Numb-nuts

I haveto admit, after a few hours each day fooling with my joystick ( ) I am kind of getting the 'feel of it. And yes the Symphony does have proportional speed control and I have noticed it, I just didn't have the feel for the joystick yet. I do have micro-pan and micro tilt controls on my keyboard also which are very useful. I haven't yet used the manual zoom as the camera always seems to find the correct zoom, but the position of the camera makes the manual iris control very handy. Thats description of a tour is about what I expected loosely speaking. The problem was I wanted the camera to patrol the areas between the presets slower than it does when I call a preset. Still I will work with what I have.

A good spring clean is always welcome. Well now back to my review. After an afternoon of zooming in / out, locating hot spots to potentially save as presets, by noting the pan and tilt locations, which is conveniently displayed for up to a second after resting the camera, I then decided on my presets and the camera accepted my instructions without incident. I have to admit, in my naivety, that I had wondered why a fast pan and tilt speed was something one might look for in a 'speed' dome as all it does is make controlling with a joystick an very precarious affair. Well Now I can see that the speed comes into it's own when selecting between presets, rapidly moving from one preset to another in a split second. This speed dome is certainly fast even for my expectations I have on one or two occasions heard operators of speed domes, complain that the iris control and the manual focus are not responsive enough at the keyboard, well neither of those statements would be true with the Symphony. Hit a preset and run into the sun, hit the iris control and you have a great picture again and similarly for the manual focus ( however the operator would need to be fast too). I haven't yet set up any tours as I am ashamed to say I don't yet quite understand how they are set up or how they might be applied in practice but give me time with the operations manual and I will do so. Just a point to raise here about the instruction manual. This manual presupposes the operator is the installer. It is not much good as a an end user manual, and for a less experienced installer like myself, presents a steep learning curve. However from a commissioning point of view it has al the information and a schematic layout of the menus and sub menus. There are also shortcuts to the submenus listed which is rather handy. Nightime viewing is at the moment very disappointing with a huge amount of noise and not much else. At this time, I am not sure if this is a setup error on my part or if the performance is just poor, so I will not judge the camera on this at the moment, all I know is I have had Sony cameras ( this unit has a Sony Camera inside) before, and they all without exception, performed significantly better in low light conditions. This camera is quoted as being for day /night viewing so performance at night should be reasonable at least. I am talking with the engineers at Cop about how to resolve this or if there is an issue with my particular unit. All I can say is watch this space.

