bigbuilding

I have a card reader that will randomly reject cards (card misread) for no reason. I figured we should have the contractor replace the reader which they did, still getting random rejects. I looked through previous invoices from our contractor and this reader has been replaced several times. Any ideas on the problem?

From my knowledge of fire alarm systems most remote panels would have this ability, like you said the fire alarm contractor should complete the work at the panel itself. Don't let anyone tell you they can connect just to a fire alarm speaker/strobe instead of a remote fire alarm panel.

Agree with above go over your restore procedure. My IT department was backing up on a tape drive for years, I brought in our security system contractor in and they said they wouldnt have any temp servers w/tape drives, obviosly we changed our backup method. If you have a/c to cool down your equipment check on its regular maintenance and also test any high temp alarms if you have them. It would not be good to do regular maintenance on DVR's+other equipment and you loose all the equipment because your a/c unit failed. Other lessons learned: -Check any UPS's if you have any! -Make sure your electrical outlets are labeled with location of circuit breaker and the circuit breaker in the electrical panel is labeled indicating what equipment is on that breaker.

We isntalled the cctv cable outside the traveling cable and therefore more likely to failure. When cables started failing we were faced with 2 options replace CCTV cable outside the elevator traveling cable for a couple thousand or the permanent fix of installing an additional traveling cable with cctv cable enclosed for about 10 times the cost.

Sounds like problem with cable from elevator to elevator machine room. Find out if cctv cable is installed outside the elevator traveling cable or inside the Traveling cable. If outside its most likely a problem with cable which will need to be replaced.

It sounds like you have a problem with the actual cable that goes from elevator to elevator machine room. Most important thing is to find out if the CCTV cable is isntalled within the elevator traveling cable or simply tie-wrapped on the outside of the traveling cable. If its outside the traveling cable it much more likely to get damaged (maybe it will last 6 months maybe 6 years)

When I get that message its usually because one of the 3 hard drives has failed, so you have lost all footage on the drive (although it might be able to be recovered) and you are now recording on 2 drives instead of 3 reducing the lenght of time you are saving footage. If I remember correctly if you go to utilities then storage you can see your 3 drives and if one has failed I think it says missing

AD has a good website with manuals, install, and specs, just search for the model on their site. http://www.americandynamics.net/home/default.aspx

Those are great pictures. Anyone have more!

If your concerned with power loss I would suggest putting your DVR and all camera power supplies on a UPS. Then configure UPS to email/page you when it senses loss in power.

below is a link to the bosch plate cams and the unofficial prices. I am still looking around for license plate options and these are a couple options I have come accross http://www.dedicatedmicrosus.com/?id=246 http://products.boschsecurity.us/en/TAMS/products/bxp/CATM4ee759c007a61cbce559f31fd53d9314 REGZ18050X000E01 REG-Z1 SINGLE CAMERA 50MM, 40-68FT, NTSC $3,647.70 REGZ18050XC00E01 REG-Z1 DUAL CAMERA 50MM, 40-68FT, NTSC $5,270.40 REGZ18075X000E01 REG-Z1 SINGLE CAMERA 75MM, 55-80FT, NTSC $3,647.70 REGZ18075XC00E01 REG-Z1 DUAL CAMERA 75MM, 55-80FT, NTSC $5,270.40 REGZ18100X000E01 REG-Z1 SINGLE CAMERA 100MM, 85-120FT, NTSC $3,647.70 REGZ18100XC00E01 REG-Z1 DUAL CAMERA 100MM, 85-120FT, NTSC $5,270.40 http://[/url]http://

Maybe have a section for home user issues I think a product/manufacterer link section would be very helpful. Not the typical advertisement type one that many website have. Actually have clickable links to the company websites, list companies only under the category they do have products (not under every category like on some sites), do not list sites/companies that do not have helpful info on website. Allow forum members to approve or request removal of companies/websites. Link section with any helpful links that forum members have(training, cctv information, etc). How about a section for product of the day/week. Members could post pics, footage, info about cams/dvrs etc that they would recomend to others.

