rory

yeah its going to be a system, not a normal line

Seems to me that most DVR cards have compatibility issues, I have one sitting here i cant get to work on 3 seperate PCs! The manufacturer's seem to say which parts to use. But whats the point, you cant use your PC and have to go out and buy an entirely new machine, may as well get a stand alone unless the card has something special ... then again it wont be that cheap if it did ... i know the one I have here is nothing special. If you didnt ask for it, forget it! Hey, tell them send me some Cards, to the Bahamas But dont tell them we have no copyright laws here...! Im not going to send something back unless I bought it and it doesnt work. If I request something to test, I will pay for shipping, but then that has to be something more than a $100 price tag.

no prob, only bullet I have seen that has a mechanicl IR cut Filter (there may be others) Provideo CVC-7706DNV. Price range is around the same but no housing or additional lens is required. Rory

im also figuring out a way to cover the cat5 cable and balun at the camera end, probably use some of that plastic wire cover used in car engines, the fancy type .. just so you wont see the balun, it will go from the drop ceiling to the very back of the camera, would have to be same width of the balun to go over it, cosmetic only. I just dont like the look of bulky baluns on the back of a camera ...anwyay, once it works

thanks, ill get some photos in the next couple days, waiting to finish the alarm part first, and phone, maybe finished tomorrow..

I dont think I have ever seen High Quality and Cost Effective used in terms with any product ... Cost effective = cheap if its cheap its cheap, end of story Let the client know that, they will respect you more, and if they are on a budget then they WILL buy the product.

Hi, yes, actually still on it. Working on the alarm move now. Yes it did work though,with the cameras. What I did is use an enclosure with some terminal strips for the video and power (power locally just wanted to run it on 1 cat5 cable to the power box), and the other side of the video goes to the main building. Phone like will use terminal strips also. Network, I may leave to the clients point of sale people, got my hands full as it is. Cant find punch blocks anywhere here ..! I guess those that have them just wont sell them..anyway for what im doing terminal strips worked out great. Rory

no prob yes that pool cam, I had to lower the camera and point the camera up, so the IR points towards the facing wall, that way I get an even spread of IR, pointed down on the pool/ground area does not see anything much. Extreme has some nice cameras now though, they have white housings as well now. But price I would have thought would be the major issue ..whats mobotix's web site? rory PS ill catch it later today just going to get some zzzs, its like 6am here now ..

oh yeah if someone wants to send me a DVR to test ill be sure to put it though the same rigurous tests i have done with Ever, Provid, Hishar, and Kalatel.. Sorry if i missed one out.. and my review of those does not mean they dont make other great products ..

seen the web site before and have it bookmarked, havent used it yet..

Yep, standalones .. Provideo - it is a good DVR is you dont need to network it (remote video). It basically has no real network software. It has a browser based java thing that is not worth looking at (terrible picture). The software that comes with it, is useless for network (remote video). As a non networked DVR, it is good as far as quality of the image, and you can burn video to the internal CD, and playback using the included playback software. It is very large in size. It locked up on me at least once, for some unknown reason.. It is also an Asian DVR rebadged. Everfocus, is even worst, quality of the video is crap and out of 2 I have seen installed, they both had shorts/interference of some sought on 1 channel at least. Their network software is also terrible, that includes the browser based. Back up to USB is cool, thats about it, it backs up video files to USB flash. It is smaller and looks a little better. Locks up on network playback. Asian ofcourse. HiSharp - its good if, you dont need to playback recorded video over a network (remotely). It, like the Everfocus locked up on me too many times than I can count - then again I am a speed freak, but still. Live networked video is good quality. It is also a large unit. It does not back up video, only image files, unless you connect an external VCR. Asian of course. Provideo and Everfocus are in the same price and quality range as HiSharp. They do not match the specs of the following: Nuvico looks good, ive never used it though. AV and Kriton can help you there. Kalatel, stable, strong, plain yet powerful remote software (multi-site, etc), pricey though, more than Nuvico. General Solutions - tested one the other day - cant say how stable it is as I havent used it, but it uses Windows XP embedded, and is full of features, if you are somewhat techy than this is a good unit - same price range as the Nuvico, more features than Nuvico and kalatel, as it is Windows XP. No front buttons, just a mouse for control. Network (remote) software is as powerful as the server software ( on the unit). Hope this pans it out a little more. I have yet to find a good 16 channel low end DVR - looking at a couple Korean 4 channels now that claim to be coming out with an 8 and 16 channel version soon, Koreans seem to make better DVRs than the other Asian countries, or at least more professional looking units with better network software. Kodicom is Korean. Dont know what Nuvico is, but Kalatel is GE, USA. General Solutions, I cant remember off hand who is the Asian side of it, though they claim to be the US branch of the manufacturer ..? Phillips also has a new(ish) stand alone DVR out. Dedicated Micros is expensive on the US side of the world, but if you are in the UK seems like a vailable choice over the rest, except they need to improve their software for multi site. Samsung Techwin also has a good looking DVR with similar specs to the others, faster recording speeds, same pricing as the nuvico's, waiting on a Demo from their Florida Rep (www.samsungcctv.com) I cant personally recommend any others right now .. Thats all I got for now. Rory

