CCTV_Suppliers

Ron, chances are your product code is incorrect... I think you meant to say ZC-D3210EHA or ZC-D3210NHA There is not much you can do with this type of minidome... First of all, check the warranty - these units come with 3 years warranty, so if you can show when you bought it, CBC could fix it at no additional cost, if applicable. Otherwise, check the interconnectivity ribbons between the board and the lens and see if anything may be loose or damaged.. Had a very good luck with these type of domes... Some were failed due to the camera that went out of commission.. and because they were under warranty, we got them repaired by this manufacturer... Worst case scenario, you can have it fixed by CBC... It is not as bad as you may think, but it is much cheaper than getting the new unit.

Has anyone used I3DVR product line before? Can someone please provide indepth specs for this product line if possible? Also, what makes this DVR tick better than what you have used before? Very curious what people in this forum will say about this product line. I am hoping that all the inputs and the observations will be very technical. Thanks in advance!

Thanks man... What software problems did it have that were controllable...?

No problems at this end... Few questions.. Do you want MiniDome version cameras with camera and lens already built in or fixed camera (sometimes referred to as brick camera) with separate lens? Do you want b&w, color, day/night or color with WDR (wide dynamic range)? Indoor or Outdoor? It may seem that above questions may be confusing but they are not... By asking these type of questions it always results to solid solutions.. If you can describe where you want these cameras installed, then I am sure you will have many good answers from this forum.

Very possible Not that we have not seen this happen...

Look forward to it... and thanks.

Looks like the boys at Tyco Security, or should I say ADT really did it this time, didn't they? Did you guys played with any of recent Bosch solutions available? How about their latest DIBOS series that does handle all the current camera requirement and is a future proof for handling IP cameras. Combined with their latest external storage with RAID5 capability, they offer probably one of the most comprehensive solutions in the market... Please send me PM and we can talk, if you want.

Here is another option that you can look at... Since I am not familiar with MG Electronics Power Supplies, the question is if these power supplies are "adjustable" for the voltage.. I know that Altronix DC power supplies are. If so, then you can measure the voltage supply at the camera end to see if it is 12VDC and if not, increase the voltage accordingly. Take a look at your power supply and see if you have any adjustment pots that could give you this option... Good luck!

In-rush current or instantaneous peak current is not an issue.. Most of the power supplies already have all the necessary filters to minimize this effect so that it does not cause problems with hardware that it will serve. The same applies to laser printers or even copy machines that pull tremendous amount of power at their startup and specially when they are printing. Try several of these type of gadget to turn on at the same time while you have several computers going and see what happens to your circuit breaker.. I still think the problem is that the Power supply is not provided with enough power, thus does not have enough current available for 12V supply. We had several instances where customers installed the system and then started having problems almost instantly... All they had to do was to change the source of the power...

Here are few things to try before you call the service tech... When you reseted the dome, did you try to reset it at the J-Box?? Even so, use a different port at the J-Box and see if that could do the trick. It is not uncommon for a port at the J-Box to go down. If you have a multiple domes, take this dome and plug it in a different dome location to see if the problem follows. If so, it does not mean you have a bad camera/lens etc, rather could be I/O board that went bad. At the worst case scenario, if none of the above work, send me PM... We can have it repaired much cheaper through American Dynamics than ADT could without charging service call fees twice (you know how they do it, first they come to pick it up and charge and then come back the second time and charge again). Instead, we can arrange it to be repaired and drip shipped back to your location..

Well, depends who the manufacturer is, isn't it?? What can I say, true and true on your assessment... However, once you really strip it down to the bone and compile properly, it works much better, yet still is a MS you know what... I prefer Linux based embedded, much more stable... Actually I am tinkering with one of these development kits allowing to create your XP embedded image to store on the flash memory... Development kit is about a $1,000 and once the image that you want is ready to go, then you will pay per license.. Not as much as the regular pricing or even the upgrade pricing, but still a cost to consider.

What are you trying to do with this pole again??

