rory

33 PCs ... i feel the headache coming on now ... if you have the spare parts though that certainly helps considerably .. and makes more sense ..

why not put the cameras on a UPS also ...?? Down here, you need a Voltage Regulator also or a UPS with built in Voltage Regulator ... ive seen UPS's either fried from brownouts, or where the spikes went through the UPS and still fried the product, without even damaging the UPS, and see it fry the UPS also ... Plus whenever there are storms we have to unplug our cable connection to the Cable modem or it too stands a high chance of getting fried. Then again we have brown outs several times a day, this weekend power was off 10 times at least ... been off every day past week or so ... Saturday night i was watching as I had a slight glow still in my light bulbs .. was like WHAT!! Heard them sizzling ... thankfully my PCs etc are on a voltage regulator, which turned it off straight away ... otherwise i may not be writing this now ... Yeah our government bought some second hand generators a few years back and every summer the power goes on and off and brownouts and spikes every darn day!!

pm sent ..

he's a little busy these days doesnt come on as much, ill email him for you and skype him also .. Rory

dont have the $$ to "try" something that pricey, with GE im guaranteed .. besides im not a huge phillips fan from the burle days .. thanks Rory

didnt guest have a name yesterday??

will the cameras see outside, from inside the car? I dont think they will see that well, not to mention the drain it will put on the car battery Cant they mount a cam on the house or something, zoomed in on the car?

did i mention im switching out a desa for a dvmre-ct.. .. so ill have a desa online soon for yall to play with

Hi You may want to post this in the Computer section also, may get a quicker answer. Id think it has to do with the size of the UPS's, for watts etc, and current draws per PC. 33 Dvrs. thats alot! Maybe just get a generator (or Solar Panels) and a large scale Main Voltage Regulator

probably just the mux. I have 1 client with 2 muxes and a 1 channel DVR for all 16 cams. The main mux is the GE 16 channel Mux, and then 8 cameras loop to a Provideo 9 channel Mux. Im using 1 monitor in my case, but 2 inputs, 1 for outdoor cams that are always showing and also go out to the RF modulator, and the other 8 are hidden cameras and microphones to that monitor inputs audio side. Basically I have none of the issues you are having .. so I imagine its probably just the mux ... im using a GE DSR-1000e from the GE mux to record all 16 cameras and its great. Was upgraded from 4 years ago where it was originally just the 1 GE mux with 8 cameras for local viewing only, they just didnt want to upgrade the GE mux and DSR yet to the all in one ... too much $$ for something they hardly use, as they live there only a couple months a year .. Seeing as the GE Mux is $1000+ more than the OEM muxes, there must be a reason behind that, besides the extra pricing, and the name brand. anwyay, try what you said and see what happens .. Rory

all color cams, or some BW also? Ive seen on some DVRs where color and BW cams dont mix well, and have to turn down the sat and hue to get rid of the problem, on the BW cams. Sounds like a ground problem also . .. 24VAC or 12VDC cams, and which brand multi output power supply? Are they all in the same socket? Maybe its the mux, what brand is it?

Hmmm, what brand of multiplexer, and does it have auto termination, or if not did you terminate it manually? Also, are these cheap OEM cameras?

www.NVT.com I use strictly Extreme CCTV cameras now, so they have to be able to afford it when they hire me, i take alot of time on my cameras But then im rare .. and I charge for it. You're right though, most people, that includes Bosch Installers (i know of some down here), dont spend much time on the cameras or even the DVR, most of the time they just stick it in and hope it works good without any kind of proper set up. I also dont use GE anymore by the way, in fact all i use is Extreme and WizKid, got tired of box cameras, and bullet cameras, all domes now, or the all in one EX14 or EX27s with MX or CX technology for some applications. But then we have alot of crime so vandal domes are much better for applications down here. from what I can tell Bosch doesnt have any vandal domes, at least not from their web site? Problem is, when you stick to one brand for CCTV, you are limited, I cant do that to my clients because of the applications. If I were installing simple installs like bank cameras, no big deal.. I still sell the GE hidden cameras as there is no other brand that can touch those (been looking but no luck) ... as for PTZ its Pelco or GE .. Rory

I wouldnt touch another balun, im talking about NVT Active UTP/Cat5 Transmitters and Receivers, which have built in ground loop protection, interference rejection, equalisation, and more. All DVRS i have used have relay output options for motion detection (were they included motion detection as an option), besides the fact that camera or DVR motion detection is not as reliable as using real burglar alarm products, and most manufacturers will tell you this.

dont you mean .. "nex wersion, nex wersion ... " they got the best live remote video ive seen though ..