Firstly, I guess you are doing this, but you always have to postition IR at night, in the dark, pitch dark, use a portable monitor or small TV or something so you can see where the IR is pointing when you adjust it. Infrared, requires something to reflect off. If it is an open field, or yard, it will not perform, as if there were walls on either side and at the far end of the IR's beam. If you have bush, or grass and the IR is pointing on it, it can reflect, and even cause the camera's response to 'freak out'. IR should be installed as low as possible, and directed as high as required, so to avoid reflection from the ground. Personally I stopped Selling IR bullets for Infrared Applications, a couple years back. Now I only use Extreme CCTV if they ask for Infrared, even if it means using a cheap day night camera, coupled with an extremeCCTV Infrared bulb/LED.

yah need to close out that Ati toolbar man, tink its slowing your PC down alotz ! is that java or ActiveX? and is that 12 degrees i see!!!!!!! darn, like 60 here and im freezin my butt off!

show us da playback, I think I used this before ....?

tonight, or last night, or this morning? im hitting the sack now, need to get up in a couple hours to do CCTV all over again ..

its still alot better looking than GEO's GUI that looks like a kid wrote it ..sitting in a room full of rainbows

perhaps, but it is a standard windows format.

exactly ..

Ok, as for dealing with the maufacturers: I got this reply from one of them about purchasing direct: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- so. Let us discuss direct business with you ,when you are fully ready. As We target larger OEM makers while supply monthly 2,500-3,000 kits of main board ,it means our MOQ level is much high and We do not target distributor martket in the overseas. Let us concentrate on current domestic,China and Taiwan market where let us maintain our regular sales q'ty for the time being. Meanwhile,I have various contact points in Caribean countries already and I and all our staffs can speak spanish to proceed the direct communication with them. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- So in other words I dont think I would WANT support from them! I dont quite understand the jist of their translating software for one thing Heck they are almost turning me off buying their product, which is labled under many different companies names! Also, who speaks spanish in the Caribbean (Well except Cuba & Puerto Rico)! Okay, I for one, have to know the product, where it came from, who makes it, before I buy it. Thats where this forum has come in very useful. Another place I peruse is www.ASmag.com. Basically, simply put, ALL low end DVRs are made somewhere in ASIA. The US distributors or manufactures will by them in bulk, and have to keep a monthly quota. They will by them as OEM so they can relabel them, and even customise the network software. They make other enhancements to them as well, especially if talking about PC Cards, that is even more customisable than an emebedded RTOS DVR board. For some DVRs there is only 1 Rep in say Canada, or the US, and they resell to other distributors in those countries, who buy bulk from them or direct from ASIA through them. Those distirbutors then in turn resell to the dealers, who resell to the end user. Some dealers can get direct accounts with the manufacturers, though rare without meeting a monthly quota. I have one now with a Canadian Camera Manufacturer -yes they are the manufacturer - cant mention names (or at least was invited to open one with them - is it worth it though? They are in canada and shippng can be expensive anyway, do I save anything? I Will have to find out!) Another thing, some people dont mention, most if not all low end DVRs, in the average price range I wont mention also, 16 channels, have a 480PPS real time display. Something you wont find in most higher priced well known DVRs yet, due to the OS most likely, as Linux RTOS is easy enough to do this, while say Kalatel's Nucleos RTOS is more difficult to obtain this. All of them have issues with Real Time Recording on 16 cameras though, low or high end, cheap or expensive. Windows Embedded XP is now