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http://scorpiontheater.com/law.aspx http://scorpiontheater.com/game.aspx http://scorpiontheater.com/cvr.aspx

My favorite past time was pulling electrolytic capacitors out of "curb side service", and placing them in to the end of an extension cord in the middle of my back yard, and then plugging the cord in, and watching it go off like a fire cracker! In the dumpster of a local TV shop I found a whole bag of caps with wire leads. It was like the fourth of July! Atleast until my dad came home, and found all of the foul guts from caps all over the back yard, and burn marks in the grass!

ICRealtime DVRs. http://icrealtime.com/solutions/dvrs.asp

Sounds like you should buy a commercial DVR if you need the added features? If you had black video throught the LAN/NET then I could possibly see it happening, but the black video on a monitor? Hmmm? I would say replace the hard drive as a test. If it clears up then the HD is the problem. If the problem persist then the machine is toast. Have you done a hard reset?

My dad was in the Air Force, and he was with AFRTS in the early years. He used to be sent all over the world, and he would blow people's minds when he first arrived. He bought a tape cutter / splicer out of his own pocket at the time, and would splice tapes by hand. He would create "echos", and "stutters", and custom cuts, and fade ins. It does not sound to impressive in todays world as any kid can create these effects in 5 seconds on a computer. I would not want to be splicing tape today, that is for sure. Lining up two separate tapes, and then putting "audio scotch tape" on to the splice, and hoping that the splice is "mechanically" lined up together must have been a pain in the day. My dad would do voice overs for commercials by taking a mic, and recording it to all channels of a quad recorder. This is where he would get multiple "samples" to chop up, and splice back together. I would love to see the reactions from people the first time they would hear a commercial with the stutter effect. All of the people in the radio station, or the TV station would bum rush his office trying to figure out how he created this mind boggeling magic! He would hand rewind tapes to get the backwards effect while he recorded to another recorder. The commercials would be transferred to carts. If you do not know what they are then think of an 8 track tape although these were only single track cartridges. The machine would take carts, and it would automatically play as many carts as you needed, and you could play 4 carts in sequence, and everyonce in a while a standby cart would get thrown in. What he would do is take a public anouncement tape of a low priority, and create all of these wild effects, and then wait for the "emergency" cart to be used. These were not used in rotation for the commercials, but they were set aside to fill odd dead spaces such as a show ending early on a time schedule, or some technical glitch, or if a late night DJ, and to "extend time" while he took a "long" bathroom break. All of a sudden this wild cart would pop on to the air, and people were like "what the hell"? Later in life while I was setting up a teen club, and looking for some sound effect for a long entrance way to the club, and I stole one of my dads ideas. I used to hand held Radio Shack tape players to play the sound in to a quad amplifier. I had these mounted to a board with velcro tape. As you walked down the hall you would here some strange sound effects, and then you would here "I want to know" (Pure Energy) behind you then you would here it jump in front of you, and then behind you again, and then the last speaker at the end had a record spun backwards creating an eerie sound effect. The club was located in the very back of a racquet ball court complex. You came in to the front entrance, and then you had to go up a flight of stairs, and this was the walkway above the courts. You would see courts to your right, and to your left. We placed the four speakers above this walkway. The lights were turned out, and the hallway was lit up with blacklights. We bought 8 Radio Shack Strobe Lights, and placed one strobe in each racquet ball court room. As you walked down a dark walkway and listening to the sounds from above, and these random rooms flashing from the strobes was a very economical effect, but the WOW factor was over the top! The first recorder had the first speaker, and the last speaker, and the second recorder had the second, and third speaker. The song "I want to know (Pure Energy)" was panned back, and forth between the right, and left channels to create the traveling sound effect. The odd thing was this was a DJ 12 inch mix that was given to us as a promo. We made the tape, and opened the club, and right at that moment it blossomed up the chart. The locals for some reason thought that we had something to do with creating the popularity of the song. We went along with that train of thought, but in all honesty is was just random chance. Of all songs to pick we were lucky to hit it big with that one. OK! Here is where it gets wild! The club had a 6 foot track light with 4 lights on the track in each corner of the dance floor ceiling. We put different colored gels on the front of each track light for color. There was one mirror ball with a rotator, and 4 Radio Shack strobe lights hung on the ceiling pointed straight down, and then we had two revolving police lights from Radio Shack. One was red, and the other was blue. We used electronic relays to control the lights. We had wooden panel that had 4 buttons for each track light, and a button to turn on the lights that were aimed at the mirror ball, and a button for the revolving police lights, and a button for the strobes. The buttons were from arcade games! We had a guy sit there, and press the buttons in sequence to create a pattern, or to dance the lights to the music! Hip hop, and house music was just coming in to it's own, and we were the only club playing it at the time. We did so good that we actually were over run with people as people started coming in all the way from Orlando to "be seen". If you loved to do wirewraps, and projects then you were in heaven in this club!

