survtech

Rats?

We looked at the Philips Hi-Q system in 2002/2003, but nothing since. I'll PM you next week. We are looking to start evaluating systems in early 2008.

No. We did look at the DX9000 before we bought our present system and we will probably evaluate the Endura, although I have heard a few bad things about it.

Most likely, the cause of your problem is not the continuous current draw that each camera pulls, but the instantaneous peak current during startup. That said, it is not good practice to draw more than 75% of the rated power from a power supply. In fact, I normally do not recommend exceeding 50% to 60% of rating to allow for surges and varying loads.

Those appear to be exactly the same as GVI's: Videobaluns.com: GVI:

You can't use cable intended for RF for LF signals. While there's nothing wrong with RG-6 per se, all coax for CCTV video must be constructed with pure copper, not copper clad steel. RF signals travel on the outside of the conductor; this is known as the "skin effect". For that reason, only the very outer area of a conductor needs to be low resistance once the signal exceeds a certain frequency. As I recall, the nominal cutoff frequency for using clad vs. solid copper is 10-20MHz. See below: Depth of penetration at 60 Hz, δ = .857cm; Depth of penetration at 10 KHz, δ=.066cm; Depth of penetration at 10 MHz, δ=.0021cm = 21 microns With the price of copper as compared to steel, it makes sense to manufacture RF cables out of steel with a thin copper coating. This is not the case with CCTV as its lower frequency (<10MHz) means that the signal travels nearer the center of the conductor. Since steel has a much higher electrical resistance than copper, a CCTV signal would attenuate rapidly in a clad cable.

We typically buy either West Penn or cheap cable from our distributor. It works fine.

Not really, It's just a problem with long focal length lenses. For some reason the dome acts as part of the lens element and throws the focus off. I found that out years ago when I installed a camera with a 5-50 lens on the ceiling approximately 50 ft. up. Everything looked good, so I installed the bubble, cleaned up and drove the scissors lift outside. When I looked at the picture on a monitor, it was out of focus . I went back, removed the bubble and refocused the lens, reinstalled the bubble, and it was out of focus again. Then I tried focusing with the bubble in front of the lens. It works like a charm. Now some manufacturers actually recommend the same procedure with long focal length lenses.

Many states (California included) require installers to have a low voltage contractor's license.

Here is a link to a calculator that will work down to 25 gauge wire: http://www.video-insight.com/Support/Tools/Wire-Length-Calculator.aspx Also, here is a calculator that tells you the result of combining 2 or more cables: http://home.hiwaay.net/~rgs/awgcalculator.html If you plug 2x24 gauge wires into the calculator, the result is 21 gauge; 3x24 = 19 gauge, etc.

Is this camera inside a dome? The longer the lens, the more likely a dome will affect the focus. You may have to focus it with the dome held in front of the lens. Also, it may be a bad lens or one that is not correctly back-focused to the camera or is made for a different size imager.

There are calculators for power wire length. You can run 24VAC farther on the same guage of wire than 12VDC. One chart is at Pelco's web site: ftp://www.pelco.com/ServiceBulletinsTechTips/TechTips/5973024.PDF

I'm not quite sure I understand your question but if the camera has separate connections for power, you can connect the power directly to those and use the CAT-5 and balun for just video. Or you can use 1 pair of a CAT-5 for video and run power on some or all of the other pairs.

Mostly Computar and a few Pelco. Pretty much all are varifocal - 1.6-3.4 or 1.8-3.6 for wide shots; 2.8-10 or 2.8-12 for medium shots and 5-50 for long shots. A few oddballs thrown in for good measure (3.5-8, 5-40, etc.). We prefer glass, not plastic elements and metal, not plastic mechanisms.

Sorry, AD products, in fact all Tyco products, will not be considered. The same applies to Synectics products. All other serious products will be considered. By serious, I mean something designed for casino or other large and complex installs. The system must be at least as capable as our existing Honeywell Enterprise system with a superior support organization and be customizable and have a quick learning curve. A huge plus would be systems that can take advantage of our existing equipment and infrastructure. The details of these can not be revealed on this forum but will be discussed with serious proposers.

What is a filosofi DVR? We will be evaluating different DVR's in 2008 to replace our current NICE/FAST/Honeywell Enterprise system. We will already be checking out the Dallmeier and IndigoVision products, but what else is out there that can handle at least 2000 cameras, both analog and IP.

That when installed properly they work great and last for many years without a problem? If you say so . When I started my job at this casino 10 years ago, we had a bunch of twist-on BNC connectors being used on, among other places, jumpers from our matrix bay to multiplexers. I swear they often became so loose that if you just breathed on the cable it would pull out from the connector. I threw them out and never looked back.

I have expressed here before my thoughts on twist-on BNC connectors

Longer to terminate, how so? With the baluns we use it's either 2 screws or 2 IDC connectors - click,click. Compare that to stripping, trimming and 2 crimps (center pin and outside) for coax. CAT-5 is, in my opinion, far easier and quicker. I have also compared CAT-5 side-by-side with coax on table games (very critical views) and can not see any noticeable difference on $800 500-line 21" CRT monitors. No "skew"; no color burst problems; in fact just as good in all respects. In fact, I have found that active (at least receivers) often cause more problems than baluns. Active receivers often introduce noise and distortion into the signal. Active transmitters may be less problematical but they are also difficult to install in a tight dome and require additional power at the camera end, not always easily available.

Use a "stringer" cable and hang your Siamese from it. I've used stainless steel winch cable for that function and had excellent results. Space your stays at around 24" apart.

Typical best price for a good quality balun is approximately $28. A number of distributors sell them for around that. We have used NVT, Vigitron, Samsung GVC and a few others and have found few differences between brands, despite some manufacturers' hype.

Yes, it is Composite Video. You can connect it to any analog input, including VCR's, DVR's, Video Monitors, etc.

Is there braided copper under the foil? Aluminum foil is not necessarily bad as long as there is additional copper drain wire along with it. Also check if the center conductor is pure copper or copper clad steel (use a magnet). CCTV cable must be pure copper center conductor and at least enough copper in the drain/shield to properly conduct current for the return.

Get the IR model. It is designed so that the focus won't shift when the camera switches from day to night and back.

You may be able to get that level of resolution from a black and white analog CCTV camera, but not from color CCTV cameras. The best you can hope for there is approximately 500TVL.