Numb-nuts

Many of you DIY guys will have QVIS Discovery DVRs and QVIS say their APP is the only APP that the DVR works with. This isn't true and to prove it all you need to do is install the vMEyePro APP for android. It works really well and it's FREE and supports multi DVRs and from various platforms which may be of some benefit to installers and business owners that have a couple of sites with various brands of DVR. Don't know if it's available for iPhone but wouldn't surprise me " title="Applause" /> " title="Applause" /> " title="Applause" /> Anyway I hope this thread is of benefit to someone.

I will second that, NOW YOU'RE IN BUSINESS if the pin-outs are the same if not you could be the proud owner of a pool of molten plastic If the cameras have a brand name on the label somewhere and they say Lorex, you could be in business. Otherwise it's replacing the lot, but I agree it would be satisfying to use the existing cameras

What do those lovely neat labels say? Those connectors are not usual for CCTV systems however they could be the leads to the cameras from some proprietary kit that was made to sell out of a chain store and wasn't supposed to be anything other than a stand alone system. Those look like DIN plugs. Unless you know what's what, it isn't worth messing with the cables to put your own connectors on and replace the missing box with a DVR. The only advantage I can see is the cables can be used to pull new cables through and then supplu your own CCTV cameras to replace the ones already there.

As a professionals, I am happy to give pointers and help solve problems of other professionals and of course read their opinions and experiences. What are we all doing to our industry though,. It seems that everyday more and more business owners or their appointed IT people, are coming onto this forum and asking advice from the vevry people they want to deny a living . WHY THE HELL ARE WE HELPING THESE PEOPLE? It started out with the professionals giving help and advice to the DIY home system users, that I feel is okay and has minimal effect on out livings, but we have to contend with idiots that suck the blood from our industry by selling equipment at ridiculously low mark-up and adding no value, i.e. not technical support nor installation and maintenance. So far as I am concerned, business owners who come on here and ask the professionals for help and advice how they can avoid paying the very people they want help from are just too cheeky. Go stick it in yer' ear

Thats your opinion!

I'll be listening because I don't know about IP systems yet I have to say, Okay I've set up one IP camera at a time but it's not the same thing is it? I am going to some training courses next year I hope.

Is it pesach already ? My how time flies when yer having fun! ?????? Haven't you any jewish friends,? Ask them about it.

Why did you update to a higher version of Mac is there some other software you needed the latest update for? I hate updating my Mac OS because it always means updating all my other software. You'd think that updating would be good thing, but in my experience it's a damn nuisance especially with Mac. It's almost impossible to updat without having to update everything else and some software hasn't updated to the latest Mac OS yet so you either do without it, and wait for the update which always costs, or you do without and find some other application that does the same thingthat is compatible. For that reason I am still using Mac V 10.8.5 and still everything is working great, the last thing I want is to update for the sake of it. (I'd like to if it wasn't such a pain)

The larger the corporation the higher their running costs and they need to recoup that somehow. To some degree, the equipment is much the same however the function and capability is a big feature in the larger corporation's product often badge engineered but they need to carry the overheads with them also hense the significant price difference. I think it must be something like a reverse economy of scale? Chew on that a while....?

When I said "you know where" I was referring of course to that place we none of us admit to using but all of us do. I mean of course ebay! Yes it's the same with me and rj45s, I was on here complaining I couldn't get the knack and then one day it suddenly clicked and I hardly ever have to re do them, now although I am super confident with them. It saves me a heap of time and money too. I was thinking of getting a soldering station from ebay and try to start learning to solder properly without melting all the insulation off the wires I am trying to solder in the first place. This one comes with a guide book so it looks promising. I just want to be able to make up custom leads occasionally, solder on DC power plugs, (I know I know I have lots of the screw down ones) to solder up special fuse boards etc I am not keen on electronic assembly as such though. I always hated math at school although strangely I loved physics as it seemed to mean something, in fact physics was resposible for me improving in math considerably at school. The boards are found by searching ebay for step down dc-dc I like the encapsulated ones as they are waterproof and cannot be interfered with and they are small enough to go in a wall box if needed. The advantage of the bare boards is they can be used as a local 12v to 12v regulator to give a nice smooth current and some can even step up a little. I would like to try this when I think there might be too much voltage drop or am I dreaming again? By the way I'd love to be able to weld, we had a try at soldering lead once at college, (I did construction management) most of it ended up on the floor as soon as we heated it , it simply rolled away and ran onto the floor. phew