All of those 4 cameras are the Eclipse Day Night Domes. here is a link to Geo with 2 of the eclipse color bullets (which have an Ir Cut Filter as they are color only cameras), and 1 BW Provideo Bullet http://xtreme1.gotdns.com cctv cctv Use the Multiview its better .. Also, I wouldnt suggest buying CCTV equipment from Fry's or Sams Club or anything like that ... also, Geo is good also, just requires more setup .. Rory

1) Amplification - simple, add an NVT module .. 2) Everyone is going to at least use a DVR 3) Modes - I dont trust those things, trying to make it too easy 4) Once the camera is installed properly the first time, no need to go back Your right ... dinion is worth the $$ .. just as good as the GE and Sanyo at least as for votes, i cant vote again ... but I know my competition down here only uses Bosch, but then again they are just a locksmithing company .. and i am taking all their customers now

i dunno, but our power went off last night island wide, and i stil had a dim orange glow coming from my light bulbs .. talk about low voltage ... had to unplug "everything" ... do they come with voltage regulators built in?? Im 100% certain we lost alot of alarm panels, cameras, and DVRs last night .. will know more tomorrow .. :-0

why they all just dont buy each other out like they do in the US like Bosch, GE, and Honeywell Cant they all just get along .. ;-( ps. speaking of tird wurld (or were we?!) my power just came back on from last night ....darn!

ok, they will survive that, but the pressure cleaning may kill them No. seriously I dont know, once you dont wet them too much .. Seriously though, WizKid got some great domes, Full 360 degree gimbles, weather proof, vandal resistant and actually virtually indestructable, also have built in voltage regulators. They have Color & BW in High Res and Mid Res, and also, Day NIght in mid res (no IR Cut Filter but still really good). Support is untouchable. If you read my other posts about some Provideo cameras, you will see why I Dont sell them anymore, nothing to do with how well they stand up or last, as they generall do that ... it was other things. Rory

I gots one question, if all these guys are "mostly" from Taiwan, why dont they all write the same features into their DVR Software?? Dont they even try their competition's products ....!!???

also, this is a better spec sheet on that ActiveTek DVR, its under a different name but the same thing, comes with or without CDR, and with or without hard drives. PowerPoint: http://www.bahamassecurity.com/uploads/TM4-1.5U.ppt

PC: Eclipse - Entry Level PC System - if you really want to save some bucks, only reliable one I have found is the basic 4 channel though, but it rocks for a 4 channel and the low price also .. simple to use, has a disk map type scroller thing that is just easy as heck for non PC users to learn. User set up is a little annoying you have to add seperate users for remote access than the local DVR Server. The browser based is pretty neat, full system configuration, but requires and IE Pop Up (XP with SP2 hates those). Had a few recent failures from their 16 channel systems though, or they didnt work like they were supposed to, eg, slower than the specified speed. Iview - Simple to use, with alot of pro features like Digital Zoom on live and playback by right clicking, 30 camera view remote software and endless DVR multi site connections, no disk map, search and playback is not all that great, but you can view the files as regular AVI thumbnails in Windows Explorer. User access is simple, set up is simple. Limitations would be support for the features and what I can tell not frequent updates to the software. Hey, it works though. If you want a multi view simple to use card, doesnt take much resources, this is the one. GeoVision - dislike the green GUI (they have a new GUI coming out) but hey, its packed with features, you many never use them, but its nice to have just incase. Being its a major leader in the PC Card industry, they seem to update their software quite a bit. They are limited on the Remote Software Live View area, but do have a Central Station software included for free with every card, and the Remote Playback is really good. Browser based software is more advanced than Iview and others, though to me its too slow. I rather a windows software over browser based, you have to download something either way. If you are into the features, this one has it. Object tracking and advanced motion detection. There are others such as Video Insight (see Thomas on this forum) Kodicom (Say Security on this forum - Jason), Avermedia, etc. I havent used them personally but here they are also good. I have also used a couple other small names, but those werent all that great. The above PC Cards go from lowest to highest price in order. Also there are alot of Geo Knock off cards so buy from a reputable dealer if you do go that route. Stand alones: there are a couple budget ones, like the Power Tellecom 4 channel, AvTech 16 channel. There are reviews on this forum about those. There are other DVRs with reviews on this forum also, which end up telling you to stay away from them for the reasons posted in their reviews. Then there is ActiveTek (4 channel only with CDRW or Without - eclipse sells the non CDRW version - but they both come with USB), Hunt (WebGate) and Nuvico for your decent mid range Stand alones (with alot of features though for stand alones), and then you get into the bigger brand names like GE which go well above your budget. Also, it really depends where you live, Americas, Europe, Australia, etc? Rory

