Kiwi

Continuing with the subject at hand, the latest status is I got my hands on the latest firmware which is version 63010, replacing my 62425. This has a new home page interface and a few extra features including a password protect on the settings and viewing access. Naturally, there is no documentation provided for any of that. The minor image artifacts (snow) are now much reduced although it has the same propensity for the occasional totally corrupt image. It's clear to me now that this camera has been developed and tested only under streaming use, as when used in that mode it clears out the problem in the first image or two then runs fine. Since I'm using it in single-image mode it seems to accumulate noise somewhere in the data path while doing nothing, then adds it to the next image requested. I've mostly gotten around this issue now by requesting the value of a settings parameter 2 seconds before I request an image. This seems to "clear out" the spurious data and the problem is far less likely to occur. What now appears to be "broken" in this firmware is that the camera's home page now does not work outside the LAN, likely due to the default presence of a streaming video window which confuses remote browsers into thinking the URL is too long. To make setting changes remotely now requires individual text entries, as I had described a few messages back.

You could break down the commands send by Video Server E using a protocol analyzer such as Wireshark.

Could you post a night shot so we can see what we're working with? You can already see what the IR does to your focus on the taillight. edit: I see from the camera specs that it's supposed to compensate the backfocus automatically. This plate is at 80 feet, the camera is looking down from about 30 ft. The lens is a Computar 8-80 electric zoom, manually stopped down slightly. JVC camera model is in my sig. Funny enough, when the gate is opened the headlights are bright enough, and the reflected light back to the plate (that was off the gate) low enough to make the plate number unreadable.

If you can't find any docs, you could try this as it's very possible it provides fully regulated 5/12 VDC as you suggest: Use an ohmmeter and see if there is a direct connection from the mini-DIN pins to the plug on the hard disk connector. +12 VDC = yellow wire, +5 VDC = red wire, GND = black wire.

As far as I can tell the interactive playback off the DVR using the buttons, either to video out or viewed over the network, is MJPEG. That's why you can get 4-cut or single channel played back in real time, and that's why the quality is pretty average. When you "backup" either to CD, USB, or over the network to disk, you get MPEG4 quality - but only one channel at a time. The PC has to do the MPEG4 decoding to get the real time playback. Those are your only options with this DVR. Hope that helps.

I've noticed a similar issue. Basically I've found: "garbage out" = ("garbage in") squared The compression algorithms really work best with the smoothest image, free as possible of CCD noise speckles. So basically it boils down to enough light to lower the noise level as much as it can go.

Perhaps the confusion results from the publishing of both NTSC and PAL specifications on some retail sites, especially Ebay. I think it's a result of the seller just cut-and-pasting from the original manufacturer's specs with having a clue as to the technology. As we know, for cameras it's almost certainly got to be one or the other. Not that's it relevant to the question, but I run an NTSC 4-ch DVR system at home in a PAL country since I bought all my cameras in the US where they are much cheaper than they are on these remote islands.

Enter these three commands from a browser with your specific camera's IP Address. Each will return a confirmation: http:///set?sensorheight=1536 http:///set?sensorwidth=2048 http:///set?params=save

That's a really good fan, bearing wise. Whether it will do the job remains to be seen. Usually the grill cut in the enclosure is very restrictive and will cut the flow by half. Still, going from no fan to one small fan is a big difference.

Can any of you familiar with Arecont cameras tell me why I get a corrupt images at random? Typically about 1 out of 20. The manual mentions http 1.0 v.s.1.1 as a potential reason but I've tried forcing both and it doesn't seem to change things. The command that got this image http://tinyurl.com/2wrq3h 'http://..../image?res=half&x0%=0&y0=0%&x1=98%&y1=76%&quality=18&ver=HTTP/1.0 I tried again an hour later and it did it again. The camera is behind a router with incoming traffic routed to port 80. I've also seen this problem locally connected to Luxriot, so I don't think it's network related. (sorry for the link, I can't figure out how to make images appear in messages??)

The AVtech runs "hot" because they have no idea how to design enclosure cooling, and I say that as someone who does this sort of engineering as part of my job. I was getting occasional disk problems until I changed the cooling arrangement on my 782, which already had a small fan but runs uncomfortably hot to the touch. First I installed a fan directly in the hard disk tray by cutting a hole in the middle and gluing it to the underside. It's also right over the DVR CPU. I then tried changing the enclosure fan for a double-thick version, but that didn't help much. Currently I have a 4" blower installed where the CD drive was, huge overkill but I'm confident the life and reliability will be improved - plus I can now run it in a closed closet and it's been happy for months.

I'm not a pro but could add this - if you use silicone sealant on electrical circuits it might be best to use the "sensor safe" variety that does not emit corrosive gas while curing. Another option would be to use silicone dielectric grease which does not harden but will exclude moisture. I wrap aluminum foil around the center conductor joint (after heat shrink) to maintain some sort of continuous shield, then lay the shield wires against it and solder.

You can buy a device called a "wireless access point" which should do what you want.

