Numb-nuts

Often manufacturers will have returned cameras that they are prepared to cannibalise with a little persuasion

The quality hmmmmm? Thats a good question, well I don't cinsider myself experienced enough with the thing just yet to comment but pertaining to build quality... If you are familiar with the orange and grey Test monitor/ cable tester/ colour bar generator and PTZ controller/ mdigital multimeter the build quality is about equal to that. I wouldn't go dropping the thing too often but it's rugged enough. They even look similar come to think of it? You've just given me an idea I am going to see of the tester rubber protection jacket fit the other meter and I may try and get another for the cable tester. Thanks for that one... Stroke of Genius PING! I know the jacks identify themselves on the orange meter when testing Patch leads etc, A TIP: If you haven't go to don't want to buy such an elaborate tester, you cna use a cable checker on your length of cat5 check for breaks by installing an RJ45 on either end and test the cable. RJ45s are relatively cheap and so are Cat5 testers. Could save hours of scratching your head. This is the method I used up to now, far too often I might add.

the ferruls work even better with that type of push fit terminal and so quick

If you mean the Cable mapper and tone generator kit. Absolutely, it can, both in UK and in the USA and Australia on ebay of all places. I searched for day for the best price, ended up paying about a few dollars more because I wanted the blue one rather than the red (as if it makes a difference ? ). This is the link to the re-listed product in Australian Dollars. I offered al but a few dollars less and was decided so I ended up paying the full price Yes I meant the cable mapper, thanks!!! Most welcome my friend, hope you can benefit from it. I am guessing, but I believe it will pay me back within 12 months or less, so its a steal at that price. When I think of the time I've wasted locating wiring faults. Think of the stress it will safe you too eh?

I am sure we do have UL rated cable, I just don't know anything about it if I'm honest. I leaned my work through working and reading and forums, (and hate to admit it but) you tube and more forums, working with others and a couple raining courses. No formal apprenticeship or related college study, so I often dont know such things as they aren't always necessary to completing the job. I learned a lot of things the hard way I'm sad to say but once bitten and all that jaz....

Not sure if it would work with your DVR but CMS used by Dahua and QVIS seems to work fine with a number of other DVRs like AVtech and some generic DVRs from China. It downloads for free from Dahua and QVIS security websites so it's worth a try isn't it? For mobile viewing VMEyePro for android works with most DVRs and its iphone equivalent seems to work almost universally too. Try then out they download for free anyway. Nothing to lose, everything to gain. Wishing you luck ...

I just wish I could get gel filled at a reasonable price but it's hard enough to find let alone at an acceptable price. One nick and I throw the cable out, this is especially so when I am running 3 together on an outside wall and have to make my own cable grips they don't have the clips (that width here) and often the brick walls are old and the ointing is dried out and like sand so i have to either use wall plugs or seriously long masonry nails. Occasionally I hithte cable with a hammer by mistake and inspect the cable for nicks or damage before continuing. I have had to start again with the cable a couple times, I've been luck. You show good practice when you are fussy about the materials you use, some installers couldn't give 'the toss' so its better that you are fussy. Without seeing your work I'm willing to bet it's good stuff and tidy. It's that attitude than make all the difference. Don't apologize for it. It may well be UL rated I'm not sure what that should be but I haven't seen a conformity certificate yet. BUt I expect to need one before long to put in a quotation file. Good point I hadn't thought about. I like the new cable just fine and I have had some real dreadful cable Good cable makes good economic sense... believe me I found out the expensive way

VECTOR18!!!!! YOU SHOULD KNOW PAL Both your handle and your insults seem to somehow have a common theme to them. I'm done now, I don't respond to "eejuts" that resort to insults even if I were to blame by making clumsy comments. Consider yourself blocked, I don't use profanities and don't like to see them in writing either, insults roll off me like water off a ducks back. SUCKER there goes that theme again...

Looks nice, can this be bought online? If you mean the Cable mapper and tone generator kit. Absolutely, it can, both in UK and in the USA and Australia on ebay of all places. I searched for day for the best price, ended up paying about a few dollars more because I wanted the blue one rather than the red (as if it makes a difference ? ). This is the link to the re-listed product in Australian Dollars. I offered al but a few dollars less and was decided so I ended up paying the full price If you feel you may also have a need for the item, I am certain it will pay for itself within a few months and pay me back ten times within a year. I hope it will be worthwhile for you too. Read the description, I think you'll be impressed as I was. IF you mean the Ranger Focus level meter it is available online in the UK from its manufacturer NG and I've seen it online on AMerican sites too about the same price as here in the UK If it weren't for my eyesight deteriorating I don't think I'd bother with it, as it does one job and only one job. A lot of money for an item that only does one job.

