Cougar281

I've been reading around after looking at the Speco intensifier cameras. I'm a bit unsure of them due to the negatives I've been reading, but most of what I've read is old - up to 5 years old. People have commented on the intensifier having major blur, movement being a 'ghost image', useless, etc, but watching video comparing the Intensifier to an IR camera, the intensifier doesn't SEEM as bad as people have posted about. Have they just improved that much? I don't want to spend the $200 or so per camera and have them suck. Basically, I want to get decent (ideally 1/3" CCD or better and vari-zoom/focal - 2.8-12 or so) but not stupid expensive (>$250) cameras. At the moment I have two cheapo cameras purchased from USASecurityStore and Microcenter and two GE TVC-BIR-HR cameras on loan from a friend. They all have the same 1/3" Sony CCD, but the quality out of the GE's is amazing compared to the other two. The two main problems with the GE's is they're huge (I want to stick with dome cameras) and they suck power big time when the IR LEDs are on. I'm surprised they haven't tripped the circuit breakers I my power supply. POE IP Cameras would be ideal, but they're stupid spendy. I'm also real fussy about what IR cameras I get - nothing that doesn't have separate cavities for the camera and LEDs because if they're both under the same dome, the night vision will suck from the IR bounceback

I've been looking on fleabay at different cards, including Geovision cards. I've found a handful that seem WAY too cheap to be genuine Geovision cards. Is there any way to detect the clones/fakes prior to purchase or something I can ask the seller that would immediately be able to determine if the card is genuine or not? Some of them look like they are used, some state used and some say new (the most suspect ons IMO). Some have links back to Geovision's site. I'm just trying to set a system for my home on a buget and if I can get a good used card for a decent price, I'm all for it, but I'd rather avoid fakes (I'd much rather have a used genuine card than a new fake).

I got a CX25853 based PCI-e card off ebay, and it came with the WAPA software. The card its self seems to be decent, but the software kinda stinks. It has all the features I'd need (except for a built in SMTP engine for e-mail alerts), but it's unstable. "Encode.exe" keeps crashing, at which point the PC must be restarted to get it working again. The card seems to be a decent build quality, and the Conexant chips don't seem to be too horrible. I'm sure some will say I should forget the "Cheap ebay stuff", but I can't afford the "really good" stuff. Don't get me wrong, I'd LOVE to be able to get all top-shelf parts for an NSA grade DVR system, but I'm not doing it for a living or for a business and as such, can't. Working with the hardware I have, do I have any software options other than what came with it (free or pay, Windows or *nix)? The CX25853 seems to be a pretty new chip, so I can see if there just may not be anything else for it yet. I've looked for a few demos such as the Exacq software, but I haven't found any on their page, just a "secured" download of what I assume is the full version. Thanks for any input.

thats what everone forgets to do. From reading around, I gathered that people often forget to click the "network" button to enable network access and/or the "record" button to enable recording, but I missed the "handyviewer" box.

I got a NV5000 yesterday and got it all set up using 7.7SP1. So far so good, no crashes (unlike the Conexant based card). I've been trying to get the Java/Blackberry feature working and can't get it to work. I got the plugin installed on my blackberry, which is activated with a BES server on the same network as the DVR, so I can get to the DVR on the blackberry from inside the firewall. The problem is, every time I try to connect, weather by IP or hostname, I just get "Connect Failed". If I go to the hostname in the web browser like I would on a PC, I get the grey background with red text indicating it could take a minute to download the client (same thing if I go to hostname:5550), so the communication is there. Any thoughts why the Java viewer won't tag up with the DVR?

It was the "handyviewer" box. Thanks!

Well, I've given up on this card and am going to an AverMedia NV5000. The CX25853 based card may be a decent entry level card, but the software that comes with it is unstable, and near as I can tell, no other software will work with it, so that pretty much makes the card useless.

Well, the PCIe Conexant card is going back. The card it's self may be a decent budget card, but unfortunately the software that comes with it, which is apparently the only software that'll work with it, is unstable at best. With that said, can anyone give me a recommendation for a decent, fairly inexpensive card (Ideally, not TOO far over the $200 mark)? What I'm looking for is either PCI or PCIe, comes with decent software and/or is supported by other commercial software, Ideally have the option to run on Windows or *nix (Will probably run on Windows, but it would be nice to have the option), can record all channels at D1 resolution and at least 15fps, either 8 or 16 channel card, software should have it's own SMTP engine so I don't have to have Outlook installed for it to send alerts . Motion detect is a must, ideally able to select specific portions of the frame (that's all in the software I'd imagine). Audio inputs and the ability to control PTZ cameras would be nice for future expansion, but not a must. Ability to export to avi or other "standard" format would be nice but not a *must*. I'm not against getting used hardware either. I'd LOVE to be able to get all top shelf hardware, but unfortunately, I need to go towards the buget end . Thanks

That card has been recommended. The problem with it is it apears to be a 4 port card. I need 8 ports minimum as I only have two PCI slots and will need 7-10 cameras once I'm done. It looks like the lowest model AverMedia card I could use is the NV7240. I was also looking at the GV-800-8 series as an option if I could find a decent price used one. the nv5000 will give you 16 cameras on two pci slots. and 25 fps on each camera. Thanks for the tip on that; Looks like that'll be a good option, and I can get it through work from one of their distributors (D&H) for a decent price. Only thing I'm a little confused about is you say it'll do 16x25fps, but AverMedia's specs say it'll do a max of 120fps. Is that spec just for the base 4 channels?

it depends on your budget. if its used on ebay then its just a bad card been returned. and anyone can put links to geovision. buying from ebay bad idea. its a risk that turns into a headache and costs money. take a look at the avermedia nv3000 costs a little more than cards on ebay. but its new and you have back-up and support. That card has been recommended. The problem with it is it apears to be a 4 port card. I need 8 ports minimum as I only have two PCI slots and will need 7-10 cameras once I'm done. It looks like the lowest model AverMedia card I could use is the NV7240. I was also looking at the GV-800-8 series as an option if I could find a decent price used one.

Well, No dice. Actually got an e-mail back from someone at wave-p and they suggested trying XP SP2 and/or Windows 7. Tried both and same result. Felt one of the chips and thought maybe they where getting hot (measured at about 115 F) causing it to crash so I rigged up a fan to blow on them keeping them below 90 F but it still crashes. Any other ideas?

Thanks for the tip, but the system is as plain as they come. No AV, no Defender. Just Windows, required drivers and the DVR App. The only other thing on there is logmein so I can access the PC if needed.... It installs a "video driver" of some kind. I wonder if that's messing with it? I'm going to yank that and see what happens. If it still has problems after uninstalling it, I'll reload the box.

It's the WAPA DVR software (or a very similar clone). Once I got v8.3.1.0 installed last night, it seemed to work ok until this morning, then I couldn't view video through the web browser, adn I can't access the PC through LogMeIn either (timing out). I'll see what's broken when I get home.

I just got a 16ch PCI-e version, and I'd say the card it's self is not bad. The build quality seems fine, and from reading about the CX25853 chip, it seems to be decent, but the software that came with the card isn't that great.