kensplace

If its just a single camera, you can just plug it into a scart socket with a scart to phono adapter with a bnc to phono adapter on that. Many tvs and almost all vcrs should have a spare scart socket. Just switch to the relavent A/V channel, and then there is no need for a modulator.

no problem, pm'd the link

I have a previous model, the kramplex, but should be similar. What you are seeing is the output that should be going to the vcr, its the multiplexed output. It basically sends each camera one one after the other to the vcr, one field at a time, so all you see is a blur really. Your drax should have multiple outputs, it should have VCR output - connect this to the input on the vcr to record all cameras on tape. Spot Monitor - for a second monitor where you can view any single camera at will. monitor (whatever they call it, it may have two like this) which is the output for a main monitor, this will let you see the camera you have selected on the front panel, or view in quad mode etc - connect your viewing monitor to this one and it should be fine. The drax should have both BNC and Y/C outputs, if your monitor supports Y/C input then that should be used for a better picture, otherwise just use standard BNC. If recording to tape, you will need to make sure the drax is connected up and configured correctly for the timelapse vcr you have, I believe the drax has a vcr swipe output that connects to a timelapse vcr so the recording can be syncronised. Never had any luck finding manuals for any tecton products, if you find one, give me a shout! Tecton can supply manuals if you ask them, but be warned they are overpriced, they quoted me 50 uk pounds for a manual for the kramplex!

Never used any of the hardware/software relating to pos or geo, but in general as they are talking about testing with hyperterminal it will be through the com port. From reading the info in the post above, it looks like the POS either outputs standard ascii text, which you can capture direct from the com port, OR if in graphic mode, it prints the receipt (or whatever) by not sending text, but by sending it as a graphical image of the text. Basically the graphic mode may send control characters to put a printer into graphic mode if need be, then send a array of data that makes up the printed image (each character sent corresponds to which dots to print on the paper to make up the image) The graphic mode software must just capture that image data and convert it into something geo can work with.

Thieves probably love them, nice and portable, easier to steal the cctv footage so they dont leave incriminating evidence behind. The dvr part is not seperate, so you cant hide it somewhere, it has to be on display, making it a easy target.

ps, if the line is going up and down the screen from top to bottom in the middle, then dont use it any more, as it will probably get worse faster, and could be dangerous. Possible a harder repair to.....

If its a line going from across the screen (left to right) in the middle, then it sounds more like the vertical deflection has gone, rather than the tube (although if left displaying that picture for a long period if could burn that line onto the tube...) Could be a fairly cheap fault to fix if you have a cheap local tv repair man, but you could find that the repair cost is around the same as just getting a new model, which would have a new warrantee also. Dont try to fix it yourself unless aware of all the safety issues and dangers, tv's are very high voltage inside, even after being switched of for considerable periods of time.

Anyone got any close up pics of some genuine geo cards? I would like to see what chipsets they use. Also, does geo have a API for development? Is it free if they have one? Is it any good?

If its just nda's etc then fine, but if its like some companies where money is the means to a sdk, then no thanks... Worked on many api's/sdks before, not with cctv stuff, but in some secure industries (financial etc) so used to paperwork. Too much hassle if its not free though considering how long hardware lasts before you have to scrap all the software and re-write for the latest new hardware or worse - the latest O/S from microsoft.

From what I have read on the net, Australian standards are not exactly state of the art. Was reading about the electrical safety / fire safety standards in Australia on a forum today, and they were shockingly bad.... Are the cctv ones actually any good? Cant comment if they are, as you have to pay to read them, which makes it hard for people to have access to them.

ahhh, my bad, thought it was a free service on offer lol!

So people are expected to let a stranger take control of their pc/router, in a security application? Not something I would do......

I have had problems with overbright pictures in the past when a cable terminated incorrectly (due to forgetting to set the 75ohm switch on the loop through to the right setting)

