PhoneGuy85

Powered on my monitor this morning to see the feed from the Spectra 3 dead, looked at the power supply, and found this: Swapped it for a known good power supply, and nothing, used my voltmeter on the power leads to the cam and infinite resistance even on 20 megohm setting. Haven't had a chance to open the dome up and have a look, too cold, so don't know if it's a fuse or if the whole thing is toast. This power supply was running it fine for the past 7-8 months, never felt too hot, definitely not too hot to melt the casing! Any general ideas on what's likely wrong? I really doubt I'll find another Pelco dome for the price I paid for this one, it's done awesome since I've had it, and would hate to lose it.

Ok, I see in the pictures of it how it goes. I've already changed cameras out, but will keep the Pelco and either fix it or save it in case I get another. the PCB on the backbox is scorched in several parts, so it might not be good either.

Just an update, was going to order the power supply as was suggested, figured I'd better take the dome apart to remove the old power supply/backbox. Come to find out, it looks nothing like the part referenced, mine is just a PCB on the little "door" deal, and the fan off to the side. Glad I didn't order a part that wouldn't have worked. Also think the dome itself is dead, as the backbox is supplying 24 VAC to the dome, but the dome won't even do it's self test. There are 2 fried areas on the backboard PCB, one by the power terminals, and another by the coax, glad it didn't fry the DVR! So, I'm saving it all for parts, the dome housing is still good, (and not cheap) and I hope to get another spectra to put in it some day. I'll just use one of my Panasonic cams in an outdoor enclosure.

Is there anything else that could cause this? I'll get the power supply, but just don't want to buy something that doesn't fix the issue and then be stuck with a $125 part

Awesome! yeah, it was drawing over 2 amps when I put the fuse back in, and the fuse was only rated for 1.25 amps so knew something was up! Being I paid a whopping $10 for the cam, I guess it's worth fixing with a $130-$160 part

Any chance this could be fixed? Can provide more info if needed

Ok, update: fuse in the dome was blown, replaced that and powered it up, no video, but the heater/fan was working and interior of the housing smells hot, like a fried circuit. Looks like it's FUBAR'd then

Was at a flea market/antique mall today and saw these, don't think they will be catching anyone! The thing is, they had a functional system in place, why not power these up and use em?

Ok, which mod/admin should I contact to change my username? Can I change it? It was supposed to be PhoneGuy85 and not phome. If PhoneGuy85 is not in use and I am allowed to change it, I'd appreciate it. If this is in the wrong forum, please feel free to move it. thanks, Will

true, it's not a bad install, but a sure sign that the system isn't ever accessed to look at footage, or it's no longer used. still careless on the part of whoever maintains it (if anyone does)

Found at a local Sonic drive in. It is seeing a good view of the pole and the roof of the gas station across from it! Wish I'd taken pics of the box cams under a gas station canopy, they weren't even in enclosures, and had lenses coated in grime!

Ok, so I received the OE2 DVR today, and after getting the port forward figured out, I was able to view the cameras in Internet Exploiter (yuck). The Android app from Openeye on the other hand, is a no go. tried it on 2 different devices, my LG Optimus phone and my Nexus 7 tablet. Port set to 2000, user name and PW set, and it gives a result of "inspecified DVR" or something equally confusing. host name and IP all match, and everything looks good. Tried connecting over 4G as I figured since the DVR is on the same network as the Wifi, it might be confused, still no luck. Using the phone as a mobile hotspot and my laptop with IE gets me in just fine. this app just not very good or is something still not set up right?

It was something I wanted, but I can still use a computer to access it, so I'm good there. I really like the system, and Openeye tech support has been really helpful.

Ok, just talked to Openeye tech support, tech said only the OE3 series and Pro series are compatible with the Android or Apple app, not the OE2 series. Oh well, I like Radius and the default viewer.

edit: update on this, still no luck with the android app, but got Radius activated and running, as well as the latest firmware.

Shockwave, thanks for the info. What port do I need to specify in the MDVR app, 2000 or 2002? the radius software looks nice, may try that too.

Here's the one I bought, seller has more DVR and CCTV stuff http://www.ebay.com/itm/OpenEye-OE2-E48016-500-Analog-DVR-/191243933011?pt=US_Surveillance_Security_Systems&hash=item2c8706d553

Ok, am looking at 2 different DVRs at the moment, a new Everfocus EDVR series or the Openeye Easy DVR series. What I want is something I can view on my Android tablet (The Openeye offers an app) and something not too hard to set up, although I am a phone/IT guy, I don't want something super complex to manage. Most of all, something that's not a cheap piece of crap like the no name ones. Which of the two is better? any advice? I don't have to have the Android app option, but I like it. Also considering a Speco DVR 4tl-160, but am leaning more towards the Openeye

Awesome info guys, I will likely go with the Openeye. I just like the way it looks and what I've read on it. This is for my home installation, so it doesn't need to be fancy. no IP cameras yet, most of my stuff is secondhand, my pride and joy is my $10 Pelco Spectra 3 that I bought in an unknown condition! Also have several different box style cams and a few outdoor enclosures. Time to replace the aging time lapse VCR!

Still thinking of getting the OpenEye system. their website looks well put together, the product looks good, and I like the features. The Everfocus does have a DVD-R drive though, but since it's discontinued, I can't find much on it.

I'll just wait until I get a controller I can program it from. Thank you to those that replied!

Ok, I've figured out quite a bit on this particular camera, except how to program it through the serial port using the "IPS" cable. First off, what software do I need and where do I download it? (looked all over the Pelco site and here) If anyone has a copy to send me, that would be awesome! I bought a coaxitron controller MPT9000CZ, but from reading the manual, it doesn't appear to have the preset function so I can't do the preset 95. I basically want to reset the whole thing back to factory defaults and start clean. Thanks, Will

Ok, tried the other pinout with no luck, but I did get a green light next to the IPS port to flash and a message on the camera monitor saying something about ready to receive a file. Software still says "unable to connect" or connection failed. Is that the right software to program it, or is there another one to use? Just trying to get the setup menu like you would with preset 95.

Ok, here's my pinout for the IPS cable, as found here: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=31110 serial pin 2 to rj45 6 serial pin 3 to rj45 8 serial pin 5 to rj45 2 Your pinout looks different, is mine wrong? I don't have a RS485 converter, I'm using Coaxitron, but I understand you don't need 485 for the IPS port. and the serial port on the PC is true serial, not USB to serial. Yes the parity, baud, address, and protocol all match. I've tried using "P" protocol as well as "D". Edit: just made up a cable using the pinout provided by Treborsz, will let you all know how it works!

Ok, made the cable, but the software won't connect. I'm using XP sp3 on a machine with a real serial port, not a USB to RS232. I verified the cable has the correct pinouts with my cable tester as well. My Win98 computer crashed, so I can't use it to try right now, and my main PC has no serial ports. (I keep a w98 and w95 on hand for times when a program needs DOS to run) Any ideas?