Soundy

Try this eBay search: http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=infrared+illuminator&_sacat=0&_odkw=infrared+illuminators&_osacat=0&_trksid=p3286.c0.m270.l1313

Hmmm, the specs do claim up to 1.5A draw... It's hard to find any specific details on that power supply, but from the pictures I found, it appears to just be common-rail with separately-fused outputs; I don't see anything specifying that they're individually regulated outputs, and the best picture I found doesn't seem to show the wiring necessary for that. If that's the case, you could probably just put a 2A fuse in one channel and run off that... on the other hand, if the camera WAS drawing significantly over 1A, the fuse would probably have popped anyway.

Links to online stores are removed because we have advertisers who pay for the privilege, and we get a lot of spammers who come in posting links to their own stores... so it's SOP. Nothing personal. The PC itself doesn't look all that special - I could probably put together a similar machine for about $300. You don't state what the actual capture card is; sounds from the description like it might be a GeoVision or similar... or a clone. On the whole, quite possibly over-priced. If you want to PM me the link to the store, I'll give it a look. The specs on the cameras are those of any bottom-of-the-barrel domes in that price range. "D1" refers to a recording resolution, not camera output - that suggests a vendor is just throwing in specs to play the thing up. 3.6mm lens is a pretty generic almost-wide-angle lens that isn't really good for much - too narrow for wide-angle coverage, too wide for much detail. Probably over-priced at $64. The cable seems about right for the price... 500ft of Siamese like that retails for around $160 here.

Bingo!

What are you running off of it that requires over an amp?

No; I mean, dust, snow, bugs, or anything else in front of the camera will reflect the IR light, and the camera will see it. You're not dealing with a "thermal" camera here that picks up differences in temperature... the IR LEDs work just like a flashlight, shining light on your subject, except in this case it's a wavelength of light that's just outside the range of human vision, but within the range of the sensor. Thus, it will illuminate anything that's reflective to IR. It could be due to a poor quality sensor, poor quality lens, out of focus lens, poor assembly leading to the lens being crooked or out of position, poor quality processing (electronics)... I've even seen instances where there were foreign objects (dust, oil, fingerprints, etc.) ON the sensor, or on the back end of the lens. If the lens and LEDs are both behind the same glass/plastic, and there's no gasket to isolate them, or the gasket is poorly fitted, the IR can reflect off the inside of the glass/plastic and cause a "hazy" picture as well. Unfortunately, one of the downsides of these kind of cheap cameras is little or no QA in the manufacturing process, which can lead to these sorts of issues.

" title="Applause" /> Unless there's some kind of ground path (even a poor one), this would do nothing.

Stylin'! Second the call for photos and progress reports!

Was that it? I'll take your word for it It would be handy to have something more CCTV-oriented with slots to store all that info... even just something that allows you to attach a "note" to the file. I know it's overkill, but Visio should be able to do all that for you, and there are lots of network-related templates for it.

I used one for a couple diagrams I posted here a little while back... can't recall the name of it offhand, but you'll find it somewhere among my posts, since someone asked me about it at the time.

This is why I like to leave a nice healthy service loop inside the wall.

Dust particle and such are a side effect of IR cameras - there's no way around it short of losing the IR. Moving to an external illuminator might help a bit, but you're still lighting up anything floating in front of the camera.

Make and model of the camera and DVR and/or PTZ controller (keyboard/joystick unit) would help. Check the DVR or controller for output signal wires, and confirm whether both wires at the camera are actually power (test them both with a multimeter!)

What model camera and controller are they? It's possible they're using Coaxitron or some other up-the-coax protocol. I haven't looked, but I'd expect you can get a coaxitron-to-RS-485 converter that you could mount in or near the camera. Are you sure both other wires are power? They may have used the same wire for power and control - RS-232/422/485 camera control only requires one pair.

