SEANHAWG

You will not find them new anymore (unless you find a seller who has some closeouts) as Honeywell took over Ultraks operations a few short years ago. You can probably contact Honeywell to see if they have a replacement for the product. I noticed that Honeywell have simply rebadged their names on some of the Ultrak products, especially the PTZ stuff so you might be in luck for a very similar product.

Samsung and Panasonic dont make shabby cameras. If your going to get good brand name cameras, why not get a good DVR or DVR card to match up with them? Sometimes you can get away with getting a non-branded standalone DVR and still have decent quality but hardly ever will you have good quality with a non-branded DVR card. I hear too many a horror stories about bad non-branded DVR cards these days. After it runs through your card and then to your computer monitor, the image looks crappy. My suggestion would be to start over and get a better card or a good standalone DVR. I bet if you ran the camera directly into a small 13"-19" Tube TV like Rory said you would probably like the image even better. Sometimes those cameras just look better on a tube because it takes away that "soft" look that you mentioned that analog cameras have on LCD computer monitors.

Yeah, that should get you a Blue-I camera if you can find a seller who has them. If you get one, let us know how you like them. Does your current camera have some BLC on it? If not, that may help a little if not alot.

I'm old school. I just use RG59 Siamese with an extra set of 18/2 power wires for transmission. Works great if you only have 1 PTZ in your system.

It makes for a good dumbbell. It looks big and its even heavier.

I am too. The connector is actually fatter than a normal F connector. I have never seen one like it. This was probably top of the line back in the day.

Dang, can you get a refund for the $500 and get several of the cheap $75 that do better? It almost makes me think the camera is defective or something. That just doesnt look right. Even right out of the box without any adjustments, you should get way better of a pic than that.

stick that booger right up to the window.

Do they make this? was going to use it for PTZ's. Yeah I know, just use some cat5 but just wondering if they make this stuff.

I am looking to buy some used IR analog color cameras for re-sell. This is a void we need to fill in our product line. If any of you are updating a system to newer technology and you or your client needs to sell a bulk qty of these, or if you have a bunch laying around, please let me know. Keep in mind I have to re-sell these when offering this. Thanks for your help!

Your customer will be more satisfied with the flush mount look.

Yes I learned this. The first rolls I were buying were all copper clad. The second types of rolls had a solid copper center coax wire but the 2 power wires were copper clad. I didnt have any problems with either type of these regarding video quality other than the fact that the first roll with the foil shielding was just more than a nuisance. In a matter of fact, I have our 16 camera system with the cheapest quality cable and havent had any problems yet. But just to be safe, I always like to get the good stuff now.

yes

No, not any generic camera would do better. Stick with name brand if you want to have safe quality results.

I seen some prices on the DVR's for this stuff. OUCH.

It sounds like you got a piece of junk if you cant capture a good image from only 10' away. When you are viewing the live video, does the image look clearer. If you have a piece of junk recording device then that could dirty up the resolution even more by the time you get around to review the recording. Not quite sure what you mean but if you are talking about an auto-zoom feature or remote zoom feature then I personally dont think you need one for this scenario. My recommendation would be to get a good analog camera with an vari-focal lens on it so you can adjust the zoom to your liking upon installation. From only 10' away, you should be able to use a camera with a typical 3.5-8mm lens (or thereabouts) and zoom in on the general area where there will be a face walking through the door and get a very crisp picture. Dont know if you still need an IR illuminated camera or not but if you never need this camera to see when the lights are out then you can forego that feature and just use a typical auto-iris lens or even a manual iris lens if the lights remain the same during viewing.

I have to admit that this sounds kind of cool. If they can really produce hi-def 720p or 1080p video and keep the price around the same as a good analog camera then why not? Of course, I would have to see to believe but from "hearing" about it, it sounds like a pretty cool concept. Breaking through the resolution limitations of a regular analog camera while keeping the functionality the same and the price the same sounds like a great idea. From what I understand, you will have to get an HD DVR. If this can all be achievable and functional then I could see where there would be alot of folks who would prefer this over IP because of functionality and costs. But like I said, the concept sounds great but until I see it first hand, I cant place a good review.

So are these basically just advanced analog cameras?

So I picked up a used Pelco 4 channel DVR DX1100 for a smokin deal. The last owner was a surplus dealer who liquidates for some prison system. I dont think they had alot of experience with CCTV stuff because they said they could not get the thing to record but I got it to record just fine. Anyways the only problem that I am having with the thing is that it will sometimes re-boot (turn off, then back on abruptly) out of nowhere. My question is, is this a hard-drive issue or something else? Its only got a little 80 gb hard drive in it but if this is the issue than I could just swap the thing out to get it working again. And I will have to say that the recording quality on this thing is very sub-par to the point of being embarresing. I have it set to the highest quality setting and it still just looks like junk. I figure with it being a Pelco that it would have decent quality recordings. It was built in 2005 which is a few years back but dang. I have a computer video capture device coming in in the next few days where I can start posting screen shots to show you what I mean on this stuff. Has anyone else used this model?

Its a standalone DVR and yes I think it may an overheating problem. I will open it up and see if the fans are working.

Simple: Like Birdman said: Run a cable from your DVR's video out to your TV's RCA video input. You will basically use your TV as a monitor. If you have a newer TV built within the last few years, chances are your TV has a few of these to where you can switch between them and still see your DVD, Playstation, and other stuff. If your DVR has a remote, you can simply put the DVR right next to your TV and not even have to get up out of your seat to control the DVR. Depending on which cable type you use to run from your DVR to your TV you will need to get an adapter. If you plan on using Coax, use the connector that Birdman recommended. If you use an RCA cable, you will need to use an "RCA female to BNC male" I am currently setting up a system in my house with 2 PTZ's at opposite corners of the house. This pretty much covers all angles of my house with a few exceptions where I will put some fixed cameras. I have young children who like to play outside all the time and I am constantly having to get up to look out the window to check on them. Now all I have to do is pick up my TV remote and switch it to the appropriate video input and pick up my DVR remote and control my PTZ's from the comfort of my couch. I can zoom in and out on the kids and follow them around the yard wherever they go. This will allow me to remain lazily sitting on the couch while I resume my couch potato tendencies.

make sure the center conductor is solid copper. Alot of online sellers have copper coated steel.

21-f is 12V DC only. 24-F is dual voltage.

I personally dont like using IR LED cams for outdoor use so I would prefer the Speco for outdoor use and the nuvico for indoor. Or use the Speco indoors also with IR illuminators.

I am just now starting to dive into DVR's and am a little outdated on all of the newer equipment that is on the market. I noticed that the most common thing I have seen on the specs of DVR's is H.264 compression. From my understanding, this just makes the video quality of your cameras appear better??? If so, how? Or if I am missing the point? And what is the difference between CIF and D1? Does it have to do with pixel information? Does D1 have more pixels? And how does this relate to H.264 or does it relate? And all of my cameras are mainly only 330 TV lines. Since my cameras are just standard resolution, am I wasting my money buying a DVR with D1? Most of the non-D1 DVR's that I have seen are a little cheaper and I hate to waste money on a feature that I cant even see since my cameras are not really considered high resolution. I dont really want to put "blingin rims on my granny's Volkswagon" if you get my point.