Soundy

Maybe it's just me then, but unless I'm really sloppy with the strippers and give the wire a *bad* nick, I've never had a Cat5 wire break when used for power or video. Almost all power supplies use clamp-down screw terminals, so you don't have to wrap the wire around the screw - just push it through and tighten it down. Some baluns ("toolless" types) use punch terminals... others, like the GEMs we normally use, also have clamp-down screw terminals that are no hassle with the 24ga. wire. If you're having that much trouble with it, you should re-examine your own technique, not the choice of wire.

That's the problem with getting new tools - you actually go LOOKING for work to use them

Well that's your opinion... I have tens of thousands of feet of Cat5e in dozens of installs that say otherwise.

The only thing you can tell for sure is that it's NOT a megapixel camera. Any of the other possibilities still apply. Take out the four screws in the corners. Ahhhh, so then it MUST be connected with Schroedinger's Cat5e... *rimshot*

Check this thread: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=21165

According to the Tragically Hip, an eyeball is worth $2.50 and an ear worth $1.50... how much is "an arm and a leg" worth to you? These are a great camera: CNB VCM-24VF

If that's the case, it would seem to be unique to the CCTV world... there doesn't seem to be any technological limitations to CCD, it appears to more a matter of a manufacturer's choice: http://www.dpreview.com/products/search/cameras#criterias=SpecsCoreParams%2CSpecsSensorType&includeDiscontinued=No&sort=newestFirst&view=list&page=1&paramSpecsCoreParamsBodyType=LargeSLR%2CRangefinder%2CMirrorless%2CCompactSLR%2CMidSizeSLR&paramSpecsSensorType=CCD Note the Pentax 645D, which is a medium-format camera using a 44mm x 33mm, 40MP CCD sensor, and the Leica S2, which uses a 45mm x 30mm 37.5MP CCD. Seriously, you're way over-thinking this - CMOS vs. CCD have their various pros and cons, but maximum resolution vs. sensor size is NOT a factor.

Those baluns and cable are WAY overpriced - a 1000' box of Cat5e should retail for around $100 (at least anywhere in N.A.), and good baluns can be had for around $5/pair. Siamese cable is a PITA to work with compared to Cat5e.

No guarantees, but I'd say that's a fairly safe bet.

Among other things, the 484 has auto-backfocus, and Panasonic's SuperDynamic III, which blows away just about anything else in harsh backlighting situations. In our restaurant installs, all our analog cams are VCM-24VFs... except those watching the front door, which are WV-CW504s (and their predecessor, the 484, before that). Considering these things went for around $800 new, $190 is a pretty screamin' price, especially if you need their special functions.

Bingo! Works in Opera Mobile.... I also get the "full site" link now too. Thanks!

Yeah, that works: one Cat5e run between barn and house can carry four video signals. Power the cameras locally (ie. power supply in the barn). The VBM or VCM-24VFs will give you good picture with very little ambient light, and you can add external IR, or better, motion-activated floodlights if you need to. The cameras go for well under $200 online (Nelly's Surplus, on of the site's partners, lists them for $165).

Look at it this way: the best solution is if the nasty guy DOES see the camera and decides not to scratch your car.

Do you have a *realistic* budget in mind? I wouldn't look at spending less than $1000 for a DVR and four cameras... and NOT purchased as a "package system".

Incorrect. As tom notes, you can run power, video, AND audio over a single Cat5e. Whether the camera has BNC or RCA out, you'll still need a video balun to run the signal over UTP.

Add some spacing (block of wood or something) to bring it lower so the roofline isn't in the FOV. Black is black because it doesn't reflect light. That includes IR light. Typical of many bargain-basement online stores.

That is correct. All the VGA baluns I've used (MuxLab) have separate units marked for Computer and Monitor, and the two are sold separately (kinda silly, since they only work in pairs)... not sure if the GEMs come as a pair or not. The part order information seems to indicate these are sold separately as well - this one pictured above appears to be the PC end, this one appears to be the monitor end:

10base-2 networking used 50-ohm RG58 cable... the BNCs are probably rated 50 ohms as well.

VGA Baluns

Given the size, then, my suspicion would be that it's recording internally - someone mounted it, turned it on, then removed the storage (probably SD card) to extract the video when they had the footage they needed.

I agree, there's probably an issue with IR reflection, although it sounds like the problem may lie elsewhere: Sounds like the IR may be reflecting off the edge of the roof, and that bright up-close light is causing the camera to dim its exposure in an attempt to compensate, which leaves everything else dark.

I read this post yesterday on my phone and didn't have the chance to reply... I see you've removed the part questioning CMOS's higher power consumption. Realistically, that difference in consumption is negligible from an operational standpoint. There are plenty of other components and sub-systems to a camera that would draw as much or more power than the sensor (especially if the camera has IRs). Most non-IR-equipped cameras draw only a few watts anyway, not enough that the difference between CMOS and CCD power consumption would be a concern to most designs. The only place it would be a consideration would be specialized low-power applications like spycams or trail cams that need to operate on battery power for extended periods, and again, other parts of the design would probably be bigger power draws anyway. Outside of the surveillance world, megapixel CMOS and CCD sensors still have a fairly even balance - a number of DSLR cameras (most notably Nikons) still use CCDs, and CCD vs. CMOS is quite a heated ongoing debate in digital photography forums.

Well as the others have said, we're not psychic, so the best anyone can give is an educated guess... and mine would be that this is a custom-built covert camera. The two circular areas on the bottom would be the standard conduit knockouts, and they appear to be intact - I would expect the lens to be behind that sloppily-cut pentagonal hole in the front. Someone probably just put the box there, mounted a small (probably board-type) camera inside of it, and cut a hole for the lens in the cover plate. If that's a 12x12 box, it's possible there's an internal recorder, although I suspect it's more likely simply wired into the existing system. If you can see the screen, it should be easy to tell if this camera is displayed there. I wouldn't expect it to be wireless, as there still needs to be power run to the thing anyway. Since this all started with the timestamp question and then wanting to know if this camera would have the same time as the rest of them, I have to wonder if it's caught YOU doing something and you're looking for some way to discredit the video evidence... looks like I'm not alone in my "curiosity"...

And now on Skyfire browser on Android, trouble buttons worked once after about four clicks, then again after four more clicks, then not again at all. The ones that do work in the other browsers, also work flawlessly in Skyfire.

Okay, testing on iphone 4, ios 5, safari, and they all work, although the troublesome menus sometimes flash and then vanish. Still not seeing a "full site" link.