Scruit

Followup: I called CPCam support and they informed me that the "group" vs "fix" mode refers to the number of channels that have cameras attached. For example, Group 1 = channels 1-4, and shares 30fps in Frame mode. Fix mode will split those 30 fps evenly across the 4 channels, even if you only have cameras on channels 1 and 2. So ch1 gets 7.5fps, ch2 gets 7.5fps, and the unused ch3 and ch4 also get 7.5 In Group mode it senses which channels have cameras connected and shares the 30fps between those - ie if you only have ch1 and ch2 connected then they will get 30fps each and ch3 and ch4 are ignored. The "max framerate for motion-only" feature on the CPD576W (that allows the non-motion channels to stay at the lower manual record rate while the cameras *with* motion shared the max framerate) no longer exists in the CPD507HC.

I betcha that "120fps shared" is at the lowest possible resolution and quality.

Did you change the date/time while the DVR was recording? If it was me I'd check the date/time is correct then have the DVR clear the HD and start again. Then check the time/date of the playback files. Make sure you let it record for a couple of hours before you try to playback because the manual states that it needs a minimum number of recorded images before you can play back otherwise the playback will not work correctly.

Can we confirm also that the live feed looks normal? I had a problem just yesterday with a camera that created an 'encoded' type image - but the live view also showed the bad image (it was the camera at fault as the image was still bad when I plugged it into my TV directly) If the OSD shows a list of available recordings - and the time/date of those recordings makes sense (ie today's dat, not 1/1/1898 or something) then I'd go out on a limb and suggest the HD is fine. Can we try to figure out WHEN the image is being distorted? ie The image follows these steps: 1: Real life -> 2: Camera -> 3: Coax or cat5 -> 4: DVR input -> 5: DVR Image porcessing (ie for motion) -> 6: Saved to HD -> 7: Read from HD -> 8.1: DVD backup as pure data, then converted back to image by player app or 8.2: USB backup as pure data, then converted back to image by player app or 8.3: Network backup as pure data, then converted back to image by player app or 8.4: Converted back to image by DVR and output to screen or 8.5: Converted back to image by DVR as output to Video Server app So... Does the 'list of recordings' show motion events? Do you get the little "motion dude" in the bottom right of the screen when there is motion? If the motion dude appears only when there is actual motion then that suggests the video stream is good up to the component that does motion processing. That would suggest that everything up to & including step 5 is working normally. So we need to test the rest of the system... Do you have DVD output? Or USB output? Record a piece of video by noting the time, walking past a camera, noting the time again... Then use the USB backup to output that time range / channel. Play the images back on your computer (doubleclick the playback.exe to install the playback viewer on your cimputer, then select the .787 file for the video that was just backed up, select 'convert', and 'play file'.) Do you get good video or the same garbage? (If you get an error message and the player refuses to install, then try the DVD export. On mine the playback.exe that is saved to USB key is bad but the DVD is good, and once the player was installed by the DVD backup it could read the USB files also.) You have up to 5 ways of getting video back (depending on DVR model) and if you test each one then you can help isolate the bad component. 1) DVD Backup 2) USB Backup 3) Network Backup through Video Server app 4) Live View via Monitor output (also, live view via call output) 5) Live View via Video Server app If 1-3 all work and 4 & 5 don't work, then it suggests the video is being converted to data and stored on the HD correctly, but the component in the DVR that renders that data back to a viewable image is not working. (the DVD, USB and Netowrk backups are pure data and the data is rendered back to an image by the software, not the DVR) If all 5 fail then it likely suggests that the image is not being converted to data correctly before being stored to HD, or there is some processing on the read side that is still common to all 5 vewing methods that is bad. Again, if you have an apparenlty sensible list of video event stored then I'd suggest the HD is ok - because that event list is gong to be stored on the HD, no?

I got an old VCR that has a video-in and a video-out. - The monitor connection of the DVR goes to the Video-in on the VCR - The video out goes to a TV capture card on my computer - The RF out of the VCR goes to the TV at the DVR. I can use the capture card to make AVIs and video DVDs of CCTV footage. My new DVR allows DVD or USB export to proprietary files - if I want to make a video DVD to put in a DVD player then I still have to burns them with my computer.

The manual says you can spread the framerate evenly, or across "the channels that are recording". I'll have to recheck and make sure I'm not using 'Fixed' mode (7.5fps per channel). I am using Group mode. What I have noticed is that if I turn manual recording off, and then there is motion in ONE camera, then all cameras start to record and share the framerate. The is exactly the same behavior as 'fix' mode instead of group mode. Any clues? Any way to configure the DVR to only ramp up the channels that are actually seeing motion and the rest stay at manual record framerate?

Backed up using the USB key, exporte to AVI, rendered as WMV then uploaded to youtube. There is some quality loss between the USB output and youtube, but not too much. Still: Much better quality than previous DVR: New: Old:

I'll ship it all south to you guys. At night it makes for great visibility - lots of light bouncing all over the place. But during the day - especially when it's half melted and the sun is angled correctly - it creates some pretty nasty contrast issues. EVERYTHING is to light or too dark.