I am often asked to distribute CCTV VGS or BNC signal to several display panels around the business or home. VGS splitters generally use a 5 volt PSU and so yet another huge plug in PSU is required making your wiring look untidy. With this unit you can tap 12v off your existing PSU and solder a plug on the end doing away with yet another PSU. I found this small transformer on ebay and have tried them out with great success, I buy the encapsulated ones but they are available un encapsulated so they are variable still and so could be used in other applications. Most professionals will already know about this so this is a tip for the DIYer mainly.

Frankly I wish I were savvy enough to make my own but I must accept my limitations. It's a foolish person that delves in where they don't have a road map. But this advice was more for the DIYer that derives satisfaction from taking on technical projects, granted that some of those would have the capability to build their own, I am dealing with someone else's equipment and am not prepared to risk it aside from the fact that I couldn't build one if my life depended on it. If your skills are such that you can build one I applaud you and say all respect to you for it. I am too busy to learn something like that and the soldering has never been a strong point of mine since I never sat down to learn the skill. When it comes to soldering I get by, but I try to avoid it if I can. It is my intention to buy a soldering station one of these days and learn to solder properly there are some competitively priced ones listed "you know where".

Well I haven't any notes on port forwarding that model but being a netgear it won't be too complicated check youtube for

contact you ISP and get them to setup a stsic IP address for you and disable DHCP for the DVR and assign a static IP for your LAN (i.e. outside the DHCP range of your router) Some routers have the entire range and if you want a static IP you have to exclude it from the range, others have a set range and you simply assign an address outside that range, still others will read the IP address of your DVR and not assign it again What make and model is your router? Then you can switch your network on and off to your hearts content.

Sorry I cant help with the RF modulator since my experience of them is very limited so far. You should be able to view the cvideo signal on a TV direct using a BNC to RCA converter and plugging directly into a TV's video in (Yellow RCA socket) you may need to select it on the AV selection of your TV

If you are not getting any voltage whatsoever from the BNC out, it's probably faulty because you should be able to go straight from the DVR to the scart socket using the appropriate convertor. Look carefully through the software to see if these is a way of assigning a particular channel to the BNC output. It would be called spot monitor or display. You may have to enable it and select a channel. If there are software setting they will be in the settings section of the software.

Buy a different brand! I have installed several CnM systems for clients, only their classic silver DVR is any good. While the cases make them LOOK like similar systems they aren't the same. Now you have the system you are unlikely to get technical support , you are more likely to get vague answers from some sales order clerk at the company that sold you the pup. These people don't add any value they just take your money as for support, your on your own chum. Nw the output to a monitor by which I think you mean VGA output? Or maybe you have tried outputting the BNC output. You can try a BNC output to the TV using one of these. I haven't used one but they are supposed to br effective using the TV's scart socket. Of course, available on ebay.

Is it pesach already ? My how time flies when yer having fun!

My client has a single telephone line and uses it for broadband, telephone and (YIPES) their credit card terminal. When the CC terminal is running, the broadband won't. I had a panic phone call the other night that the CMS wasn't connecting to the shop. After pinging their public IP from home, I discovered it wasn't online. They then relized they'd left the CC terminal plugged in . We all know that CC clearing often contact the terminals during the night to update their security. I know that there is a microfilter in line but is there a way for these services to co habit the same telephone line?

Yeah I agree that it's NOT my responsibility, and I have explained the options to my client and they accepted that as the problem existed with their broadband before I installed so they know it's not my fault. This customer are such nice people that I wanted to see if I could find a solution for them. The option I have left them with is a choice to live with the problem or get a dedicated line for the terminal.

Cracked it fellas, thanks for your input, also got my confidence back since after I proved the ports opened, everything after that went smoothly as usual. Thats quite good little router and fast too. I particularly like the ethrnet visual layout map it gives you. It even identified devices by their MAC address and you can change the names the devices are known as on the LAN. i.e. DVR1, DVR2, sales office printer, dispatch office printer etc. Great feature!

