spyguy

Greetings all and thanks for reading. I'm relatively new to access control and have run into something that seems simple enough, but I'm having a hard time finding any information on the topic. I have a small installation that includes a DSC wired alarm system, there is also a controlled door with dual mag locks, rex, and reader. The two systems are separate, and the access control was added long after the pre-wire. I have a set of door contacts installed for each of the doors, and have one pair of conductors running back to my data closet. All of the cable for the reader and mag lock solution is in place, but missing a dedicated pair of conductors for a second set of door contacts. My customer would like to see door contact activity on his access control platform but I really don't feel like swimming through a sea of fiberglass insulation for one door contact. I'm using a Mercury 1501 for the access control side of things. To the best of my knowledge, it's just looking for dry contact activity. I have to assume that the resistor in the alarm circuit would somehow play a role preventing this from being easy...lol I'd really like to piggy back off of the alarm systems door contacts with the access control solution. Does anyone have a suggestion as to how I might accomplish this?

Attempting to revive some old Pelco IP cameras and have no way to access the legacy IP settings to configure them for the new head end. It looks like these are early IP models, with analog 540 line cameras, using an ethernet adapter that they added to make them "IP cameras". I found what looks like a reset button, labeled "SW2"...but when I press it the result varies....and never results in a default IP address. Does anyone know of a sniffer, or another way to identify Pelco camera settings on a network? Having the subnet would be incredibly helpful, looking at the dead ONSSI server I can see the previous settings, but they are not accessible on the LAN. I can only assume they were configured via DHCP. But that assumption would also lead me to believe they'd return to their default if disconnected. They respond to neither their legacy IP settings or the default IP... Any thoughts on how I might be able to bring them back to the network?

My suggestion would be to use the lack of information on a product as an indicator to avoid it. I would encourage you to consider something sold through distribution channels to ensure product support once you've purchased it. In my part of the world, there are several commercial systems that could be had for the budget you're working with. Hikvision immediately comes to mind, although there are several others out there in that same price point.

I'm working on designing an observation system that will incorporate a handfull of PTZ cameras, tied to a viewing station for real time viewing. No brainer right? My concern is around image clarity at great distance. Previous applicaitons like this we've used Pelco Esprite systems which were great for their time but the last time my customer did one was in the mid 90's. I'm looking at about 2600ft maximum viewing distance and will need the ability to read an I.D. number that's roughly double the size of a US license plate. The Esprite cameras in place now cannot do this. Our cameras are, and will continue to be mounted approximately 50ft above ground on poles or towers that already exist. My Pelco Rep is telling me that the Spectra IV with 35X optical will do this. I love the idea but have a hard time believing that at 2600ft the 35X optical will be enough to read an ID plate. I'd love to hear about succesful installations similar to this or any insight that might help me select the right optical package. This would be an expensive mistake to make....lol Thanks for any insight you might have to offer!

Is there recording/viewing software in use? Maybe this is not an option but I have several customers doing exactly what you've decribed. We've accomplished this with the use of ONSSI software running on one PC, but in four separate applications. In short, we open four instances of the same application, create views that encompass the four cams we want in each quad, then drag each quad view application to it's own monitor. We use four monitors running off of two dual channel video cards. Not cheap, but works great!

Videocomm and Videolarm both make good wireless products. I think you could get it done for less than "thousands"....but it's not going to be cheap. What is the approximate distance that you'll need to send the signal?

Outstanding!!! Thanks so much. I assumed that it would be OK to address the issue this way. I did not think there would be such a nice little device like the Nitek product posted above. I'll be ordering a few of those. Thanks again!

I am trying to help out a friend with a residential installation on a home that has been complete for some time. The head end is in the basement and a physical cable path for RG59 does not seem to be present. After pondering over this for a while it occurred to me that there is one spare Cat5 cable that was installed during construction that is available. My question is: Can I pass the video signal from four separate cameras down one Cat5 cable by using each of the four pairs? I plan to power the cameras locally and use NVT or Nitek Baluns but would hate to go to the trouble and expense if there is a conflict with using each pair. Your comments are appreciated. Thanks, Scott

I thought it looked pretty good too. I have begun marketing the DVR's as a Geovision alternate to my clients that prefer to avoid PC based systems. I've not sold one yet but I expect to in the near future. From what I've seen in the demo rooms I like the product and the SAVS compression format seems to do a good job....although I have not seen a system in use, with a drive that's full of data so I can't say I believe in it yet.

Hello, I am wondering if anyone has experience with Luxon brand cameras? If I am reading the specification correctly this particular camera seems to be very comparable to the Panasonic vandal dome. I've seen them in person but not used them on an installation yet. The demo looks great (what's new). http://www.luxonvideo.com/products.php?navigate=product&productid=VD55V49DN&categoryid=Cameras Would I be sacrificing on quality if I offered this as an alternate to the Panasonic model?

