Soundy

Depends on the software, but most will let you display a range of different layouts, with whatever cameras you select, like these:

A "battery isolator" is what you're looking for there, sold mostly for campers and trailers... allows you to run two separate batteries for the car and the camper (or DVR) systems, mainly so the camper draw doesn't drain the battery you need to start the car, yet still allows the alternator to charge both.

"HTML is OFF" means you aren't allowed to embed HTML codes in your message. This is usually done for security purposes, to prevent people from embedding malicious code in their posts. BBCode is an HTML-like formatting code that most web forums use for things like embedding pictures, formatting text, etc. Where it says "BBCode is ON", you can click on BBCode and it will open another window explaining it and listing some of the supported codes. When you click, for example, the "IMG" button, it places a BBCode IMG tag in your post, and marks the button with a * to show that the tag is "open". After you enter your image link, you click the button again, and it will place the /IMG tag and remove the * from the button. If you have multiple formatting tags started, the "Close Tags" link will close those off with the "/slashed" version. That's all that link is for.

There's a lotta stuff that will probably be fixed when/if they ever upgrade...

Did you actually read the original post? "Anyone tried an IDE to SATA converter (to allow you to plug a SATA drive into a device that is expecting an IDE hard drive...)"

Might help to actually hand-dry it as well, rather than letting it air-dry.

Try regular dish soap - "cuts through grease" and all that. I usually keep a pack of Windex wipes or similar sort of glass-cleaner wipes onboard. One thing I've found though, some kinds of plastic domes, particularly Lexan, tend to absorb grease if it's left on for a long time. One restaurant we do, the kitchen grease that had coated the Extreme domes over time was left there for months, maybe years, and there was NO getting it out again.

I don't deal a lot with AiPhone other than the odd LEF-3/LEF-10/LE-D pump intercom setups at some gas stations... but it seems to me AiPhone does have a "video enterphone" product that combines the video camera right into the front-door intercom, and a viewing screen on the apartment end. Why not ask your AiPhone rep or supplier what solutions they have?

Just occurred to me, but I suspect all SSD drives will be SATA, so... that would be a problem for him right there. Oh well... could always get a new DVR

This is what you really need... little pricier, but bumps will never be a problem: http://a-power.com/home-635

"DV" is "Digital Video", and as the name suggests, it's a standard for high-quality digital video recording. "MiniDV" is based on that same video format but simply uses smaller tapes and different compression. The three ports on your firewire card are - ta da! - firewire ports. The actual technical spec for the interface is IEEE-1394; "Firewire" and "iLink" are two common marketing terms for the same thing. Firewire isn't specific to video; like USB, it's a type of data interface used for a wide variety of devices - video cameras and adapters, external storage like hard drives, etc. None of those will work for your CCTV cameras, at least not directly. The cameras output composite analog video; the first thing you need is a capture device that will accept that. *IF* your Radeon card is an "All-in-Wonder" model, it will accpet at least one composite video input. You can probably also connect your camcorder to a firewire port, then feed one of the CCTV cameras into the camcorder's A/V-in jack. I'm not aware of any *multi-input* cards that use a firewire interface. There are several four-input boxes that connect via USB. That won't help you - those just adapt two different connectors for the same type of analog video signal. Here's the thing: if you're building a surveillance video system for security purposes, you really want it to have its own dedicated system. In this case, you're probably best off to remove the firewire card and install a DVR card with the appropriate BNC inputs. If this is a "spare" computer, you presumably have something better that you use for daily work... if it doesn't already have a firewire port or two, you can put the firewire card in that. It will make your capturing go that much smoother, and your editing that much faster.

Without knowing the exact make and model of the DVR, the best anyone here can give you is, "MAYBE." I'd check to see if it has a time-sync function that allows it to sync periodically with internet-based time servers, like time.nist.gov.

Something like this would do the trick, and cheaply: http://cgi.ebay.com/ADVANCED-TECHNOLIGIES-CQ4-VIDEO-MULTIPLEXER_W0QQitemZ230377759478QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item35a395a2f6&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14 I have a half-dozen or so four, nine and sixteen-channel multiplexers sitting on a shelf, from upgrading MUX/VCR systems to DVRs. Lots of other guys are getting growing collections of them as well. Find the right source, and you should be able to get one cheap. Some will still want good coin for them because they ARE still pricey to replace, but some might just want to clear some of them out because their "Supply and demand" market value has dropped so much.

