rory

sounds good thanks, ill check on that tomorrow and let you know .. I need to get one of those Focus sheets also, anyone have a link? Im going to make it a point to set up all the cameras at my place first .. no excuses .. cause at the location is taking up too much time .. on another subject, what do you guys use to clean lenses? I need something i can maybe buy from a local camera store, but are they the same thing .. i guess so right?? Rory

What he said What kind of distances are these poles from the main office, or other buildings? How close are they to the high voltage, and are these street light type poles, like real high voltage, or just regular outdoor lighting? Any wire run down the pole, or is it hidden? Did you see the resulting video image? Is it clear, or are there any lines in it. eg. interference. They simply could have used existing conduit with twisted pair, or even snaked new coax or twisted pair in the conduit. I dont think a car lot is going to spend the dollars needed for fiber .. i deal with a couple of them here, though they are rather small compared to those in the US. Ive seen one install here where the camera cable was run inside the pole with the high voltage, and using twisted pair and baluns, they were just lucky for some reason they had no really "serious" interference, but there was some interference, thats for certain. Rory

Oh yeah, I tested the Acti out the other day on my system, it really worked hard with 1 camera .... i mean really hard ... and im using a 2.0Ghz AMD with 512MB Ram .. I would look at the Milestone software for a full windows GUI, though its kind of expensive .. it handles some of the Acti gear, not all yet .. But yep, D3Data also does it, though from what i saw, they only have browser based ..? Honestly if i was really going to get into it, Id look at getting the SDK myself .. Rory

copy like pirated? NetVision, why didnt you guys go for 49 way view one time? Rory

i use a 9" BW Monitor or a 13" Color TV ... with a UPS .. as its a larger image and they are CRT's they get the best quality, the small LCDs arent good for focusing. One thing ive learnt though is to always set up the camera at your location, Iris Pot, lens focus, everything .. or its a big hassle to do it when its up at the clients location .. especially since it can take a few trips when dealing with Day Night applications .. i just got stuck on one of those as the parts took a while to come and when they did the client wanted them installed right away .. kind of screwed myself there .. alot of extra unwarranted work. anyway Rory

SDK is a "Software Development Kit" provided by Manufacturers so that a software developer can create customized software for the manufacturers product. Depends on the manufacturer, alot of them offer very basic user software, and then the SDK which is designed to be improved, while some only give out the user software, and then others will provide user software and sometimes a very basic SDK, or activeX control. ActiveX Controls are ready made functions that can be added into a software project to create a customized program also. Generally is a part of an SDK. Embedded DVRs (non PC) generally require some of the above to be able to create software to connect to the DVR and do something with the files, as well only the manufacturer normally knows the commands. Rory

sounds more like a software problem, since the TV out is displaying color, and that comes through the card. I know it could be a pain in the butt, but perhaps try a reformat, reload windows and the DVR software and try it again, or if you can find the files uses and registry areas for the DVR software and delete them, OR, if you have another PC already with windows, to test it on ..? Rory

well coop im waiting for an overcast day, cause there's only 30 minutes of low light before it gets dark and since its winter now the darn sun is going down looking right at the cameras ..argghhh .. Actually what i did anyway was use a sweatshirt to cover the monitor and my head as i adjusted it (on the 12' ladder with my 13" TV) .. came out good .. though still too sunny to normally do a perfect job, i think i aced it this time .. my main concern today was in th sunlight anyway, to adjust the iris pot. Now ill wait for an overcast day ... hopefully that will be tomorrow .. If not i got 30 minutes of low light before its too dark, to focus 8 cameras all up on poles and a good distance between them all .. BTW i did the normal back light adjustment (without the filter cause i cant get one down here) and yeah i did it the coop way, as thats actually the way I always did it before .. EDIT - had to go back and focus the bad boys in the low light after all Plus wait around to do the UF500's in the pitch dark again ... darn it was cold ..

January ..

a 3Ghz CPU maxed out with 2 cameras ... sounds like some other software is running to slow it down like that. My 2.0Ghz with 512 doesn't even max out with 30 cameras streaming ..

What cameras are they? (Day Night/Color?) Can you test them just to make sure on a TV that they are in color? Also check the pins if you are using a pigtail with the DVR card to make sure none are broken or missing. rory

RG59 ...

RG59 BNC Connectors .. thats all. Im sure the compressions are the way to go if you're putting a camera up 100' on a pole ..

uninstalling video software and reinstaling wont neccassariy fix the saturation, hues, etc. for the capture card. Especially if the software creates a database file or setting in the registry somewhere, so it can just reuse it when it is reinstalled. Depends on the software and card used. Rory

the only issue i actually had was when set to 720x480 De Interlace, the webcam viewer had black lines on the left side, they said this is fixed in the new version. As for interlace on the edges, not on the system i have. Rory [scott answered it - that should fix it]

those specs are right. Does the video card have Deinterlace, and also do you have .net installed ..?

have you tried the 9x drivers on XP yet?

I take it you are using a Deinterlace resolution setting? Also, it doesnt work too well in 720x480, i had to keep mine at 640x480 deinterlace. They say version 7.1 will fix any of those issues. Rory

The protocols normally come with the camera manual ... at least with the GE PTZs .. but interesting article none the less.

parts and pins? trick is to use good ones .. though ive never had to look for parts for a BNC connector (?), i did notice in the past that the OEM places sold crap connectors though .. the cheap ones are no good. no sore hands once you use the right wire. They're the only connectors you can buy in this country ... so also makes sense for use to use them .. easiest for maintenance, repair, quick install, plus i dont like big tools .. all my tools fit in my swimtrunks pocket Now, while everyone is putting so much emphasis on connectors, there are a lot of other things that can go wrong with a camera .. regardless of what connector is used .. spend the extra cash on better cameras, lighting, housings, power protection, and extra security such as alarm beams and physical security.

Depends what one likes to use, they all work just as good (for normal camera installs) once they are done properly. In the end, nothing is going to be 100%.

i miss it too, though ive never seen one I just realised its been a year this weekend since i was last in the US .. time for another trip to civlisation soon ..

no local PC or electronic store ?

Geez, I paid $15 a piece .. I dont think anyone here in CCTV is in the wholesale PC cable business .. so.. anyway, ill check the specs against the ones i have tomorrow. . you bought them online.. why not just a local best buy or something ? Rory