Soundy

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=transfer+vhs+to+dvd Really.... you're using the wrong tool for the job. Get the right tool and save yourself a ton of time and headache.

You mean these? http://www.wdc.com/en/products/Products.asp?DriveID=615

^Assuming you have a DHCP server on the network in question.

I can't decide if these guys are stupid, or really smart... judging from the comments, the general consensus is that the store owners failed bigger than the crooks: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4c5ZwldZAHU

Gotta LanRoverPro TP-600 for testing physical connections (actually got the TP-607 kit with seven extra remote modules and a nice zippered case). For the rare times I actually need to do data testing, Wireshark has been invaluable. As far a "tips and tricks"... I keep a couple of BNC terminators around (I have both 50-ohm and 75-ohm) that I can throw on the end of a cable run, then measure the resistance at the other end to check for shorts or open circuits. I also use a portable DVD player as both service monitor and test-signal source, along with a DVD I made with assorted test signals (color bars, alignment patterns, etc.)

I was doing an install once in a gas station under construction... I left my equipment and tools in the store's office one night, came in the next morning to find things had been moved around, and pair of my wire cutters broken. So I got the DVR up and running and left a camera on the shelf beside it, then left my tools in there again the next night... and the following morning, there it was: the night watchman coming in, going through my tools, playing with crimpers and drills, opening camera boxes and checking them out... Needless to say, THAT security company had a lot of sucking up to do.

Use the right tool for the job and save yourself a lot of headache:

For your reference, that connector is called a "mini-DIN". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mini-DIN_connector for pictures and more detail. I've also seen cameras that use 4- and 5-pin versions, in addition to 6-pin.

Does the battery have to be internal to the camera? Because that right there will negate the "small" part if you want anything more than about 30 minutes' recording. Does this need to transmit wirelessly to a recorder, or record internally? The former will GREATLY reduce the battery life.

Welcome!

How OLD is this list? Considering most if not all manufacturers stopped making time-lapse VCRs about three years ago, this advice is pretty much obsolete. You MIGHT be able to find a few still in distribution channels, and there are more and more used ones floating around, but even then, you'll have trouble finding parts and service for it if it ever has problems. Last time I bought a time-lapse VCR, I think it ran about $450 *wholesale*... and you still need a multiplexer (at another $400-$1000) to use it with more than one camera. That just doesn't compare to the flood of sub-$1000 DVRs now on the market. "High definition" CCTV has been here for several years in the form of megapixel network cameras. HDcctv is a new digital spec also in development. This is misleading, as there are no DVRs that will work with commercially-available HDTV cameras. There are, however, lots of hybrid DVRs that will work with both analog and network-attached megapixel cameras - you don't need "peripheral devices". I don't see anything about camera placements... coverage concerns... choke points... lots missing about cabling. After checking all these points, you're still only about halfway there. Ahh, I see, it just a bunch of poorly-assembled vague information designed to promote a sales site.

Rory has some pictures of a painted VBM housing in this post:viewtopic.php?f=5&t=21952&start=75 I posted some pictures of the VCM housing showing how it flush mounts vs. surface mount, in this thread: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=22339 There are some pics from CNB's site further down that page showing the VBM and VCM housings on wall-pendant mounts, where you can clearly see the difference in design. (Hmmm, someone should sticky this post). Other than that, as Rory says, they're the same camera. I've noticed that as well. When I need to find the listing, I just google "vcm-24vf" and the first link that comes up is the CNB USA product page: http://www.cnbusa.com/en/html/product/product.php?seqx_prod=1073

Maxing out the memory won't make a big difference - I still have 16-channel Windows-based DVRs out in the field running fine on 512MB (which was huge amounts at the time). It will depend a bit on the exact software, of course, but the biggest user of memory is usually the search database. RAID5 will also not give a huge performance boost, but it WILL provide better data reliability. With the price of drives today though, I'd probably step up to at least 1TB drives. We've been using (and liking) the Western Digital Caviar Black drives, and the difference between a 500GB and a 1TB is only $30 at our regular retailer. The jump to 2TB is another $90 from there. Don't cheap out on the drives - get the Blacks or equivalent, or better yet, go to enterprise-grade drives, not just for performance, but for longevity. Avoid cheap, 5400rpm, or "green" drives. Beyond that, even a cheap machine should work fine... but check the recommendations for your card/software of choice, as many recommend only Intel chips and chipsets (no AMD processors, no SiS or nVidia chipsets). Some WILL work fine with others... but many times if the manufacturer says Intel-only, they MEAN Intel-only. Some packages also recommend disabling hyper-threading, so you should check that the motherboard or BIOS supports this.

First thing I'd suggest, for any hardware, is to check the manufacturer's website for a list of authorized resellers. If they don't have one (CNB doesn't appear to), try contacting them directly (in this case, start with http://cnbusa.com/en/html/support/purchase.php).

