Soundy

Not lower... 1/3 (one third) is bigger than 1/4 (one quarter). You won't necessarily see much of a difference between 420 and 520TVL, because the quality will also be affected by the post-processing, and if you're watching on a DVR, on the resolution, compression and quality of the digitizer as well.

Well, using IE instead of Firefox, I don't get any errors, but I don't get a picture either, just a blue screen where the camera should be.

Ok That's great! That means the reason I cannot access it by proxy or work is some other unique restriction (port blocking?) by these servers. Thanks v. much! Pete Interesting... can you reach the web page itself from work, but not the content? It's quite possible that your work proxy blocks media content in general. I don't know if GV uses other ports besides 80 for the webview... Bingo! I figured that must be what you were thinking after that last post.

Hehe, still no idea what you're talking about with "masters".

I see the Quicktime logo, it says "Connecting" for a few seconds, then errors out (10060: Disconnected) (Uh... masters?)

I get the GV login prompt at the above link.

All else being equal, the larger the sensor, the better the image quality (in general). The sensor sizes are in inches, so 1/3" is larger than 1/4". And again, all else being equal, the higher the TVL number, the better the image... problem is, all else is rarely equal. TVL ("TV lines") indicates the sensor's actual resolution, but some cameras fudge this number, so it's a rough indication only.

No.

???? servers use hard drivers constantly non-stop for years without problems. manufactures warranties is 3 or 5 years. But this is the difference between cheap drives and "server-grade" or "enterprise-grade" drives that can cost two to three times more. I have an old Dell PowerEdge 2200 server (dual-PII/266) that's been happily running my mail/web server (Apache and CommuniGate on OS/2 Warp Server) on the same UW-SCSI drives (an 18GB and a 50GB) for.... oh, I guess six or seven years now, maybe more. The drives and system actually used to be in another tower; when I got this machine, I just added the proper driver for the on-board Adaptec controller and then swapped the drives into the Dell. As Rory notes, the environment you have the drives in is crucial. Overheating is one thing that will consistently kill hard drives - proper ventilation *and proper mounting* is crucial. I've seen machines where the drives just sort of "clip in", sometimes on plastic rails, and they're far more likely to overheat because the heat can't be drawn off. When you bolt a drive solidly to the case, the case itself becomes a heat sink and helps keep the drives cool.

I love pizza-box computers

I use it as often as not on individual camera mounts, so I use plenty of 1/2". I'll usually have at least one coil of that onboard, and one of 1" just in case I have something larger. All the auto-parts stores around here have it, so it's easy enough to pop out and grab some if I need it.

Nah... that kinda job is why they invented split-loom! http://cableorganizer.com/wire-loom/split-wire-loom.html

After a couple days of muddling about on ladders, you won't think the cost is that bad

I think I'd be pretty happy with that, given the harsh lighting.

Hahahaha, that's awesome. We had something similar a few years back, didn't end quite as nicely. Got a call to put a system and some cameras in a gas station. The four cameras were to go at the pumps, but they were to be mounted to sign boards that weren't installed yet. We finished the rest of the job and left the wiring in place for the cameras and told them to call us when the signs were ready. Well, they didn't want to pay for the job, because it "wasn't done". No fault of ours, of course.... the boss had a big argument with them on the phone and they finally agreed to pay everything except the cost of the cameras and that portion of the install, and I took the cameras away (not gonna leave'em there if they're not paid for!). Afterwards I told the boss, I was gonna go back into the store, take a stick of pepperoni, eat 3/4 of it, then put the rest back in the display and tell them I'd come back later to eat the rest, and pay for all of it then. He laughed his head off at that... said he'd come down to the site and we'd BOTH do it! (We never did, of course... but it's been a running gag ever since!) We were back to that site several times for their DVR dying. First time was within about two months, because the kid had decided to use it for his DVD editing/authoring since it was a more powerful PC than the family desktop. That was an expensive lesson for them to learn. "Isn't it under warranty??" Uh... no. Next time was a virus they got from someone surfing on it. Eventually they called up saying the DVR wasn't working... I took it out, brought it home, bench-tested it for a week... ran every conceivable diagnostic... found nothing at all wrong... took it back. They wanted to know what had gone wrong and what I'd fixed - of course, I had to tell them, I couldn't find anything wrong. So they refused to pay, since I "didn't actually have to do anything." We comped them that one, and told them if they needed any more help, to call someone else. Some people just aren't worth the headache.