Don't be so sensitive, I was having a joke with you, but perhaps I misjudged how emotional you would be about my comments. ITS CABLE NOT MARBLE CAKE! Lightem Up fellah. I put my comments up for a general overview and so that anyone looking for exterior cable might take some inspiration from it, it's taken me a while to find the cable I'm happy and confident with and frankly I'm still not going to be 100% confident until all 1000ft are used up without fault. Yeah I know these can be because of the way cable is handled but that aside, I hope to offer some hope. Regarding my tester, I was hoping someone might offer some encouragement about it, I am still not sure that something so cheap is worth it's money. On paper, it looks like a great deal, and very useful, but in practice... well I haven't had that much opportunity to try it out yet. I am sure there are techniques to use in fault finding especially in tracing someone elses wiring, and in finding shorts or breaks. When I think of the hours I've wasted trying to isolate breaks in a section of wire, only to replace it only to discover a second break in another section. I hope this tester is going to help me minimize the fault location times. Also when I get faced with a bundle of cables, RG59 or Cat5, and asked to sort them out, the mapper function will make short work of make up for a lack of labelling and test the connections all in one operation. Gone are the days of trial and error (I hope) I ave looked on youtube to see if i can pick up some tips on using such an instrument but nobody on there has made a video with anything similar. Perhaps I will do that once I figure out all the techniques, I have no faith in the instruction books which are mostly poor translations from mandarin to English. My next investment is going to be the Ranger Focus level meter from NG systems , my eyesight isn't what it once was. By setting roughly the view angle and camera view, the AOV adjuster is locked off and the meter introduced and the focus level set by adjusting the focus ring then locking off. I have resisted using one of these for a long time, but it's time now to start using the device to remove the subjective element of focusing. Couldn't be simpler to use and works every time.

Looking through glass day and night use a camera with a pixar CMOS processor and BLC processing. Still the camera needs to be as close to the glass as practicable. You sometimes have to play with positioning These cameras tend not to have infrared anyway and rely on low ambient light at night. Hang it all, get a professional in you'll pay more initially but you will get it done properly. either that or stop bellyaching about the time it takes, professionals spend years learning through their experience. Do it yourself=mediocre results, spend hours platzing about the results Professional= Fit it and forget it you can get on with the business you know best hope this didn't sound like a moan, it wasn't menat to sound that way so don't take it as criticism please, I know not everyone can afford pro prices. I meet them every day. lol

The answer will be different depending on where you are working and who your competition are. You really need to become friendly with other installers in your district even though they may be your competition, find out who won which contracts and what they went for. You'll soon discover who they buy from and what they charge. I am at a stage where I know what wins my local contracts but when I quote further away I tend to win some and lose more than I do locally which isn't a bad thing really. My figures would be irrelevant to your location and besides I'm not going to reveal to my competitors how I work out my quotes. I will simply say that I an very friendly with at least two of my main competitors and life is far better that way. What I can tell you is that labour cost should be fixed by you and estimated according to the cable runs, and various jobs that need doing such as data cabinet assembly, commissioning etc. I have specific range of mark-up on equipment and include a nominal sum for materials based on a per four cameras figure. Longer runs, require extra labour time and extra cost of materials. Yes, don't forget to charge for materials even if you charge at cost, charge for materials or you'll be out of business before you know it. Use quality materials but shop around if possible, buying quality materials will work out cheaper in the long term and will pay you back. Hope this has given you something to work with...

The things you learn on this forum, this has to be among one of the most practical tips I've picked up on this forum and it's just occurred to me a glass from an alarm clock might even work for the camera I was talking about. a watch and **** repairer (as rare as they are these days) might be able to supply and these guys are usually precision engineers and may well be capable of cutting the glass to fit also. UPDATE either I misspelt CLOCK or this forum has a hearing problem.

YEAH AND I DON'T LIKE THE SHADE OF BLUE OF THE BLUE PAIR IN THE PICTURE THE ONE IN MY OWN CABLE IS A LOT PRETTIER BLUE MORE LIK THE SEA AND SOMEONE FORGOT TO IRON THE CABLE JACKET BEFORE THEY DRESSED IT TOO. I also prefer when my tea is stirred clockwise instead of couter clockwise, because it tastes better that way, just so long as it's not too fast and the wind is blowing in the right direction.

CCA or even worse CCS? Please refrain from using such profanities on this forum. As you say and as I have said a million times, cat 5 was never designed to work with screw down terminals and even id you do double it up and get a good connection, there is always the RISK that the conductor will fracture if moved, therefor I strip the conductor VERY carefully and crimp an insulated wire end ferrule. This takes the strain from the single copper conductor and reduces significantly the chance of the cable fracturing. Using jelly splices is very suitable as these are what UTP was designed for a gas tight IDC connection. No stripping involved.