I dont think its code in my area to install wireless cctv (although I may be thinking of wireless access control). However it is code to install those Captivate advertisement screens wich are wireless and work great. Make sure you use the right type of cable that is able to bend/flex in elevator traveling cable. Think about the equipment you are installing including power supplies, you dont want to have to have an elevator tech come out everytime you service the cctv equipment.

I just upgraded our software for our DVR wich includes ability to monitor remotely ofcourse can't login because of this port forwarding thing. I have requested from our IT department to enable port forwarding. Is there any reason they would not do this? Is there a big risk to the entire network doing this?

Not really sure on price per cam, would vary depending on camera, location, etc. I am no expert but I would suggest breaking down your quote: X amount for cameras, x for cable, X for DVRs, then just one number for entire labor piece. Careful with labor number many issues can arise ie cant work during day.

I have a few multiplexors and a few quads and matrix, basically the multiplexor/quad is just another camera call up that cam number and multiplexor/quad view. Works great.

definetely want some junction boxes to allow easy access for possible future expansion

I love the covi cams. From what I heard they are not making them anymore and they are hard to get unless a company had a big stock of them. From what I know should work just the same as any other camera. The PC used to program it would be a laptop running Covi software the would be hooked up to cam at installed position and software just adjusts the position of the bottom 3 images.

wont you need to updgrade the operating software also, making it expensive and uneeded?

Review the video thoroughly to refresh your memory of the events before court, you may be asked to narrate the video. Did you exlude any video or only place a small portion of video on CD (BTW should be CDR not CDRW). I was accused of "destroying video" on a slip and fall by a cleaning company because I did not save video of 2 hours before fall when cleaning company was working in area (which had nothing to do with slip and fall). Also one camera happened to be out of service at time of fall and again accused of destroying video until I produced logs and vendor service slips of camera outage. Let us know how it turns out, intersting to find out what questions the lawyer asks

Seems like a good solution, what about when it rains or snows? Would the heat of cam melt snow?

In a couple cases I have found that when one of my American Dynamics LCD monitors fails and it will not turn on that its usually the internal power supply. I took a good power supply from another monitor and replaced the bad one and the LCD has been working good since. I now have 3 LCD monitors that have same symptom of not turning on. I googled it, looked on EBAY and cannot find anywhere to purchase a power supply for my monitor. There does not seem to be any part numbers on the power supply. My contractor does not like to repair LCD's because a week after repair something else could go wrong. Does anyone know of a source I can find AD power supplies from? Thank You

Thanks 75% of our monitors are ADMNM1LCD15 although I have been replacing with 17" monitors recently. Unfortunetly its been about 4 years for these monitors so they are out of warranty. I emailed AD customer support which is usually very helpful. Does it make sense to purchase LCDs that have external power supplies so if they fail replacement is easier and less costly. Not to sound cheap but I rather spend my CCTV budget on new cams not replacing broken monitors.

You may be called upon just to guide the judge jury etc through the video footage. They may ask you to provide overview of your CCTV system and brief description of cameras Be prepared and make sure you review the video again to refresh your memory. On a couple occassions the D.A. did not thoroughly review the video and you might be able to point something out. Also they may not be able to properly display and view video without your assistance!! For some reason on the 2-3 occasions I have been involved in legal issues that included CCTV everyone asked when I saved video and more info about saving video. In one situation the camera that would have provided the best view of the incident was out of service. The other side accused of "destructing video" and only choosing the video we wanted to put on CD. They did not count on us having all the proper documentation of the camera failure including emails, activity log entries, and invoices from our CCTV contractor.

I have briefly reasearched VM and I never thought of it as eliminating the matrix. I thought some of the advantages were: easier view/search on Net Client instead of listing cams by intellex you are able to have just 1 list of cameras, tours etc on Net Client, and quick search video from the Matrix keyboard (which is cool). Also I suppose its alot cheaper to install 1 CPU, 4 monitors to CPU, and 1 internet connection versus installing 4 new monitors and wiring to matrix,purchasing keyboard, and matrix harware. For me, I rather view video over matrix not network, its like watching a movie on your TV or over the internet.