Embedded XP in the DVR means that the XP Operating system resides on board flash memory... thus does not require any updates or upgrades unless the manufacturer has a very specific reasons... Normally this type of setups use stripped down version of XP for performance. Hard drives manly are used to store video... Same technique applies to Linux or other OS based embedded systems... These type of DVRs are much more stable and very easy to use, but do not come with all the bell and the whistles that regular PC based systems are known for... and besides, they also provide one of the most cost effective DVR options in the market... There are many to choose from in this category going from single position to 16 position DVRs..

Here is a food for thought... How many electrical outlets do you have on the same power line stretch? What other gadgets do you have sharing the same power, like TVs, fridge, lights, etc... Here is where I am going with this. What you are describing could be interpreted in two folds... First: You many not have enough electrical power available for your power supply. Not knowing exactly which cameras you are using, but serving 16 cameras from this power supply and NOT HAVING ENOUGH power available will simulate the same problems that you are describing. Second: Pick up an extension cord and connect it to a different power source and see what happens... Chances are very good that by changing the power source could solve this issue. As for power fluctuation causing your lenses or the cameras to be damaged, that is a very remote possibility. Basically, if your cameras and the lenses do not get enough power, they will not fail, rather they will not work right... I am not sure if you can do what is called a "load test" to determine how much power you actually have left from your circuit breaker and then calculate how much power will you need for your system by looking at the specs of the cameras, the lenses and even the DVR/monitor combination. With some simple calculations you can determine if you can use the same power line or you need a different power line from a difference circuit breaker or better yet, may be a separate circuit breaker for your system only... At the worst case scenario, you can change the power supply only if you performed the above tasks and confirmed that you have more than adequate power available. I just looked at MG Electronics Power Supply website... and dependent which power supply you bought and more importantly, what is your power consumption based on your number of cameras, the DVR and monitor, you may be trying to pull more from the power supply that it does not have available from the outlet that it may be plugged into... At least this is my 2 cents of the day...

Most of them look the same on the outside. Rory, we tested many... quite of few that were introduced from China.. and they looked exactly the same... except when we started testing them. Found out that most of this garbage either did not work or gave maximum of 250' runs and that was it... Regardless if the price was below $10, it made no difference for us. For the longest time we were using NVT solution and they were capped no more than 750' cable lengths, but then again, they were the first introducing this new technology for CCTV industry. Like anything else in our industry, you have to innovate and always come up with newer, better and cheaper solutions.. and VU did just that and my hat is off for their gutsy move. Considering the fact that there are few hundred manufacturers of the same type of product, they came ahead of the pack by introducing better quality passive baluns that not only surpassed the "industry standard", but also tackled the pricing to be much more reasonable and more cost effective for everyone to use. It took them about a year to introduce their 16 channel passive hub. They could have done it earlier, bring the product into the market prematurely and fix as they go. Instead, they took their time on the design and more importantly, the manufacturing processes allowing to deliver very well designed and functional product. I sure hope that they will consider producing active baluns and similar solutions.. soon!

Those appear to be exactly the same as GVI's: Videobaluns.com: GVI: We used GVI and lets say that we no longer use them since we found VU... Packaging does look the same, but internal hardware is slightly different. For the starters, each balun from VU includes much needed surge protectors and you know what life savers that could be. When I was told that VU baluns give up to 1,500' of stretch for CAT5E, I thought someone was smoking something unusual ... But when we bought few hundred for a project and tested them, their performance by far was better than anything else we used before, including NVT and even American Fibertek... All this company makes are three different types of passive baluns and one 16 channel passive hub... that is all. They put tremendous amount of effort to make sure that the quality of each component is compromised. Since majority of the runs are less than 1,500', it made an economical and more importantly, robust performance using these passive balun solutions. Of course, if the runs are higher, our main choice is American Fibertek. NVT comes in the picture only if the project calls for it... it being more expensive than most.