sent you PM .. If its primarily night then you may want to go with BW one time and get High Res. WizKId have some really decent vandal domes. Provideo is another option for a home user for some better "bullet" cameras. Just stay away from the IR color /day night bullets or IR Domes (BW or Color/Day Night) Use Color where there is adequate lighting, BW in low lighting, if you can afford it, then Day Night in low lighting. True Day Night cameras (best image) run pretty high ($400+) so you may want to look at either the OEM Day Nights if you dont mind a washed out day image (check the demo tomorrow in the daytime, then I can always show you another that has an IR Cut Filter at my house), or BW in low light, or Color in good light areas. I even use the Eclipse at my house, color bullets (ECL-596) and then the Provideo CVC-325WPSW (white BW Bullet with IR which doesnt do anything but its still a great image and they have lasted 4 years through hurricanes even). But like I said, I personally sell the WizKid line now, they have voltage regulators built in, and some of the best support in the industry for cameras. More expensive than Provideo by a little, not by much, but a better product if you were looking for Dome Cameras. How PC literate are you, when it comes to software, and hardware, like can you build a PC? PC DVRs give you more options to upgrade. Just a thought. And do you have a dealer or web site you are dealing with already, if so, find out what brands they sell, if they are in your area, it makes it alot easier also to use what they keep in stock. Rory

Hey there .. Well thats a decent DVR for a stand alone 4 channel. Going to cost more than a PCI card, but probably as cheap as a PCI card with a PC. User friendly and less worries as its not a PC system, at least instead of a cheap PC for example. Retail though it will be more than $1000. If you want something cheap that basically runs on any PC, check out the EclipseCCTV 4 channel 30fps card. Then you can use anything from 1.5Ghz and up with 256MBDDR, which is what we used for it to test it out. You can see it online at http://ecl.gotdns.com - Enable Popups for that site also as it does use a pop up, or I can send you a custom software demo that loads it, the cameras used are Eclipse Day Night Domes also, cheap as heck but hey, they work for the job. I dont sell them but I install them for some people down here that do sell them, for lower end jobs. You could probably just buy them direct actually, then get someone to install them, or takle it yourself. Basically to keep it under $1000, you would need to get cheap OEM cameras, such as the Eclipse. Dont forget to get a 4 or 8 channel Power Supply also. They also sell this same ActiveTek DVR under the name of "Nubix". Personally, I sell the Extreme CCTV and WizKid line of Cameras, rugged Dome cameras and great Infrared products also. The WizKid is a mid range camera line, the Extreme is high end and high $$ also. Iview is a simple card to install, with great remote video software, Eclipse isnt bad, simple to use, Geo has more features but id suggest having someone that sells and installs geo, to install or build the PC for you. There are ofcourse a ton more cards out there as well. And there are reps on this forum for alot of them that might be able to get you a good deal. Just so you know, for any PC DVR, the reliability of the DVR depends on the quality and parts used to build the PC with ... so if you dont want to go through that, then the stand alone would be your plug and play choice. Also, the camera you mentioned is a very cheap OEM camera, but should work. Just be forwarned that it would not have an IR cut Filter which means washed out colors in the day, no issue, most of the day night OEMs are like this and may not bother you anyway, and also, forget IR with OEM cameras, they are useless, spend a little less or more and just get a day night, or even a black and white ...Exview Black and White would see even better than these IR Color cameras at night .. Rory