rory

Just do those under low light then, but if you focus it in full IR in the dark, it will stay (or should) stay focused in full sunlight. You will have some minor out of focus during low light switches, but since they dont have IR optimized lenses, have to use what we have. That said you could focus it off 5-10% to take for that slight focus shift.

Thats in regard to IR cameras only, as the BW mode needs to be focused under full IR. Yes you can end up chasing your tail, especially on the cheaper Bullet cameras Best would be the EX82 from Extreme CCTV, as an example. As to the TV, you should be able to just plug it into the RCA input (AV).

Hi, a 6" TFT monitor is not big nor clear enough to properly focus a camera. You need a CRT monitor if you want a good focus. Those Portable monitors are great for minor adjustments though.

Its a power requirement, which is why you cant use 7200rpm drives (without a power upgrade kit). Once the other brands draw the same power it should be okay. I did manage to find those drives before, cant remember where though, but it was online.

Yes i use Uvnc. If I was doing it religiously, I would set up their Relay server also. And they have a Quick Click program on their site, which means the server is not actually installed on the host's PC. They download, click to run it, you connect, do your thing, then disconnect, and it doesn't stay running on the host.

Never even saw those before, will take a look .. dont know if the PC retailers sell them though? They claim less heat though, but speed wise it looks the same, plus that will depend on the Bios settings as well as Windows anyway, among other factors. Anyone here tested them yet?

Hi You can do either of the following: 1-BNC T-Connector Use one of these for each camera at the DVR or camera side. 2-GeoVision Loop out card Loop out each channel to a separate monitor/quad/multiplexer.

Ive had a Provideo (OEM) BW 1000TVL now for a few years, so they kind of all last. But the color models are harder to locate in High Res .. so its going to be shopping around. Most i could find generally in 9" Color is around 450TVL, though that still isnt bad seeing as a TV is around 250-300TVL.

The Extreme Reg cameras are not WDR, extreme does not have any WDR cameras.

Probably never, not unless they strip it right down so it works like XP. MS is not going to drop XP anytime soon, they realize they cannot. Vista is just too slow, its geared for home users due to all the nice graphics and themes, which DVR users do not need. It requires expensive hardware to have any usable speed, and unless Geo was to make 2 separate versions, or one version for both XP and Vista, they would loose too many clients since most of their clients cannot afford a Fast Vista machine. Also, Geo would have to update its installer, which is a very old version of Install Shield, 3.0 to be exact, back from the windows 95 days. Not to mention they code in C++, so they would have to rewrite everything in C# or similar. So basically I doubt it, either MS will just keep updating XP as they plan to, with SP3 out in 2008. Or MS will make a new version based off of XP, since Vista is just not the same, IMO. If Vista was all we were left with, I would be forced to switch to Linux.

I got a reply from GE, nope it cant be done, it is an older platform, it was only introduced in the newer CTs.

I definitely prefer the Seagates, any version.

http://www.sanyo.com/industrial/security/cameras/digital/index.cfm?productID=152

an updated version of the one in my signature, its something ive been working on over the past few weeks, but wont be released for a while yet. Its only remote video though, not the local side.

Flopper, I just emailed the GE contact and will see what they say. Sorry wasn't done sooner but Ive been very very very busy .. Thanks Rory

I'll take a look at it tomorrow .. writing software right now .. PM me if you don't here back by tomorrow night .. Thanks Rory

Focus inside your house/office with the lights dimmed or even off; with just low lighting. If its a high zoom lens though this can be an issue, then you will need to setup a spot outdoors to do this, and do this in the early evening when there is low light; not pitch dark though. If this is a Varifocal Lens .... If it is a Day Night IR camera, you will need to focus the color in low light, and then the BW mode under Pitch dark with the IRs on. If you dont focus with the IR on then when they do come on, you will normally not have a perfect focus as there is a focus shift (on normal lenses). IR Corrected lenses fix this, but you will only have one of these if the manufacturer specifies this or you install the lens separately. If doing this indoors, you can simply do this at night, and adjust the color mode with the lights on, dimmed or low light, and in the BW mode in pitch dark with the IRs on full. If it is a Day Night camera without IR, simply focus it in low light. If it is a fixed lens or an IR Corrected lens, you should not need to worry about focus shift, and then you can focus it anytime you can get a decent enough image from it. I would still do this under low light, not full sunlight as that can diminish the image quality, as well as your ability to view the image properly if doing this outdoors. Use any portable device or even a TV to simply adjust the view (not the focus) at the location. Don't focus at the location unless it has gone out of focus. Use a high res monitor to focus with, 9" is a perfect size. Or even something like a 13" TV; anything but an LCD. There really is no "easy" way to focus a camera, but having your own large warehouse with multiple manual lighting conditions, 9" CRT CCTV Monitors, and a Focus Meter; do help. Otherwise you will get what you get ..

