rory

default settings are actually best. Turn up the sharpness will result in more noise. Lower the AGC will result in less noise but darker image. Make sure it is focused properly. If its too dark it will compensate and then you will get noise, as with any camera the more light the better. Adjusting the gamma down to 0.35 will also make it slightly brighter.

Are you sure the exposure/shutter is set to normal?

This is what one chinese manufacturer sent me via email: "The supply of Sony CCD chips is reducing because of this disaster. Thus, the price for CCTV products may soon move upwards because of scarcity. It is high time to place order now before the prices go up." Marketing ploy, or fact?

With all the bloody sunshine you guys get over there how come you dont have solar powered cctv?! lol .. $$$$$ and people broked .. actually my friend here just turned his Alarm Monitoring company almost all solar .. 20 panels and a building for the batteries plus the original 2 generators. I say almost all as the Central AC is not on the solar. He just did his house also .. and he is on the radio talk shows all the time (running to be a politician BTW) trying to push it .. people just arent that interested here yet though. Customs Duty is still high on Solar hardware.

If the HDD is very different it sometimes wont restore properly .. found that at least while using another imaging program that I use religiously

Doubtful as all I run is XP and I use the latest WD Drives. Just make sure its a recent one like SP2 or SP3. Cant just restore an ISO to a partition though, have to install, or restore an image that was made for that computer.

I agree with them on the browser issue, you are depending on the browser when running something in that and firefox is a big clunky memory hog anyway, also one example when running an activeX for a DVR in IE on my P4 in WinXP, if I set the DVR to 30fps CIF it maxes my CPU out so it all crashes eventually .. if I run it with IE Tabs in Chrome it works much better, but it works perfect in the desktop software. Thing is, that only happens on some computers. That said, have you tried it in Chrome yet?

no one has jumped to conclusions. we understand he has a bad roll of cable. but other have also picked up power at 650ft (200m) is also going to be a problem with power on 12v dc Yeah thats why I mentioned it, I dont normally run 12VDC over 150' for cameras, I go AC for longer runs. Though if its a really low current draw like a mini bullet or dome, then it could go a few hundred, but id have thought 650' would be pushing it.

Sounds like terror! BTW is that DC or AC? If its DC that might also cause a lack of video on the 650' run.

for frame rate, maybe its the extremely slow Atom PC? I mean with the live video streaming on it? MP cam on my P4 which is faster than the Atom, had the CPU maxed right out.

except when the clients change their mind on what they want to see when you go install the cameras I just set them all to wide then if they need to be zoomed in thats an easy focus anyway.

Could be an outgoing delay with your SMTP's server.

DWDR I guess they mean Digital WDR, it relies on the chip, typically not as good as real WDR, some manufacturers that advertise cameras with Digital WDR will tell us straight up that it is mostly a marketing gimick, that its better than none, but not as good as the real thing.

Yeah if it was a dahua you could plug the hard drive into a PC to read it using their software, but in this case its a much more basic DVR so doubt it has that software available. Use the USB on the DVR for backup, or use the network software if it allows it.

what network software do you use? do you have a photo of the dvr? need to know the model first

the cone shaped pinhole lens is good for hidden cameras. There are various types, example from one manufacturer: http://www.ktnc.co.kr/english/viewtopic.php?t=508# The cone type with the 4.3mm lens, make a small hole in something then put the lens tip into that. Personally Ive not actually used one yet, I use regular board lenses or varifocal lenses mostly.

some stores here have what I think are pelco dome bubbles indoors, and they are like pitch black covers ... cant imagine the cameras see all that well even with all the indoor light, I mean people still know a camera is there, in fact most dont even care anymore.

If using a new card and software then it will struggle, most new software is developed on new dual core systems with much more memory and hard drives 4 times the speed ..id suggest dumping that old PC if even just to save yourself a headache trying to troubleshoot old bad hardware. If you have a really small budget then check out a more modern refurbished PC at least with SATA and DDR2. Otherwise you could easily build a brand new PC for under $200 (plus OS and labour). Additionally many cards prefer Intel chipsets, though sometimes Nvidia will work but in this case its a really old chipset. If you do decide to try it, get the most basic DVR card you can get your hands on. Im using a Celeron 2.8Ghz in the field still, with 512MB DDR 400 and an old IDE drive, but its slow as heck and its running the old legacy DVR software from way back when. I dont generally support it anymore though, recommended they replace it years ago Does it work? Sure, somewhat, biggest problem is aging hardware and failures. I worked on another one, the HD went bad and the OS etc had to be replaced, the manufacturer no longer had the old software so had to use the new one, CPU usage stayed at 90% or so even in CIF mode and low FPS, with audio enabled or higher resolution it crashed right away. It works still, even though barely and they live with the occasional crash, but its limited. Throw the extra RAM in it though and that should help.

Good to know.

It would be a special order from your supplier. The tech I spoke to was from CNB USA so I imagine they are in stock there and would need to be drop shipped from that location. Its still a bubble so I guess it still wont be perfect, but at least would make it a little brighter.

as its a lens it will be glass there.

Well sunshield would protect that a little, should stay as clean as the dome unless the dome is ceiling mounted. Anyway will let you know, should be installing all these BBMs tomorrow or at least starting. Im not expecting anything amazing though, and even though I prefocused Im prepared for the worst.

yeah after downloading it and splitting it up into jpegs ... I see it now. It becomes brighter and the FOV becomes slightly larger. Strange.

Thanks for the link Interesting product, almost like a mini overhead camera.

There typically aren't any, the good PTZ manufacturers dont integrate IR into it, its added separately.