Soundy

Ask vague questions, get vague answers. Yeah, problem is, there are literally THOUSANDS of options out there... without knowing more about what you need, nobody wants to start rattling off "try this one, try that one", only to start a back-and-forth with "but does it do this", or "but it doesn't do that". If you want specific recommendations, try giving some specific requirements besides just "external storage". How many channels? What form factor? What resolution/framerate? What codec(s)? Do you need remote/mobile access? HDMI/VGA/composite output? Most importantly, to start with, what are you willing to spend? There's nothing worse than listing a bunch of different equipment for someone and then have them come back with, "Oh, but I only wanted to spend $100". Something to keep in mind (not directed at you, BTW, just general advice) is that everyone participating here, whether noobs or pros, are doing this as a hobby, in their spare time. Sometimes we just aren't able to answer everyone's questions. Sometimes I only get to sit down and go through things every 2-3 days, which leaves WAY too many new messages to get through them all. Sometimes we just don't SEE everyone's questions. For example, when I sit down to spend some time here, I'll usually use the "New Posts" search, which shows me any new posts since the last time I logged in. However, I also get email notifications of replies and private messages, and may sometimes log in to check those from my phone... which resets my "new posts" pointer. When I get home later, any posts that were "new" before I logged in from my phone, don't show up in the "New Posts" search anymore, so I don't see them. Most others here will tell you the same thing - what it comes down to is, it's free support - if you want someone answering your every question immediately, pay a professional to come to your place.

A small-ish amount of visible light along with quality cameras will give a lot better facial images than cheap IR cameras. This one, for example (CNB VCF-24VF Outdoor Dome) works great with even minimal ambient light. Even a small motion-activated flood near the cameras will be more effective, as the natural reaction when one is sneaking around in the dark and a light snaps on, is to look for the source of the light... and thus right at the camera. BTW, if the house is being broken into while you're home, you might want to look into whether your alarm supports a "stay" setting, which is generally configured to arm the system and enable only perimeter sensors (door and window switches, for example) while leaving internal sensors (like motions) bypassed.

It SHOULD be giving you the same numbers every time... if it's not, and if manually entering the numbers they told you, cuts off the connection, that indicates that they don't have your reserved IP set up right. You'll probably want to have words with your ISP.

Enabling DMZ overrides all port forwarding to the DVR anyway - any ports that aren't directed somewhere else, are opened up to the DMZ address.

If it's COMPLETELY dark, then you will need some kind of additional illumination, be it IR or visible light. The CNB Monalisa cameras do very well with minimal light - even a 60W bulb in the vicinity of the target area should give you good picture. One question is, what exactly do you want to see - what size is the area of interest, and how much detail do you need? That will determine what focal length is needed, and may determine which camera is suitable. If the dome model's 2.8-10.5mm lens isn't tight enough, then you may have to go with the box cam just to be able to use a longer lens. And yes, any C or CS mount lens should do.

You WILL get interference running 220VAC and video together like that... how bad will depend on the amount of current. Depending on where you live, this is probably against electrical codes.

With analog video, your maximum resolution is limited by the video standard. NTSC color video is 525 lines max, 486 visible. Anything over that is essentially wasted. Analog scan lines don't have horizontal "resolution" as such, but the analog-to-digital converter still has to sample it at a fixed horizontal pixel size; D1 is 720x480 pixels sampling resolution, equivalent to a little over 0.34MP. The IQ511 is 1.3MP, or 1280x1024 pixels. To overcome the limitations of analog video transmission, most of them are network-based cameras - they simply plug into the network and send streaming video, similar to, say, YouTube. You use an NVR (network video recorder) or hybrid DVR to receive and record the video stream. Currently, 2MP, 3MP, and 5MP are the most common resolutions, but there are surveillance cameras available that do up to 29MP. See some other samples here: viewtopic.php?f=19&t=11322

The truck pics are all 1.3MP IQEye IQ511 cameras, one with a 7-70mm lens, the other with a 2.5-7mm lens. Don't remember offhand what framerate I had set at the time. Note that they're resized for the board - click the picture to load the popup viewer, then click the arrows in the bottom-right to view it full-size and full resolution. Resolution is more important that framerate most of the time anyway.

Depends on the DVR. Some have that option, some don't.