Rent a boom lift?

ROFL!!! Okay, that just made my day

I found something really handy for when I have to use a laptop or service monitor on a lift: http://www.amazon.com/Automobile-Car-Dashboard-Non-Slip-Mat/dp/B000P910W8/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=automotive&qid=1257618224&sr=8-3 I actually got a 4'x6' package at a liquidation store that I've been cutting pieces from... drape that over a corner of the lift's railing and park your laptop on it, it's not going anywhere easily

There's nothing EXISTING that I'm aware of. You could probably rig something up, maybe using DVI-I connectors and wall plates, but if your DVR has 16 BNC inputs on the back, you're just going to have to break that wall plate back out to 16 coax-with-BNCs again... would be a LOT of work and expense to end up pretty much back where you started. Something like this might help you tidy things up a bit, though: http://www.cctvforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=18548&highlight=sliced+bread

^^Focus seems a little soft in that 5135 pic...

Well, I'm just the tech, I don't deal with the financials or anything, but from what I've seen, 50%-75% markup is not uncommon on most gear. I have seen 100% markup, or more, on some items, usually specialty stuff. Keep in mind that this markup takes into account various other things, like the cost of return visits if the unit should fail under warranty (yes, it will get replaced for me for free, but I still have to cover the service call)... the shipping for me to get it in, or if I pick it up from a local supplier, the cost to go get it... I also have to recover what I can, where I can, to look after the overhead of running my business... a lot of things can't really be built into the labor costs. There's the time I spend on the phone with you, helping you decide what you want/need... the time I spend writing up a quote... I need to cover the rent and power and heat for my office... pay for the computers in it. Sometimes I have to cover the cost of gear that I've paid to bring in, that the client then doesn't want... so I either have to sit on that cost until I can re-sell the gear, or I have to pay to send it back, and then some suppliers want a re-stocking fee... All reasons why you'll see equipment marked up. That said, 150% is a little much... but keep in mind, the guy you're getting it from is probably NOT buying from an online store, but from a local wholesaler, who have to add their own markup to cover THEIR overhead costs... so HE'S not getting it as cheaply as you can online. But what he's paying extra for there, is the backing the warehouse will give him. If the camera is bad, or fails within the warranty, he doesn't have to ship it back (probably at his cost) and sit and wait for a replacement - he can take it to the warehouse, swap it for a replacement, and reinstall the same day. He can also be sure of what he's getting. Buying online, you don't always know the condition of what you're buying... the legitimacy of the seller... the backing they'll provide. There are horror stories all over the 'net of people buying from online stores and having damaged, broken, or just plain incorrect equipment shipped to them... then having long, drawn-out, usually losing battles with the seller (who's often on the other side of the country, if not in a different country altogether). Go to Google Groups, go into rec.photo.digital, and search the subjects for "beware of", and just look at the number of shady online dealers that have come and gone over the years.

^^Wow... I think someone is REALLY in the wrong place!

I have a couple side-by-side samples of IQEye cameras with neighboring analog cams... I think everyone here feels your pain on that one! Doing that depends mainly on the angle of view. Even a 5MP camera won't give you enough detail to pull a plate number at 200', if you're running a 2.8mm lens with a 90-degree FOV. Zooming in on an area 50' wide at 200' away, however, should give plenty clear facial or plate shots. Everything is a balancing act. What sort of "heavy traffic" are you talking about? If you're running a lot of torrents or something, then yeah, you're likely to see a hit from the camera streams. If your PC's network cards and your home switch all support QoS, you can shape your available bandwidth to control that...

Now you know why professionals charge so much