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Hi. I had transferred all the recorded cam video files from a dedicated PC with Geovision 250 card. I transferred the files to a 500gb portable HDD. When I access the transferred files on a separate PC, I can see thumbnails of a video frame for each file. However when I try to play any of them, all I get is black on WMP. I tried DiVX player also, and a pop up note says the file doesn't contain video. How can I see the files? Did I do something wrong? I need to burn pertinent files onto disk. Help please. Thx.

Hi- Finally getting a chance to reply. Re: Mattb- is the a particular Geovision software for playing back in Win Media player? For future, how should I handle the scenarios where I only have 1 PC/ DVR and after I install it for a week or 2, I need to save the video that was recorded, and re-deploy the PC/ DVR to another site for more video capture the next day? Should I be dealing with removable hard drives? What is typically done here?

Hi Mattb: Thanks for reply. However, I need to present a client with captured video images from the Geovision- carded DVR. I have copied just the AVI cam image files from the HD on the Geovision-carded PC, to a portable HD. The client will not have Geovision software on their computer. I deleted the cam video image folders from the DVR PC. All I have now are avi files on a portable storage drive. It sounds like the procedure you graciously outlined depends on there being some of the original cam image video files on the HD. (?) Basically whenever I capture video, I need to put it on a disk, or post it to a website, for a client to see/ download. No clients will have Geovision software on their PC. I appreciate you assistance. Please advise. Thx

Hi there- I typically need to place covert composite video cams (usually not more than 2) and stuff a DVR in a ceiling to capture decent interior video for 30 days, and then create a DVD of pertinent video. I currently am using an older PC based unit with Geovision 250(!) card. The 250 has max frame rate of 20, so hanging 2 cams off it takes it to 10 fps per cam. I need to carefully capture activity around an office safe. I am grateful for any recommendations. Thanks

Hi there- I have what I have been told is a Geovision DVR.. however there are no markings/ logos/ numbers on the black PC case, and no serial #. When I boot the DVR, it boots in video monitoring mode. It says GV-250. WHen I click the 'configure' button, it says permission denied. I see that it has version 8.12 s/w. Apparently this unit was used about a year ago, then removed from a site, and now I have it and am needing it for an installation. However, after reading some threads, it sounds like I may have a knock off? Can anyone tel me how I can get to the configuration mode? HELP PLEASE! Thanks

Hi there- I have 2 pinhole cams, one is a SPECO CVC770PH, the other a KT&C S700C. They have identical connectors: 4 pins in a rectangular housing. Molex comes to mind. I don't have the power/ video harness that would mate with these. Can anyone let me know of a source for the harness/ connector? Yes- tomorrow I will contact both the mfr's. I am thinking that these are probably fairly popular items? Can anyone hip me to likely places I could get these? Also, can anyone tell me what the connectors are called? And also how to rearrange the female pin receivers in the connectors to accommodate the different cameras? Any info is appreciated thanks

hey there. Thanks for well meaning intentions. Having learned to question the validity of diagrams that don't actually reference the model # of the device in question, I dd call KT&C USA and, sure enough, the pinouts depicted in the diagram are NOT relevant to the s700C model (even though there are diagrams of the camera's profile on the same page). The 4 pin pinout diagram is for a discontinued cam- the KT&C technician told me the pinout for my cam is different than the one shown for the differently numbered cam. He would not tell me the pinout (Speco wouldn't tel me theirs either when I called). Evidently, in this hokey pokey CCTV world of not so high-tech, 'secrets' abound for some reason. And, even more discouraging, my observation is that a large majority (obviously not all) of folks procuring these products and doing these installations are lacking in some basic reasoning skills, concept comprehension and basic electronics and technical skills.. not to mention the apparent unfamiliarity with basic installation hanging hardware and connection procedures. Frustrating? Indeed. Thanks for your help.

Thanks for response. "the KT&C 3pin has ground commoned on the center in the middle, with power and video to either side". Hmm. The KT&C KPC-S700C cam I have here has no audio onboard, and has a 4pin connector for power and video out. Can these units, to your knowledge, sustain having 12VDC+ connected to their video output pin with no harm resulting?? If not, then it is imperative to specify to which side of the center pin both the video and power conductors fall.. yes?

Thanks for replying re: SPECO pinout. The link you provided depicts the pinout of the board cam in my SPECO motion detector cam (and its connecting cable). However, the CVC770PH pinout silk-screened on its PC board indicates that video is on the 2 outer pins and power is on the 2 inner pins. '+B' designates the positive power connection. So I need to rearrange the pins in the connecting cable. A web search indicates this is done by prying up, with an exacto knife blade point, the plastic tabs that hold the tiny metal connection sleeves in place, sliding the sleeves out and placing them in the desired order. So the quest remains for a source of pinouts for popular board cams, because, as evidenced here, even within the same mfr line, the pinout varies. I'm keeping in mind that I've been told there are only 2 or 3 board cam component OEM's (e.g. Sony, Sharp), and that mfr's like SPECO and KT&C incorporate these boards in their products.

