alanb

We are installing a DVR system into a high school. Because of the size of the school we need to use two separate power supplies. The first supply has 8 cameras on it and they all work fine. The second supply is located in another wing of the school. It has four cameras on it: A PTZ, a dome, and two bullets. For these four cameras we ran Cat 5 using MuxLab baluns. The PTZ is using the PTZ balun and the other three are on a 4 channel video hub balun such that a single CAT 5 can be used for all three video signals. Separate power gets run to all of them. At first all four cameras had rolling bars on them. If we disconnected the PTZ, the other three cameras would then work fine. If we reconnected the PTZ and disconnected the video hub balun, then the PTZ would work. During troubleshooting, we saw that the PTZ was not grounded so we ran a separate ground wire and now the PTZ picture works. (We have no PTZ RS-485 control of the PTZ using the balun). However, when we now disconnect the PTZ the other three cameras still have rolling bars. The three camersa are all mounted to brick. When we connect our handheld LCD monitor right at the camera the picture is fine. These CAT5 runs are around 500 to 600 feet, the PTZ is 800 ft. Should ground wires be added to these cameras? Beacuse the handheld works I am not certain the problem is related to the power supply. Any suggestions???? Also, I would appreciate any tips for getting the control line of the PTZ to work. Naturally, the PTZ/DVR worked fine at our shop using the PTZ balun before we installed it . We check polarity and all the obvious things. Any help is certainly appreciated. Alan

Does anyone have a recommendation for an encoder/decoder pair for converting analog CCTV to digital on the front end and then converting back to analog of the back end? I have a remote building that I need to install 2 analog cams. I need to use a digital wireless link to transmit the signal (using encoder) to the main building where I want to covert it back to analog (using decoder) to plug into my DVR. I don't know if these enc/dec come in multi channel configurations or in single channel matched pairs. I have an Axis 4 channel video server that I can use, however, Axis only offers a single channel decoder (Axis 292) at around $750 and I would need two of these. I have been trading off several different options and don't want to put a separate DVR in this remote building. Nor I am that crazy about using IP cameras because then I will have a mix with my analog cameras and DVR. Lastly, I don't want to go and get a hybrid DVR. Any suggestions will be appreciated. Thanks, Alan

Hi: We are struggling with an issue for a 15 store job we did. Each store was done about 1 year ago with the same 13-15 cameras per store and 1 to 2 spot monitors per store. We are using Tatung spot monitors with the CCTV passthough. We have had six cameras fail over the eight weeks, but only the ones tied into the spot monitor. The power supply fuse is not blowing and all power supplies are on a battery backup with a surge protector. Two of the failed cameras were replaced with a different manufacturer and they have also recently failed. I am wondering if something from the spot monitor video input is corrupting the camera video line and either slowly or abruptly causing the cameras to fail. I can't figure this out. Any thoughts would be appreciated. These are not cheap cameras ($275 a piece) with WDR since the cameras are aimed at the front windows of the business that have a lot of sunlight coming through. Thanks in advance, Alan

I am looking for some leads on suppliers that sell and audio/video DVR type system for recording police interrogations. (I think they call this custodial evidence). Anyhow, I need a four channel system to cover four separate rooms. The system I am looking for is not the typical DVR with audio capability. The system I am trying to find has to be designed for this type of application to ensure compliance with evidence gathering laws. Any ideas? Thanks, Alan

Billyk: The commercial grade DVRs I am familiar with all use a proprietary format for watermarking the data to guarantee it has not been modified in any way. In many cases, they provide their own viewer to support their watermarking approach. However, these same machines can also save in AVI formats, which of course can be viewed on any PC. I would guess your machines can save in AVI. I am not a legal expert, but I would not recommend this format for any video clips required for evidence. (Even in non police applications, we strongly encourage our clients to use the watermarked data) Alan

JMANOFNVS, Sent you a PM this morning. Thanks, Alan

Thanks to all for the response. I meet with the Police Department on Tuesday so I will definitely share the points that have been raised as a result of these posts. I talked with the folks at the following web site. http://www.trantech-inc.com/solutions2c.html This is a higher end solution but very secure in terms of following the rules for interogation recording. The disadvantage for us (and many of the members of this forum) is that they don't sell a "box" we can install as part of an overall solution. Makes it a bit ackward but potentially workable. Still trying to sort through the details with them. Anyhow, they have a presense for this application so it's worth exploring. Again, thanks for your posts. Alan

I need a recommendation for a good spot monitor camera that has above avergate backlight compensation. The front doors are clear glass and will provide problems for entry level domes. I don't want to have to spend a ton of money on it (naturally). An alternative is a good box with a dome drop ceiling cover. I would use that as a back up. Any assistance will be appreciated. Alan

I am familiar with the extreme CCTV solutions for license plate capture. Pricing is a little high for a customer we are working with. Any suggestions for other cameras that provide decent performance for a gas station application? Any help would be appreciated. Alan

Thanks for all your responses. Alan

Doug: We put the cameras on separate transformers and like magic everything is now working perfectly. Thanks! I appreciate the tips offered by all members. Alan

Steve: I believe you may have a camera with a digital or some sort of proprietary output. These are typical for "closed" type systems you can find at Costco or Sams Club. The cameras are designed to only work with the recording device they are packaged with. I don't think you can convert this to an traditional analog CCTV signal. Let me know if you can. We run into these systems now and then in the field. Alan