stand a decent chance of failing within three years, especially given the duty cycle of a standard DVR hard drive... and most drive manufacturers' warranties are only one year, so it's likely you'll end up having to replace a number of hard drives out of your own pocket within that five years. Budget fans are sleeve-bearing type and will probably get noisy, if not fail outright, within a year, especially in dusty conditions... prepare to make two or three return visits on your own dime to replace those within the five years as well. Of course, dust clogging and failing fans will lead to overheating, which can cause premature failure of motherboards, CPUs, RAM, and especially hard drives... cleaning the system may not be a warranty item, but your customers WILL expect you to cover the failures caused by these issues. Remember that DVRs are not like your basic desktop machine that you fire up now and then to read email and write a couple documents and then put back to sleep... they're typically running 24/7, chunking a lot of data through, wearing out mechanical parts (like fans), generating constant heat. It's a torture chamber for PC components. As for your cheap four-channel card: browse this forum for people who've installed cheap cards or cheap standalone units and found when the time came that the video wasn't sufficient. You go too cheap, you end up with customers who are happy they have something recording... until they need to view the results and find they don't measure up. There are numerous other threads about cheap cards that come with cheap software that experience no end of problems - crashing software, BSODs caused by crappy drivers, and so forth. You'll be running around like crazy just supporting these things for their entire five-year warranty period. Forget about your potential customers for a moment and think about what you're getting yourself into with this business plan. I suspect most here will agree with this assessment and have some horror stories of their own to add... it's up to you whether you want to take it all to heart.

TECH PORN!!!

Ever thought about getting into politics?

And of course, just because the included photo shows a GV desktop, doesn't mean that's what's actually on the thing. Just looking at the machine specs again, I'd say the PC itself is worth MAYBE $250, and that's being generous. CD-RW?? Seriously??

^All that assumes it's a REAL GV, too, and not a clone/graymarket card.