I did my first speed bump camera setup, and I have to say I am "sold" on the idea of the bump camera!

Rory had an internet blowout, but he is back on line now. I think his palm frond wind generator must have lost it's foilage!! LOL!

This is ok, and this is common. It is showing you what space you have left on your DVR. Since you are in overwrite then you have "filled" your hard drive to the top. The DVR "opens" 6GB of space for recording new video constantly. You will always see the 6GB because this is what the DVR is opening up on a continuous cycle. What do you think?

I do not know what is going on with this situation. Is this a new machine under warranty? No? How old is it? Question: Are you going through the front panel, and watching a local monitor, or are you talking about using a computer to view the DVR using Video Server E, and having these issues. A black screen to me as a video problem is a sign of an active X issue. I am not saying this is your problem, but your description is what I usually see as an active X problem. If you are going through the front panel, and a local monitor then you may have a hard drive problem. How many hard drives do you have? One? two? The reason I ask is the master / slave settings. You could be having power supply problems as well. You could be having vent problems, and the DVR is over heating, and the hard drive is cooking. You could try removing the cable to the hard drive. If it is old, or there is a lot of dust then perhaps you have (micro size) dirt between the connection to the hard drive. Removing the connector, and replacing it may "clean" the contact, and make a better connection. Worse case would be the send / receive IC that "talks / listens" to the hard drive is going bad. ___________________________________________________________ If it is a non hard drive issue then you could try a hard system reset. http://scorpiontheater.com/reset.aspx What do you think?

It must have been a black and white Reel to Reel if it was that far back!!! LOL!! I do not know why, but I have always wanted to be an "electronics shop" teacher. Does that sound weird? I would love to teach kids the basics, and then turn them loose on alarm panels, structured wiring panels, audio, video, cctv, radios, automation, and let them tear in to a pinball machine, and a video game. Pinballs are great to learn electronics with. light control, solenoid control, audio, or speech boards, cpu, contacts (I/O) and power supply, and you have their undivided attention! All I need to do now is gain 100 pounds, go bald, and grow a mustache, and shop teacher here I come!

I loved the 100 in 1, and thought I died, and went to heaven witht he 300 in 1 kit! I miss the good old days when I would be putting some kind of project together, and I could do "one stop shopping" at Radio Shack. Blank PC boards, and etching solution, or wire wrap boards, and socket, and project boxes. As kids, I used to make my sister mad because of all of the parts, and chassis that I kept in the garage, and the bedroom. Nice to be able to salvage a needed part, and not have to pay for it! My dad used to say our house was easy to find becayse it was the only house on the blocked that hummed! At an early age I figured out that I could stuff my walkie talkie with a rubber band around the push to talk switch, and stuff behind the TV, and when I "got sent to the bedroom with no TV for the night" I could still listen to the show from my bedroom, or at least in till I got caught, and he figured out what was going on. He seem mad at the time, but thinking back about it now, I bet he was laughing his butt off on the inside. As a kid my dad seemed impressed that I could take things apart, and put them back together with no missing pieces. I must have spent him broke with him buying hand tools, and alligator clip leads, and hobby parts!

We're looking for computer engineers who like to solve difficult problems. Call us on this number now! http://www.pyzam.com/funnypictures/details/9655?cat=all&sort=newest

24 hours later, and no one has responded. I thought someone would by now. I am the last guy that you want to take hard drive info from! I am wondering if it may have to do with 8Mb verses 16Mb? I am not familiar with that DVR, and I do not know what the max hard drive is for that machine.

