Soundy

Not sure what you're asking. Having both networks connected to a single machine won't slow down either network at all. Obviously running business apps on a DVR will slow both operations down, but that still won't affect either network.

The lighting we have is along our walls,,, so while it does fill the parking lot to some extent, it's been my experience that it isn't enough... having the IR's helps a lot in our situation,, would there be another model with IR's that you'd recommend? Oh,, and the 24vf you said to look at... is it an outdoor cam? The ones I found had great prices but they were listed as indoor cams... We use the VCM-24VF, it's an outdoor-rated dome that can be flush-mounted, or surface-mounted with the included back-box. The back-box also provides space to hide the connectors if they can't go inside a wall or other object. I'd say try them, and if you still find you need IR, use some external illuminators (others can recommend some). Cameras with built-in IR are know to have issues, not the least of which are bugs setting off motion detection, and spiders building webs over the front of the cameras.

No. Traffic for the 192.* network will be routed in the DVR to the appropriate NIC; all other traffic will default to the 10.* network. Unless the NICs are bridged, the two won't networks won't even be able to directly communicate with each other. Technically running both over the same wires shouldn't have a significant "cross-effect" as long as the switches can handle the traffic, but if the infrastructure is already in place for the cameras to have their own physically separated network, that's certainly preferable, for both reliability and for security.

If the cameras are all on a physically separate network, I'd keep it that way, without linking the two at the switches... then just plug one of the server's NICs into each network - the 192.* addressed NIC into the camera network, and the 10.* NIC into their corporate network. Leave the "Default Gateway" blank on the 192.* NIC, too, ANY traffic that's NOT destined for the 192.* network will automatically be routed to the 10.* network. That should be all it takes!

Just search this site for "CNB 24VF" - they're a fantastic day/night dome with low-light performance that rivals cameras costing twice as much. If you already have street lighting, IR is not needed. The domes will also be a lot more robust and less vulnerable to tampering than bullets.

I see you posted this on TrailVoy.com too First, for connecting the cameras to the DVR, rather than "extensions", you'll just want new cables made to the proper lengths. Actually, extensions would be the same cables, you'd just need couplers to connect them together. There are three common ways to cable this... One is to use a run of RG59 coax with BNC connectors, and a run of appropriate power cable like 18/2, 16/2, or station-Z wire. Another is to use Siamese cable, which is RG59 and 18/2 wire joined along its length by web - a little more convenient, usually a little more expensive. The third is to use twisted-pair cable like Cat3, Cat5e or Cat6, running the video over one pair using baluns on each end, and power down the other pairs. Since you're using 12VDC cameras, you probably want to avoid the balun method, as that will probably lead to ground loops and all sorts of signal quality problems. So then it just becomes a question of what cables are available and/or cost-effective to you. For ease of cabling, you'll want to mount the power supply near where you put the DVR, so you can pull power and video cables together to the same location. Make sure you get the polarity right when connecting the power.

Welcome aboard!

^If it's a transformer-type PSU, the line and output grounds will - or SHOULD - be physically separated anyway.

Thickness of the plastic doesn't matter - a plastic grocery bag would suffice. It only has to insulate a few millivolts. But yes, it's important that the mounting screws not make a connection either.

A ground lop occurs when you have two separate ground paths at different potentials or of different lengths. For example, the video signal's main ground path the the DVR is via the shield of the coax wire. But if the camera body is grounded to the metal pole, that metal pole is then grounded to earth (and probably via the electrical ground wire as well), which then gives another path to the DVR via its power ground. Having the two separate paths can cause interference, or create another point for noise to enter, or can reduce the system's ability to reject noise that's induced. Physically isolating the PTZ from the pole would be the best way to eliminate this. Some more reading on the subject: http://www.siber-sonic.com/electronics/GLoopwhatis.html http://www.fmsystems-inc.com/manuals/GNDLOOPart.pdf

Just offhand, I'd suspect a ground loop. Is this a metal or wooden pole? Is the body of the PTZ attached to something grounded? What happens if you unmount the PTZ from the pole? Electrical interference is possible, but you can eliminate this easily if the interference changes when the light is off vs. on.

I'd move to a place with less brick... But seriously folks! If by "header" you mean the white casing that surrounds the whole door area.... that can come off without affecting structure at all, it's just a soft (probably pine) trim piece. There should be a 2x6 or 2x8 frame behind that that you should be fine notching a bit, IF necessary... however, there should also be a sheeting of 1/2"-3/4" plywood or OSB or something else similar on top of the 2x6/2x8 that you could probably cut enough depth out for a board camera to fit. In fact, easiest process if you were go that route would probably be something like this: 1. Determine what size hole you'll need for a lens hole (pinhole lens is probably best, in part because of their conical end). 2. Drill a hole that size through the casing and back into the sheeting/framing behind it, to give yourself a pilot. Remember to angle it upward a bit so the camera is looking downward. 3. CAREFULLY remove the casing. 4. Use a spade or Forstner bit to make a suitable sized hole for your board camera (again, remembering to angle it up as needed). Make a smaller hole and chisel out the corners for the camera, if you prefer. 5. Use a countersink bit in the back of the casing to make a space for the tip of the pinhole lens to fit. 6. Mount the camera in the hole - stuff some paper in to hold it in place temporarily. 7. Put the casing back in place. Adjust camera position as needed and then anchor it with silicone or similar adhesive before reattaching the casing. For the wiring, you could remove the casing on the inside and fish the wiring underneath that.