To fit the Symphony PTZ (and the Insight PTZ) first the fitter needs to decide what kind of fitting to sue. The PTZ comes complete with back-box and wall mount pendant fitting. There are also several other fittings at extra cost including internal and external mount corner-brackets and a pole-side-mount. I have never seen a situation where an internal corner-mount would be useful for a PTZ camera, but I assume there are such situations. Other mounts such as wall-mounting swan-neck, a pole top mounting swan neck, and several sizes in drop poles for mounting overhead like under an eaves, so the range of possible fitting options is really quite good. I mounted my Symphony PTZ to a gable wall at the apex. To mark the holes the fitter can either make a template of the holes out of 1/4" ply or remove the single screw holding the hinge to the back-box and take the back box shell up to the mounting point to mark the holes. Then after re fitting the back-box and after having drilled mounting holes the whole assembly is introduced up to the mounting and the top screws tightened first. After all mountings are secured tight, the wiring can begin. First thing is to open the back-box and leave your Dome camera suspended in mid air by the hinge. This feels frightening at first but the hinge is very secure and after the initial concern the fitter will quickly have confidence in the hinge. Removing one of the two, fitted glands, it is opened and the wiring from the DVR and PSU are passed throug the gland and terminated accordingly. I had already terminated my loom, but by disassembling the gland managed to place the BNC through all the parts, The Glad was then refitted and tightened. The other gland can be used for a Cat 5 cable to wire the alarms in which are taken to the back box so it is not necessary to open the dome again after initial dip switch settings. Convenient eh? I haven't fitted any alarms yet and will using the camera as a fixed camera at night on motion sensing until I decide where I need the presets and tours. (I did buy this dome to learn from.) The only other reasons you might have to remove the dome are to clean the lens of the camera, or to change the dome itself either after damage or with a replacement smoked dome, or to remove condensation which is a rare occurrence I hope, otherwise there would be no need to remove the dome. So far I have been impressed by this dome and the way it is physically configured. My only minor criticism is that the pendant arm is secured to the back box using four no 6 self locking nuts so swapping the nuts for anti tamper nuts (should you wish to do so) is expensive, whereas if it mounted using bolts, anti-tamper bolts are far more common and much cheaper. Another fitter is far more likely to have anti-tamper Torx screwdriver bits to accommodate opening the back box. Not everyone wants to fit anti-tampers but I like to. Having powered up the camera and controller, the camera impressed mewith its speed and responsiveness. The picture is sharp enough for identification purposes upto around 50 x zoom and can still read a number plate cleary at 52 times zoom, Fortunately I spent a little more than I budgeted for on the controller as it had micro-pan and tilt buttons. Which really help when getting used to the speed of this dome. The pan and tilt speeds appear to change proportionately at high zoom or the camera would be very difficult to control at distance. I am happy so far with this camera as I have already seen and recorded some criminality in the area opposite my house. I was able to call police, not mentioning that I was watching on CCTV and report what I saw and the subsequent arrival of police and an arrest being made. I don't intend spying on the neighborhood, but if I see something elicit or illegal I intend to do what I have always done and report it to police. Within the space of a couple hours, I have already learned who's dog is crapping on my neighbour's lawn. Before I tell him who it is, I wan't to be sure it wasn't a one off. Fortunately, the camera has four separate masking zones and I will need all of them to blank out neighbour's windows. I don't want to be accused of voyeurism. I would say that really, it should have had eight masking zones and I would imagine this could be incorporated into any future firmware updates. There are 128 presets, four patrols (8 would be better) and 4 alarms in and 1 alarm out. One feature I like and find very useful is that during pan and tilt operations, the horizontal and vertical position is displayed on screen long enough to note it and repeat the position exactly, and also as you would expect so is the zoom factor. This makes setting presets a breeze. Considering the retail price in comparison to some of the better known brands like Samsung, Sanyo or Lilin which have people tracking too, It's not cheap, but it's a good all-round, super-tough dome camera with a lot of strong and useful features. If person tracking and extra masking zones and extra alarms and other features were software options, the unit would IMHO be up there with the Pelco's and Dedicated Micros of this world. Still shoulda coulda woulda, nothing's perfect, but Cop have truly come close.

I was wondering, from the point of view of both professionals and amateurs which type of BNC connecter do you prefer, from a reliability standpoint. 1. The traditional solder on plug, 2. The 3 pce crimp plug or 3. The newer compression fitting plugs 4. the screw on BNC 5. The snap lock type, (no tools required except the stripper) I had a legacy crimp tool from my days of fitting two way radios into vehicles, so quite naturally I considered using the 3 pce crimps. In the days when I was using them, BNCs almost all came from either AMP (Tyco now) or Transradio and were of excellent quality. The BNC's I ca buy now are really poor quality and fail in all sorts of ways I had never experienced in fact the only part that never failed was the center pin. My crimp tool is a Nielson Radbourne and cost an arm and a leg at the time and made reliable crimps. I have today tried the newer compression fitting BNC and found it to be easy and solid to fit. Obviously I checked it for shorts and continuity and it was fine but just how reliable are they? They are certainly not cheap that's for sure, they seem of nice quality. I am staying with 3 pce crimp plugs but will never buy the cheap ebay offerings, I would rather pay more for a british or American made plug that is good quality that pay pennies for a plug that falls apart in your hand. Tis is because I already have an expensive crimper tool. Again I will point out that I am a keen amateur not a professional.