Another channel to compare: New: Old:

If you do this on the cheap, you'll be tweaking it weekly for years. Trust me. Any way to get a 'true' license plate camera? ie from Extreme?

How about a mirror placed at 45deg?

Can you playback the video on screen? Not sure about the failure on second login - sounds like maybe it's keeping the session open after you close the software? Try doing a NETSTAT from your PC and make sure the connection goes into a close_wait or time_wait state after you shut down and finally disappears. Does the rmote software let you see wh else is connected? have to you tried connecting from two diff computers at the same time and then seeing if they each list the other session as active? what happens if you close one - does the other still list the session as active? Can you get a list of active TCPIP session through the DVR's screen display?

I understood your question as: "I have a serious problem with the AVTech 760. I didn't see any live images when I tried to connect using the remote software. My supplier doesn't know how to do that. If somone could give me help then I'd appreciate it." Which remote software are you using? Video Server S? Video Server E? Does the remote software ask for a username/login and a password? Does the software say "Start to get image" in the top left corner of the video server? Is this a NEW installation or an empty hard drive? The manual for my 787 says that there has to be a minimum amount of video recorded or the playback won't work. When i first plugged in my 787 and tried to playback the remote software would not connect and the playback on the live screen was not working. I let it record for another 20 or 30 minutes and then wnet back and it's been fine ever since. If this is a new DVR or a new HD or you have cleared the HD recently then wait for a day of recording and see if it will connect again. Also, a bad hard drive can make the playback fail. If you have a spare hard drve then you can try that instead. I put a brand new 160GB in my old 4ch DVR and the playback and remote software both failed to work - would freeze up. I removed the new HD and put in an old 120GB hard drive and it has worked 100% since then.

The DVD burn worked normally. And I can use the player installed by the DVD to view files on the USB. Weird.

I got the 507 set up and recorded a little bit of video. I did a save-to-USB and I have a bunch of .787 files for each channel, AND a "playback.exe" program. When I run that playback.exe on my PC (XP SP2) I get a message "Program too big to fit in memory". Any ideas?

The manual says you can spread the framerate evenly, or across "the channels that are recording". I'll have to recheck and make sure I'm not using 'Fixed' mode (7.5fps per channel).

It doesn't appear to be part of the Video Server E. The playback.exe is deposited onto the USB key during the USB backup process. I'm gonne try to backup to DVD to see if that is any different.

Yeah, the computer is telling me that the program is too big. The filesize is 1,294kb Tried it in 2 diff computers. Same error.

Also bear in mind that the manuals of most budget electronics devices are written in 'Engrish'. "Many congratulation on your purchasing of this fine item, which will fill you day will happyness and excellent recording video!" How easy would it be for somone in the US division of these companies (or even a registered supplier/importer, or even just a contractor) to just go over the english version of manual once and smooth out the wording a little. I have never though that the "oldest 8Gb" means the same area is constatly overwritten - becuase once it's overwritten with new data then it's no longer the oldest data! But maybe that's because I'm in the IT field and know all about hard drive and memory management in high data volume applications. I believe that DVHost is just describing normal operation and is confused by the poorly written "Engrish" manual.

What about the video sucked? The image resolution? Image quality? Framerate? Are you talking about the MPEG4 wor the MJPEG compression? I beliege the 561 uses MJPEG for D1 and MPEG4 for CIF. My 576 uses wavelet compression and only has D1. How does that compare to the 507HC's MPEG4 D1 compression? Since I first picked up a transistor and compared it to the valves from myold radio, I have been told the same thing by electronics mentors... "They run on Magic Smoke" They will continue to work, right up until you "let the smoke out". Once you let the smoke out, they quit working. These days I still use that phrase, and it confuses a lot of folks. "Hey, I need to get a new DVR becuase I let the smoke out of the old one." Oh, and I hate the phrase "You get what you pay for" because it's not always true. I prefer "You pay for what you get, but you don't always get what you pay for". ie You can pay $1000 for a $500 DVR - but you sure ain't gettin' a $1000 DVR for $500.

The more I read your posts the more I suspect you are expecting hte freespace to jump back up to ~480 when the HD fills up. It won't. You don't want it to! Imagine if your house is broken into at 3pm, then the HD fills up at 4pm and wipes itself clean, and then you get home to a burglarized house at 5pm and have only an hour of useless video on your HD. Think of the HD not as being like a VHS tape where you record a full tape then rewind and record again... Think of it more like a loop of tape - the oldest recording is always about to be recorded over again by new data, and at any moment you can stop recording, start playing back at the oldest part of the loop and have the full capacity of the loop as a single continuous recording.