Welcome aboard! Whereabouts are you located??

What market segment are you planning to sell to? Bottom-end, lowest-common-denominator home systems, top-end ultra-specialized enterprise-and-military-grade systems, or somewhere in between? We do a lot of retail, mostly mid-to-upper level fuel services and such, as well as a couple upper-scale restaurants... we're using mainly Pelco box cams (CC3701H-2), CNB domes (VCM-24VF is the current model of choice), and Panasonic WV-CP484/CW484 where WDR is needed (more recently started getting in the CW502) for most of our analog cams. For megapixel, it's mainly IQEye (IQ511 boxes and A11 domes) and Arecont (AV3155DN domes). We've done a bit of more high-end stuff as well: a site with a handful of FLIR thermal cameras and a Pelco Esprit IV PTZ mounted atop a 50' tower. Nice toys, but really spendy! Hope that helps...

That's not a standard analog camera. PAL/NTSC SPEC IS 25/30FPS. Period.

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=rs485+to+coaxitron+converter

I've got standard RG59 strung across open flat roofs on a number of sites, and it's been fine for years. The main concern on most of them is damage from other service personnel (HVAC techs in particular). A bigger concern around here is ice and snow. That said, some 1" or so (depending on how many runs) PVC or ENT to protect the wire should be relatively inexpensive (compared to the cost of doing it all again). Or consider using smaller conduit and reducing your cable count by using UTP and baluns, and locating the power supply for those cameras elsewhere. Four Cat5e will easily go through 1/2" tubing and give you capacity for up to 16 cameras.

Umm... given 30fps is NTSC specification... you're not going to find a camera OR DVR that will do higher. PAL is only 25fps, and film is 24fps (until you start getting into things like IMAX and specialized high-speed cameras). Seriously, are you trying to sell customers this "50fps" snake oil?? (BTW, I'd like to know where you're finding an iPhone 4 for $199... in Canada, it's going to cost you $600-$800 unless you want to lock into a contract. You tell me where to get them for $199 and I can make way more money re-selling them for twice that than I could ever get in CCTV).

For retail I would never recomend anything less then 30 FPS! JD You mean there are jobs where you would suggest MORE?

Well, I know it's probably just whatever pictures you could get for the purpose, but your diagrams show splitters, which are one-way devices... which is why the third and even the second diagrams won't pass the signal. You can't usually just "blend" two signals, and I wouldn't try it with a non-active device. Question about this modulator though: the ones I've seen all INSERT into the cable line, because they need to notch the signal out of the channel they're using... does this one not simply insert into the line?

Which is on sale? I'm serious. I typically go with Seagate or Western Digital though. Widely available at decent prices. One important thing: don't use "cheap" drives, or "green" drives. These aren't typically designed for prolonged 24/7 operation or sustained read/write cycles and often don't have the performance necessary for DVR usage. We've been using Western Digital Caviar "Black" drives and found them very solid in DVRs and RAID storage arrays.

"From operator to camera" control signals are not a function of the codec, and since it's a relatively small amount of data, its contribution to overall latency should be negligible. Your only real concern is from the camera back to the viewer/operator. There are a number of considerations here. To get the fastest transfer time, you want to compress the video as much as possible... however, that causes a loss of quality, and the more you compress it, typically the more processing is required, which will also add to the overall delay. Beyond just lag time, you should see if the client has a requirement for quality vs. compression level - you could sample at CIF and crush it in compression and have almost no data to stream... but have a really bad image. Generally, the most space-efficient commonly-available codec is H.264, which will compress fairly quickly at the sending end... but remember that you have to decode at the viewer's end as well, and decoding H.264 can be processor-intensive, which could slow things down if you have several streams going. However, I believe you'll find that network latency itself will be the biggest issue, unless everything is on a gigabit LAN. If you have to go over internet connections at all, unless you have dedicated high-capacity business connections between sites, you'll potentially see ping times in the range of 100ms or more. Your client needs to define their requirements a little more inclusively than just "75ms end to end", because there's too much involved that I'm guessing is beyond your control.

What makes anything junk? Cheap design, cheap parts, cheap construction, poor performance, poor quality, lack of features, poor (or no) after-sale support... Consider that you're talking about package systems where you're expecting to get the DVR *and* four cameras for $400... then compare to "professional grade" cameras that EASILY go for $400 and up, for just ONE camera, and you get an idea of the variations in quality. In an industry where you really do get what you pay for, this price range qualifies as junk. First thing I think most here would recommend is revising either your budget, or your expectations. You'd probably be looking at *starting* at $600-$800 for a *decent* standalone DVR like a Digital Watchdog or something... cameras not included.