I already bought cheap crimp plugs and it cost me half a day's work to go and replace a single plug. I saved a 20 or 30 pence per plug but just one of those cost me a whole morning in time. I might save £10 or even £20, but if one or more of the plugs fails and cases me a morning's work I lost a lot more than I saved. I now decided to buy only high branded plugs and buy them even though I know I can get cheaper plugs about 1/8th the price. I buy Tyco or Greenpar etc and I have never had a single one of them fail on me. This is now my policy and it's set in stone, that is until Greenpar and Tyco or other high branded makers start to supply the waterproof plugs then I'll use those but until then...

You prob need a 12 BNC plugs, usually siamese cable is RG59 cable and 6 amp power cable. Although I used to use solder on DC plugs and sockets, I have started cutting them off and crimping chord end ferrules on and then connecting with conn block. There are several advantages to doing this especially outside. Buy quality you can afford. Don't forget the strain relief sleeves If you don't have a crimp tool, I would buy one then if you feel like you no longer need it, sell it on ebay. Don't be tempted to solder on as solder can break down quite quickly in outdoor conditions. Are you installing outside/ You could use some IP65 junction Boxes. A small piece of 1/4" ply is helpful. I always make a template of the bracket end fixing and use it to mark my mounting holes. It's cheaper than dropping a camera off a ladder, and a whole lot more comfortable. It is helpful to have a power distribution box because you centralize your connections to a single location. Again, there I have started using chord end ferrules on the DC power cable ends and after trimming them they secure really well in the screw down terminals of your power box. You sound like you've put some thought into your install. Hope it goes well.

Thanks for that Adam. Did you view the video clip and if so what did you think of it, not too bad was it? As I said before, so long as you have a convention for your wiring colours, someone else coming along later on to service your work will be able to figure it out and in the case of home users, even if you forget, you will work it out bt be consistent and even use a sticky label to note your wiring colours and stick it somewhere it can be found easily. Just one other thing, for running Cat5 outside you will need exterior grade cable. You can buy runs of Cat5 on ebay if you are only installing a few cameras in your home. The stuff is usually quite good but do read the spec to see if it's right for you. It's a more economic option than buying a 300 M box and you can choose different from colours. For short runs inside the home under 10M it's otfen cheaper to by a 10M patch lead and cut the RJ45s off or get baluns that accept RJ45 plugs. These will mostly be stranded wire and additional care may be needed. Alternatively, you can leave the RJ45s on and buy a pair of POE (power over ethernet) Balums like these below. Very convenient. Just one other thing, Baluns are NOT waterproof so enclose your connections in a IP65 rated junction box fitted next to the camera bracket. They cost a few pounds / dollars but t believe me when I tell you they Are necessary especially when using a pair of Baluns. It's good practice even when not using Baluns, but not always necessary. I always use one and place a sachet of silica inside to collect any slight moisture.

Thank you, I stand corrected. So Baluns with a Cat5 cable between replace the coaxial cable and you wire one balun at each end. Passive baluns are unpowered, but for even longer runs there are powered Baluns available. Quite convenient for a one time installer who doesn't possess the skill or the tool to crimp BNC plugs.

Oh by da wahey john you rike buy sum CCTV camera velly cheap velly high lesorution, velly niiiiiiice. My apologies to any Chinese members, I am sure your English is perfectly fine.

I was looking on youtube to see if I could offer a links page of how to videos for CCTV jobs like crimping a BNC plug Note the eyes! See if you can bear to watch it all the way through?

Can you imagine what reading this guy's assignments at college must have been like? zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

I pledge $1000...

I thought the best bit was the fish in the background.

Once you've confirmed your settings with COP, I am sure it will all go very quickly and smoothly. If you are still planning your install may I pass on some suggestions for wiring. I always use sleeve end ferrules for wires connected into a screw down terminal like a Balun or those on your PTZ. They improve the connection when using solid core Cat5 or Cat 6. They go on with a crimping tool and some need trimming so they fit all the way in. You can get a crimp tool from ebay for about $15.00 For Cat5 you need 0.25 mm ferrules (orange or white) and for other operations like screwing power cables into a distribution box you would need 0.5 mm (red or black) or 0.75 mm (Turquoise). Also useful when twisting three cat5 conductors together. They are so helpful I always also use them on my car wiring when fitting alarms, or two way radio etc. See this article I found on bootlace ferrules, you'll never use any other method.You'll also see what I mean about needing trimming shorter. For outdoor cameras, I always coat the ferrules in 'Contralube' after they are crimped. This prevents moisture and improves conductivity.