Aye, and there's the rub: if you're installing a DVR, it's usually because you're interested in the RECORDED video. Lots of times these cheap systems seem fine... until you really need the video, and then you discover that the clarity you need just isn't there.

All of the above! "Night vision" - people tend to think of the "night vision goggles" they see in the movies. I've seen too many instances where they think that a basic $20 bullet with a dozen IR LEDs will light up an entire yard like the daylight and let them see everything clearly. TVL is CCTV's equivalent to megapixels in the digital-still-camera market. With pocket cameras in particular, it's been an ongoing race to cram in (and advertise) more and more and more megapixels, with no consideration of how that adversely affects low-light performance. I've seen people who think a 15MP P&S camera will actually produce better pictures than a 10MP DSLR. Then they wonder why the pictures of their kid blowing out his birthday candles looks like shyte... by the same token, TVL has become something that most consumers don't actually understand, they just figure that more is better with no consideration of other factors, so the manufacturers tend to inflate the number as much as they can get away with... FPS... same thing, the "more is better" mentality takes over, without consideration of the trade-offs, or the actual REQUIREMENTS (yeah, 30fps looks nice... no, you don't NEED it all the time). The real kicker is that as much as some think the only way they'll get smooth, lifelike movement is at a full 30fps... PAL does it just fine at 25fps... and film is typically a mere 24fps (until you start getting into IMAX and technologies like that). The other one to watch out for is sellers pushing recognizable names... like how many times do we see here, people with "I have this Sony camera..." and "this one must be better, because it's a Sony camera". Well, no, it's not a Sony - it uses a Sony sensor that's the same Sony sensor as a zillion other cheap-ass cameras, as well as a number of better cameras that back it up with better processing. And sorry to say, just having the name "Sony" on it does not automatically make it "good" (this applies to a lot of different areas of electronics, BTW).

We use mainly GEM and GVI - same price range, both tool-less (cheapie-cheapie ones notwithstanding), both work just fine.

[quote="rory"][quote="Soundy"]The Geo cards I've come across all have their own audio inputs... disabling the PC's audio would have no effect on that.[/quote] Yes, if the PC audio is disabled, then the Geo Audio does not work, and Geo will popup an error when it loads.[/quote] Well that's um... kinda... er, I guess one more thing to add to my "WTF GV????" list.

Well first of all, the specs on that page say it records with MPEG4 compression, which would normally be an .MP4 or maybe .AVI extension. You could try renaming one and seeing if the player is any happier. http://lmgtfy.com/?q=6802i SKY-6802i appears to BE the model number... the manufacturer is "Shenzhen Skybest Electronics. Co., Ltd". They may have generic drivers for it. It's a Techwell chipset, not BrookTree, so I don't expect the btwincap drivers would work.

Can you please make it more simple for me, i didn't understand your explanation... The camera uses 12V so if i have a48V injector output with 400mA the camera takes only when it needs ? Any electrical/electronic device will draw only as much current as it requires. 400mA is the *maximum* the injector can provide at 48V. Since the POWER remains constant (again, assuming 100% efficiency, which is impossible in the real world, but is what we usually deal with for the sake of keeping things easy), as the voltage changes, the available current changes inversely-proportionally. Given that Power = Voltage times Current (P=VI), that gives you 48V * 0.4A = 19.2W. Step it down to 24VDC, you'd have up to 800mA available; at 12VDC, you get up to 1.6A (sorry, calculated wrong above).

Check the Windows Firewall settings?

I did some testing recently with a number of baluns, ranging from some cheapie GEM units that run about $15/pair, to some surge-protected NVT models that run about $40 *each*, and a few in between (most in the $20/each range). I connected a CNB dome to one end, a Vigil DVR to the other, and about 120m (around 400') of Cat5e still coiled in its box in between... Honestly, there was very little noticeable difference across any of them. The only really visible difference was that the cheapie-cheapie ones had some rust on the screw terminals that seemed to have an intermittently detrimental effect on the connection... but at the same time, one of the $20 GVI's appeared to have a spotty BNC connection that caused some noise and color shifting when I moved the balun around. Overall, it looked like the price differences were mainly accounted for in construction quality (I have had a few of the $15/pair ones fail in the field), plus the better ones had more convenient tool-less connections; the screw terminals on the cheaper ones tend to be a real pain to use.

The Geo cards I've come across all have their own audio inputs... disabling the PC's audio would have no effect on that.

Well, that's 19.2W... stepped down to 12V (and assuming 100% efficiency, granted), that's 1.2A available.

Audio level wouldn't make a difference to file size since WAV is an uncompressed format. Assuming 16-bit, 48kHz audio, it will be 96kbytes per second per channel, regardless of level or content.

You couldn't have put all of these in a single post?

The LinkSys injector.