Here are some choices: 1. American Dynamics 2. Bosch 3. GE Security 4. Mitsubishi 5. Sanyo 6. Panasonic And few others... Between these manufacturers, there are at last 30+ variations of high end DVRs. What is your application if I may ask?

I will say there are differences for sure and the more expensive ones are not necessarily better. Probably the most cost effective and the one of the best performer is from http://videobaluns.com/, that makes only 4 products: three passive baluns and one 16 channel passive hub... and they all work great... Here are some very good results that we have received using this line of products... First off, their baluns come with surge protectors already built in and it is not an option compared to other manufacturers. Passive baluns - with a good CAT5E cable, we can extend them up to 1,500' without any loss of video signal. You will have three choices in this category Passive 16 port hub - with a good CAT5E cable, we were able to extend cables up to 2,000' without any loss of signal. Here is the url for this device: http://videobaluns.qc.net/PDF/specHB1610.pdf Hope this helps.

No need to be paranoid.. First and foremost, such surveillance equipment creates a major deterrent factor... Why should they try vandalizing a property that has such equipment when the property next does is an easier target? At least that how the theory goes. Besides having the correct placements of your cameras and IR equipment, make sure that you hide your cables properly. The potential thief knows that if they cut the wire, no video will be avail... Another important move that you can make.. Select an area where you will keep your DVR. Buy a DVR lock box and bolt it down somewhere safe and then place the DVR inside and lock it. Thiefs will not spend more than 15 minutes according to many studies if they have to compromise their identity, nor they want to take major chances on a property that has surveillance equipment. But some will do it just because... Thiefs know that any property that does not have a CCTV coverage is an open game for them... The properties that have such equipment is a major challenge for them. And if you have expensive valuables, may be you should keep them in the bank

You really need Infrared Lenses... Here is a url for CBC Infrared Lenses available at this time... http://www.cbcamerica.com/cctvprod/computar/vari/index.html Similar lenses are available from other manufacturers, but Computar by far is the most popular. The closest lens configuration available to your 60mm is range of 8.5-40mm and the part numbers are located here: http://www.cbcamerica.com/cctvprod/computar/vari/8513.html Good luck...

There are some manufacturers from China that bring lenses into U.S... With them, it always is a hit or miss.. Price is very cheap of course.. and they qualify to be part of lowest cost CCTV products that are available in the market.. (how else can you have a camera and lens combination below $50.00??). Besides Computar, we also use Tokina, which is a Japanese manufacturer, all glass and metal and very little plastic in the construction of their lenses. Regardless which lens you choose, they will have some sort of plastic part in their design (can never have all glass and metal).

As you said, you jumped the gun and already done the purchase... There are always to get better equipment, but in general, Speco makes decent components... The question that you should ask yourself, could you have purchased better and more cost effective equipment?? You already made the investment and stick with it... that will be my suggestion. By telling you that you could have purchased different and even better models will not answer this question. Just feel good that you already have it and that your property will be protected.. Good luck!

Have you seen latest Trident lineup? This company just got bought out by Tyco Security and it is a very flexible platform. Does operate with various IP cameras and encoders from non-AD wagon... Here is their url: http://www.tridenttek.com/ I should see the first cut of this software along with Intellex IP and along with few encoders from both AD and from others for testing purposes.. I am told it is fairly easy system to adhere to...

Use decent quality video RG59 cable and you will be fine up to 1,000' stretch and do not need any double shield or conduit runs... Make sure that the center conductor is at least 95% copper and it is shielded... I will also recommend using crimp BNC connectors rather than twist on... After all, this area is an industrial, so this way no dust or moisture can easily find itself into the connector... However, my suggestion is to use power cable local to the cameras.. instead of stretching them to the length (no more than 250' max). By keeping the local power connection, then you can eliminate any issues pertinent to your question... Use 18/2 conductor with drain and connect the drain only one end (preferably at the power supply side). This way if there are any electrical noise or interference present, it will be grounded...

Here is a link for lens and voltage calculator: http://www.panasonic.com/business/security/calculators/index.asp It is fairly accurate... and easy to use... Hope this helps.