bike_rider

Sure, you can point it out the window. Drape a black cloth over it so that there are no reflections. You will have to disable those IR LEDs because they will glare badly off a window.

Thanks sharing all the details. Have you tried an Android client with the DVR? If so, can you view live images and playback recorded ones?

If you plan to just monitor the gate, then you are looking for a lens that you set the zoom on once. This would not need to be a lens that would allow you to zoom in and out, if I understand your need correctly. 24mm will get you the right field of view. Good/bad camera is a whole other issue. Things to think about - how is the lighting at the gate? Does the sun back light the entrance significantly early or late in the day? Are you looking to see what is happening, read license plates and/or identify faces?

There are many cctv lens calculators on the web. You need to know the sensor size of the camera, the distance from the camera to the target and how wide of an area (field of view) you want to cover. One quick calculation says a 1/3" sensor, 3 meters off the ground, target distance of 20 meters, view area 4 meter = a lens focal length of 24mm.

Mike (_va), that's some pretty high CPU load for just one camera. Have you tried it with more cameras to see if it scales?

Well, since the company offered to give you an upgrade for the cost of shipping I hope you plan to make good reviews on many sites. It would only be fair.

I agree. Dumped WM a few months ago and do not miss anything about it.

I think it is funny that Windows Mobile did not even get an entry. I do love my IP Cam Viewer. With Connectbot I can securely tunnel into my network and use Wyse PocketCloud to VNC to machines.

I was not able to find it on my own on the Panasonic site or with google but Panasonic support helped me out: http://panasonic.net/pss/security/library/developer.html then download "New CGI Command Supported Models for V1.03 document". http://192.168.0.10/cgi-bin/ and "image_adjust?shutter=1_250" or "image_adjust?shutter=1_30" I have a PC and a mac available. Awesome. Have you actually tested these with your camera to make sure they work when you are not logged in? Which version of Windows?

You need to know the load on the battery and how long you want it to run. Then you will know what size UPS you need. I used to be a long time APC user, but my most recent one is a Cyperpower and I like it much better.

Thanks, that would be great! It may take me a few days - as of tonight my backup computer (ZT systems quad core athlon) died (will not power on). A few days ago my main computer (Dell i7 quad core) also died (bad motherboard). I must have upset the computer gods somehow... Oh brother, I have been there. "Keep calm and carry on."

I wonder if that IR from amazon is any good.

The program is the part I don't know how to do. I like a challenge. If you can get the http commands to send (I'm not sure it can be done), I can get you a windows script file (or some solution) that can send them on command. As long as you have a PC you can leverage.

Many housings have a heater built in to them. http://arecontvision.com/HSG1-O-W-Housing.html Operating Temperature - 30°C (-22°F) to 50°C (122°F)

Good set of requirements. I'm interested in what the suggestions are. IR or no IR? If you have (or can add) visible light, I don't see the appeal of IR. BTW, there are some demo cameras for sale in the classified section that might work for you.

Maybe. There are some Pany cameras that do allow direct control from a URL command, but it looks like it is all consumer level or older models. Check out this list http://panasonic.net/pcc/support/netwkcam/download/other.html. The manual for the 502 does not talk about these commands. It only talks about using the web server on the camera. You could try some of those commands to see if the camera responds to them, but again you might run into an authentication requirement. If you used a packet sniffer while using the web interface (like WireShark) you could probably figure out what the commands are. Then you would need a program to send them under windows scheduler, like Rory said. It isn't that hard to do if you can figure out what the commands should be.

That's weird I was just thinking about this topic over the weekend. The scheduling can almost certainly be done on most any PC platform, but it might be tricky getting the right commands sent. What's the exact model? I'll poke around on the internet for the user manual and see what I can come up with. On the Axis, where do the commands come from? Do they come from a management system that is running on a PC?

Well, I've had people turn and leave when they realized there were cameras looking at them. There isn’t much the police can do at that point, but my system did what I really wanted – prevented a crime. I operate under the theory that the probable residential threat is from an unsophisticated smash and grab idiot. If they know I have cameras and break in anyway, I expect they will either a. cover their faces or b. focus on what they can grab in 5 minutes with the alarm system going off. Either way, I’m betting that the camera system will be low on their list of things to grab. Of course, if you do not have an alarm system, then they have unlimited time and will find and take the camera system. You could slow them down with a lock box or small fire safe (bolted down of course) My system is in an uninteresting closet because it was a good place to run the wires to.

I could suggest that you tell us what model camera, what model dvr, what settings you have in place on the camera and the dvr and how you have the wiring hooked up.

Since I came up blank with any suggestions for a DVR that fully supports an Android client (live view and playback), I'm thinking about looping in a video encoder so that I can siphon off images from a few of my cameras for remote playback. I'd still rely on the Geovision system for the serious work - alarm tie in with email alerts, on site playback, etc. Vivotek is cheap, axis is expensive, stardot is somewhere in between. I'm thinking about 4 channels. Looking at stardot, it looks like it will (on trigger) send the out put to an ftp server and/or email images. Hmm, I need to check to see what format that ftp output is. It will separately ftp the last 10 images (rotating over the old ones) per camera. Stardot is the only one I've seen so far that has loop out. 8-10 fps across each of the 4 channels at D1 would be good. Comments? Any experiences to share? Horror stories? Moving to pure IP setup for my full system would be too expensive.

Thanks for the help Rory. The files worked fine on my geovision computer. With the IE based interface, VNC is pretty good. I can certainly live with this no cost work around

I have a PC card based system and I would not recommend it unless you like to tinker with computers. Adding in PC config details, OS stability issues and upgrades to the mix, etc isn't worth the hassle for most people. I love tinker with stuff! I have a ton of computer components lying around to build another PC. But your right, it would be another server I would have to maintain. Oh, there is always something to tinker with with video setups. Lights, PIR motions sensors, remote access to your system securely. The fun never ends.

Thanks. I'll give that a try late today and let you know how it goes.

8.30, or .31, .32 etc? Single player comes in all of them. Although im not sure it matters if using a newer single player. I didnt get it to connect and show the list yet though, fell asleep at the computer. If interested I can look at it. Can you tell me the pixel size of the Android resolution? Correction, 8.2.0 GV's history of not so smooth updates has kept me on a version that works for me. The phone is 480x800.

What version Geo is it? I put the single player activeX into an exe to test and it can be resized as well. No IE issues and might fit the android screen better. 8.3