handling that part well, but they can cost more than the higher priced DVRs like Kalatel even, and they are embedded XP, but they are still XP and windowz, however they may be the next level of DVRs as Windows fixes its past issues it had with Security and Stability. I recently demoed an Embedded XP DVR and I was impressed - draw back is alot of home users or small retail stores wont be able to use them, no front end buttons, all done by mouse - BUT, then who ever uses the front end buttons besides me, I asked myself, not many. If they can throw in an IR remote and drop the price, embedded XP has it made .... it seemed pretty stable to me an as it has barely any regular windows XP services running/installed, its also fast ... and should be easy enough to mix in IP inputs with analogue inputs for future DVRs ..my 2 cents there. As for distributors/resellers saying they make it, its all marketing strategy, I guess as they by say 3000 of them a month, and label them and customize their name on it and the software, they can say something. Though to me manufacturer means, the people that made physically. If they are buying just the board, and have their own plant to build the cases, design etc, then that would be called a manufacturer also. Even Pelco uses an Asian PC Card, and builds their own PC based DVRs on this. You can buy the same card yourself and stick it in your PC load windows 2000 and it will work the same. I havent found any trails to Asia for the Kalatel DVRs, and DM for sure is built in the UK. Phillips make their own chips that are used in other DVRs, so they most likely build their own also. Ofcourse, they all may just design them and then outsource the physical work to a plant somewhere else in the world to save money, but because of the price of them, I doubt it! Kalatel (GE) cameras actually have on them, made in china! (or taiwan, I have to check) This doesnt mean they dont design them in the US and build the protoypes there, they just use cheaper labour to manufactur them in bulk, and get the price down. there are plenty of OEM companies in Asia with manufacturing plants (lines) that will build OEM on your design. Oh well ...hope this helps, just a little Rory

yep, i got a client getting ready to spend $70,000 on CCTV for his home! you got off relatively cheap .. LOL

yes we use them in the alarm industry with Telco wire, we call them "beanies' down here .. but i dont use them for CCTV. They dont fit power cable though. Rory

Welcome .. Basically, a Matrix System can handle hundreds of cameras, by switching video from multiple cameras to multiple monitors. The video is normally in full screen only, and can sequence between each camera, programmable as to which cameras are assigned to which monitor output. Small versions of this is commonly called a Video Distribution Unit, or Mini Matrix. Example of Matrix Systems: http://www.geindustrial.com/ge-interlogix/kalatel/prd_matrix_switcher.html Example of a Matrix/DVR all in one: http://www.geindustrial.com/cwc/products/ge-interlogix?pnlid=9&famid=63&catid=1088&id=DVMRe_Matrix&lang=en_US Rory

Except that a 16 way multiview is pretty much useless unless you have a 30"+ screen

that must have been the older version or maybe the 9 channel "Multi viewer"? This one I have is around 1 1/2 years old. It has 1 way, 4 way (Quad), and 9 way views. http://www.specotech.com/cart/products/productDetails.asp?prodID=429 If it is the MV-9 that is not a true multiplexer. http://www.specotech.com/cart/products/productDetails.asp?prodID=362 I actually ordered that as all I needed it for was viewing, not recording, but the distributor sent me the Mux instead, same price basically. One thing I like about the Kalatel Muxes and DVRs are that you dont have to restart the hardware to recognise newly installed cameras. Rory

Yep, warranty is the key word on any purchase - crap, i bought a $35,000 jeep here in the bahamas thinking that id get a nice local warranty, all i got was 3 months and a 1 year limited - in the US the same purchase gets you 10 years (or a certain miliage) Service (tech support) is also very very important. If you get that, with a cheap DVR, or an expensive one, then you will be okay. Rory