Those wires are four *conductors*, not four pairs. It will work without using baluns, but because the extension wire isn't shielded, you have no noise rejection if not using baluns (plus the impedence mis-match will make it more susceptible to picking up interference). One pair of 24ga., for 12VDC at 0.5A draw, you'll see about 0.7V loss... MIGHT be okay, if those cameras can operate at 11.3V, or if the power supply puts out more than 12.7V (if it's a non-regulated type, it's probably producing closer to 15VDC anyway).

You could use that for a short distance, but you'll need one pair for video and one pair for power, and with the draw of the IRs, the voltage will drop quickly the longer the run is. You'll also want to use video baluns to prevent interference, especially as that doesn't appear to actually be Category 3 twisted pair. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category_3_cable

Read my second paragraph above. It's also possible that the lens element itself is just cheap plastic heat changes are affecting its shape. Really, lots of THEORETICAL reasons for it... only way to know for sure is to disassemble and inspect the camera. Or... just send it back.

This guy ran right through a glass "fence": Kv8e6rdLz6M

Found 7 or 8 bags of trash, mostly yard waste, down at the end of our cul-de-sac one day. Checked the cameras... Truck comes down to the end of our cul-de-sac loaded with garbage bags... And leaves without them... Fortunately, he was nice enough to make his plate visible... This guy left a mattress behind... Unfortunately the plate cam was offline at the time.

I assume there were extenuating circumstances that forced you to sell your old system before you were ready to install your new one? He needed the money from the sale to buy the new gear viewtopic.php?f=34&t=28903

Don't be afraid of domes, Porch - the CNB models everyone else is talking about are outstanding quality. Vandal-resistant, come with a 2.8-10.5mm lens, IP66 rated enclosure, true-day/night, excellent low-light performance... overall they probably blow the doors off the CP244 (and yes, I have worked with many 244s in the past, as well as 224s, 214s, 414s, 484s, and a number of other Pansonics). I just finished another job, in fact, using VCM-24VFs (the difference between that and the VBM is merely in the mounting options - the VBM is surface-mount only, the VCM can be flush or surface mounted), many of them outdoors in direct weather:

If your ISP has given you a static IP, you shouldn't need all those numbers - just leave your router's WAN port set for DHCP, and their server will give it those numbers. "Static" doesn't really mean static in this case; it means they've reserved your IP address and it will always be assigned to your router's MAC address.

It's entirely possible for this to happen. If it's a standard M12 lens, the focus isn't actually fixed; the lens threads into the lens mount and focus is adjusted by turning the entire lens, moving it closer to or farther from the sensor. In most cases, the lens will be pre-focused at the factory, then locked in place with a small setscrew, although a few designs use a spring around the lens barrel to maintain tension on it. In your case, it looks like the lens mount itself might be loose, and one corner of it is pulling away from the camera board when it heats up, thus moving one side of the lens away from the sensor. Or it could just be some "play" in the lens threads allowing it to move with the temp changes (especially if it IS spring-loaded).

Of what?

^Now THAT is SLICK!

Take a look at the Honeywell SmartPIT. We've used them for POS overlay via serial input, but they're designed to receive network data as well. Honeywell support was always excellent when I needed them (particularly for customizing a data filter for a Squirrel POS). The text is added directly to an analog video feed that's looped through the box, so it will work with any analog-video recording system out there (we have many older versions of this box that carried over from old MUX/VCR installations to new DVR upgrades).

Just a tip: on many of the CNBs, go into the onscreen menus and switch from DC to ESC - that uses electronic shutter control instead of DC iris control to adjust exposure, and as a result, it opens the iris all the way. Focus with that setting, then toggle it back to DC. Works fine even in bright sunlight

I think so... might have read it on my phone and then forgot to get back to it when I got home.

I've installed a bunch of Vigil DVRs that came with A-TEN UC232A adapters, those work great with both PTZs and POS connections. Frankly, I've only run into two PTZs that I couldn't control from a simple RS-232 serial port - one was an older Capture Fastrax II (a new Fastrax II on the same site works fine), the other was a Dynacolor-branded generic dome that defaults to Dyna's own protocol and won't even work work a Dynaguard DVR, so it may have other issues. Depending on the particular DVR, it may have a rare on-board serial port and you won't need an adapter at all. Google Shopping shows the UC232A going for anywhere from $16 to $74(!!)