Soundy

In addition to koolmer's well-stated points... There aren't a LOT of cameras that do this, but there are more coming out all the time, as it IS a popular feature. You probably don't want to change NAS units now, but there are several out there that actually include NVR functionality and will work with the bulk of cameras. Check out http://www.qnapsecurity.com, for example (QNAP's basic NAS units have reduced NVR capability as well). I've successfully run two 1.3MP MJPEG cameras over a 10Mbit network. As koolmer notes, all IP cameras stream compressed video, so massive network capability isn't necessary until you start getting into the range of "several" cameras. This is true, in general... however, different cameras compensate in different ways and some actually get pretty good low-light results. Some slow the shutter down, some do some fancy processing to boost the light and clean up the noise... a true day/night camera will help a lot with this. Wow, this is a BIG question... Okay, first, don't compare too much to photographic lens designs and concepts. Remember, first of all, that unlike an SLR camera, a surveillance camera, once in place and configured, will not usually be moving around and changing its view, and thus not need constant adjustment. There are two basic types types of lenses for CCTV: fixed and vari-focal... in photographic terms, prime and zoom; these are all optical zooms. As with SLR lenses, zooms come in a wide selection of ranges, depending on your needs... but again, once set, there's not usually much need to change things. Pretty much ALL CCTV lenses are removable/interchangeable, even in things like cheap domes and sealed bullet cameras. There are two common mount designs: what's often called call M12 (refers to the machine thread, actually), which is the smaller type used on board cameras and the like; and C/CS-mount, which are functionally the same except the "C" has a longer "nose" sticking out the back (the S in CS is for "short") and may not fit SOME cameras (some will allow you to use a C-mount lens with a space; others have adjustable backfocus to allow you to compensate). Again though, you're not likely to be swapping lenses on a regular basis... one, cameras are often in poorly-accessible areas that aren't conducive to regular tinkering, and when you do change a lens, it DOES usually require a fair bit of tinkering to get everything dialed in. If you do need to move and change the view, you'd be looking at what's called a PTZ, or Pan, Tilt, Zoom camera. These typically have an integrated lens with remote-controllable "power zoom". They also tend to be a lot more expensive. Finally, there is ONE brand of camera that can actually use SLR lenses: Avigilon's "professional" cameras use a Canon's EF or EF-S (depending on which model) lens mounts, allow you to use any lens designed for a Canon SLR/DSLR. That includes the super clean, super-expensive L-series lenses like the $7000 Canon EF 200mm F/2L IS USM Naturally, these cameras cannot be had within your $600/cam budget, either

Yeah, but either way, you still have a hole there if you ever have to take the camera down. Either way, you can use a blank plate to cover the hole... but you're better off just replacing the tile. BTW, I use this method for securing J-mounts for box cameras, too. Its quit a difference in the size of the hole, And what do you do about the screw holes? 99% of my clients have spares. Since they typically come in packs of 20 or 40, and some always have to get cut for edges, corners, etc., there are almost always a good number of intact leftovers from a job.

Yeah, but either way, you still have a hole there if you ever have to take the camera down. Either way, you can use a blank plate to cover the hole... but you're better off just replacing the tile. BTW, I use this method for securing J-mounts for box cameras, too.

Do you just need to watch for motion within the area, or do you need something more advanced (for example, if someone comes in past a certain line, etc.)? Will this be an outdoor area, where animals (birds, etc.) could trigger motion detection, or indoor? Is this just a basic 300x400 rectangular area? How high are the walls? Is there a particular reason for IP cameras, or would analog work as well? My initial thought, if it's a simple rectangular compound and you're just looking for movement, is that just about any IP cam with built-in motion would do; two of them in two opposing corners with wide-angle (<4mm) lenses would cover pretty much everything. If it needs more advanced analytics, something like Mobotix or others that have built-in analytics would be in order... you could then have it send an email, a text alert, or trigger and alarm output when the required conditions are met. If you're just looking for movement, you don't need insanely high resolution; however, if you need to use analytics to watch for particular movements, then more detail may be needed.

Correct. The anchor lays on its side and screw goes right through it. It's great for recycling all those anchors that I never use that seem to be packaged with just about everything. Most do have lengthwise slits of some sort, so you do have to make sure you position it so the screw has something to bite, but I've never had a problem with doing it this way. As Sean says, the VCMs look cleaner when flush-mounted, but I believe the VBMs tend to be a little cheaper.

Disable the IR and increase the visible lighting at the keypad.

I'll usually just use nylon drywall or concrete anchors for attaching to a tile... use a 1-1/4" or longer drywall screw and screw it through the SIDE of the anchor. Although a piece of plywood or other sort of block of wood (just about anything will do) works too. I do prefer the VCMs for the flush mounting, they look really clean if done well. The back protrusion just nicely fits a cutout from a 3-1/8" hole saw. When you screw it in, use longer screws and angle them outward a bit, because the holes are fairly close to the body and you want as much material as possible to support the thing. I never, never mount directly to the T-bar unless there's no other choice.... one, it looks hokey because the camera then has a gap between it and the tiles... two, if you ever need to take it down, the T-bar is a mess... three, a tile can be easily replaced; T-bar can't... and four, a tile can be easily rotated or moved; whereas T-bar can't.