You beat me to it. The whole point of translating video into an unimpeachable format is that it cannot be readily edited and the footage is raw and untouched as it occurred which is what courts want. I am amazed that you were able to get the footage edited in the firstplace you must be some kind of guru. Police and courts want video that can't be edited on a CD DVD with a unique player so the RAW fles can be played on any PC from the optical drive or the HDD. I know what you mean abut being hailed some kind of expert having had a go for a friend. I am the same with DIY and home maintenance. I once unblocked a lady's drain as I had my pressure washer and drain rods in the van, for weeks after that I had requests to unblock people's drains. Most CCTV systems have some common feature which will be similar in others all are slightly different. It's kind of like a computer technician having to deal with several versions of windows and linux, effectively the same thing only its CCTV with a different set of objectives. You will need to learn a bit about port forwarding and setting up CMS software and of course DNs servers and how they work, but for you I imagine it'll be quite simple. If you find a good importer with a good range of CCTV who can offer you support it'll be worth paying a little more having that support there. Byu sticking with one brand there will be one great selling advantage, when you meet potential clients you can show them live streaming video from various shops or businesses that you've installed and store the setting all in one CMS (Central Management Software, which also shows the client that you are Tech Savvy and you can explain to them that these are all clients with the same brand of DVRs so you can add a second and even a third DVR as and when the client wants. It's great when there is a client with several sites, see their face when they realize they can keep an eye on all sites from their office, or even when they go away on vacation. I have one client that manufactures leather upholstery and when they go out to furniture buyers they shoe the cameras at their factory of the sofas actually being manufactured. This is a "BIG" selling point for them and their cameras are soon due to go live on their website too. Of course the other thing to remember is the if your clients call you to adjust any settings, you can log in and do it remotely. This happened to me when I was with a potenial client and the moment he realized I could do it he wanted me to attend to that so he could witness it. Once he did, he was sold. When can you start the job? I hadn't even quoted him yet. The other thing is that once you have a few online, you can demonstrate live the difference between types of camera, (remember to keep a record of which camera views are from which cameras.) By sticking with one brand you will quickly become expert in that brand and be able to answer client questions and show the systems to their best advantage and the confidence you have will also sell systems for you. When you price up a job, always put a at least a full day for training and commissioning. In short learn your capabilities and wow the clients. For my clients that refuse to change their broadband ISP and have a dynamic IP, I have opened an account with NO-IP and I create a domain for them which costs me relatively little in comparison to losing the job. The problem with free IP servers is there is always some like having to register every 30 days. Your clients are NOT going to do that and you will be the villain of the story. Better to add then to your IP server account. They can even use the DNS server for other services without any effect to their CCTV. If a client wants 4 cameras sell them four with a 8 channel DVR because clients always stsrt to think about extra cameras and feel reassured when they realize they can have more without losing their initial investment. Also they need not worry too much if one of their live channels goes out they can switch to another channel that isn't being used. You will find a lot of excitement in selling CCTV but walk away from cheapskates they irritate, life is too much fun and too short.

I suppose you could get a modulator and insert the signal into your TV distribution system?

I'm not clear if those are IP cameras or analogoe througha dedicated DVR server If the latter no problem you can get several pairs of rj45 to VGA converters then buy a VGS distribution matrix, (You can daisey-chain a couple too) then conect them all over the CAT5 cables to wall boxes at each TV and a patch lead with a VGA convertor into the back of the TV ad to view merely go to the AV menu and select PC or VGA (on some TVs) If its from a IP camera setup you could use the same idea but you have to figure where the VGA signal will output from, I have never had to do that yet.

Just a little tip to anyone trying to set up Discovery DVRs CMS software running. After installing if when you open the CMS there is no access to the screen layout palate, close the program and right click on the desktop icon and select properties at the bottom of the menu. In the security tab, click the permissions tab and at the bottom of the dialogue box tick log in as administrator and apply then return to the application it should now allow you to drag devices to your desired viewing frame. Its very simplistic software but it works and is easy to set up, despite some misspellings and quirky behaviours etc.