What ground loop issue is that? I would guess he means the ground loop you can get using baluns using multiple cheap 12VDC cameras on a central power supply - since the video and power share a common ground and the baluns effectively add a bunch of length to the video line, you end up with two very mis-matched ground paths. I find the solution to that is simple, though: use 24VAC or dual-voltage cameras... anything with its own built-in regulator/power supply or some other method that breaks the common ground. Edit: now that I think about it... I wonder if inserting a diode - just a basic 1N4001 or something - in line with the power ground would do the trick? Hmmm... Yeah, no problem... like I say, I'd be interested in knowing what they're doing there. Mostly though, just sounds like a slightly new approach to the same ends. Would be interesting to see if there's any significant advantage or if it's just "different".

My guess would be that they've already doubled-up the power leads internally to the balun.

Hahaha, nice, and it still got the plate

Ive looked at the Comart SDK, its okay but I still preferred the one that Geo uses. Comart is widely used though. Also the cards with SDK are much cheaper, not saying that means its not as good. In fact its probably better for developers and hence why people like VI use it. Conexant is only on some Geo cards as far as I know. I know Vigil DOES use other cards besides the ComArts... we have one of their "Pro Series" machines in one site, and the card, its connectors, and its behaviour in the system is quite different. No idea offhand what it's built on, but it's a 960fps/32-input beast. They have no problem selling to Canadians!

Was sent this link today by one of my contacts at 3xLogic... hint: if you're going to break into a place, make sure it isn't the main office for someone who makes and sells high-end surveillance systems! http://www.chtv.com/ch/cheknews/story.html?id=2001409 (Be sure to hit the HD button and go full-screen for the full effect!)

Be interesting to see HOW they do it, but aside from the packaging of it, they aren't really providing any features that aren't already out there - ultimately I'd say whether it's worthwhile will come down to the price of the *system* - both the camera, and the "adapter module" for the other end. If I can get a pair of video-only baluns for $40 and run a regular $200 remote-OSD camera over them using Cat5, then there wouldn't be a lot of incentive to go with their system if it's any more than $250 (yes yes, assuming similar quality of the cameras, etc. etc.)

One of the things I forgot to mention is that this system allows you to do drops as far as 1000 feet. They state in theor documentation up to 750, we piped under a lake at 1050 ft and works like a charm... 1000' is nothing unusual for even cheap passive baluns. What technology specifically, do they claim a patent on? Built-in baluns? Remote OSD? I haven't seen it on a LOT of cameras, but I have seen it on others. Actually, the first ones I saw it on were some other cheap offshore cameras (can't remember what brand they went under) that had a few really neat features (like, they automatically blocked/masked bright light blooms), but had only mediocre image quality and seemed to be of really cheap construction. Of course, it's something that's only of use on cameras that actually have OSD, and there aren't really a lot of them outside of PTZs. Woulda been useful on some CW484s I installed recently...

Pay everyone's tab to the next ISC? No? Just a thought! Seconded!

Possibly, though one thing to note is that GeoVision is the software developer, while a card manufacturer, from last I checked was S. Korea, makes the cards. Still though from what Ive seen and used its one of the best around. Well, Vigil and VI are just the software developers too - both use near-identical cards built on ComArt chipsets (in fact, I've plugged a VideoInsight card into a Vigil DVR and had it "just work"). It's not a factor of the software in this case, but what to me is a design flaw in the hardware. It may or may not be a failing of the Conexant chip design itself, or it might just be the implementation of them on the cards GV uses. Funny thing, the oldest Vigil systems we have in place are P4/2.4GHz-based machines mostly running some level of version 4 of the Vigil software... and despite it not being "recommended" by Camacc because of performance concerns, we have put version 5 on some of those systems and had it run just fine, no bogging or slowdowns. They've got some pretty efficient code going on there!

Well, this is the color coding I normally use... note that I rarely use the all-in-one, RJ45-terminated baluns, as they DO require extra work overall (terminating the Cat5/RJ45s at both ends), plus the baluns cost more than just straight video baluns with no real benefit to that extra cost other than maybe looking a little cleaner. Also, since there's no defined standard as to which wire pairs are used for what signal, you have to use the same company's baluns on both ends. By "doubling up", of course, I mean using both wires of one color pair for each side of the power.

Well on that page, there's a "Send your message to this supplier" section... I'd try contacting them, as the company "Shenzhen Aopvision Tech Co.,Ltd" doesn't appear to have a website of their own, just a bunch of sections in online "malls".

"Enough"?? You can't GET more than 120 combined fps out of a four-channel system. NTSC = 30fps; 30x4 = 120. /facepalm Soundy I can easily prove to you that 2 X 2 = 5 I am not joking That's an easy one.. They are selling a unit that records 480 fields per second. You guys are the ones making unwarranted assumptions about what they meant by FPS. They were being perfectly honest Ah yes, our bad! I don't need that, I have VLC!