Tom, your diagram looks like basic workings of an average smoke detector.... similar look to what Adam saw, but on a much, much smaller scale

Yeah, somehow I don't think his diagram is quite to scale

TOA Paging Speaker model CS-64/U

Can't help you with identifying that, but there should be no issue mixing and matching different brands of PTZs on a DVR.

Well, lot of questions need to be answered... One, what's your budget? How much are you *realistically* prepared to spend? I don't know how much £1000 will actually get you where you are, but that translates into about $2500 over here, which should get a decent starter system going. What's the make and model of the recorder? How many cameras are there? Trying to get a realistic idea of what you already have... Two, what's the area you need to cover? All around the shop? One side of the shop? Inside or outside? Is it a large area? Are the cars usually near the walls (and thus near the easiest camera locations) or farther away? This will affect the lenses needed, and the number of cameras. Three, what's the lighting like? Are there yard lights? Street lights? Much ambient light at night? This will affect the choice of camera.

Did the logo on the side look like this? Looks like the PA speakers they use on a lot of gas stations around here...

So I did, so I did. Don't mind me, I was half asleep when I posted that last night (and the other half was writhing in pain from a buggered-up foot).

It's also possible to run several IP cameras over a single piece of coax. Sure, the adapters to do it can be a little pricey, but when you have no other options, they become priceless.

Facebook-creeping me, are ya? Go ahead and add me then

Is that what you were talking about when you asked earlier if I was A1??

^And that's why people (are supposed to) have insurance.

Ultimately, the sad fact is, you can take every precaution known to man, and it's still possible for lightning to kill your parts or all of your system. I've seen lightning do some weird, weird $#!t. I've heard and read about it doing stuff that's beyond bizarre. When you're talking about that level of electricity (hundreds of thousands or even millions of volts), man, it just does what it wants, goes where it wants... you can try to block it, divert it, isolate it, but in the end, there's no 100% effective way to stop it. Even with fiber and locally-powered cameras, lighting could still hit a building, travel into a camera, through its power line, into the building's power wiring, and bake the rest of the system from there. Do some searching around the 'net for stories of things like ribbon lightning, blue-jet lightning, ball lightning, and so on - the stuff just doesn't seem to follow the rules. You can do nothing at all and have nothing bad ever happen - we had a big TV antenna sticking up above the roof of our rural cabin, in an area that gets plenty of lighting, for 30+ years, with never a problem (touch wood)... pretty sure it did get hit once, WHILE we were watching TV, but no damage... As far as replacement cams, I don't think you'll find a manufacturer or supplier anywhere who will warranty against lightning damage. Just remember: nature is a mother.

You do if you read more than the first sentence:

No, it's not, but again, the point is, she doesn't want the neighbors cameras pointed at her property, yet if she's pointing cameras at his, then LEGALLY that leaves her no room to complain about it. The neighbor is claiming his cameras don't point at her house, and aims them away when the police come around, so they have nothing against him... again, even if she DOES have cameras pointing somewhere else, her putting them up removes any right she has to complain about the neighbor having cameras, especially if nobody can gain proof of them actually pointing at her house. Since she has no security concerns other than this neighbor, and no other reason to have cameras up other than to thumb her nose at the neighbor, then it's in her case's best interest to simply not have cameras up. The police are not telling her it's wrong to have them up; they're giving her good advice to not hurt her case.

The police are right. She's trying to get them to do something about the neighbor pointing a camera at her property... but then she's pointing a camera at his? There may be very little the police can do about HIM under the law, but if she's doing the same thing, then she has NO room to complain about him doing it. If there's no law against what the guy is doing, or no proof of his breaking any laws, then no, there isn't anything the police can do about it. They can't climb up the pole and take the camera down themselves. That doesn't make them morons. [quote name="sueum"His camera is invasive but it is the abuse that causes me the fear' date=' If I could get a reliable microphone near his shed and record what he is saying that would help me with the Police, they say they need proof and this would give it[/quote] Is he making these threats directly to you, in conversations with you? Pick up a small voice recorder and carry it with you in a pocket or something. You can find cheap tape-based ones at liquidation stores, yard sales, etc. Or if you have a mobile phone with video-recording capability, that will also record audio... just start it recording and drop it in a pocket before confronting him.

http://us.shuttle.com/

Really, I don't think putting up your own cameras at this point accomplishes anything anyway - you don't actually care what he's doing back there, you just want him to stop watching you. Of course, if you just want to irritate him, you just need a couple of big, obvious fake cameras or empty housings that you can point at his house... domes like he has, you're never quite sure what they're looking at, but a box-type housing, it will be really clear what direction it's aimed. Get something like this, stick it on the side of your house, and point it at his bathroom window: You won't actually have a camera point at him, but he won't know it

I think you've got the wrong culprit there, rory - tripled-up 24ga. should give you better than the equivalent of 18ga.