Soundy

Looks like a pretty standard mid-grade offshore camera...

The general advice you'll find here is not to buy any CCTV products from fleaBay. You'll never know exactly what you're getting, and if it has a problem, dealing with the seller is often a major headache.

The difference - pun intended - is night and day! What model of camera is the "before"?

It really depends on the cameras. If they're working, chances are they're designed for dual-voltage anyway. Some (mostly older) cameras support 24VAC only, and won't work at all on DC at any voltage.

It's not that complicated: the "R" pins are Receive; the "T" pins are Transmit. In the case of most cameras, you'll never use the Transmit pins, since they have nothing to send; they only need to receive commands. This is an industry-wide standard, not specific to Panasonic. Check that you're setting the right camera ID number for the Pelco protocol you're using; Pelco D starts counting from 0; P starts from 1. Switch positions on cameras aren't generally absolute numbers, but are relative to the start point. Thus, position 2 may mean 1 for D protocol, 2 for P... and so on. (Disclaimer: it could also be 0 for P and 1 for D; my memory isn't fresh on which is which... but the point is the same). Some cameras will display both, or will display the relevant protocol along with the ID number, on the startup screen.

Try swapping A and B then. You may need to power-cycle the camera and/or DVR before it notices the change.

Connect R(A) on the camera to RS-485 "+" on the DVR, and R(B) to "-"

^I find applying a coating of Rain-X to the bubble helps keep the rain from "sticking"

25 or 30, depending on whether you're working with PAL or NTSC. There's no benefit to recording at a higher framerate than the video standard provides. In fact, there's not usually any benefit to recording at even HALF that framerate.

That's just it though - the width of the beam at a given distance will depend on the unit's design. There is no "universal calculator". What you're looking for is really just basic geometry - the beam pattern can be thought of as a triangle, so if you know the width at a given distance, you can calculate the width at another distance. You can use standard Pythagorean math (a^2 + b^2 = c^2), or basic sin/cos calculations. Or just think of it as a simple ratio: if the beam is 10' wide at 20' from the source, it will be 20' wide at 40' from the source. Inverse-square law then states the light level will be 1/4 of what it was at 20'.

Would really depend on the design of the specific illuminator - the LEDs used, reflector/lens design, how the LEDs themselves are mounted and positioned... manufacturer data sheets are your best bet.

What current (amperage) rating is the power supply? A line moving up the picture could indicate a ground-loop issue as well.

"Public port" is the port the router listens to on the outside connection, for incoming data. "Private port" is the port it sends that data to on the LAN. Usually they'll be the same, but there are instances where you might want to change one or the other... for example, if you have a DVR or webserver that doesn't let you change the port from the default of 80, but you have an ISP that blocks port 80, you could assign a different public port, and forward that to the standard private port.

This is the package we use: http://www.optexamerica.com/productpage.aspx?l1=2&l2=6&id=38 Outdoor-safe sensor/transmitter, indoor receiver with selectable chime and form-C relay output.

How do you know that uninstalling the software will also remove the settings?

As long as the runs aren't too long, you can actually use a single pair for each "leg" of the power. If you were using baluns to run video over the Cat5e, that's what you'd be doing. As for "not safe", keep in mind that Power-over-Ethernet spec allots 48VDC power over the brown and blue pairs. Where problems arise is that with long runs, low voltage, and too-small wire, you get voltage drops and current limiting that can cause the cameras to not get enough power.

Like bpzle says, you have lots of options here. You can use the Cat5e for power AND video using baluns... you can use the RG59 for video and the Cat5e for power... you can use the Cat5e for PoE-powered IP cameras... No need to rewire (and probably not possible either, as the wire is probably stapled in various places, if it's done according to code).

General advice around here is avoid *ANY* CCTV products from fleaBay. Probably why nobody (at least none of the regulars) has any experience with them. The only time you'll see someone here discussing CCTV components from eBay, it'll be someone asking why they don't work as advertised.

I worked on a similar camera once... if memory serves, one wire controlled zoom and one did focus - connecting to ground would zoom one way, and to power would zoom the other way. Same with focus. At a guess, I'd think the red is power and black is ground, supplied by the camera... the other two would be for zoom and focus. Shot in the dark, but give it a go...

It IS an older camera - http://catalog2.panasonic.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ModelDetail?displayTab=O&storeId=11201&catalogId=13051&itemId=67166&catGroupId=16816&surfModel=WV-CS854B (SuperDynamic II is a couple generations old). Should still be a good image though, unless there's something actually wrong with it....

Without looking it up, I'd say there's a 99.9999% chance that those cameras support Pelco protocols themselves. Hook it on up to the Q-See and give it a go.

We do have a local supplier (in Maple Ridge)... I'll find out his contact info and PM you.

Not actually IN the Falls, I hope! That's kinda far east to be Canuckistan - it's all Leaf Nation out there, isn't it?

Does he want JUST the monitor, or the mouse and keyboard control as well? A number of people make KVM extender solutions that use a single Cat5e run - we've used Belkin, A-TEN, and another whose name escapes me at the moment. You could also plug the DVR into the network and allow the customer to access it with client software on his workstation. If he only wants video, you can use VGA baluns (we usually use MuxLab by client spec, but lots of others make them), although long VGA cables CAN be had cheap - here's a 50' one for $25: http://a-power.com/product-5420-557-1