I thought I would at least get a chuckle out there!

What do you have as the "equivalent" nowdays? The one thing that stands out for me in the early days were the fact that most of the employees were retired electrical engineers, or they were ham radio operators, or most had a basic understanding of electronic. When you went in with a tube, and used the tester you could get help with cross replacements, or you could walk in with a resistor, and they would actually know the color code, and if they did not have the part in stock, then they could tell you what two resistors to put in parallel to get to the desired value. I do not dare try asking the clerks nowadays about values, and circuitry!! It was great banter talking with this guys if even you were just chit chatting. Nowadays I go in, and start talking, and I get a glazed eye effect, and I imagine that I am hearing the sounds of cricketts in the background. I think when they broke away from this approach to customers is where they started to unravel. Back in the day most "day to day" people really did not have a need for Radio Shack as they did not need parts, or test equipment, or 30 varietys of hand held walkie talkies. With all of this new technology you would think they would have "come in to their own". I could see Radio Shack being a combination of stores all under one roof. I could see them being a "gaming store" such as Game Stop, and I could see them being a Dell computer vendor, and Ipod, and Iphone vendor, and have ATT cell service. I go in today, and I do not see the parts that I used to see, and the "latest cutting edge technology that you would drool over to take home as you save up your money. I was not to impressed with the home electronics on display. They have always been entry level products, but price for price, they were always good equipment. I think HD antennas would be a good product line to "push", but I don't see much going on there. I can see why Radio Shack has slipped as products have evolved from being high dollar ticket items to "cheaper to buy new, then repair" mentality. Someday someone is going to have to start an electronics club similiar to the 4H program where children learned agricultural discoveries. http://4-h.org/b/Pages/Layouts/GroupPage87f1.html?SiteId=2317&PersistentTheme=4H Do you think that will ever happen?

I am only 47. Old enough to see Laughing Idiot Radio just as they were starting to close up. As a kid I loved the Battery Club, but the batteries were not alkaline so they did not last very long! ___________________ Sent from my TRS-80

I should do good with electronic sales!! http://www.radiomuseum.org/dsp_hersteller_detail.cfm?company_id=734 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lafayette_Radio http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3092/is_n20_v33/ai_15819161/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montgomery_Ward http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circuit_City Aw the good old days http://www.radioshackcatalogs.com/catalog_directory.html

I think you have it down pat pretty good! You can use clear plexiglass, and then layer light tint rather than use smoke colored plexiglass. What about a mirror tint. People are vain right?

Does anyone have a simple PDF for the KB110 controller? I was reading the PDF provided for the controller, and I was completely lost, and had to call tech support to learn how to control the ICR100X. I believe that I am not going to be unable to use this controller as it is to complicated for the customer that I have. I cannot believe you have to log in everytime you want to move a PTZ! This customer is not going to like this controller! I have never seen a PTZ controller where you had to log in everytime you used it. Thanks any help!

No complaints about the camera! I powered it up a couple of times, and it always landed in the same "home postition". I mounted the camera with a mark of the home position so that I could point it in to a default position in case the power goes off, and comes back on. The camera mount is very rugged, and the camera spins 360 degrees. The only complaint that I have is it does not have WDR. I noticed this while bench testing it. I stood by the front glass windows, and I was just a silhouette. I have the PTZ controller set up different. I have it controlling the DVR (remote located in a walk in closet). I can change 1, 9, multi screen, or 16 screen, and I can control the PTZ. The only complaint is that the single, quad, or multi screen buttons do not work independantly. No matter which button you press you are just cycling through the screens to get to what you want. Go to single screen click on ENTER, and the PTZ fires up, and you have control. I say buy it!