Have you actually seen him do it, or are you assuming its him? How old is he? Have you contacted the police to let them know what is going on, and to see if they can have a word with him/his parents? As for cams, I have not come across any cheap cams that can follow sound, if you want them movable then you will need a pan/tilt head, and controller. Those are not cheap new, you can pick them up cheap second hand, but if you dont know how to interface them and how to get the controller/telemetry etc then it could work out very expensive in the long run. Best bet would probably be a highly visible deterent, ie a big housing stuck outside your house pointing at the trouble area. A decent b&w cam with maybe some security lighting for night vision, and some means of recording the camera (either a pc dvr card like a low end geovision card, a single channel dvr or even a vcr) If you can stay up and trigger the recording when you see trouble about to start then you can catch the bugger in the act, but whatever you choose its important that you do a test run, where you or a friend pretent to be the trouble maker at night, to see if your system can record sufficient detail to identify the person involved. As its a generic request, I can only give general answers, you need to be careful about the choice of lens, to wide angle and you will see a large overview but not be able to make out small details, or id a person, to narrow a angle of view and you will miss what is going on unless lucky! The other alternative is to go covert, and hide a small camera somewhere, so the kid does not know he is being filmed. However, this will result in him probably doing the crime, being caught, then getting really p***d off at you for being sneaky, and could result in further trouble down the line. A visible deterent may be sufficient to deter any trouble from happening in the first place (but then again, to some people cameras are like red flags to a bull!). Where I live people dont care if cameras are present, they just dont care at all, it does not bother them, but I live in a rough area in the uk, and people are used to cameras over here. I would have a word with the police, see what the say first, then maybe post back with more specifics.

No idea what the pinouts are on the mux I have tried so far connecting the vcr switch out from the dvr to each and every pin on the 25 pin alarm connector on the mux, nothing yet.... will try the same with the other ports later, see if any joy. The switch out on the dvr is working, checked it on a scope, and its outputing a square wave which alters according the selected frame rate. Just need to know where (if anywhere, would not be suprised if the mux does not have the input at all) to plug it into the mux.... Cheers for the help, will keep on trying!

cheers, Manuals and data sheets are available here http://www.honeywellvideo.com/products/recorders/em/37823.html Its a 250gig uk pal model (earlier models were 120gig) the manuals on that page are the same as the manual I have, just ignore where it says 120 gig max. The dvr has a connection like the one you mention, but the mux has nothing labelled as such, if it has one at all then it is hidden on either the remote keyboard port, the rs232 port or the alarm port.... Finding info on the net about tecton products (other than marketing blurb) is nigh on impossible. Its put me off ever buying another one of their products again...

the only settings on the dvr are the frame rate (up to 50 ips) and whether it records frame or field, and compression quality, along with the usual date/time settings. The mux has a setup menu which lets you specify from a list of timelapse recorders, or a custom one, with a number from 1 to 255, nothing works! It records straight from camera inputs fine, just hates the mux! Displays the mux fine - so its getting a clear signal into it, but system error everytime I hit record. It should operate like a vcr, thats what they are advertised as, but further investigation reveals a list on their website of supported muxes, and its a small list - not exactly a list which I would say its fair for them to state its compatible with most muxes. It does have a switch out pin to "connect to the vcr trigger recording terminal of the multiplexer to synchronise recording signals" but I have no idea if the tecton has such a pin, and even if it did which pin it would be! Tecton are about as much use as a chocolate fireguard when it comes to supporting any older models (even ones that cost a fortune in their time) they wont even release simple info like pinouts without asking 50 quid for a manual for a peice of eqiupment that may not be compatible even if I bought the manual... Guess I will look out for a cheap compatible mux, and sell mine when it arrives, or just get a multi channel dvr when a bargain comes along. Its definately a basic model (although if I paid honewell prices, it would not have been cheap!), its so basic it beggars belief. No features other than record, play, fast forward, rewind, slow motion and pause. They even didnt bother with soldering on the audio components that the av tech model usually comes with, the board has all the pads for them on board, and a jumper for audio, but they (honeywell) sell them as video only. Cant even trust honeywell to make their own stuff....

have you tried hooking up the lcd at the dvr end of the cable to rule out the cable entirely?

If you are getting pixellation when zooming in on a person, its likely its not always the fault of the dvr, unless the DVR is a low res one, or you have your compression set to low on the DVR. Most cctv cameras (even the pro, so called high res ones) are actually really low resolution cameras compared to a decent digital camera. Take a picture on say a 3 mega pixel camera, and you can zoom in to see extra detail, as there is extra detail captured by the camera, but on a typical cctv camera, you only have say half a mega pixel or so (off the top of my head) to play with, so what you see is pretty much what you get, and any decent level of digital zoom will just make those pixels bigger, and pixellation will occur. Thats why you need zoom lenses, or multiple cameras with different fields of view, to capture what you need to see, a wide angle shot on a typical cctv camera is good for an overview, but you wont be able to make out fine details, and zooming will be a waste of time after the event. You would need to zoom in at the time, with a zoom lens if you want to see those details. Sometimes though, the dvr can be low res, which means you could be recording at less than your camera is capable of, in which case, you are better of with a different dvr to be honest. It could even be another peice of equipment in the chain, from cabling problems reducing picture quality to say a multiplexer. One multiplexer I looked at recently with a view to buying, a Robot multiplexer had a good resolution for recording (764 x 480) but was crippled by the fact that it could only ever display or playback a max resolution of 512x512.

