alanjh1965

I have an idea for a new TV program..... Pimp my DVR ! Seriously thought, very informative. As per a previous post I am going to replace a faulty power supply in a dead unit, but I will try some of the other things you sugest to make it perform better. I must say I have installed a a lot of Intellex's and I do like them but they are an expensive unit and I guess I have been a little frightened to open up the lid until now. As you say most of the components are straight off the shelve.

Phew, you are making things really hard for yourself my friend. If you are setting up 16 cameras it would be a wise to purchase a CCTV test monitor, most of the advertisers here supply them e.g http://www.directlvs.com/product/monitors/Portable/portable.htm Or you could buy the DVR / PC Card you are going to permantley use and run the cameras throught that whilst you are testing. What are you going to use to record the 16 Cameras ?

Thanks for the replies, Yes I tried the paper clip trick, No Luck. The unit is second hand, it was aquired from a moving customer and I had it running in my house for a few months, fine until we had a power outage for a couple for hours. When I came home it was dead. The disk's don't even start up, althought there is an LED on the motherboard. I will try a new power supply, but give me a few weeks guys (busy at the moment)and I will let you know the result!

When you reboot do you just pull the plug or power down using the 1 or 4 key? I say this because this can cause the Telematary parameters to reset back to default (NONE) How are the alarms recieved at the DM is it motion or do you have detectors wired into the DM ? DM Tech support are usually good at diagnosing problems so you might have to send it back

Yes, an ordinary low voltage camera can be used, BUT I would check with any local regulations that are in place. I would always install at least 15m away, you can always use a longer range lens to suit your field of view requirements.

Here in the UK I had to take a two day course for my licence (SPA - Safety Pass Alliance - Passport) to install in Gas Stations. Petrol filling Stations have 'Zones' defined by the hazard. CCTV should not be fitted within 1.5m radius in all directions from the Pump Dispenser / Underground Refill Chamber / Vent pipes. In the UK you fill up first then pay (!) so we get a lot of Drive-offs. That is why we install a lot of cameras in Gas Stations Externally I install normal 12/24volt cameras in normal housings on the front Retail Shop looking at each bank of pumps. This is far enought away to cause any danger. Or you could install them on Poles depending on the layout of the site. I also install a camera looking a the Entrance and one looking at the Exit. Hope this helps ! This has some examples of Hazard Zones around Pumps..... http://www.westyorksfire.gov.uk/new/fireSafety/petroleumExplosives/PetroleumGuideCompleteJuly2007.pdf

That about sums it up for me !

Come on Guys lets be professional..... Have you seen the Client list? I can sleep safe at night knowing that BP/Exon is being protected by a USB Webcam

I just Love it when people say....... Anyways before I get carried away, what does the Customer want to see/record/detect ? Give us some info on the property and enviroment and are the cameras internal or external. At night what exsiting lighting is there ? There are some very experienced Guys here who can give you pointers on what equipment to use.

Hey, sounds great, I will give it a try...... I wonder if it works on pesky door to door Salesmen

It's all very nice and a good idea to let the parents see their little Johnny running rings round the Teacher BUT........ How would you stop parents looking at other children? What if (and its not difficult) a username and password was comprimised. CCTV in Schools should not, IMHO, be given access to the outside world.

It's a long long story..... 15 year old plus exsisting mains camera / PTZ and some obscure Phillips Telemetary board inside the housing, 2 of these Bad Boys siting 300ft up on each corner. Radio link to control room 1 mile away. Cameras monitoring Coast line for the Public in their Boats which should not be there (Testing range for Army who Fired their Big Guns out to Sea) The Customer moves the control room to below the Tower. The not so experienced Salesman from the un-named worldwide company I was working for says 'Yes we can move the controls' Quotes 16 hours labour ! So we hard wire to RG11's down the Tower but for what every reason the old Philips controls ceased to work, No wiring diagrams. So it was cheaper for us to prebuild and test two PTZ units at the office, We used a two channel BBV controller and and put BBV telemetry unit inside each housing. As we had spare 24v PTZ heads at the office we swapped the out old 240v's - At the end of the day we might as well do it properly. We also had to get the Radar shut down when we were up there which was not very popular with the operators, so the less visits the better. It was a Nightmare job, but it was a nice break from the standard CCTV in a Shop/House/Gas Station Sorry Ken you can have your thread back !

