IP camera access?

[Theaterworks]

I have two bids to do for camera systems that need DVR access via the internet. Does anyone have experience with these? Any good experiences or bad ones I need to know about?

[sirroundsound]

hope they are willing to spend, spend, spend.

Not that it's all that hard to do, but if you want something "watchable" you have to concider the quality of the parts and cards.

[ejfiii]

I use Speco. Available at most alarm type distributors. I get mine from ADI. They have a cool 16 camera DVR that is also a IP server all in one.

[AHEM]

I've recently installed a massive 16 camera, 500gb Toshiba model, and a smaller 9 camera 160 GB Speco. Both went surprisingly well...a few quirks here and there, but nothing atrocious.

The Toshiba's are Window's (2000) based and the Speco's use their own proprietary OS. The hitch with using Windows based stuff is that you're going to need to plug in a keyboard, mouse and monitor via the video card output in order to set the thing up.

This may not sound like a big deal, but the Toshiba that I used it mounted 15 feet in the air above a drop ceiling, so access to it is not all that user friendly.

and Owen, if you're not in the mood to deal with ADI, there's a nice distributor for that stuff in your metro area that has good one on one service and competitive pricing.

[Theaterworks]

and Owen, if you're not in the mood to deal with ADI, there's a nice distributor for that stuff in your metro area that has good one on one service and competitive pricing.

OK, I'll bite. Who's that?

[Theaterworks]

And, going on from there, for reliable access, I will need a static IP? Is speed (over and above what you typically get with a DSL) needed for good viewing of the captured camera video? Does the DVR need to be rebooted from time to time, like all my benighted Tivo installations?

The $$ thing is not an obstacle. I'm not going to compete with someone else that can do it cheaper, because I'm too worried about going too low on the quality of the gear and delivering a system that turns into a nightmare for the customer and me.

Part of this is for me. My property includes a concrete silo at a railroad crossing and a road, a real magnet for graffitti. I would love to put a camera down there and actually capture the little sons of B's that do this, so I can hand the video over to the local constabulary and give them something else to do outside of speed enforcement. I use my place as a test bed for new things; quite a lucky thing for me, really.

[AHEM]

[quote=AHEM]


OK, I'll bite. Who's that?

Windy City Wire 1-800-379-1191

www.smartwire.com

[AHEM]

And, going on from there, for reliable access, I will need a static IP? Is speed (over and above what you typically get with a DSL) needed for good viewing of the captured camera video?

Going from memory, I believe that at least Pelco suggests 384 Up speed minimum.

[AHEM]

Does the DVR need to be rebooted from time to time, like all my benighted Tivo installations?



The Windows OS based machines do, but everything that I've run into has given you an option in the setup menu to be able to schedule weekly reboots so they'll do it automatically and unattended.

[The8thst]

I can highly recommend Dedicated Micros paired with something like Kaletel cameras.

This system is event triggered (starts recording when a car shows up, someone walks up to a silo, etc) and labels the events by camera name and time. The PC app for remote viewing works really well and even allows you to manipulate the cameras.

Using this system I can log into a job I completed in San Juan, WA and turn a camera to look out at Vancouver Island. I can even zoom in on a the ship decks of the passing ships to see what the crew is doing.

The zoom on these things is just insane, and the system has been very stable on top of it all.

[AHEM]

I would add that most of the DVRs that I've used have been pretty good quality. The trick is to size the thing correctly and to determine ahead of time whether or not you need PTZ cameras. Those are where you can really tie up some money.

As for the dynamic/static IP question, you're going to be safest if you have a static IP, but I'm in the process of setting up the Speco on a WAN right now, and there's a dynamic IP option. You simply check the dynamic IP option, enter a name for the DVR, and enter the IP address provided by Speco.

When someone wants to view the dvr via the internet, they then enter a no-ip type address for example: http://theaterworks.dyndvr.net, and it will route you to the proper IP.

[Theaterworks]

I've done business with Windy City Wire for years. Never bought electronics from them before; huh. Thanks for the lead.

[Gary]

I can highly recommend Dedicated Micros paired with something like Kaletel cameras.

This system is event triggered (starts recording when a car shows up, someone walks up to a silo, etc) and labels the events by camera name and time. The PC app for remote viewing works really well and even allows you to manipulate the cameras.

Using this system I can log into a job I completed in San Juan, WA and turn a camera to look out at Vancouver Island. I can even zoom in on a the ship decks of the passing ships to see what the crew is doing.

The zoom on these things is just insane, and the system has been very stable on top of it all.

I must concur, the Dedicated Micros stuff is awesome.

[AHEM]

Speaking of Dedicated Micros, I just today had a piece of theres go bad after three years. It's in a commercial location with a fairly high crime rate, and I know that the owner won't take kindly to me having to ship it off for service and having it be potentially gone for weeks.

Thinking that maybe it was a simple fix, I called DM and explained the problem to one of their tech support guys.

After I gave him a two minutes explanation of what it was doing, there was a hesitation and then he said "yeahhh, it's broken"

I said "well yeah, but I thought that it would be worth the phone call to find out if maybe you'd run across this problem before and had a quick fix for it"

"no, it's broken. If you did (this and that) and it still doesn't work, then it's broken. Send it off for service"

"ok, well what's the procedure for getting this thing into you for service?"

"we don't fix the analog product here, call (this number) and they'll help you. Ok? buh-bye"

Gee thanks you @#%$(@$@#$!!