I have a service spare that was dropped during installation and the glass around the IR LEDs cracked. I replaced it and kept it for a service loan camera and although cracked no moisture appears to have penetrated the housing so I'm leaving well alone. Would have been nice to have had a definitive answer though. I thought the glass was too thin to find in a glass supply shop as it's generally 3mm or geater thick. The thin stuff seems to be for special applications generally.

Great stuff guys, cooperation between members to resolve problems, thats great! Well done, hope you both made a new friend.

Because you don't know how to crimp RJ-45s? I think that's a good enough reason. However, if you persevere to teach yourself to crimp RJ45s, it will increase your options when using single line baluns and 4, 8, 16 way passive and active units. I like to have typically an 8 way balun with two cat5's leaving the location where the balun receiver is located, connected with RJ45s for convenience and intergrity, together with a third cat5 cable split at either end into solid colours and white with stripe colour, to carry the power either 24VAC or 12VDC. These go to a distribution box where the signal cables are split into their twisted pairs and the power line is distributed with DC connectors eight ways. The signal cable then splits orange pair, channel 1 or 5 green pair channel 2 or 6 blue pair channel 3 or 7 brown pair channel 4 or 8 the striped conductor in all cases is +ve and the solid colour is -ve Ensure to keep the join in the signal pairs as close to the twist as possible as this maintains the balance, and do not be tempted to wipe away the gel that coves from the splice, just leave it alone. These splices are perfect for Cat5 as they were developed by British telecom for use on telephone junction boxes where they are exposed to and resist horrendous conditions. They just work! The cables coming from the cameras In each cat5 distributed to a camera, I use the blue pair for video, then split the remaining 3 pairs into solid and striped and twist these together to carry the power to the camera, leaving the blue pair to the signal. so now all the blue pairs are connected to the signal cable, solid to solid stripe to stripe blue pair to orange pair, = camera 1 or 5 blue pair to green pair = camera 2 or 6 blue pair to blue pair = camera 3 or 7 Blue pair to brown pair = camera 4 or 8 Of-course, you can connect to the 4 or 8 way balun receiver stripping and individually screwing down on the conductors but an RJ45 has far better integrity and rarely fails. RJ45s take a little time to master, I myself thought I'd never crack them but with practice you WILL master them. Choose your Cat5 stripping tool and RJ45 crimping tool carefully and you will never look back. connecting the pairs is made with jelly splices which are designed for solid conductors, and give a "gas tight" connection and are virtually 100% reliable. I use a small pair of slip joint water-pump pliers to close these splices. The jaws have a parallel action. You wouldn't catch me paying a ridiculous price for a crimp tool to close these splices, my method works perfectly every time. I never lose a single splice.

Can anyone who knows tell me how to define the dhcp range ob the Tecnicolor 582n routers? I know that normally you either have a user defined range with a preset range or you have the entire range and exclude specific addresses that you require to remain static on your LAN but I just can't figure out the method on a Tecnicolor routers. Portforward.com isn't much help on this I'm afraid. I am having nightmares with this one.

FEE not FREE

I am currently quoting for a job in NW London and will require an installation assistant for two, possibly three days. I am looking to make some contacts that would be interested if my quote is successful, I will need to start 2nd week in May (to finish before IFSEC) Fully trained or semi-skilled or even an enthusiastic DIYer that wants to learn a bit more, would be suitable. Only basic tools required as I can supply all crimping tools and test equipment. (Sorry nobody under 17) Please just message me if you are interested and include your location (i.e.town) and a contact telephone number. Many thanks guys.

Thanks guys, done the job myself now, saved myself a couple hundred, better in my pocket than in someone else's.

You've convinced me, but I'm in the UK we use PAL system and the cost of sending would be too great to make it worth it. I'd look up an recent prospects that failed to close a sale and see if they are still looking, why not offer them a deal on the cameras and get the install fee aswell? That way you get your money back and get some earnings too. Unless you are really busy. All the best

That's entirely different then, well done you for getting it from a known source. It is easy for a technician to reset the entire settings to default then you can set an admin password and save it somewhere then away you, go. One method involves shorting out two pins on the main board, I don't recommend this as one slip and goodbye DVR. I only use that method as a LAST RESORT. The other method is far more manageable but is still risky for a person that hasn't done the procedure before. As for forgetting your MSN password, yeah I've done that too so no big deal. If he didn't have need to get into the DVR in all the time he owned it he was very lucky. Thats why I always set an admin password and a seperate one for my customers so I can always reset their password if they do forget it. Some DVRs need a factory reset in such cases. Send the picture to AVTECH and ask them to identify the model for you by picture and serial number. When you find a technician to reset the password to default he/she will know what to do. best of luck..

There is a purpose for fisheye cameras and thats not it. Face it you probably will be better off with a couple of cameras than just one. Don't drive yourself crazy trying to re-invent the wheel Spend the extra money on some masonry paint.