amsmt

Hey all - I have a customer who got a system from us just before I bought this business two years ago. They are a mine and run on battery power at the job trailer. We put a 2 camera system in to watch the road and it keeps losing power so we want to check into doing solar. I have talked to a few vendors but am looking for more input on this. One thing to know is the camera's are about 800 ft from the trailer. (Downhill though... ) Here is what is in place - Cameras - Bosch LTC0495/21 Lens - Tamron 12VG412ASIR-Q - Housings - American Dynamics ADCHMBHT10 DVR - Speco 4TN 160 gb Monitor - Speco VM1401C Power Inverter - Tripplite PV1000HF I am trying to find out what system specs I would need to run this, and any good leads to said systems. I appreciate the help! -Shane

I got it - the screen in your room is just a screen to view the DVR then. Sounds like wireless bridge is what you want to do

Another option Ã

Rixius - Is their any network ports in the room the DVR is in? If so you could put a small network hub and patch in to that.

Khakha - When you connect to the wifi-router you are likely inside your network I am guessing. Do you go to a internal address like 192.168.***.***? If so - then you are already on your network. (An easy way to find your Public IP is go to www.whatismyip.com) Connecting from the internet - you connect to your public IP address and need to have port forwarding setup on the router so it knows which device inside the network to send you too. You may know this already - but from your post it seems this could be your issue.

Does anyone offer a maintenance contract to the customer when they purchase a system? I have thought of ways to do structure this, and am looking for input. I am thinking you could base it on: # of cameras ($5 per camera) # of visits (Annually to quarterly...) I am trying to find out how to structure it so it is a value to the customer, and also makes $. I think this could be a great way to generate some repeat business and keep in touch with customers. Thoughts?

Hey all - I helped a (friend) customer a few months ago with his Lorex all in one DVR. I set him up with remote viewing. Lorex has a DDNS service that they provide with the DVR. We couldn't get the DVR to update its IP address with the service, is that how it is supposed to work? Does the DVR do the updating or does the router? All of the information for the DDNS service was entered on the DVR. His IP address was changing multiple times in a day so ultimately we just got him a static IP address and he is good. It makes sense to me that the DVR would contact the DDNS service and the service would see what IP address it came from, then record it as your new IP. I can also see how the router would update the service too though, when it's public IP changes. Can anyone shed some light for me on what I may have had wrong? I have another customer who has the same lorex setup and wants to be able to view remotely, and I would like to be able to do it without getting a Static IP address. Both routers are Qwest motorola netopia's. Thanks!

Are you sure you changed it? I had one the other day, it turned out the admin password is blank, manager 1 is 1, manager2 is 2 and so on...

The qwest modem does not have ddns capabilities. The dvr does have it, but from what I understand this will not work because the dvr will not know when the IP address changes. I guess this brings up my next question - what good is the ddns on the dvr if it can't tell when the public IP address changes? Thanks for the help

Hey IR - Have you done much with mobile DVR? I am looking for some other DVR solutions for them that would work and draw less juice. They do have heater/blower housings and I also mentioned we could bypass the heater to get them more footage. I talked to them and to get power to the site would be in the $20k, so before they spend $10k for just a solar camera solution they are going to consider just putting power in.

I did set up an account with Dyndns, I will try that on this one again. I just wanted to make sure it worked... Good information also on the dsl vs. cable modem. I will post back to let you know how it works. Thanks!

YOU CAN DO IT YES YOU CAN!!! Rory you must be a sales manager too!!

It is weird because I got it up and running fine with a static IP address, so all of my ports are forwarded correctly. The only time it wouldn't work is if the router had been assigned a new IP address from Qwest's DHCP. I would check the DDNS site and it would have the old address still. If I updated the address on the DDNS site, it would work again. I will keep searching and report back if I have any success on it.

That makes more sense!

. amsmt, I would remove your email address and tell people to PM you for the info. You are about to become friends with 300 manufactures with spam, and you are about to get another 300 from "hello, I am the president of a bank in ..... where someone has passed away..... Here in Florida: The magic number (retail) for the bottom tier market is the $1,100.00! There is enough head room for a small profit, and you can charge another $400.00 for installation. The better the client the better you can move those prices up. Thanks for the warning - I got it changed hopefully it didn't do too much damage. You are figuring $1100 per camera uninstalled? Is that an IP system?

Hi Nifter - That seems like a very logical way to break down the markets, because I think to be able to survive you need to be able to satisfy both. Especially in a smaller population like where I am (Montana). It sounds like our business's are very similar. I try to just focus on the larger commercial stuff, but it isn't very abundant and it is competitive when it does come around. I end up doing jobs for friends who want the lowest possible price, I can't turn down work when I don't have anything else in the hopper. Even though they are small little jobs, they are worth doing because I feel like it helps build experience. If I turn them down I feel like I am stepping over five $5 bills to pick up a $20. Have you had much success/failure in marketing yourself yet? I have been cold calling, which is never a good time, and building contacts through networking but I don't run into many people who have buildings or property that they need monitored. Feel free to PM me as well -

Hey all - I have a customer who has a camera covering the back room of their bar. They need it to run to the dvr to record, and also to a 17" lcd monitor at the front so the employees can see if anyone is back there. I am going to use a BNC t connecter to splice the line to both locations. My question is connecting it to the lcd moniter, I have looked online and can find adapter cables for around $10, or powered converters for roughly $50. Will the adapter do the job for me or do I need a converter to just get the video feed to the moniter? Thanks for the help! -Shane

This is a topic I have considered quite a bit in the 2 years since I got into the biz. Most of the time I tell customers to figure around $1000 per camera. If there are outdoor it gets closer to $1300 when you get outdoor mounts with heaters/blowers (Montana) and usually longer cable runs included. This helps me focus on customers who are willing to spend $ to get a system they will be happy with. I have done some work for folks who have a system already, so I have seen what the Lorex/Costco solution looks like. For a user who is on a slim budget and doesn't need a professional install it can work. I have not ventured into IP systems yet, however am familiar with IP networks so I really do need to look more into them. All of this being said... I have been painfully slow for the past 4 months. I don't know if I am pricing myself out of work, or if companies are just holding on to their $ right now. Have you looked into what you would charge for maintenance work? Will you offer a contract to customers who you put a system in for? I am thinking of putting this in, but am not sure what is the going rate and what is expected yet...

Well that isn't very cool.

Vasu - they did not work for you? What is happening?

Just to follow up - Those 2 adapters worked good. I had up hit the resolution button on each one once to get the acer monitors to "autoconfig". They came on with a box saying "input not supported" even though the shots were there. Thanks for the help!

Hey everyone - My name is Shane and I am a low voltage provider in Montana. Looking forward to exploring the site!

I am not very familiar with the Mobotix IP cam or IP cams in general yet, but would like to learn more. Does the on board recording mean it records onto the camera? Thanks for the input Yes, it can store on a SD card, or an attached USB drive, and be viewed on a remote PC with a browser, or the control center software. What length of history/ frame rate are you looking for, and how much is the system used per day? 800 feet is too long for standard Ethernet, but there are wireless, or point to point DSL-type extenders available for that. I called to find out a little more about the system - the mine runs on a generator, and they put the batteries in just to keep the camera system running when they generator is down. This will work for 2-3 days but if the mine is down longer the batteries eventually die. I don't know how long they want the footage, would imagine few weeks, and I think 30fps is what the system is set at now. After finding out more about it I am thinking solar for backup might be the preferred option?

I am not very familiar with the Mobotix IP cam or IP cams in general yet, but would like to learn more. Does the on board recording mean it records onto the camera? Thanks for the input