Soundy

That would have no effect on burn-in - the monitor would still be displaying the same frame and controls 23 hours and 55 minutes out of the day.

I don't know about this machine specifically, but just some thoughts: I assume the network is connected and working (you can view via the remote viewer)? Is the DNS entry filled? Without a DNS (not DDNS), those functions can't lookup domain names and may be disabled.

Even toggling through the cameras wouldn't prevent burn-in (if you were on a display that COULD suffer burn-in), as the only thing changing is the contents of the camera frames. The frames around them and the rest of the interface would still burn significantly.

You only need to connect the TX pair on the DVR, to the RX pair on the camera. And you shouldn't need a special card for it - just connect it to a serial port on the computer. RX+ on the camera will go to pin 5 on the DB9 connector... RX- goes to pin 3. Configure GV to use the serial port (probably COM1 if it's a built-in port), and make sure the comms parameters (baud rate, etc.) and camera address are all set properly to match the camera's settings.

The catch here is that it's just JUST one little hole through the brick, if you're going for a covert camera, although that works fine if you're mounting some form of standard housing (bullet, dome). Of course, running to a basement is a nice idea, but usually easier said than done, since you do have a floor in between, and it likely won't be easily accessible for drilling - it's not as simple as just tying a weight to the wire and letting it drop all the way through. Well... it MIGHT be, if the brick was all H-block and there might actually be a continuous cavity all the way down... Anyway, I think pulling off the casing is a good place to start - it should come off without much effort, is cheap and easy to replace if necessary, and getting behind it will at least give you a better idea of the rest of the wall's construction - everything up until is speculation based on other experience that may or may not apply to how your particular house is built.

I think the best way to estimate this, would be to find someone with a similar system on a smaller scale, and extrapolate from there. Like, if someone has three fixed and two PTZ cameras using all the settings you're after... then you look at the space they're using, and if you're doing, say, 30 fixed and 20 PTZs, you can multiply their usage by 10 and get an approximation of what you'll need. Case in point: first store we did for a new (at the time) client had analog and five 1.3MP cameras. They wanted 90 days' retention, and were happy running an average of 4fps on all cameras (three or four of the analogs are CIF, the rest are all 4CIF). We started with 3TB internal storage in the DVR, and found we were getting about 28-29 days... so we calculated from that, that we'd need around 10TB total. We added a 6.5TB RAID array (8x1TB, RAID5), fine-tuned some of the camera settings, and now they get almost exactly 90 days (varies between 90 and 92 depending on activity and such... sunny days and summer months with longer daylight tend to create more contrasty scenes and thus need more storage... little things like that). We've used those figures subsequently as a basis for calculating the storage needs on subsequent sites that we've done upgrades and new installs. One advantage you have here is that you're not dealing with any megapixel cameras, so it will be a lot easier to find existing systems to get estimates from. Unfortunately my numbers won't help much, particularly since we're running far lower framerates, and not using H.264 (the Vigil DVRs record in MJPEG; 3xLogic actually claims their AZTECH codec can recompress that better than H.264 in many cases).

The thing you need to realize about these tools is that they can give only VERY ROUGH estimates based on VERY BROAD assumptions. They can't predict how much movement a camera will really see, they can't predict how "compressable" scenes will be, and they can't account for how well you do or don't configure motion detection and analytics. Depending on the codec used, it can't account for variations in different manufacturers' implementations either. Looking at your chart, for example, even with constant recording, the actual amount of compression will be a lot less on the PTZs if they're running constant tours... the same with cameras that are looking at constant motion vs. scenes with less movement. As far as the analytics data itself, it should be only a small fraction of what the video data takes, and shouldn't significantly affect your calculations. Best bet is to over-spec by a fair amount - it's better if the client sees they're getting more days than spec, than less.

Like I said, my suggestions were typical of my experience... I've rarely known these sort of door casings to be caulked, other than maybe a small cosmetic bead. My current house has no caulking at all on the casings - the casing is attached by copious brads, which are easily extracted from the pine jambs. In the event you do break the casings, the chance of finding suitable replacements will vary depending on the design - most I've seen are a very plain, basic wedge cross-section. Before undertaking removing the casings though, it would be a good idea to check the design and then check that a suitable replacement is readily available from your local building supply. As for color, it looks like a pretty standard brilliant white to me... color matching shouldn't be a problem.

There's often some spacing there, as door frames are typically made a bit larger than the jambs to allow for adjustment/alignment of the jamb and door during installation. Note I say, TYPICALLY, based on my own experience (worked construction with my Dad for many years), but it may all be different in your case depending on local practices and different building codes. Plus I don't think I ever worked on a brick-structure house, so the doors may be installed differently (I have done all-concrete construction though, and wood doors are done about the same...).

The receiver does have a Form C relay (if you look really closely at the diagram near the top of the page, it's there in the small print ) You can also use up to 9 transmitters with one receiver (although all of them would just trigger the same relay).

We've used these in a number of outdoor installations, they have great range and very flexible options for detection angles and ranges.

The widest lens you'll COMMONLY find will be about a 2.6mm or 2.8mm, which will give you about an 80-to-90-degree horizontal field of view on a 1/4" or 1/3" sensor. Beyond that you need either specialty lenses, or multi-sensor cameras.