http://scorpiontheater.com/camlab.aspx ICX638AKA http://scorpiontheater.com/Documents/Camera_Lab_Sony_ICX638AKA.pdf ICX638AKA http://www.sony.net/Products/SC-HP/cx_news/vol49/pdf/icx638_9aka.pdf _____________________________________________________________ I do not know of any data sheets for the CXD 3172AR http://www.sony.co.jp/~semicon/english/index.html CXD3172AR Signal Processor LSI for Single CCD Color Camera Description 100 pin LQFP (Plastic) The CXD3172AR is a signal processor LSI for Ye, Cy, Mg and G single CCD color cameras. In addition to basic camera signal processing functions, it includes an AE/AWB detection circuit, a sync signal generation circuit and an external sync circuit, etc. This chip also has a built-in microcontroller to realize basic camera functions such as AE/AWB without an external microcomputer. Features Absolute Maximum Ratings * Generates timing pulses to drive the single CCD * Supply voltage VDD VSS – 0.5 to +4.6 V image sensor SS – 0.5 to +4.6 V AVD V Built-in H/V driver for CCD image sensor VH VL – 0.5 to VL + 26.0 V VM VL – 0.5 to VL + 26.0 V Luminance/chroma signal processing * Input voltage VI VSS – 0.5 to VDD + 0.5 V * Supports NTSC/PAL modes O VSS – 0.5 to VDD + 0.5 V * Output voltage V * Supports 510H/760H system CCD image sensor * Operating Temperature * Built-in 10-bit A/D converter Topr –20 to +75 °C * Built-in EVR (3ch) * Storage Temperature Tstg –55 to +150 °C * Analog composite output — Built-in digital encoder Recommended Operating Conditions — 10-bit D/A converter output * Supply voltage V DD 3.0 to 3.6 V * Digital output AVD1, 3, 4, 5, 6 — Conforms to ITU-REC656/ITU-REC601 format 3.0 to 3.6 V AVD2 3.0 to 5.5 V * Supports external sync functions VH 11.64 to 15.45 V — Sync separation circuit VL –7.5 to –4.5 V — Phase comparator VM 0 V * AE/AWB detector * Operating Temperature * Block control functions with a built-in microcontroller Topr –20 to +75 °C — AE/AWB/CLAMP/Blemish detection and Applicable CCD Image Sensors* compensation * 510H color CCDs * Peripheral IC control function (Type 1/3, 1/4, NTSC/PAL) — EVR/EEPROM communication control * 760H color CCDs * Serial communication function (2 mode selection) (Type 1/3, 1/4, NTSC/PAL) — Microcomputer communication/start-stop Supported Relates LSIs synchronous system communication (RS232C) AGC CXA2096N * Auto blemish detection and compensation function EVR MB88347 (Fujitsu Limited.) * Mirror function EEPROM AK6480A (Asahi Kasei Microsystems Co.,Ltd.) BR9080A (ROHM) Applications * Industrial CCD cameras * Applicable CCD image sensors are applicable (Surveillance/FA/image input cameras) products as of preparing this data sheet. * Multimedia CCD cameras They may be changed according to the version up (Teleconferencing/personal computer cameras) and production stop of CCD image sensor. Sony reserves the right to change products and specifications without prior notice. This information does not convey any license by any implication or otherwise under any patents or other right. Application circuits shown, if any, are typical examples illustrating the operation of the devices. Sony cannot assume responsibility for any problems arising out of the use of these circuits.

Loved the video! That was a great one!

