Soundy

We've been looking at the Milwaukee and Dewalt cameras for a while, but they're extra-spendy... then Home Depot up here decided to stop carrying the Ryobi Tek4 tools and started blowing most of their stock out for cheap, and my coworker and I both picked up their inspection cameras for about 1/3 of their original price: Also saw a decent-looking one at Costco - maybe a little cheap and plasticky, but lots of features for the price: http://www.costco.ca/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=10341314&search=inspection&topnav=&Mo=0&cm_re=1_en-_-Top_Left_Nav-_-Top_search&lang=en-CA&Nr=P_CatalogName:BCCA&N=0&whse=BCCA&Dx=mode%20matchallpartial&Ntk=Text_Search&Dr=P_CatalogName:BCCA&Ne=4000000&D=inspection&Ntt=inspection&No=0&Nty=1&Ntx=mode%20matchallpartial Mine has already saved my butt a couple times... great tool.

What sort of "integration" are you trying to achieve?

Don't get too hung up on TVL, you'll see little if any difference above about 500. Check these cameras out: http://www.cnbtec.com/en/html/product/product_list.php?maxx=1&midx=4

Operationally, it shouldn't matter which end of the run you install the isolator - all it does is add some physical separate of the line.

99.9% chance it's a ground loop caused by cheap common-ground cameras and shared power supplies. The ways around it are to use dual-voltage cameras or cameras with built-in regulation (ie. cameras that DON'T have a shared power and video ground), or to use a separate power adapter for every camera.

Don't worry about it - your question certainly falls under "General Digital Discussion". I've moved it to the "IP Cameras" section anyway. I can't speak for Avigilon specifically, but keep in mind that *in general*, the VMS (video management system) is just the client-side software and would normally just be used for playback. The NVR side typically doesn't need to do a lot of processing, as all it has to do is receive the video stream and write it to disk. If your NVR and VMS are on separate systems, then any heavy processing required by the VMS shouldn't impact the NVR's reliability. Some cameras have their own built-in motion detection... some even have built-in analytics, and can be configured to only SEND video when the defined conditions are met.

Thread cleaned up and moved to a more suitable forum... let's keep it civil, folks.

Drop SEANHAWG a PM, he can probably hook you up with a used monitor and camera for well within the budget.

another HD question whats the comparison with HDcctv storage to analogue ? for example i get 75 days on 1.3 tB from 8 cameras on 720 x 576 what would HD storage requirements be on comparison As with analog AND IP, it's difficult to give an exact estimate, because the actual space used will vary greatly with at least a half-dozen different factors, some of which are user-configurable... meaning you can control the space vs. quality balance. Consider though, that your resolutions are 1280x720 (720p) and 1920x1080 (1080p), so you're looking at images anywhere from two to four times the size right there. HDcctv cameras have the same problem as IP megapixel cameras in this regard: as the number of pixels goes up, for a given sensor size (1/3" or 1/2", typically), the pixels themselves get smaller, and thus can collect less light. That will be more a function of the IR illuminators used. Keep in mind that NONE of these cameras are giving you true "night vision" - they're just cameras with a built-in flashlight, except the flashlight is using light just on the red fringe of the visible spectrum, rather than white light.

It would help to know what you're willing to spend, as your specs could be fulfilled for anything from $300 to well over $3000. Obviously everyone wants to spend as little as possible, but I wouldn't suggest going for the bottom end of that scale. Rather than looking at a "kit", you're better to look at the specific purpose of EACH camera, and choose a camera suitable for that use.

Weakest-link theory: your image quality is still limited by the NTSC video standard; an encoder can't magically turn a 480TVL camera into megapixel. The only way you get better images is if the encoder is using a "less harsh" compression than the DVR or card you're plugging into.

Man, I wish you had pictures of that!

I've done taped-up connections that have lasted for years, even running across a flat roof where they end up laying in standing water. The trick is the use a good-quality tape and pull it really tight as you're wrapping it, so it forms tightly to the connectors. There are outdoor-rated, cold-weather-rated PVC tapes designed for just this sort of purpose. That said, that's hardly ideal... obviously, junction boxes are best, but if you HAVE to have a connection exposed, I'd recommend two things: The first, you should be able to get at any auto-parts store - it's often sold as battery-terminal grease. It's non-conductive and repels water, so it keeps air and moisture out of the connection and prevents corrosion. Just squeeze a bit into the connectors before mating them. The second, I regularly find at Princess Auto (if you're in Canada, you should know what that is ). Canadian Tire also lists it as "Marine Electrical Tape".