What part of the world are you? The camera in the picture I buy from a supplier here in the UK, They are made in Korea. It is a 4-9mm varifocal 520TVL version. I think the design is copied by a lot of Korean type manufactures just with different resolution / lens combo's If you look on one of the Advert Banner's above they sell them. Now thats cheap ! Did he get them from FV ? I would like to put a couple on our Shop's as Demo units

It is a 300ft Radar Tower, Great View, Great Tan ! Not happy when I dropped my screwdriver though http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm85/alanjh1965/20070504_1270.jpg

240V to the Head..... I hope you have a Risk Assesment and Method Statement Ahh 240v the good old Days http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm85/alanjh1965/20070504_1267.jpg http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm85/alanjh1965/IMG_1134.jpg

Yes althought if you know you DVR inside out it makes the user demo at the end of the installation run a whole lot smoother. I think you are right to find a DVR brand and stick to it, your tech's will feel more comfortable with that and after a couple of jobs they will learn the inside outs. I have used DM for too many years to remember and I can find my way around them, but recentley I have been using a cheaper brand and it took three or four installations for me feel comfortable with it. There's nothing worse trying to show a Customer how to use a DVR whilst you are flicking throught the manual - doesn't look very proffessional The other thing when making your decision about what DVR to specify is the Tech Support from the supplier / manufacturer. Call them and ask them a few simple questions e.g burning an image to disk and see if they are conversant with the product. A good demo at the end of the job ensures you get those recomendations that keep us going !

Sam, thanks for the advice. I have seen cheap SpeedDomes from various suppliers and they have all been around £400 but I have been reluctant to specifiy them. I haven't used SpeedDomes yet on jobs i have installed (I have only been working on my own for a year having worked at ADT for 15) But the few larger jobs i have quoted I have either used AD Ultra 8's or Dennard 2060's (they now come with a 4 year warranty). Does any body have a reliable cheap PTZ Dome they use ?

I use LJD most of the time for my low budget installs, The trade price for a 520TVL IR dome is so low you cant go wrong and hey if it goes wrong after a year just chuck it away and buy another (customer pays of course! It has a great picture for the price http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm85/alanjh1965/IMG_2045.jpg http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm85/alanjh1965/4.jpg (Recorded on a DS2) I have fitted 30+ and had 3 faulty out of the box, althought I have yet to send them back for credit, I will let you know. I also use their Apollo DVR (8Cam 500GB) once again for the price it fits the budget market. My prefered DVR is DM as it is so simple to use, but most Home owners are on a budget I always state to my customers that budget systems have limitations and usually give them 2 quotes so they can make the decision. I guess in the real world we have to make scarifices to stay in buisness

Take a look at....... http://www.fvcctv.co.uk/products/documents/MIC1_400_underwater_version1.pdf

Sorry didn't mean to sound rude. These type of Kits are not very flexiable - you get a standard camera, One size doesn't always fit all, and the DVR worries me... 720X240 resolution. scorpion posted a very, very good message with good advice.......

In Simple Terms....... If you need $300 to buy something and you take $1000 with you, you only need $300 but you have something in reserve ! It's the same when powering Camera's, althought the Camera only draws 300ma from the 1000ma (1amp) supply leaveing 700ma spare it is always better to over engineer your power supplies. The 1 amp won't damage the camera ! Simple !

Thanks Sam, I always use DM too, were budget allows. I didn't think about using BBV, I guess it saves running Data from the DVR. What about Presets, I understand you can get an alarm board from FV but can you program Presets direct from the DM, I have used BBV before with Dennard PTZ's and they dont always have the facility ? Our if you home run Redwalls etc to the DM can you trigger the preset that way (I am used to using American Dynamics SpeedDomes) AL

A ballon ? I hate blowing them things up

If you want him to remain your friend Don't buy from Ebay

Thanks Sam, a few questions..... 1. What Controller/DVR do you use 2. What lighting at night have you got or has yours got the mounted IR's? 3. Have you got a picture of it... to replace the one of my wife in my wallet