Do you have animated lighting in your display?? There are two ways to select products: 1. Pay someone that has been in the business for a long time. You pay more, but you save a lot of headaches. 2. just buy what you can afford. If you can afford it then way ask? In other words I ask myself. Hmmm? Should I buy a Lamborghini? If you cannot afford it then you will not buy it. If you are at a used car lot, and you ask your friend "Hey! Which one of these clunkers is the best bet for the money"? You get what you pay for. It is difficult for dealers to give you recommendations. First off they will want your business. They know you are going to take their advice, and then run somewhere else, and buy your equipment there. This is why you will not see alot of responces. Most dealers are in an environment where if a crime happens then the customer is going to sic the lawyers back on to the CCTV business. It happens all of the time in the burglar alarm side of the world. Now you have gun shy dealers who are only going to recommend tried, and true products regardless of what budget a person is looking at. With that mentality you will see two camps. The "pro" dealers who are gun shy, and the DIY who just wants to capture some video. They are willing to experiment, and think outside of the box. You need to decide if you should just do the experimentation yourself. There are enough products that are easy to get from various sources on the web, why worry about specs? A good lense, and a decent DVR is going to be better then a wide angle lens while you are trying to watch the sidewalk from 50 feet away from where the camera is mounted. You can also hire a dealer who will probably laugh at the products that are available all over the web, but remember "the liability factor" that is involved. What you really need to look at is how much your display is worth, and what your security level is. I would say spend 10% of what your display is worth. Maybe not all at once, but start with a good backbone, and add bits, and pieces over time creating a dynamic, and flexible system that will provide the protection that you need. If you suffer more problems in your area, then you may want to up the ante a little. There is nothing worse then watching video of someone slicing your inflatables that you have worked, and saved all of your money to bring happiness to some childs face, and the video only tells you the story, and nothing more. Believe me, if the police could look at the video, and instantly recognize a prior trouble maker, then they would be more than glad to rain a little hell on a perp. If the police can watch the video, and all they can do is pat you on the back, and say "man, that is really tough! I feel bad for you! We will keep you posted. Have a good evening"! Then you have wasted all of your money on equipment no matter who recommended it.

Vari focal is a great option to have. You can make your camera flexible to each situation. Wide angle cameras are bad for facial recognition. Zoom lense can catch good facial recognition but the person has to be "trapped" in a zone. For Christmas over the top displays then you will want to use several cameras. I would have one wide angle camera on your house. This will show them driving up, and getting out, and will show them moving about to the various objects in your yard. I would install cameras with non wide angle lenses in things like wishing wells, or Santa's house, or other decorations. There is not much you can do to protect blow ups, or inflatables, but the blow molds (Plastic candles, and Santas) can take a little abuse, unless they are collectables, and you are worried about the original paint scheme. You can run the siamese in the same route as your electrical lines but try to give them a distance away. Crossing over electrical lines should not cause interference, but running side, by side will cause interference. Also run some two conductor wire with the Christmas lights. The idea being that if they cut the light strings then they will cut your alarm wire sounding a siren. That should chase them off before they do more damage. If the DVR has motion detection, and you know how to tie in to the alarm I/O of the DVR then get yourself an alarm recorder. You put it in to a program mode, and you speak in to a microphone, and the device stores your speech. When triggered the device plays your recording. Hook a speaker outdoors to the recorder. When they step in front of the cameras then the recorder sounds off. Hey! Get out of my yard! Honey! Get me the shot gun! That should scare them off before they do more damage. If you have inflatables, or collectables, then surround them with small pickette fences. Make them have to climb/jump over to get to them. If they have to run away it makes them that harder to "escape". If you use fog machines, or "animated light boards" then store them in wooden boxes rather than having them set out in the open where they can be damaged. Decorate the boxes to fit your display, or use objects from your display to hide devices inside. After your evening light show is over then do not feel bad about using electric fencing if you do have a fence. A wooden pickett fence street side would not be a bad idea to keep the onlookers from getting to close to your decorations. This can be a temp setup, and taken down to store with your decorations. If you do over the top displays then storing fencing is just another object on the list. Those that complain about storing fencing probably would complain about buying a hundred triple taps, and 5 miles of extension cords, and a million dollars worth of LED lighting too. If you have reindeer, and other lighted frames, and you go over the top then it may pay to take a welding course at your local community college. You can make your own replacement frames made of metal. When your display gets kicked, or knocked over they will stand up to the abuse a little better then the cheap "wicker" style displays. If you have the more expensive fiberglass objects then test one to see how much abuse it takes. If it is strong then place these close to the street. If is is very weak then replace it with a metal frame, or move it towards the house, and surround it with knee high garden fences, and the more sturdy the better. http://planetchristmas.com/ http://forums.planetchristmas.com/ What do you think?

You will need to find two pads on the circuit board to short for a reset. Give this PDF time to load if you have slow internet. http://scorpiontheater.com/Documents/Hardware_Reset_717_715.pdf http://scorpiontheater.com/reset.aspx