I think most of the people in many IP related jobs know very little about the sector they target, most of IT is marketing these days. Does not matter how well something works, as long as they can tick that box to say it has the feature...... I would be suprised to be honest, if many people who make analogue cctv equipment actually had any real experience of using security equipment under fire, as most things I have tried (tecton multiplexer, bbv matrix+telemetry controller,honeywell DVR (new one just got it), bewator telemetry and various bits and bobs all seem to have annoyances that just would not have been missed at the design stage if they had a clue what they were selling. The cctv industry is surrounded by hype and marketing , more so in the IP world, but the analogue world is full of it too, with incorrect lux ratings, lighting claims, resolution claims etc.

Dont know about the other questions but full D1 is 720 x 480 for NTSC and 720 x 576 for PAL

What type of system is in place? If its an alarm system you could either just replace the panel with another, or get the customer to pay for the code.... Failing that, all the panels I have seen (admit not that many, and the ones I am used to are a few years old) can have all codes reset, but the methods vary, each alarm panel had its own method. If its not in the engineers manual, and the manufacturer wont tell you, then paying up, or swapping the panel is your best bet, as you would be stuck anyways with no support or info for that existing panel in the future if anything went wrong.

Picked up a couple of pelco housings second hand, huge massive beasts they are (I can even fit in the 1 foot long 350mm lens + camera inside it, and still have room at the sides for other stuff...) Cant make out the model number, looks like eh55 something something. They are made out of aluminium, with a gas strut for lid opening closing, and are very, very solidly built. What concerns me, is they are marked as mains (220v) and have 2 heater resistors near the front, which are connected via fairly thin wire, and whats worse, is there is no earthing on the case whatsoever. There are nice live and nuetral wires, which go into a terminal block at the rear, then through a thermistor of some sorts for temp control (well one of the housings has the thermistor, the other does not) and then out to those thin white wires to the resistors that heat up. They work, but is it normal for a pelco case like that to not have a earth? Especially with thin wires for the mains, which pass right over those resistors which can get hot..... Seems like a death trap waiting to happen, are these how the cases are made, or has some idiot modified them in the past? All it would take is for a wire to be damaged, or for the insulation to melt, and the entire case could become 'live' - and they are not even fused inside the case. Course the fuse in the mains plug would blow, but thats not the point.... Will end up having to put in 12 or 24v heaters due to the stupid part P regs in the UK anyways, but curious as to whats normal on a large pro pelco housing. [edit]ps even if its normal, I would still not use it as it is, without earthing/fusing/improving wiring first, if I could do mains, but the uk sucks for diy work these days, nanny state we live in now...[/edit]

Sounds like a great idea, hope you can get the permissions and they go for it. I would love to do the same where I live, as the council is spending a absolute fortune installing lots of high end cameras in numerous locations, problem being its fairly obvious they dont have a clue about where they should have been sighted. They are in all the wrong places, areas with serious crime (where more than one murder has occured) dont get the cam, but oddly ones near nice expensive new homes do... Then they install loads in a area with only troublemakers, but no serious crime to speak off, and ignore other areas that desperately need cameras. Maybe the police should have a system in place where you can tell them you have cameras, and if they need footage from a area they can ask you, as they know you may have it. At present, there must be countless systems installed that the police do not know about, that could have caught valuable info on them. Guess you would have to get not only permission from your authorities, but also work out power supply issues (ie do they pay for the electric, taken from the lampost?) and insurance issues etc. The police may be more likely to say yes, if you already have all the issues worked out, and approval in principal from the relavent authorities. Good luck anyways!

Never used a geo, hoping to one day though, to see what they are like, but as far as I understand it, the 75 ohms is to terminate the 'load' so to speak, ie the camera itself expects 75 ohms, so if you dont have a cam plugged in, you wont need a terminator, the input should not care.