Soundy

I wouldn't rely on this TOO much - they do have several limitations. For one, your speeds will be sharply limited if you put the two modules on opposite legs of the power phase. Their speed also tends to be affected by interference on the power runs, especially circuits with high-current motors. Large draws kicking in (like a fridge starting up) may cause momentary drops in speed or even connectivity. Also, I don't think they're designed to use a lot of them on the same circuit. Your best bet is still to pull Cat5e wherever possible - if necessary, maybe run all the cameras in an area to a switch, then connect that switch to the network over the homeplugs.

^Those are frequencies (in MHz), not distances. You'll have to make sure to use active baluns at both ends of that length of run, and don't expect to run power over that.

Just to be clear these distance ratings are NOT for IP networks. May be Soundy meant "Mhz" for "M" Maybe you could check the link I was quoting from.

Better yet: place good low-lux TDN cameras there (like the CNBs), but leave the old IR cameras in place to act as illuminators.

This is a great little unit: Dahua 4 Channel - Full D1. I'm normally a fan of PC-based systems but I've tried one of these and they're really outstanding for features, performance, and ease of configuration. First off: "night vision" is a misleading marketing term. All they're doing is adding LEDs that project IR light - like shining an LED flashlight at your subject, except the light is just at the fringes of human perception. This is most often done as a "compromise" for a cheap camera that has poor or no actual low-light performance. A preferred method would be to use a GOOD day/night, low-light camera, such as this one: CNB VCM-24VF - this will give you great picture with very little ambient light. If you do need additional lighting in some areas, I suggest a low-power motion-activated floodlight mounted near the camera: in addition to the white light actually providing a color image (as opposed to the ghostly glow of IR), the natural reaction for most people skulking around in the dark, when a light comes on, will be to look toward the source of the light... and bingo, you've got a nice facial shot. This will drive you nuts after the second night of your phone going off every time a stray cat wanders through the area, or the neighbor's headlights flash across the scene. Don't even bother. Instead, add a PIR motion sensor to the area(s) of concern and tie them into the DVR's alarm input... use THAT to trigger your alerts.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record: CNB VCM-24VF

What other cameras are you looking at, specifically?

Not ALL... but certainly most "decent" ones will.

They are a REALLY nice system, but you're right, not cheap (MSRP generally runs in the $3,000-$4,000 range depending on channels and modules).

Unfortunately, your main cost factor is going to come down to the quality of the camera, not how it connects or records. You're probably looking at spending AT LEAST twice as much for a camera that will do what you need... and that's without a recorder. "Night vision" is misleading advertising jargon. All it's doing is taking a cheap camera that has poor low-light performance (and in this case, apparently, poor daylight performance), and compensating for it by adding a handful of IR LEDs to illuminate the subject... not unlike pointing an LED flashlight at the subject, except it's using light that's just on the fringe of human perception. Bingo. If the camera's shutter is so slow that you get motion blur on a passing car even in the daylight, you'll never get clear pictures at night. As example, this is the camera I have on my front porch: CNB VCM-24VF These are shots taken last night of two vehicles driving up the street. The second truck is doing probably 30-35km/h (a$$hole); most of the light is from the streetlight directly overhead (you can see the pole at the bottom of the stairs).

That is indeed a Vigil - the "Motion Alarm" section adds the extra "Motion Vector" settings that lets you define two areas and a direction of motion to trigger on - for example, to trigger on someone going up the stairs, but not down the stairs.

When you're defining motion areas, BTW, keep in mind that you don't generally have to cover an ENTIRE area where something will be. In the case of a door stoop, for example... say you want to detect when someone is at your door. You could do this: ...but that's going to also detect anyone walking up to the stairs or along the grass at the bottom of the stairs or even a bird or squirrel on the porch railing. Or, you could do this: Because anyone standing at the front door, is going to be standing in the marked area, and you're still going to pick them up. Remember, you don't have to detect the ENTIRE object... you only need to detect SOME change within the area of interest.

