rory

Thanks, looks promising.

Thanks. So something like this should do the trick right? http://www.gefen.com/kvm/dproduct.jsp?prod_id=3256 I think VGA should be fine as the HDMI output from the DVR is not much different anyway and besides its only D1 cameras in 16 way view.

simple solution, just go out there at night and focus it. Any light in the image and it will stay in color .. it uses the video to determine when to switch over, there is no photocell. Looks like plenty of light there though, just out of focus. Those little garden lights normally no nothing for the camera though.

do you use the same ladders we use? 100'? nah ill just hire you to mount the camera then

Thats great but then when the ladder tips over you are going straight down with it! BTW thats not the type of ladder I typically use, remember these arent being mounted more than 13' high in most cases. When I go up 25' its normally in a cage on a forklift. And imagine how much time is spent locking and unlocking your leg in as you go up down up down up down the ladder as we do when working with cameras ... ill try the leg lock on my 8' ladder though and see how it works out

Yes well to begin with they are trying to sell their $700 focus meter. Secondly, gutter and eaves dont exist with every camera install and when its nothing but a 10 foot drop to concrete below its hard to take those chances on such small paying jobs, especially when we are dealing with consumer ladders on unstable ground, not to mention heavy wind, bright sun, 100 degree temps and mosquitos carrying deadly viruses.

Yes and no, it was a professional lens filter that cost me a fortune at the time, but as I could not see the monitor the filter was useless. Many of these articles online are copied from outdated information, or by people that must live in an underground dwelling. Also, try standing at the top of a 12 foot ladder with one hand focusing the lens, one hand holding the filter in front of the camera, one invisible hand trying to hold onto the ladder incase you loose balance as the wind sways the ladder, and the other invisible hand trying to hold the monitor or manouver to see a monitor mounted on the ladder or arm while trying to do all of that ... makes you wonder if these folks that write these articles ever been out on a job site If this is a wide FOV and you have a big enough garage, then just go in there and focus it on some objects within 25', turn light down low (eg turn off light and let some light through a door), focus it like that, then double check the focus through the entire image (edges and center), and also with full light. Wide angle FOV so you can put it back up and be done with it.

They also say to manually open the Iris up but thats ridiculous under daylight sun as it would be whiteout and could not see any objects to focus - but could open it to the point that can still see.

Yes normally you either put a filter in front or even a piece of tinted glass, or do it under low light, basically thats to open the IRIS. Thats all fine and dandy but if its dark enough to see the monitor and edges of objects good enough to focus then the Iris is already probably opened up enough - plus thats where day night lenses come in, to prevent most of the focus shift. Biggest problem IMO is seeing the monitor clear enough in the daytime sun and trying to make out the objects clear enough - eg. bright sun, the edges of objects could be too full of glare to make out, again IMO with current cameras and lenses most of the time its blurry at night is because it was never focus crisp in the day to begin with due to too much sunlight and not being able to see the monitor and edges good enough; a little off focus in the day is ALOT off focus at night regardless of the focus shift. In any event with this camera I had the issue where there was a section staying out of focus at night and could not get there at night and had no tinted glass or filter, so in the middle of the day in bright sunlight even (though i could see the monitor as its under a low eave) I switched it to Electronic Iris and low and behold the blurry area appeared - focused it clear then switched it back to AI and its fine at night now. Wont work for every camera and every application, but it worked for this VBM-24VF (same as the VCM)

Yes I agree. The motherboard on the Apollo HD is physically bigger. I am sure that has something to do with it. Most people probably woudlnt recognize the quality difference but I can. The Zues's are still a good DVR, but Apollo HD's are better. Trust me if they step up from an AvTech Mpeg4 DVR like I had (cant speak for the other models) or an Argus or Apasonic DVR (which I also tested), the quality is considerably better with the Zeus and loaded with many more features, its like a whole different world. But yes I would always suggest the HD model if they can afford it.

Edit. so the Zeus is the 8/16 AS ... sounds logical now Notice it is the 8/16 AS that does not do D1 @ 30fps on any channels. Thats where my confusion came in, they are literally different DVRs I had the 8 channel AS here for a week, I think thats where I noticed it didnt do D1 30fps on channel 1. I installed 2 of the 4 channel AS when I first started using these DVRs but never checked that part of it. So ... I agree the HD model is better ... though if a user is upgrading from a VCR or some other old cheap DVR and want to save some money the Zues would be fine. I did notice the live and recorded video quality was slightly lower than the HD Model though, but still tons better than the AvTech I had before.