Let me get the description right... When the HD is cleared, is there a counter telling you that you have ~480GB of free space? Now, as the DVR fills up that free space counter drops... When it drops to zero - what happens? Does it show the free space suddenly increase by a number of GB (80?) and then count down again? And repeatedly jump to 80Gb and slowly drop to zero? If so, this seems to be normal... ie when it fills up it will clear a block of space by dropping the oldest data. Overwrite mode does NOT mean it wipes the HD clean and starts again! The best test is to do this: 1) Clear the HD. Write down the time and date and available space. 2) Every day write down the time/date of the earliest available recording, and available space, as the available space drops slowly over several days. 3) When the available space gets to zero and then jumps up again, continue to write down the earliest available date/time and available space for about 4 or 5 more days ( a couple of cycles of the 80GB). Also, right after the ~480GB reaches zero, write down the number of days of history you had. Finally - look at each of the "earliest time/date" you have recorded every day and tell us which of the following behaviours best describes the pattern: A) NORMAL BEHAVIOUR - "Earliest Time/Date" is the same each day while the ~480GB HD space is declining slowly and gives a maximum of X days history. - After the HD space jumps back up to 80GB the "earliest time/date" moves on a day or two - Each time the HD space reaches zero and jumps back up to 80GB the "earlest time/date" moves on a day or two, but is always roughly the same X number of days of history. This would indicate that everything is fine. The DVR is not going to wipe the HD clean each time it fills, otherwise you may lost vital recent video after it wipes. It should record until the HD is full, then cyclically re-allocate large blocks (80GB). If you imagine your HD split into 6 blocks of 80GB: - It will record to blocks 1-6 sequentially when it starts with a clean HD. - Then it will clear and and reallocate the oldest block (1) for new video, leaving blocks 2-3-4-5-6 intact. - Then when block 1 is full again it will clear and reallocate the oldest block (2), leaving blocks 3-4-5-6-1 intact. - It will do this forever, and will always show an amout of free space that is equal to, or smaller than, the amount of space it allocates in each block. So, if you are worried becuase your 480GB space dropped slowly to 0, the only jumped back up to 80GB - that's perfectly fine and normal - the most important thing is that the amount of history you have averages within a day or two of your number of days of history you had just before the HD 'filled up' for the first time. Now, bear in mind I'm not a DVR expert, but I am a database engineer and I know a thing or two about disk caching - the concept is identical. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- B) ABNORMAL BEHAVIOUR PATTERN 1 - "Earliest Time/Date" is the same each day while the ~480GB HD space is declining slowly and gives a maximum of X days history. - After the HD space jumps back up to 80GB the "earliest time/date" shows it only has only a tiny fraction of the X number of days of history. - Each time the HD space reaches zero and jumps back up to 80GB the "earlest time/date" shows it only has only a tiny fraction of the X number of days of history. It never gets back up near the X number of days of history. This would indicate that the HD filled up with the first X number of days, for example 7 days, then once it came time to allocate more space it 'loses' the pointers to all the old video so it starts recording again in the 80GB allocated space. Then each time it allocates another 80GB it 'loses' the pointers to the old video again - each time it does this it's as if the old video simply doesn't exist even though the drivespace is marked as used. I also have an old OEM DVR kicking around here that has a bug in the search feature that cannot search for video if the month is December, it will say there's no video apart from the current recording - which it promptly 'loses' next time the DVR starts recording. I have to set the DVR to November again during December. CPCam/AVTech support would have to help you here. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- C) ABNORMAL BEHAVIOUR PATTERN 2 - "Earliest Time/Date" is the same each day while the ~480GB HD space is declining slowly and gives a maximum of X days history. - After the HD space jumps back up to 80GB the "earliest time/date" does not change, or it may advance a day or two the first time only. - Each time the HD space reaches zero and jumps back up to 80GB the "earlest time/date" does not change and the number of days of history continues to grow - however a window opens up between the first X number of days and the most recent couple of days. ie the DVR claims 15 days history but you can only recove video from the fisrt few days and the last day or two - everything between is blank. This indicates that the DVR is unable to reuse the hard drive space or overwrite it at all. ie you got 7 days of history as the HD filled up, but once the HD was full and it allocated 80GB space it repeatedly allocated the SAME space over and over and over. Your first 7 days are recorded on 420GB of HD space and that space is never touched again - the DVR keeps allocating the same 80GB block over and over to record the current data - but that will only give a day or two of history, so 15 days after starting the experiment you will have the first 5-7 days still saved, then no data for several days, then you have the last day or two. This is a bug that would require CPCam/AVTech support.

My current CPD576W has a 500GB hard drive. It is set to "Overwrite" and puts "M-OW" on screen in the top right corner (Manual record, OverWrite). I have the system configured for 1fps per channel when there is no motion, and 25fps total when there IS motion. I have about 7 days of history at any given moment. The overwrite works as described and I never have to clear the Hard Drive.

With outdoor wiring you have to consider what will happen to water that falls onto the wire/conduit - it tends to 'run down' the wire/conduit to the lowest point. If the the lower point of the wire was a connection or junction box then you'd always have water trying to infiltrate the connection. A 'Drip Loop' is simply a way of arranging the wire/conduit in a way that the lowest point, where the water collects, is below any connectors or junctions. Examples:

I've had this camera for a couple years, got it used from a Bank. It's popular in astronomy circles becuase of it's good low-light performance. May be discontinued.