Soundy

I'd say the main "brand" to stay away from is NO brand. If it has an actual brand name on it, a name that you can actually Google and find a company website, then you're in the upper 40% of the market right there. Most of the offshore JUNK you'll find will have big bold names like "CCD CAMERA" or "DIGITAL VIDEO" or other such generic terms, emblazoned across them, with no brand name, and probably no model name/number either. It's pushing your budget at this point, but just for fun, take a look for some of the pictures posted by other users of the output of the Panasonic CP484/CW484 cameras at night. A CP484 (box-style camera) with a 60mm f/1.6 (or faster) lens would probably kick ass on your gate shot, even with just that one HID light. The only limitation there would be that the light, I expect, is above anyone prowling around and probably won't light up faces too well... hence, again, a floodlight or two. And again, there's the deterrence factor of having a bright light snap on to startle anyone lurking about.

Hey there... don't have a lot of time at the moment, but wanted to make a couple quick points: One, I think your budget is a bit low - 100' is a LONG range for most IR cameras without getting into some higher-end stuff. You'd be better off, at least for that gate camera, to have something with good low-light performance... or add separate illumination nearer the gate (whether IR or visible)... or both. Personally, I'd suggest a couple motion-activated floodlights - the perps are more likely to simply be startled into moving on by that, and it's better to prevent action in the first place, rather than allow it to happen and hope you got a usable capture of it. Second, one thing you should have picked up from searching already is that most cameras' claims of IR range tends to be pretty optimistic, and realistically the distance for a GOOD image is half of what they state. Third, I really doubt you'll get what you need out of a package system. Package systems almost universally give you a bunch of identical wide-angle cameras designed to give a general overview of an area, but not much detail. With one camera here, you're wanting to capture facial details at a 100' range... that's going to mean a LONG lens (something in the 50-60mm range, at least), which is NOT something you'll find in any cheap IR cameras, or in most dome designs, for that matter. Finally (for now), you're missing a crucial piece of the puzzle with your other cameras, and that's field of view. Range to target is only half the equation; the other half is how much area you want to cover at that range. It sounds like your other cameras need to be a wider, more general view to just capture activity in the yard, which can be done with a wider lens and a cheaper camera... but realize that most cameras with built-in IR, the IR itself paints a fairly tight pattern in the middle of the scene and won't cover a 70-90 degree field of view. Also, remember that there are two ways to increase illumination range: one, tighten the beam (which also reduces coverage area); or two, add more illumination sources... which means bigger cameras with more LEDs (or external illuminators... again, see comments on big bright motion-sensor floodlights).

Have you improved the Arecont H.264 support? Last bunch of Arecont AV3155DNs I connected to a Vigil v5.00.02xx, there was some weird stuff going on... we ended up having to use the SDK setting rather than H.264 to get everything working right.

If the shutter was that slow, he'd also have a hard time holding the camera steady enough to get shots that sharp, unless he used a tripod. Remember, this thing isn't mounted on a wall bracket.

Must say, so far I'm really liking the "View unanswered / View active / View unread" features - the first in particular is handy when I'm bored and have already replied to all my subscribed threads

If your cameras support Pelco D and/or P protocols, you should be able to use just about any generic controller.

Hahaha, nice I suspect the stock wires were intended to be used with a non-regulated power supply... as noted, to compensate for the expected voltage drop. Actually, if the power supply is adjustable, you can always put a meter on the connector at the camera end, *with the camera operating*, measure the voltage, and increase the voltage at the power supply until you get a sufficient reading... but yeah, simply using larger wire is really the preferred solution

Assuming you've bought the correct transformer yes that should be all it takes. An important consideration though, is the current capability of the transformer - if it's not sufficient, the camera could have issues powering off and on, and/or it could fry the transformer. The power rating should be listed on the transformer in "VA" - ie. 40VA, 75VA, etc. For a PTZ, you generally want AT LEAST a 40VA... ideally 75VA or better.

Welcome aboard, Paul! As a computer technician, you should know the power draw of a basic PC (I assume we're not talking some monstrous gaming system here) isn't all THAT great. Consider that your typical standalone DVR is built around PC or PC-type hardware with an embedded OS, and you're probably not looking at that great a difference either way. A bigger concern with using your existing workstation is the processor and disk space requirements - you'll find the recording can cause a noticeable slowdown to your regular tasks, and/or your regular tasks can potentially cause problems with the recording. Worse, if something else you're doing causes the system to freeze or requires a reboot, your recording is offline during that time. Recording video can take a LOT of space as well, and should at the very least have a dedicated hard drive, especially since most DVRs will start to overwrite the oldest footage once the drive is full. If you're putting on a drive shared with other applications or your system, the more OTHER data you put on that drive, the less is available for video, and you could find yourself running out of recording space before you notice it - the most likely scenario in this case is that you go back to find some footage you think SHOULD be there, only to find it's not because other data has filled too much of your drive. For these reasons especially, pretty much everyone here will recommend that if you want a PC-based DVR, you should buy or build a dedicated system for it. Probably one of the more recommended cameras for your situation here would be the Panasonic 484-series "SuperDynamic III" cameras - WV-CP484 for a box camera, or WV-CW484 in a dome model. The fact that their successors are now on the market means the prices should be starting to come down (although not too quickly, because they're still excellent cameras). Or given your computer background, you may prefer to look at the NW484 models, which are network cameras that will allow you to record directly to your computer (with appropriate software) without the need for additional capture hardware.