If you walk sideways, does it pick you up? How dark is the area where you are walking? 9.6 should pick you up even at that distance. if your clothing is dark, then maybe not. Video Motion Detection is not the best thing .. Better always is hardware based motion detection like Motion Detectors or Beams. Basically, without knowing how their Motion Detection actually works behind the scenes, normally it will use blocks and the sensitivity level to determine when there is motion. If they use 16x16 blocks then at 60+' from the camera a person would probably be too small to cross the block and cause motion detection. Thats where the Iview PC DVR was nice, it allowed you to change the block size for the grid, in the Motion Setup. How i do motion in my program is it looks for changes in the previous image, and the new one, regular intervals. It bases the sensitivity on the blocks also, so if I use a 32x32 grid it would much more sensitive than a 24x24 grid, and more motion events are triggered, as it picks up smaller objects (which includes light changes, leaves, etc); this is not related to the sensitivity level. However my program is web based, and stands a much greater chance of false alarms due to the rise in pixelization. I am also still working on improving the motion detection. Dont know if this info helps but i tried .. Rory

Do you have a router, and is it port forwarded?

as to the window handles, you would first need Geo running, then a program like Spy+ which is in Visual Studio for example .. or you could make your own .. otherwise id have to install geo on my PC as it isnt at this time .. but i can if you really need it .. Why dont you just use the Geo IR remote though? Wih SendMessage, its going to be tough, you may even need SendNotifyMessage instead .. as i did with the Geo Installer. Another tip, Geo doesnt like SendMessage and Handles .. at least their installer doesnt .. which however is a very old InstallShield Version. In otherwords to be able to send a message to it, such as a simple click .. you first need to get the handle of the button you want to click .. so you use the button class and title .. you need the parents handle first also most of the time. Anyway, its at that part when you are getting the handle that I would experience errors and crashes, after a few different tries at getting the handle successfully. But that said if its just a few then you can try it and see what happens. Plus my errors were experienced with the installer only. Rory

Sure .. i started it, but i dont have the IR remote anymore .. Basically though in VB6 .. this is how i was getting the keys, the ones i got are all the top keys on the IR Remote. ,, I comented out etc until i got the keys .. gives you an idea .. Private Sub Form_KeyDown(KeyCode As Integer, Shift As Integer) 'Debug.Print KeyCode End Sub Private Sub Form_KeyUp(KeyCode As Integer, Shift As Integer) 'Debug.Print "---------" End Sub Private Sub Timer1_Timer() If (GetAsyncKeyState(17) <> 0 And GetAsyncKeyState(18) <> 0 And GetAsyncKeyState(49) <> 0 And KEY_DOWN) Then Text1 = "KEY1" If (GetAsyncKeyState(17) <> 0 And GetAsyncKeyState(18) <> 0 And GetAsyncKeyState(50) <> 0 And KEY_DOWN) Then Text1 = "KEY2" If (GetAsyncKeyState(17) <> 0 And GetAsyncKeyState(18) <> 0 And GetAsyncKeyState(51) <> 0 And KEY_DOWN) Then Text1 = "KEY3" If (GetAsyncKeyState(17) <> 0 And GetAsyncKeyState(18) <> 0 And GetAsyncKeyState(52) <> 0 And KEY_DOWN) Then Text1 = "KEY4" If (GetAsyncKeyState(17) <> 0 And GetAsyncKeyState(18) <> 0 And GetAsyncKeyState(53) <> 0 And KEY_DOWN) Then Text1 = "KEY5" If (GetAsyncKeyState(17) <> 0 And GetAsyncKeyState(18) <> 0 And GetAsyncKeyState(54) <> 0 And KEY_DOWN) Then Text1 = "KEY6" If (GetAsyncKeyState(17) <> 0 And GetAsyncKeyState(18) <> 0 And GetAsyncKeyState(55) <> 0 And KEY_DOWN) Then Text1 = "KEY7" If (GetAsyncKeyState(17) <> 0 And GetAsyncKeyState(18) <> 0 And GetAsyncKeyState(56) <> 0 And KEY_DOWN) Then Text1 = "KEY8" End Sub

MJpeg and Wavelet are normally much higher quality for DVRs, but really it depends on the DVR itself .. for example with GeoVision PC cards, their Wavelet does not look much better than the Mpeg4, but its slower. When i used the IView PC DVRs, the Wavelet was better quality than their Mpeg4, noticeably. Personally I would only use H.264 or Mpeg4 ASP, for Remote Video, not actual recording. Mpeg4 is fine, but then it still depends on the DVR as they differ from their modified codecs.

You could just put a socket in a lockbox and plug it in there ..

Yep insulation isnt nice either .. i cant stand that stuff ..

Yeah I heard the EX10's are nice. Ive used the Ex80's and EX82's before but big $$ ..