"AWG" stands for "American Wire Gauge" - it's a common designation for the size of the conductor here in North America. "0.75 mm²" similarly, is a designation of the conductor size; "2 x 0.75 mm²" simply means there are two conductors. The North American equivalent would be written as "14/2". Something like "22/4" would indicate 4 conductors of 22 AWG. None of these specify the type of cable, the type or thickness of jacketing, the color, or anything else, other than the size of the conductor itself. The larger the conductor, the lower its resistance and the more current it can carry. If the wire is too small, then it has higher resistance, will restrict the current more, and cause a greater voltage drop over a given distance than a larger wire. As bpzle notes, that symbol denotes only that it's DC. The symbol alone gives no indication whether the supply is regulated or not.

^What they said. Normal color cameras have filters to block infrared light, because it can throw off the color balance and cause other issues under standard lighting. Cheap IR cameras have no filter and tend to be either strictly B&W, or try to compensate electronically for the color balance. Good day/night cameras will mechanically flip the filter out of the way and switch to B&W when the go to "night" mode.

Hmm, that's a little under 18 AWG, which is fine for the signal line, but really too small for the power. You want to use minimum 16 AWG (1.3mm²) there, preferably 14 AWG (2.1mm²). Also, if it's a regulated supply, you'll be getting a solid 12VDC at the supply end, but under that at the camera - an unregulated supply would run around 16VDC at the supply, and still be well over 12VDC at the cameras, even with the smaller wire. If these cameras support 24VAC, that plus larger wire would be the be the best solution, although you could probably get away with the existing wire at that voltage.

Today I just finished a 13 cam new job, just for test I plug 4 cameras (singe dome, non IR) on one 1A wall wart. All perfect, no problems at all. The same cable brand, the same baluns, just the cameras are different, but are cheap 12v Chinese common ground too.' I have seen instances where it hasn't caused problems, this is true... but most often, it does, at least from my experience. Yes I've read about Altronix a lot in this forum, but unfortunately nobody sells this brand here. No to mention that here the dollar exchange is in control by the government , so is a real PITA to get US$ for imports. If anyone here can sympathize with you on that, it'll be Rory!

Export from each machine to a flash drive, external HDD, or network location... then just burn them all at once.

Unless your onboard graphics chipset is REALLY REALLY lame, it should be just fine. There's nothing heavy-duty about the DVR display; you don't need extreme 3D gaming-type power or anything.

Personally, I install Vigil DVRs pretty much exclusively (many now replacing GeoVision systems), and they work just fine with the higher resolutions: I just set the Windows display resolution to match the monitor, and Vigil displays as normal - I just get a bit of blank space to the right of the camera grid. Their HD Viewer software that we use to show cameras on external displays allows me to custom-crop each camera to fit, as well, or just pillarboxes the display - as long as I can set the Windows screen resolution properly, everything displays perfectly normal.

Do these need domes to be mounted underneath some kind of cover,, ie like under an overhang/canopy? Or, can they be mounted to the side of a wall where they'll be hit with direct sunlight quite a bit... not with the lense looking into the sun, but with the dome bodies getting hit by direct sunlight. I've got several of them directly exposed to all kinds of weather, no problems yet. I've had more expensive cameras die in the same conditions.

A great idea too, perfect for the 4in1 balun You'd pretty much have to use short "jumper" cables for that, yeah. Yes, that is true, but you know, chances are than someone comes and see the cables hanging and criticize, making the customer think if there are other ways of doing it. Heh, that will happen no matter what you do. Make the cleanest, most perfect, tight, smooth, seamless install possible, and someone will still come along and say, "Yeah, it looks great, BUT I woulda done it like this..." There are only two ways to deal with that: listen to them and get more ideas for next time, or just ignore them. It's like the old joke, "How many lead guitarists does it take to change a lightbulb? Seven - one to do it, the other six to sit around saying how they could've done it with more FEELING." Sounds like a classic case of ground loops through the baluns. It's not a factor of the power supplies or the distances involved, but of the design of the cameras: when the cameras have a shared power and video ground, you have one ground on the camera following two separate paths. With only one camera on one power adapter it's not a problem as the power ground doesn't reference to anything at the adapter end. When you connect two or more cameras to the same power ground, though (whether spliced together on a wall wart, or tied together on a common ground rail on a central power can), each camera's ground then has two paths to the DVR's ground. The baluns introduce a transformer winding into the video ground at each end, which adds dozens or hundreds of feet of length, as well as some resistance. The way to avoid it, short of individual wall warts for each camera, is to use 24VAC cameras, or dual-power cameras that have internal regulators, which effectively isolate the video ground from the power ground.

Welcome!

Welcome! "Wishmaster" is a great Nightwish song

There are a number of options depending on the types of baluns you're using. Some allow you to terminate the cable in an RG45 plug and then provide BNC and power out on a pair of tails. Some are screw or punch terminals with a 2-3" BNC tail; others have the BNC right on the body. I've used the "tailed" type terminating in a metal box on the wall immediately behind the DVR, with the tails hanging out the bottom and connecting there with the breakout cables (Vigil DVR, but they're essentially the same cables as the Geo). You could buy or make a number of short (2-3') BNC cables to extend the runs so you can terminate inside a box. I've sometimes dropped all the runs right at the DVR and just left the baluns hanging there, then split off the power pairs and slipped some split-loom around the power pairs to lead them off to the power supply. I've done vise-versa as well. All depends on what the specific installation calls for.

Why not use some sort of visible-light illuminators, so the people can see better as well?