You only need to use the 24VAC connections. There is no "positive" and "negative" with AC.

Can't tell you about any of the others, but if you go with only IP cams, then no, you don't need a capture card. Depending on the cameras used, you may not even need recording/NVR software.

What size power wire are you using? It's possible that if the gauge is too small, as the IR kicks in, the current draw causes a voltage drop that causes the camera to shut off briefly. This can be even more of a problem with a regulated supply, because you don't have that 2-3V of "headroom" that you get with non-regulated units (a non-regulated 12VDC supply will often output between 15-18VDC, which means if you have a couple volts' drop, you're still well over 12V). Another possibility, if there's too much ambient light or something overly reflective in front of the camera, is that it's switching in and out of IR mode. There is always a possibility with cheap bullet cameras, that they're not focused properly before assembly. Most of them, you can open up the housing and adjust or change the lens, although you have to be careful not to damage the weather sealing.

First glance, looks pretty sweet! Congrats on a successful upgrade!

If it was anything name-brand, I'd say you should be okay, since the power supply would almost certainly be de-rated to use well under its actual capacity. Since it's no-name offshore crap though, I'd say you pays your money and you takes your chances... your idea SHOULD work, initially, but no guarantees on how long it KEEPS working, since the power supply probably has JUST enough juice for the supplied cameras.

Keep in mind that even without a heater, the camera is generating heat of its own, especially when the LEDs are on... that heat will be somewhat contained inside the housing, so the camera itself won't generally be as cold as the ambient temperature.

Donate them to the Sh*tsonian!

Or because you don't even have the option to piece together components - you just pick out the box with the package you want, and pay what's on the pricetag. Of course, we could all do the same if we wanted the same kind of simplicity. Offer three different cameras and two different DVRs and the only choices your customer has is how many cameras and how much he wants to pay. Would save a whole lotta headaches.

A RAID *is* a hard drive array.

There are so many other critical factors in choosing the RIGHT camera for a specific situation... the sensor manufacturer would be WAY at the bottom of my list of criteria I don't even care about.

Thanks for replying. I have gone to the CNB web site and a few other sites and cannot find much information or even a user manual on the B2760N and B2760VNF. Based on this I have find I have more questions. On the B2760VNF, how do you adjust the focal length? I assume it is done manually at the camera at the time of installation for the field of view you want. Is that correct? Correct. The lens will have two rings on it, one for focal length, and one for focus. Adjust the two to get the view you want and get it in focus, then lock them down with the embedded locking screws. I don't know about THOSE cameras specifically, but with CNB domes we've used, there are models that have internal heaters. You might look into something like that.

You sure that's a SCSI port? SCSI, for all its benefits, has been pretty much obsolete on consumer systems for the last decade or so. A number of these types of DVRs, however, use a DB-25 port for alarm inputs and output... sure that's not what you're looking at? In any case, if this IS in fact, a SCSI port, then yes, it should work to simply plug in external SCSI storage.

TJCCTV sent me a PM with links to screenshots... hope he doesn't mind if I repost the PM here, so others get a better idea of what's going on: Definitely looks like some low-level induced noise. As I suggested before, this is something you probably want to get a qualified electrician involved in (preferably one who's very experienced with industrial systems, particularly three-phase systems). Have him confirm proper wiring and grounding of the equipment in question, and have him check whether the camera power is on the same circuit leg as the equipment (unless this equipment is three-phase, then it's pretty much guaranteed to be sharing a leg). He should also check for proper wiring of the outlet the camera power is on - specifically, he'll want to check for proper ground AND neutral wiring. Even something like a corroded connection could lead to a ground loop that can allow or even exacerbate the induction of such noise.

most are crappy quality = crappy video quality = unhappy customer. So don't use crappy baluns - use good ones. What a ridiculous argument. You could say the same thing for cameras, DVRs, or even salesmen: most are crappy quality, so just don't use any of them at all.

More wire runs = more markup = more margin.

Generally, yes, but not always. It COULD still be a ground loop, depending on how that equipment is connected... but it's more likely EMI, or induced noise. It's often a lot easier to tell if we can see images of it, though. That last bit does help - it definitely sounds like EMI being produced by this equipment, as any motor will continue to generate a current after being turned off, as long as it's turning. I'd check whether the cameras are plugged into the same circuit as the equipment; it's quite likely the noise is being thrown back down the building's wiring. Also, have an electrician test both the equipment's and the outlet's wiring for proper neutral and grounding - normally, the neutral and the ground should be at the same potential, and if there's a difference, it can lead to increased noise, and yes, even a ground loop. In fact, I'd have him test the outlet that the DVR is plugged into as well.