Soundy

Almost all forums disable the ability to use pure HTML in posts - it presents too great a security risk. BBCODE is there to provide much of the same functionality (formatting text, embedding images, etc.) without the same risks.

Most often, you have to configure the outgoing (SMTP) server setting in the DVR to use the one for the ISP that the DVR is connected through. The ISP should have that info available for if you were to set up a mail client on a PC on the same network - it will often be something like 'smtp.ispname.com'. SSL should not normally be required.

Canon cameras in that range also have bigger sensors so there is less noise then most consumer level cameras. I said "in their class". Although, considering those ARE full-frame sensors, there's not a lot else to that class That was the main point, there's more to low-light performance than just the type of sensor used. Processing is a big factor as well. Also why my 40D is cleaner than my buddy's 50D - going from 10MP to 15MP on the same APS-C sized chip

Agreed with the above, try the splice first - nothing to lose! If it works, you're laughing... if not, THEN you can worry about replacing the runs.

We normally use Vigil DVRs - most common model is 16-channel, 60fps total, 1TB storage, MSRP is *I think* around $3500. Add the cameras to that... We did a $100k+ system a couple years ago, with a buncha thermal cameras and Video Analytics. Work out the average from there

I find it's also handy to have a conversion calculator on my phone - good for lengths, areas, volumes, speeds, etc. Back to the subject: I don't have any pics of it, but I recently upgraded a site, replacing an old B&W National dome with a WDR color CNB for watching the front door of an apartment building, and the old Sanyo VCR with a cheap four-channel DVR. However, the site was happy with the existing wiring, so they didn't want the quote to include re-running it: a single piece of station wire, running inside the hard ceiling from the camera, but poking out just by the back wall of the lobby... then through the wall and out into the stairwell... then running along the walls of the stairwell, down to the basement... through the wall into the hallway, then down the hallway to the electrical room where the equipment was located. I've definitely seen worse... thin white wire along white walls isn't TOO ugly (just a little ugly). Silly thing is, the building super had spent plenty of time insisting, when I first visited the site, that they were fine with the old wire... but when it came time to install, he tried insisting that the generic line "wiring and connectors" on the quote meant it SHOULD be rewired, and that I'd told him on the previous visit that we would rewire it, and that he'd had quotes from other companies that included rewiring (yeah, one other, who wanted to sell them a complete over-the-top multi-cam system for about five times the price). The boss declared that, no, we would NOT be rewiring... buddy tossed a couple of "blah blah shoddy treatment yada yada" out, but ultimately I convinced him that his wiring would be fine, and he agreed that I should continue, and if the results weren't acceptable, THEN we'd have a problem... Well, I found the installer had used a balun at the camera... but not at the VCR. Wow, no wonder the picture was shyte. Put baluns at both ends, slapped in the new camera... and man, was he impressed. (Actually, probably would have been happy with the old camera once it was connected properly, but no point in going there )

I don't know about ocean air specifically, but we've been using Pelco EH3512-series housings in car washes for many years - the exteriors get pretty nasty with the soap buildup and corrosion and the paint coming off, but the cameras stay clean and pristine inside.

The DVR shouldn't matter anyway, as the text inserter is just overlaying the text on the video before it gets to the DVR. Really, all that matters is that your POS has serial output, and that your TVS can understand its data. Usually that means the POS is configured to spit out data in a generic delimited ASCII format. I don't know about the Casio box, but the Honeywell one I've used includes an assortment of cables and adapters for the RS-232 interface.

VERY rough: "double and add 30". More accurate (actually, VERY accurate): multiply by 9, divide by five, add 32. Going the other way: subtract 32, multiply by 5, divide by 9. Or... F=C*9/5+32

We did a job this past summer, mounting cameras on the sides of a warehouse. I was working inside running wires and pushing them through the walls; my coworker was outside on the lift. Between the direct sun, and the sun reflecting off the white walls, he was pretty well cooked by the end of the day. And I don't think the air temp was even above 30 (humidity was nasty though).

Exactly; for CCTV, it's pretty meaningless. 2.5-5mm, 4-8mm, 25-50mm, or 200-400mm are all "2x".

That unit doesn't support IP cameras. The irony is, newer versions of the GV software DO support IP cameras (that support is independent of the capture card). Not IP cameras. Standard analog, you could. Consumer-grade wireless is very limited in range and quality, either way. It is nice to get away from needing to run cables, but unless you're spending big money on commercial-grade wireless, it's probably a lot more efficient overall to just stick to running wires.

"2x" is the zoom range from 3.8-8mm (would technically be 2.1052631578947368421052631578947x, but who's counting?). 15-50mm would be a 3.333x zoom factor.