Im basing my specs off the 4 channel AS and AN from Dahua http://www.dahuasecurity.com/product_det.aspx?ID=521&p=cpyzc&p_kind=3&c_kind=262&c_kind2=&c_kind3= Only differences they list between the AS and AN are: AS has Alarm, AN does not. AS has PTZ, AN does not. Both show: Channel 1: D1/CIF/QCIF (1~25/30fps); Channel 2~4: CIF/QCIF (1~25/30fps), D1 (1~6/7fps) Or from their overview: AS: 4 channel video inputs and 2 channel audio inputs. The 1st video channel can support max D1(4CIF) realtime recording and other channels can support CIF realtime recording. It can support TV, VGA and USB2.0. AN: same with DVR0404LE-AS, but without RS485 and alarm inputs/ouputs. The budget 8 and 16 channel on the other hand only list it with D1 @ 7fps (and 2CIF in the 16) These 2 are also called an AS but are separated from the 4 channel. http://www.dahuasecurity.com/product_det.aspx?ID=611&p=cpyzc&p_kind=3&c_kind=262&c_kind2=&c_kind3= Ofcourse the manufacturer specs could be wrong also.

Just goto your local electrical supplier and buy some lamp cord wire by the foot, should be 18awg. Or get the RG59 18awg siamese one time?

Actually its just like the Apollo HD in which you can do D1 at 30 FPS on channel 1 as long as the other 3 channels are CIF. I like this feature because alot of people are looking just for a single camera system and this gives them the option to do full D1 on one channel if they wish. Of course they usually end up getting more cameras in which it is best to do all channels D1 7 FPS Hmmm .. just rechecked Dahua's site and you are correct. Dont know where I got that from Oh yeah its because Dahua only mentions it in the features for the budget one: Each channel at CIF or 6/7fps at D1 recording While the HDMI features mentions: Each channel at CIF and special channel at D1 recording BUT the specs and overview say it does the special D1 channels. my bad ...

Thats their budget DVR. VGA and Composite output only, no HDMI. Less audio channels. Different firmware from the HDMI models (looks the same though). These DVRs are commonly used by consumer brands like Q-See. edit .

Look if you are incapable of answering that simple question then please let someone else do it. Deflecting away from the question would lead me to believe this product/technology is utter crap. But then its a good job you are not in any way related to sales of the product.

They all support D1 @ 7fps each channel, but only some channels support D1 @ 30fps while the remaining channels must be CIF. Why those channels? Im not sure but I imagine it has something to do with the start of the boards/chips they use, like its channel 1 with the 8 channel, its channel 1 and 9 with the 16 channel, etc.

Someone told a client about a product they installed at another big concrete home that gives them wifi in every room .. I know we can stick wireless access points etc up high in attics etc and scatter them around, but is there some sort of plug and play system that does this? Its not through the electric as far as I know as they mentioned antennas go in the attic ... but they made it out to seem like it was something special .. I dont have the name though the client said it starts with the letter L. The system would still need some IT configuration also which the people that told the client about it do not do - I dont want to take their idea for this job, I just want to know what this is that will do for wifi and what no alarm receiver for basic alarm data can do at this house. Oh yeah, price is not an issue.

Great, sounds like a plan. Will send you a postcard. But the question still remains, since Nigeria's power is worst than here.

It takes composite and converts it to TV signal ... they normally come in either the basic 3/4 channel or in batches of tv channels and you get filters to filter that channel so its a clear signal. So for example you can get a 4 channel one and set it for channels 72-74 and then put 4 cameras on that. But that wont work with digital cable. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RF_modulator http://hometheater.about.com/od/hometheaterdoityourself/ig/Home-Theater-Connection-Photo-/RF-Modulator.htm

What happens when there are brownouts and heavy surges? I mean like 50 times a day?

It used to be called an RF Modulator, but now Digital cable has killed it. Ive heard rumours of Digital modulators but nobody can promise it will work. Otherwise you could just put it into the AV Input, or extend the VGA or HDMI from the DVR to the TV if it has one of those inputs. another idea is to run a mini PC with the CMS for the DVR on windows startup, then use an IR remote to send certain keys to the CMS to change views.

Ahh with them, under moderately low light (so you can see the monitor clearly, eg. cloudy or early evening) flip it from Auto Iris to Electronic Iris then focus, and then put it back to Auto Iris.

Yes in fact I normally focus with light, low light, and if there is IR i fine tune it with IR in pitch dark, and go back and forth until it is perfect. I normally do that during the day in the garage so its a controlled lighting environment. At least for wide FOVs. But be careful as there can be focus shift even with the so called IR Optimized lenses. In fact even with the fixed lenses on cheap cameras you could get it nice and crisp in IR then its out of focus in color or bright light, and vice versa. And trust me, with some cameras it will always be a little blurry at night no matter what you do. Depends on the camera and lens

PM sent about the DVR. Camera, how dark is it at night? If the area is small could just use a cheap color ir, if not then look at something like the CNB VCM-24VF then add IR if needed - or they also sell IR versions, but not as good in my testing as a non IR TDN camera with separate IR.