PHAND

Could you be a little more specific? What are you looking to test for? Typically you just turn it all on and make adjustments for what you want to see.

Who setup and installed the equipment originally? Are they able to help? CenterV2 can be a bit of a pain to set up unless you have some idea on basic networking, port redirection, static vs. dynamic IP addresses, etc.. It's not a cut and dry walk-through sort of situation.

You sure it's not aluminum shielding? That's pretty common. Never heard of aluminum core. Heard of copper clad steel, but not aluminum. I'll never use CCS either.

My guess is you are not redirecting all the ports required for remote viewing, or you are using the wrong password. You may be able to login using a control port, but the video may go over a different port. This would explain more why it would work on the local network. Check your documentation to be sure you are redirecting the right ports and that you have the router set up properly.

I have a client with a cottage in the middle of nowhere, meaning no high speed internet connection, but the cottage does have a telephone line. He wants to be able to check on the cottage from time with images from the camera. I've explained to him that there is pretty much no way he is going to be able to pump video down the line of a 33.6k modem, but he may be able to download some timed snapshots. Anyone aware of a device that will allow you to dial into it with a modem, retrieve images from connected cameras, and then view them?

Oh, and put a motion sensor activate light outside. You'll find that may deter would-be vandals more than a camera hidden somewhere that they don't know about.

Costco, aisle 6. Or find yourself one of those DLink network cameras. Doesn't require a DVR, just a place to upload images. You could probably find one on ebay or some online retailer. Image quality is not great, but it will work. If you want good image quality and features expect to pay closer to $800 for an IP camera. More for weatherproof.

What resolution? CIF, 1/2D1, D1? What compression scheme? MJPEG, MPEG4, H264? You are doing POS, are you doing an overlay as well? Are you recording continuous or just based on motion? If you are not recording based on motion, why not?

In-wall speaker wire should be just fine. We've run 16g wire (stamped rated for 300V) many times. If you are talking about that transparent sheath stuff, then forget it. I don't even recommend that stuff as actual speaker wire.

Do you actually want us to post the reply? Tip is just that... the TIP of the plug. Ring is the ring of the plug. Two separate conductors insulated from each other on a phono type connector commonly used on the old switchboards to connect a telephone call by an operator. No google.. Just a lot of reading as a kid.

Stupid question first, is everything still plugged in? Plug the cameras into something else such as a video input on a TV to verify there is an issue with the monitor itself. Then try plugging a known working video source into the monitor, such as a VCR.

Video cannot be daisy chained. Each camera will need to be home run with its own cable for video and fed into it's own input on your recording device.

Using a mutliplexer would be fine. They can select to display any one of the cameras, or autosequence between all the cameras, or display 4/8/16 at a time, etc.. Or you could purchase a DVR that has a video output and will essentially create a tile of cameras for you. That may actually be cheaper in some cases.

I've seen them stuffed inside drop ceilings along with the alarm box. Not really the best idea due to firecodes and such, but..

If there is a heater on site, I pile boxes around it to warm them up. Usually they have been sitting in the van over night. I usually refuse to do anything if it's less than -10C on site. cat5 sheath just breaks when pulling it out of the box. It's warmer now, just unfortunately no pre-wire jobs for the next while.