Try without jumpers first, jumpers are usually only necessary when you have more than a single camera and even then not always. I can see the manual's coverage of RS485 is more confusing than helpful. If this is your first PTZ and you are not 100% sure, wait a day and phone COP, they will be only to happy to assist you. It will be nice to know when you are in business, let us know your impressions of this camera and how you like the image quality, zoom etc. It will be interesting to know.

I would talk to London Underground and the FA clubs Wembley Stadium and and of course thee are many metro systems throughout the UK and Ireland where a headcount would be very useful. My first trip would be to see the Olympic organizers at the London Borough of Newham.. If you look for it there must a few really good uses for it. I am not sure but I thought I saw analytic software at several stands at IFSEC, but don't let that put you off.

Just a guess, under the circumstances. The manual appears to be missing diagram 9.6.2 as referred to therefore by process of elimination I am guessing that there is an RS485 in A+ B- and an RS485 out for the purposes of daisy chaining. Get the Multimeter out, with no power applied to the camera, see if two of the connections in the terminal indicated in red are common and then if they are see if the remaining two are common and if they are, you now have to discover which pair are the ground pair. Try it and let us know if you get any success, if not don't risk it, wait until Monday and contact COP. PS There are two things that make me think this is the RS485 terminal, it's proximity to the termination junpers, there are four terminals, 2 in 2 out same as on many control keyboards, and three That's all that's left. Good Luck

DUUUUUUH! I can't open it on my MACINTOSH boo hoo

I haven't yet seen a seller that supplies the retail market with Pelco, it's just too high priced to compete with the abundance of cheap Chinese offerings in the DIY marketplace such as ebay. Well, now he has the info we can be sure he will make a suitable decision, others may also have this requirement in the future, so the options are now out there for all to see. PAINT, PELCO or PURCHASE from China... UPDATE just after writing this post I saw a retailer selling, yes you guessed it Pelco.

What about this

Maplin prices seem too good to be true don't they? Thats cos' they are! Usually you get what you pay for but with Maplins you get far less than you bargained for. Waste of time, waste of money and waste of breath. SORRY, hope I haven't burst any bubbles. Get the Credit card out and invest a little more and you will be so pleased you did later on. Find a local CCTV specialist on the internet and contact them for advice on each individual camera. Take along a plan of the site {google Maps and Google Earth are extremely helpful with that) Take a few measurements and add them to your map as references, The more preparation you do in planning, the better your system is likely to work for you. Happy surveillance... PS if you do get IP cameras. steer clear of the Foscam and Foscam clones on ebay, you will NOT be happy with their performance For a domestic system, I can recommend Vitamin d software as a surveillance interface for IP cameras. First camera license is free and it's both Mac and PC compatible and very simple to learn. If you like it you can go ahead and add a second and third and fourth camera etc but try it out with one camera first. If you don't like it nothing lost Do check their website for camera compatibility.

It must be the end of the mating season !

Spraying has got to be your simplest option. With spray paint in aerosol cans its not as if you need to set up a spay facility. If the appearance is of mega importance, you could take it to a car body shop and ask them to do a high quality finish. If not, degrease it and hand paint with Hammerite paint which is almost bulletproof. It's even available in spray cans now. I have used it on security fences, bollards and it would be my first choice if I were painting a housing. I think the cans are different in the US

Has anyone any experience of the Samsung SCP-2250H PTZ Camera? How good are the Samsung branded PTZs and if anyone knows this model in particular what is the housing material? I have tried very hard to find out but they don't publish that info on the spec sheets.