When I first installed a system in my car about 8 years ago, I noticed at the time that the Cloud-9 shuttle service in San Diego had small solid-state devices installed in their vans. It records forward video 30 seconds before and after a "bump," and the recording is password-secured. According to the driver, not only did their insurance company reduce their premiums but also paid for all the systems to be installed. The driver also told me he had gotten in minor trouble with his boss for bumping something while reversing, which had triggered the device. During the time I had a 4-camera system installed (with sound) in my own car, I'll have to say it made me become a much more careful driver knowing that the evidence was present - either for or against me.

Thank you for clarifying Arecont's position on this subject. It was not clear to me that only manufacturers representative's would be providing support, and the web site support page doesn't seem to make that distinction. Still, there are many companies that do provide self-help customer support such as downloads of user's manuals, firmware updates, and FAQ's - without requiring significant on-going costs - just something for you to consider. I should add that simply replying to emails is an important part of any business relationship.

Think a little harder. Ever been blamed for an accident you didn't cause?

You should be able to set the DVR to DHCP and those settings will be made for you. Otherwise, set the gateway to the modem's address and the netmask to whatever the modem is set for, often 255.255.255.0 or 255.0.0.0

The lack of access control (username/password) over the settings bothers me a bit. You need to have a local host to isolate the user interface from the internet. Also the camera by default is set to only provide 2.3 megapixel images on the color side, using only the upper two-thirds of the sensor. You have to reconfigure it to get 3.1 megapixel and that process is not specifically documented. I often get fatally-corrupt images, but I'm not yet positive it's the camera's fault. But all images have a minor defect (extra zeros) that cause the browser to not recognize the end of file - it has to just time out. This also shows up using the built-in web interface when you refresh the image. Dreamweaver detects and describes the defect. To get the fastest video download you need to use TFTP, only good on a LAN. Lastly, the color rendition to me seems pretty poor. OK for security purposes but not even close to a simple point and shoot camera. Next time I'll be looking at IQeye and Star. Nice surf today: http://tinyurl.com/23593t

I see the manual does actually mention the need to use .4 or .8 mm shims for "some lenses." A simple adjustable flange would be much more appropriate for this pricey camera. Anyway, for those interested I've completed the "image quality" phase of this webcam, picture links below. The 16mm machine vision lenses work good enough. I did have to replace the window on my home-made outdoor housing (originally from a halogen lamp) with a 77mm UV filter glass to reduce distortion. Now I'm trying to find a windows utility that can (a) download an image (via http) at an interval (not continuously) such as 10 minutes, and then (b) upload to my web host via FTP. This is to reduce traffic on the local internet connection the camera is hooked to as I've been advised that I could get a lot of hits once the word gets out. http://tinyurl.com/29bfsz http://tinyurl.com/29tnlv EDIT: I've made up a script to do the HTML download using command-line program "wget" and automated the FTP upload using ftp -i:script. Now I just need to find a scheduler that can run at 15 minute intervals.

But that's because it uses MJPEG, better suited to streaming, no? I don't think the client makes the video any worst than what comes out of the DVR. The other client I mentioned is just as bad. Worst, when you use the playback button on Video Server E you apparently get MJEG streaming on top of the original MPEG4 recording - and artifacts on top of artifacts. The playback is about as good as it's going to get when you download ("network backup," as they say) an MPEG4 and play it back with the little Video Player utility. That process is independent of the client, it's just a file. I would like AVTech to include a further higher-quality setting past "best" as disk space is relatively cheap.

Gidday Mate! we had a big discussion about this just a week or two ago, look here: http://www.cctvforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=10543 So after a while you can't play recordings made just before the 5 (or eight) GB border?

There is another client on AVtech's FTP site that will display video but it doesn't provide an interface to change configuration. If you use a protocol analyzer (wireshark) to study the TCP/IP stream you will see the commands are pretty simple and are similar to IP cameras, so potentially someone could write a new client. However, they are most likely proprietary also, so finding a shareware/freeware client is unlikely. But the question would be "why." I don't really see any problems with "E". I've relied on it for many months while half way around the world from my DVR and it's always worked flawlessly. If there's a problem, it's somewhere else. The only thing that I've noticed is missing is the ability to easily change the schedule of motion-detect-driven recordings. You have to do it via the video screen interface rather than the pull-out configuration menu, not so easy on a slow connection.

Glad you got it working but it's not really AVtech's responsibility to explain basic networking. They expect you to plug it into a router that will normally provide DHCP services. If you plug it into your laptop with a crossover cable it's up to you to understand how to configure the ethernet interface on the laptop correctly. I'd be interested to hear if the DDNS client on the DVR works correctly. I'm looking at either this model or the 761 to supplement my system.

So I gather the IR remote and ability to back up to USB is the only difference between the 760 and 761? It appears to be according to the published specs. The 760 is being discounted down here in NZ and I want to be sure I'm not giving up any recording quality. We pay up the nose for everything so I have to pay attention to prices!

Same experience here. Realtime playback over the monitor output or remote viewing seems to be MJPEG and is not nearly as clear as the MPEG4 that you can only get as a download or by writing to CD or USB, if your DVR is so equipped. Regarding "smoke," IMO the 782 DVR (and no doubt others in the range) have poorly designed cooling air flow. To mitigate that I've installed a blower-style fan in the CD drive bay. Overall, I'm pretty happy with the AVtech DVR as it has shown consistent performance and reliability over many months when I'm overseas. My main concern was recovery from power brownouts, etc, as our power can be flakey.