If all the input devices were the same manufacturer, that might be an option, but given that there are three different manufacturers, I've been told it's a bad idea to wire them in parallel. I know this is pretty simple stuff for the alarm folks. They wire up an RB7 or RBOC7 in their sleep, or in some cases, just make a diode matrix. I know I could manage with a simple wiring diagram, but I don't see anything similar on the Altronix website. Best, Christopher Simple dry contacts, there's no reason whatsoever that "mixing manufacturers" should have a problem. There's no high-level logic or serial communications or anything involved, just open/close. I think thewireguys is right and simply paralleling the connections will work, but if you're really concerned about potential load issues, any basic relay should do the trick - just use the PIR to trip the relay, and the relay contacts to trip the cameras and trigger a zone on the alarm. HOWEVER... if it were me, I'd use the alarm panel as much as possible. I'm not familiar with the Ademcos, but if it's like any of the DSC, Paradox, or Honeywell panels I've seen, it will have at least one PGM output that's designed specifically to drive or trigger another device when programmed conditions are met. I'd use the PIR, then, simply to trip an input zone on the alarm, and then program the PGM output to trigger the cameras when that zone is tripped. This gives you the added ability to trigger the cameras ONLY when the system is armed (if you want to go that way), and/or the ability to have other alarm conditions trigger the cameras - say, input from a smoke alarm or panic button.

It'll be fine. No, it's not ideal, but it will work just fine for you. Double-up the conductors to be safe. I've powered two 24VAC cameras over a single 22-gauge pair in a 250' run of station wire in a pinch. (Cole's notes: gas station wanted another camera added to their canopy; we used doubled-up station wire to power each camera; so I split off one pair on the closest camera to use for video with baluns, and used the other pair to power both; conduits are sealed before final inspection so pulling new wire was NOT an option).

Ummm... kind of? You can get a converter that will take the IP signal and generate an analog output, but that will run into the limitations of NTSC/PAL video. If you're using megapixel IP cameras, you've just completely negated the benefits of megapixel by doing that, as you lose all that extra resolution. There's a VERY slight chance your DVR may already support IP cameras - if you post the make and model someone here might have a better idea on that.

Would depend on the rest of the setup. Most of the DVRs I work with, you can assign several cameras to respond to a single alarm input. If there's an alarm panel involved, you might just have the PIR trigger a zone on that, and trip everything else from a PGM output. Really too many variables involved to give an answer to such a generic question.

Well first of all, you're comparing a 5-port switch to a 10-port one. If you've been keeping up with discussions here in other threads, you'll know that a cheap switch can easily choke under the load placed on it by multiple MP/IP cameras, and everyone will recommend a more expensive, more "robust" switch if you want network reliability. You're also comparing a cheap non-managed switch to a managed model - traffic management can potentially be advantageous with heavier network loads. PoE also means you don't have to run separate power wires to the cameras - this is one its primary advantages. If using existing cabling, you may not even have the option to add separate power. I've used the SFE1000P in a number of sites now, running up to five 1.3MP IP cameras at 5fps, with an NVR on one GbE port and RAID5 NAS on the other, and had not one single glitch, hiccup, or problem. Most of these sites also have 20-25 cameras in total, so anything that cuts down the number of wires coming into the comms rack is greatly appreciated.

For as much as CCD is claimed to have "better low light performance", it's worth noting that CMOS is a mainstay of Canon's DSLR lineup, and their top-end DSLRs (5Dmk.II, newer 1D/1Ds models) have among the best low-light image quality of anything in their class. There's a lot more to it than just the composition of the sensor.

Video card shouldn't affect the actual recording, only how it looks when viewed/played on that computer. Really "decent" vs. "generic" shouldn't affect it either, unless the "generic" card has really poor overlay support or lousy DirectX drivers (depending on which mechanism your DVR software uses). What WILL make a noticeable difference, especially if you're using LCD monitors, is whether your DVR is configured for the monitor's native resolution - on just about all 4:3 monitors 17" and up, that's 1280x1024; most widescreens up to 20", that'll be 1440x900; or 1680x1050 for most monitors 22" and up. If you set a 4:3 resolution on a widescreen monitor, that will REALLY adversely affect how the final display looks.

If you're looking at these for IP cameras, unless the price is very close, I'd stick with the 1000P - I have yet to see an IP camera that has a gigabit port.

No, he's saying they tore the BNC off the camera's output cable.

That SHOULD work. If not, get a piece of RCA cable (like from an A/V or stereo-audio cable), splice that to the end (solder if possible), and use BNC/RCA adapters as necessary to complete the connection. Be sure to properly insulate the center and shield conductors. Should be. Double-check with a multimeter if possible.

How "expensive" is your definition of expensive? The Panasonic CP/CW484 is right up there, generally lists in the $600+ range... there are dozens of samples from those all over the site.

Impressive pictures! Few years ago, I did subcontract IT work at our government-run auto insurance company. One of their departments had their own little private LAN in their office; all their systems were separate from the rest of the company. When we were moving them to new facilities, we took down all their workstations... then I asked them where their server was. Nobody knew, so I had to start tracing network cables. Finally found it: an old IBM Model 90 Server (486/66!), tucked in a dark corner under a bunch of boxes. We shut it town, pulled it out, opened it up... the thing was packed solid with dust. And I mean SOLID. It had been running back there for AT LEAST 5 years, untouched and unattended... it just did its job and nobody ever thought about it. Of course, this was a machine that was built for just that type of operation... and no, it wasn't running Windows. Classic!