Your problem isn't the "quality" of the cable or the types of connectors... it's the size. The power pairs are simply too small to carry sufficient power over the length used without excessive voltage loss. Your options are: - add larger power wires (wait, this guy PRE-WIRED his HOUSE with crappy LOREX cabling?!?! *facepalm*) - power the camera(s) locally (separate power supply close to the camera) - adjustable-voltage power supplies for the long-run camera(s), and while measuring the voltage AT THE CAMERA, dial up the voltage a bit. - or as Chris suggests, run 24VAC out to near the cameras, then add a 12V regulator of some kind You could also potentially replace the cameras with better, dual-voltage cameras and just send them 24VAC and be done with it.

We've been doing drive-thru intercom systems for years, but I've run into a situation here that the boss doesn't have an answer for, and with my audio background, I've been charged with "just making it work". Pretty basic setup: speaker post by the menu board, single speaker at about car-window height, half-duplex operation, and a 3M D-15 intercom base in the store. Problem is, the speaker works TOO well when functioning as a mic, and picks up as much car/engine/traffic noise as it does voices... although it seems to be very selective, particularly to frequency - some voices come through clearly, others are drowned out be ambient noise. My thinking is, I need to make the speaker more "directional", whether by putting a tube in front of it, or what... that, or see if the base will support a separate mic and speaker, and add some sort of directional mic to the post. Anyone got any other ideas???

Wireless cameras really should be avoided - until you get into big bucks for purpose-designed hardware, the results will be less than satisfying, especially as you add more cameras. Range will be a big limitation, and interference between cameras as well as from other electronics will be an issue. If you MUST go wireless, use network cameras with WiFi adapters, and an NVR (network video recorder) connected to a WiFi router to record them. It's still not ideal, but it's better than the alternative. The ideal is to find a way to wire the cameras.

Hmmmm what cameras are you talking about? Sorry, this piecemeal information makes it really hard to make any solid suggestions... full details on what you already have would make it a lot easier.

What adapters? Unless these are network cameras, you ARE NOT using "power over ethernet".

How about one of these at the head end: http://www.easterncctv.com/accessories/balun-vps.htm ...and one of these at each camera: http://www.easterncctv.com/accessories/ev01p-vp-t.htm They have the cable as well: http://www.easterncctv.com/accessories/cat5e.htm You could also use this with a standard barrel-terminated 12V power supply: http://www.easterncctv.com/accessories/cc6100-t-f.htm

Good choice of camera... not familiar with the DVR. Beyond that, you'll need cable, connectors, power supply, and monitor. For cables, you can use either UTP (Cat3/5e/6) with baluns, or coax+18/2 Siamese, whichever is easier to get ahold of. If you go coax, make sure to use RG59 or RG6, solid-copper center conductor with braided copper shield. If you go with UTP, I suggest these baluns: ...cost-effective (can be found online for $5/pair), work well, and fit inside the VCM back-box. For a power supply, just about anything you find will work with these cameras - they'll run on anything from 12-30V, AC or DC, and need less than 500mA.

I'd think 1GB RAM should be plenty... if a system is hanging, there's probably some other issue, like a failing hard drive, or the system overheating.

C - All of the above.

Unless someone is monitoring the system and using the PTZ to view areas of interest in real-time, there's really not a lot of benefit to using PTZ: even with a megapixel camera (which this one isn't), it can still only see whatever it's specifically aimed at and zoomed in on at any given time. Murphy's Law guarantees that whatever direction you have it pointed in, any events you need to view will happen somewhere else, probably just barely outside of its current view.

Like the others have said... AC power supplies are not typically regulated as they simply use a step-down transformer (sometimes multi-tap to support different output voltages). A 120V in -> 24V out would use a 5:1 step-down ratio, and the output voltage would vary in direct proportion to the output: 117V in would yield 23.4V out; 123V in would give 24.6V out... all in all, not much variation. Keep in mind that AC voltage is usually rated and expressed in RMS (root-mean-square) voltage, which is 0.707 of peak-to-peak voltage... if your meter reads P-P, it's going to read 1.414 times higher than the "actual" RMS voltage: 24Vrms = 33.Vp-p. Basic multimeters usually give sort of an average between the two, so unless the meter states that it reads "true RMS", it's not unusual for it to read high, without the voltage actually being too high. All that aside, most 24VAC and dual-voltage cameras are rectifying and regulating the voltage internally, probably down to 12VDC or less (if memory serves, the dual-voltage CNBs state that they'll work with anything from 10-30V AC or DC), so even with your "over" reading, it SHOULDN'T be the power supply that's killing the cameras.

Holy ancient thread bump, Batman. Okay, not THAT ancient... in any case, one thing to keep in mind: A polarizer will also typically cost you about two stops worth of exposure... in other words, it will reduce the light transmitted by up to a factor of four. They're not very useful in low light.