rory

No power to the cameras so doubt they are even working. Probably just dummy cameras at this point.

as for the DVR, i was lucky to get a new demo unit for free to test, but i never bought a hard drive for it yet. if you cant get a demo, least by a new DVR. Dahua budget unit with same network software and most of the features of their more expensive units, costs approx $140 retail for a 4 channel (eg. QVis Zeus). Be warned wont be able to upgrade the firmware and it may be a little lower quality in some cases, but hardly noticeable - either way it blows away the cheap DVRs of times gone by. Hard drives are expensive these days, so what I did was at first just recorded it over the network to my PC .... later someone was upgrading their hard drive so I got their old hard drive for free. The only thing I ever paid money for was some cable, everything else was free

the poor mans road ... just get cheapest best cams you can afford and focus them in on choke points. eg the path which someone would enter your property, or front door, etc. throw up a couple cams for general overview also. you can always switch individual cams out later. low res is fine for small field of views like choke points. get higher res for larger areas. 1/4" high lux cameras will help with low noise, but wont see anything in low light. if you need extra IR buy a 6mm $20 IR bullet camera off amazon and use just the IR from it. if you already have a cheap color IR with alot of IR but crappy camera, and want to upgrade the camera, get a decent day night without IR to save money (eg. CNB VBM-24VF) and then use only the IR from your old cheap color IR for extra light (if needed). also consider 2nd hand cameras, eg. where the IR burned up on a TDN IR Bullet, just use the camera without IR or add IR separately as above. Older and some newer IR bullets let you easily disconnect the IR ring and it still works as day night. All my cameras at my appt are 2nd hand which were either broken or just old. Had to move them around and adjust until i got the perfect shots (best possible with what I had). Ofcourse they continue to change as I get my hands on better 2nd hand cameras

Yes I "manufacturer" everything on my website (i put the html and code together )

Every American company says that. Fact is nothing much is made in the US anymore, even i-phones are made in China. Cheaper labor.

You guys realize gad spot is just a whole bunch of different cameras from different manufacturers right?

http://www.homesecuritystore.com/p-1394-rk825dt0000a-rokonet-iwise-dual-tech-82-motion-sensor.aspx

The optex photobeams consist of a receiver and transmitter - single or dual IR beam. And they vary in distance (and size) based on the model you buy. How does that relate to the redwall, which is a totally different product?

Is this a DVR card?

it is standard. you can buy off the shelf 1-2-4-6-8 or 12 beam (only 1 pole has the beams in) scroll down to Photobeams - those are the "standard" Optex beams Rednet is a whole different ball game. http://www.optexamerica.com/productlist.aspx?l1=2

Let me clarify. I have installed HUNDREDS of optex beams. THAT is not the standard Optex beam. That costs ALOT more than the standard Optex beam. it is standard. you can buy off the shelf 1-2-4-6-8 or 12 beam (only 1 pole has the beams in)

37x though, their 10x runs under $500. They have 10-37x models.

The dual techs are kick azz. Just put 2x 80' Rokonet Dual Techs in a warehouse. Those suckers pick you up no matter what, and at distances of 50-70 feet no less, even being mounted fairly high in a hot warehouse. Got 2 of them covering a warehouse of 150' length approx, maybe 30 feet wide .. cant get by them for nothing. Also got a PIR at the roll up door, but if you are hot and its hot .. lucky if that one ever triggers.

If your DVR is set to record continuous, you will see something. It might be time to consider that your "security company" may be involved, and seek outside help.

Thats not the standard Optex beam though.

Check out the Rokonet Dual Tech Motions.

LOL true but if he skimps on the dogs he might get them set that will eat anything yes this thread has gone way over there somewhere

KT&C have some moderately inexpensive 37x PTZs at least much less expensive than the bosch, pelco, ge etc Google this: KT&C KPT-ON37TW 37x Optical Zoom Dome Camera

I agree that would work here, the locals hate dogs .. scared crapless of them. But i guess the kind of culprits this chap is up against might just poison them?

BTW most manufacturers will tell you their Digital WDR is not all that, just a little better than nothing, but nothing compared to True WDR. At least the manufacturer Techs tell me .. sales and marketting may say something else

If you want cheap TRUE WDR, CNB is one of the best for the cheapest True WDR. I use their indoor blue-i for WDR on front doors, as the cheap option to Panasonic. This would be the double scan models.

You wont find a TRUE WDR camera for under $150.

Stay away from 1/4" if you can. Its not really for anything else but the FOV. Take that 4.8mm 1/4", thats more like a 6mm 1/3". Your FOV is very small, fine for some apps, but doubt its what you want to see. Also in the case of a $50 Color IR camera, forget TVL totally, its just a budget camera. Sure it may be better than a $20 camera .. but not by much. Not all cameras are made the same, even from the same brand while there could be a few good cameras, there can also be dozens of crappy cameras. No way to know without actually testing it, specs mean little to nothing these days.

Oh yeah, the reason we use 98 is because that version of DOS works with the old DOS software - DOS in ME is different. BTW we used ME Dos bootfiles for USB DOS boot (eg. Restore XP from USB), ME bootfiles are what came included in XP. Eg. http://www.bahamassecurity.com/windows-software/disk-tools/mkboot.asp

Ofcourse, that too Yep 98 came with IE4 integrated. I used ME though for years after that, which in my case worked better than 98, even ran PWS on it which MS claimed would not work. Some I heard hated it and had issues, but I never had any issues and it worked better than all the 98 machines I have used, had dozens of clients with ME that never had problems. I didnt even switch to XP until SP1 was released, and not fully until SP2 was released which then made it worth it. Since then the rest is history. That said I deal with a client now who uses Azbar for their nightclubs and bars, but all their stuff are old boards from like 20 years, its pure DOS software for the programming and reports. Wont run on XP without a chip upgrade and then its still the DOS software. For them to replace the machines its I think $6K each, some clubs have dozens of them, and they just wont do it. But now they are gonna have to, they cant find anyone that can still work with 98 like me LOL .. and im declining to work with that anymore, just too much headache at least when it comes to drivers and hardware.