wetwire

<------- Sticks nose in where it does not belong. Seemed to me he was simply saying that he forgot them himself. I suspect it is a language translation/barrier thing. usnewyork (interesting name) - How many cameras were you wanting to view at one time? All 6 of them? One at a time?

Here is a link to all GVs "legit" dealers. *edit - Sorry...forgot the linkage http://www.geovision.com.tw/english/7_0.asp Hope this helps

Thought I might try and give this post a revival. As I am to new to this forum, I have yet to go completely through all the posts. I have gone through a great deal of them. This one seems as good as any to post to, save starting a new one. So here goes. The fact of the matter is I have had many problems with various camera makes and manufactures in the average install. I will try to sum up here my own experience quickly. The list below is from most to least common and problematic. 1) Camera MTBF or to say the lifespan. - I would have never thought failure rates would have been so high, so fast. With everything installed and tested in the most professional way I can muster, this seems to be an issue. Just exactly how long should a camera really last. Certainly beyond 50% of its rated MTBF? On an average 12-16 camera install I have seen a trend that would indicate a failure rate of 30%-40% and a lifespan of 1-3 years. Is this normal? 2) Camera quality - Name brands such Provideo, Panasonic, GE, Pelco, ETC. I simply do not have the capital in my small company to purchase "samples" of them. And, using a customer as a guinea pig is...well draw your own conclusions. (my thought is, that its not a great idea) So this begs the question. Where can I get said information. This forum seems to have the potential. I would post pics of different model cams here. 3) Troubleshooting - "What the heck happened now?" "I just lost another camera at a location." Troubleshooting has become a tiresome affair for me. The real problem is that I love to troubleshoot things, and feel as though I have an inherent gift for it. BUT, when there is no real answer to be found and the problem inadvertently gets fixed somehow, I remain clueless as to the solution and completly unsatisfied with myself. These are just a few of the problems I face. I doubt I am the only one. So here is an idea I would like to propose. A more formal guide section done on some topics. I would like to offer my own experience and create some but, I would like to do so only if I thought it would be helpful to the community and a cumulative effort. If this is already being done elsewhere and I have not stumbled accross it yet or is in the "dealers" section please feel free to remove or alter this post if you like. I hope this might encourage some of you to reply. Thank you for reading this. Wet

I would love to hear Rory's question answered with a modicom of truth. Unless of course you are in fear of retribution which is understandable. We would not want anything bad happening to you... note - this is said in a mostly joking manor with undertones of sarcasm.

Here is a site with a number of tools including several speed tests. Sign up for free and keep your history for tracking. http://www.dslreports.com/tools

Definite +s on the SATA ...can you say "easy as pie hot-swapable"

Well based on the fact you are using a CRT monitor. I am going to assume you are using a PC based solution. If so then what type of video card are you using? If this happens to be the case Nvidia's software has the ability to flip the entire picture 90 deg. in any direction. It is called NVrotateand has been part of Nvidia's drivers for years. I suspect other video cards have simliar features. I realize this is not the question you asked but hope that it might help. Side note - One thing to keep in mind is that it flips ALL the software on the PC so unless you are viewing w/ the recording software in fullscreen... It is just a simple click of the mouse to change it back and forth however. Also, the lcd idea is a very viable option as well. lots of them nowdays even have TV level inputs (coax,RCA) edit - just saw the date on the post...tad late. Sorry but I just found this great forum yesterday. Guess that does not say much for my Googling skills..and on that note. I actually found this forum through a link in another forum, not by searching. Go figure.

PC based - The simple answer is no. Not if you care about customer relations anyway. Hard dives WILL fail in DVRs. A DVR is very taxing on a hard drive. I have RMAed many a hard drive and I have noticed a trend in manufactures. WD and Maxtor both have started to question DVR usage when RMAing a drive. They have also started product lines like the "Enterprise Edition" for said target market.

I heard that. 50% of my business is just that..referrals. And those people make the best customers due to the fact they already have a blind trust in you.

Haha! I typoed and went here first http://www.icswest.com/ I thought hmmmm... carwash security? a new expo?? nm. I got my mailer. Cost for me is a factor, so I will try to make it but we will see. $1000 to visit a town that will also beg me to play the slots as well..dunno Reno got me for $1000 last month so I dunno. If I do go I would like to meet up and say howdy to some of you going. Let ya know before April.

I dealt with the Houston, TX hub of ADI for several years before giving up on them. My own experience with them, wholesaler or not was mixed. They where not very consistant in their actions. Price fluctuations, miss-sent orders, backorders all were a problem. I also had several price/availability checks that wound up getting shipped a month after the job was completed. It got to be a joke between my and my UPS guy. Granted, it was usually on hot items like Pelco camclosures, but the irony was that small fries, online distros had them in stock and cheaper. *edit - woot made the post before it got moved into no mans land. Have a few post to go eh?

Glad to hear these type of responses. I often question this issue myself as the inevitable question seems to arrise even years later. "How do a back up again?" All the training, manuals and good documentation will not replace real world experience. Lazy/slow/inexperienced users will always need someone to help them later on down the line. It might as well be you! No sense letting someone else get your $$. This IMHO needs to be billed whether it be in the initial bid or a service contract or just on a as needed basis. It keeps the client satisfied either way if you just let them know what you are doing.

Boy you are not kidding. I ordered a catalog on disk and well...you know...sheesh.

Hi there. The Geovision software will detect anything at all that moves. including steam, shadows or anything else of the sort. Sometimes, there is no way to fix this through sensetivity settings and still remain satisfactory. However, If you go into the main configuration of the GV software you will find that each camera can have areas masked out and set not to trip the motion detection recording. It is fairly intuative and works quite well for small areas or to the edges of the viewing area. If you are getting the steam showing up in more than 50% of the camera's viewing angle I would recommend repositioning the camera or moving to another location altogether. Play around with the mask a bit and you might just have your answer. Edit for question #2 - I would have posted an answer but, I will just say this. I know your pain. Good luck finding any decent resources. I have been Googling "CCTV" for years now and info is sparce. Take a long hard look before you install is about all I can tell you. Hope this helps. Wet