Thanks for reply. Apparently not all cams have the same pinout at the connector. On the PC Board of a Speco (CSI) motion detector cam board, the designation of the power and video pins is different than on the SPECO CVC770PH. I suspect its different on the KT&C cam as well. The connector body used on the different cams is the same- the pins are in a different arrangement- within the same mfr line. I imagine mis-connecting the power to the vid-output pins might fry the cam, as might wiring up the wrong polarity. So it's not just a matter of getting a power/ video breakout: the 4 conductors must land in the connector head in a way so that they mate with the correct pins on the cam board. Anyone know of a source for finding out connector pinouts of the various mfr cams? The web has a plethora of pinouts for computer related and pro AV devices. I see none for the CCTV world.

Hi there. I'm new to this CCTV stuff, coming from the AV world and broadcast cameras. I recently installed a bunch of cams in a restaurant and for the cams that are facing windows which let light in, I set the 'backlight compensation' switch to 'on'. However when I did that, the whites in the monitor were hot, or 'blooming'- when I switched the BLC back to 'OFF', the pic reverted to moderate white and more detail. I would think that I'd see exactly the opposite. Also, there is a pot for Iris control, but in turning it fwd and bwd, i didn't see any change in the monitor image. Perhaps i should have waited a few seconds for a response?? Can anyone familiar with this (and other Honeywell products) tell me what's going on and what to expect? Tech support at Honeywell, in my experience, is just talking heads looking at the same non-informative manual as I'm looking at. Any info is appreciated. Thanks

Greetings. I'm new to the world of CCTV, having been in the commercial audiovisual systems realm serving, at various times, as troubleshooting technician, installer, consultant, project mgr, engineer. Now I'm troubleshooting CCTV installations. I've found cameras with poor images and discovering they are being powered by unregulated supplies. So, in an unregulated supply, if the mains voltage is high, and/ or if the power supply engineering/ construction is lacking integrity, then the output will be high. In some cases I found 16VDC powering cams that were rated for 10-15VDC. ANd 29VAC powering cams that were rated up to 28VAC. In both cases the supplies were exceeding the ratings of the cams. The mfr says when this occurs, the cameras' electronics will likely fail over a relatively short period of time. Which apparently was occurring in these systems that are 3 yrs old. Why, then, are unregulated supplies spec'd? Is it because they are cheaper? And the contractor will reap a greater profit? Is it because designers/ installers don't care? (Can't see it from my house?) Is it because the cams are purposefully being killed to ensure a repeat customer? When I questioned the local cam/ supply dealer (who is conveniently owned by the cam 'mfr'), they said they rarely stock/ sell regulated supplies cause everyone installs the unregulated ones and 'they work fine- never had a problem'. Yet engineers at that same cam mfr, whose co. owns the dealership, insist that best practices are to spec regulated supplies. And common sense says to use regulated supplies. Why would you risk the integrity of a system being affected by the mains voltage by skimping on a comparatively basic and low cost power supply? Please forgive the long query but I'm baffled by the apparent acceptance of poor images/ installations I've seen in my limited CCTV experience thus far. Am I missing something here? Happy and prosperous New Year to all!

Hi there- I'm new to the CCTV world, coming from the commercial AV world. I'm curious as to how installers are connecting power to, for example, indoor dome cams. The cams I've seen come with a female concentric power connector already attached, and a male connector with pigtail for attaching in the field I've seen, and would like to use, pluggable 'Phoenix' type connector so that during installation/ troubleshooting, the power supply connection can be disconnected easily. Can anyone lead me to a source for that type of connector? The Phoenix connectors I see listed in most catalogs have the female connector being mounted to a printed circuit board. I need females that connect to a pair of 18ga. conductors. ANy info is appreciated. Thanks

Thanks for responding. I'll be clearer in this post. Can anyone point me to a pluggable captive-screw Phoenix type connector that accepts 2 conductor 18 and 16 gauge wire? In the field I've found wire nuts, electrical tape, Dolphin connectors, terminal strips. Cutting off the concentric molded power connector end from the camera and attaching pluggable connectors to the cam supply wires and field supply wires would enable the power to be firmly connected but able to be disconnected easily for troubleshooting and swapping out. Any info is appreciated Thanks This forum seems to be most helpful.

Thanks all for responding. I was measuring power at the cams. The DC xformer converters were producing 16+/- a few millivolts VDC at the cam and at the supply (relatively short runs not providing much v-drop on the conductors). I've since insisted that only regulated DC supplies be used whose outputs measure their rated outputs. I also found 4 pr. of cam power conductors wire-nutted to the output of 1 AC-AC xformer. I'm a proponent of using channelized pwr for some measure of isolation from ground loops and to contain probs to individual circuits Question- one respondent stated 3 yrs is a long time (for a camera to operate). Coming from the commercial AV world where switchers, audio devices, monitors etc are warranteed for usually 3 yrs, remaining in service often far longer- what is the expected service life of typical small dome non-PTZ cams w/ 1/3"CCDs, Granted there's widely varying qualities from different mfr's. I'd expect SOny, Bosch, American Dynamics and the like to provide a better image and last longer than say, Honeywell and speco. And I believe their prices reflect that. Or am I wrong? Can anyone categorize mfr's cam general quality re: crappy, good and best? For those mfr's offering DVR's, does the same typical quality level follow suit?

Greetings: Jeffrey here, a refugee from the commercial AV design/ engineering/ installation realm, seeking to learn what I can about CCTV and current design/ installation practices. Looking fwd to learning new stuff.