I was wondering about that.... They do sort of have that OEM look to them and their packaging. My main concern was would I be replacing these on warrantee in 6 months. I hadn't considered that they were not true day/night as well. Thanks Rory!

Ah, I left a few details out. The I used this sony cam to replace out a very old Panasonic B/W that had been in a Pelco Intercept dome. The Dome provides a Hirschman connector for the lens for much of the connection. I believe the 12Vdc on the cam is only used to power the iris... It is the Iris control that was lost. The picture was however greatly improved.

Certainly not a low light camera but does perform pretty good in normal lighting conditions. I've found that they do not perform well when used in conjunction with a motorized zoom lens. Auto Iris controls do not work in that case. I've had some in outdoor housings and in place for over a year with no problems to report. The image quality is good and no moisture problems.

I used to instal Cop USA cameras..... Now I spend alot of time replacing them. The game these days is did they outlast their 1 year warrantee or not? My experience has been about 50/50 and I hate it. I would never use Cop....or any OEM camera again on an install that I was being paid for. Charity work maybe...

I have used that exact model. It's been in place for a little over a year now and still working as expected. The picture quality is just as good for each camera as it was prior to combining the feeds. I am using these to combine two Pelco cameras into one feed, then distributed out to a Geovision V7.04 series system. The drawbacks I found with the product was that they were difficult to find and pricing was hard to establish.

I'm sorry that I don't have the answers.....but I can certainly say that I have run into this same issue. I have a client that has seven PTZs. They had two joysticks and were hoping to have them both in the loop to allow simultaneous manipulation of two different cameras at the same time. We attempted to "daisy chain" them, then wired in parallel. We tried one joystick and one internal rs485 card. We tried every combination we could think of but the only way we were able to do it was to separate half the cams to one joystick and half to the other. I would love to hear how the dual input code merger works out for you.

One of my larger clients is a hospital. I've tried to use a number of different wireless devices there with little success. There is commonly to much interference for a monitored panic button to transmit more than 50 feet when it should be giving me more like 1000 feet. I would never even try to go wireless with a camera feed unless we were talking licensed bands up in the 23. Ghz range. And then, good luck getting their MIS guys to approve the frequency...

I think a dedicated association could have a lot of benefits. I agree that CCTV is a separate trade and should be seen accordingly. I'd certainly love to reap some of the benefits of tighter organization with some field credibility.

WOW!!! That looks like an amazing system. Is this something that's available now? Also, is that a true Hybrid system? It appears that the head end server has composite (bnc) ports as well as the ability to receive and process IP camera feeds.

Maybe this is a stupid question but: Why not box it up and send it to Pelco to look at? I believe they will test and diagnos if you cover the shipping. I had a similar problem a while back and the service department was very helpful in determining the problem. I just called their 800 number and went to the service desk. I ended up paying for replacement parts instead of buying a new camera.

I've been using LCDs exclusively for a while now. The only complaint I have that wasn't already addressed is that burn-in seems to occur much faster. One customer went big with a few 52" LCD screens to display Geo CenterV2. The screen shot was really a sight to be seen...I think we got 42 cams per monitor. The drawback came when a month into use we decided to also utilize a few of the auxiliary input channels on the monitors....only to find 42 nice little windows burned into the back ground of the screens.

I was thinking the same thing. I've not seen a bullet camera with image quality comparable to a speed dome. Have you tried taking the bullet cam down and hooking it up at the system (i.e with only a few feet of cable)? I wonder if you would still experience the same signal degradation with the bullet camera? My guess is that might be the case... If the image quality of the bullet improves when moved closer to the system I would look at your power source and the length of cable between it and the bullet. I am glad you reported in on the distance. Are you running power over that Cat5 or is that supplied locally at the speed dome? How about the bullet...is that power traveling all 900 ft as well?

I think you probably got about what you paid for.... $100 including shipping for a 420 line cam with a few IRs is about what I would be paying. That being said, I would not sell a camera like that due to the poor image quaity, lighting restrictions, and the fact that it's a fixed lens. I believe similar cameras can be found at Lowes, Home depot, Radio shack, and the like......for about the same price.

The Geovision traffic counter works very well IMO if set up correctly. I've found that the objects need to be no more than 25% of the total size of the zones. Meaning....there needs to be plenty of room in each zone for an object to pass into completely, then exit out of the other side without ever being on both sides at the same time. The larger the difference in the zone-to-object ratio the better. When counting people I usually try to possition the camera to shoot a side shot from farther than 15 to 20 feet away if possible. This helps keep the object size from changing as it passes by. I hope that helps.

Hello, I am working with a new distributor that Carry's "Luxon Video" brand cameras as well as a DVR line. The products look to be of fair to mid level quality and appear to be a good choice for many small to medium sized applications that I have encountered recently. I am curious if anyone has used these systems or cameras and can attest to their quality and field worthiness? I am considering carrying the DVRs as an alternative to Geovision systems as some customers simply have no interest in a "PC' system built by yours truly. They'd rather have something preassembled. I'd appreciate any info on Luxon that might be available...