^Yeah, except it's a video-iris lens, and the four-pin plug on that camera is specifically marked "DC iris", whereas the screw terminals are marked for video-iris pinouts.

You're probably getting headlights or light reflection off the car or something else that's shining or causing glare in the un-masked area. I'd recommend something like this: http://www.optexamerica.com/productpage.aspx?l1=2&l2=6&id=38 - the PIR sensing area can be adjusted from a wide range, to a tight, long range , and the receiver has a relay output that can be connected to your DVR's alarm input, thus allow it to alert you normally.

Oh yeah, stupid me, it says Geovision NVR right there in the subject... Ummm, I'm not a GV expert, but it seems to me GV has a POS option as well, that will let you connect your terminals directly to the DVR, and have the DVR log the POS data itself. This is far more flexible and efficient than text overlay.

What DVRs are you using? Some systems can log the POS data and make it searchable, rather than overlaying on the video. Some of those can overlay the data on playback. Other than that, the only way I can think of to do it with an IP camera is to use an IP camera with analog output, and record that separately with the overlay.

Put together some "bundles" with used cameras and sell them on fleaBay or Craigsh*ts. I actually put together a couple little packages like that, that I've used for "rentals" for temporary installs.

Looks "okay" except it's "electronic day/night", meaning no ICR filter. Minimum illumination day or night is 0.05 lux, whereas the CNB listed above is 0.05 lux in day/color mode, 0.005 lux in night/B&W mode... meaning you get a WAY better picture at night. Also, since it probably has a fixed cut filter, the Samsung won't be able to take advantage of IR illuminators. The Samsung also doesn't include a lens, and being a box camera, you'll need an outdoor enclosure for it, so factor the cost of those into your total.

Haven't seen any for sale on their own, but you could maybe look for a dead used camera that you can part out for its iris connector.

Is there a better IP camera? Sure... what are you ready to pay?

Remember: it's not paranoia if they really are out to get you! Also: if you want to learn more about paranoid people, just follow them around.

For a commercial security systems with that number of cameras, I wouldn't recommend doubling-up function on an existing system - you want a dedicated recorder for the task, whether analog or IP. The cameras suggested are extremely versatile, very good quality, and you'll have a hard time finding anything better for twice the price. They're vandal-resistant domes, flush- or surface-mountable; IP66-rated, so they're well-sealed against dust and water; they have a 2.8-10.5mm zoom, so they give a lot of range of adjustment; they're dual-voltage so there's no problems with ground loops using baluns; and they're among the best out there for low-light performance, especially in the price range. They're analog, so no power-over-ethernet, but the combined balun/power units (the VPS) and the power-through baluns make hooking it up essentially the same: just terminate the run with an RJ45, and plug it in. I like IP systems, but for the budget, you're probably not going to find the quality you need in the quantity you want - you're looking at probably $500 and up *per camera* to get into megapixel that will come close to the CNB camera's specs (aside from just resolution) . Start with a hybrid DVR and the wiring scheme shown, and you can easily replace cameras later with IP/megapixel.

One of these: Dahua DVR like Qvis or Gen IV Eight of these: CNB VCM-24VF One of these: http://www.easterncctv.com/accessories/ev08p-vps.htm Eight of these: http://www.easterncctv.com/accessories/ev01p-vp-t.htm Eight of these: http://www.easterncctv.com/accessories/cc6200.htm Add a sufficient amount of Cat5e cable and termination, and you're good to go. You won't get 720p for that price.

I agree. If the dvr failing is that much of a concern, pick up another one for backup if you need it and keep it off line. For that matter, don't use cheap junk DVRs in the first place. Get something that will last, and don't worry about it. This is a good point. If we knew why energy consumption was such a big deal, it would be easier to offer solutions or alternatives. OP says this is for a "this is a personal residential system for me to play with" - curious as to why cameras being completely covert is a big deal as well, rather than just low-profile or inconspicuous?

Greetings! Forum rules are here: viewtopic.php?f=34&t=3144 If you need help with something, always remember to give as much detail as possible, especially brand names and model numbers of equipment involved - makes things go a lot smoother.