Where I do have to use exposed connectors, I generally pack them with dielectric grease before assembly - that's the stuff that's sold in automotive stores for putting on battery terminals to prevent corrosion, and it's doing the same thing here: keeping air away from the metal to prevent corrosion. A tight wrapping of *good* PVC tape or a couple coats of "brush-on electrical tape" finishes the job.

It's about the closest you're gonna get, and without more details from the OP, that's about the best "fit" anyone can give. OK, more details. 1st, I want to only record when there is motion, in day and night. That's typically a function of the DVR, not the camera. That would be a PTZ (pan/tilt/zoom). Expect to pay 5-10 times the cost of a similar fixed camera. Not sure what you mean by "hard wiring"? Almost all cameras run on 12VDC and/or 24VAC, so you're looking at some sort of power adapter and low-voltage wiring to the camera. By "one-size-fits-all" above, we're referring to the usage of the particular camera: where is it located? What is it looking at? What is its purpose (wide overview, close-up for facial details, etc.)? What will the lighting conditions be like? Does it need to be weatherproof or covert?

The FLIRs' primary purpose, in our case, is feed the analytics, which easily detects the difference between a car, a person, or an animal. They then chain into the DVR so the monitoring station can view them, as well as the Esprit that has presets configured to match the detection zones on the FLIRs. It's not a parking lot, as such, in this case, but a crane yard - tower and truck-based cranes - that also offers storage for whatever they're transporting.

The trick is to use quality cameras. All those brands listed above are below-low-budget brands, so it's not surprising that there's no attention paid to waterproof connectors (don't expect the cameras themselves to be particularly weatherproof, either - they probably wouldn't keep out a heavy fog, let alone direct rain).

What thermal cameras you use? FLIR. One Wide-Eye, two SR-19s. A Raven-X2 box and Object Video software. Huh?

Sure; you just need to install some form of NVR software (Exacq, Milestone, etc. - there are several out there). What you need, then, is either an analog capture card for the analog cameras, and hybrid-DVR software; or a multi-channel video-to-IP server to make the analog cameras "networkable".

That works... unless Bean00 is right:

are you LGC Forensics in Middlesex ??? why can the passwork not be got from the owners of the dvr.someone must of seen the footage on the dvr. ??? Most DVRs I've seen allow viewing while in "user" mode. He's trying to stop it recording, I was assume so as not to overwrite data - that would definitely require an admin login. It's not uncommon at all for people to lose track of a changed admin password, especially if a site has changed ownership or management. Heck, I run into customers regularly who change a password, don't write it down, and then promptly forget it.

I'm not familiar with these machines specifically, but I should think resetting passwords or resetting the system to defaults shouldn't affect the data. Whether it's still recording would depend on the settings - if it's set to constant record, then old footage would probably be getting overwritten with blank video (unless it's designed to record with signal loss)... motion recording, you're probably safe. Silly question, but have you tried contacting GE Security? I've only ever dealt with one GE DVR and had to call their tech support on that, but they were actually pretty helpful. You should be able to find contact info at www.gesecurity.com

GPS would work anywhere... but he's talking about GPRS (wireless data). But you're right, that would probably get pretty expensive, with the amount of data involved. PTZ would be highly impractical over a wireless uplink, too. A bigger question for the OP, to me, would be, what do you hope to accomplish? Okay, you'll be able to dial in from 4500 miles away, to see what's going on around your house... on the off chance you just happen to be watching (and looking in the right direction) when a burglary goes down, then what? You phone 4500 miles to the police station, to get someone who's "not much help" anyway? I'm sure there's a little peace of mind there having the camera, but frankly, unless you're sitting watching the camera constantly, the only thing you're going to see is the aftermath of a robbery, hours or possibly days after the fact. BTW, you only need to post once - posting the same questions in multiple forums will not get you a quicker response.

We did something similar on a site that covers two square blocks, using thermal imaging cameras on top of a 50' tower in the middle of the yard, feeding a video analytics system that watches for intruders in the yard, and then triggers the alarm system. The monitoring station can then remote in and view the yard using a PTZ camera on the same tower.