kaysadeya

I don't know what's available in the UK, but you have lots of options for cameras. Probably for your purposes simple bullet cameras will do. If B&W cameras will do, you have lots of choices. However, if you want to use IR illuminators with color cameras, you'll have to be very careful to chose a camera *without* an IR filter. I even have one B&W board camera that must have an IR filter because it can't see IR-illuminated areas. You might also consider going on Ebay and checking out some used B&W cameras. I've seen a number of people in the UK selling them there. I've had very good luck with the surplus CCTV gear I've bought on Ebay. As for illuminators, your choices are either LED-based or halogen-based. If the area you need to illuminate is no more than 40 feet, you can probably get away with LED illuminators, which are less expensive and draw less power. Lot's of brand choices also. If you need to illuminate further, you'll probably need to step up to a halogen-based unit. Here in the states these units start at around $200 (e.g., a Vitek VT-IR1-110). Rory will tell you that Extreme illuminators are the best, but they're also very expensive and are probably overkill for most residential uses. For example, I have a 30-deg UF500 I've been playing with. It's great for illuminating an area about 90 feet away, but way overkill for anything closer. I just bought a few Vitek VT-IR1-110 illuminators for more medium-range use. I'll be experimenting with these units this week/weekend and will report the results.

Yes, it seems a bit expensive. But I guess if you're wearing coke bottles (like me ) and you're also a pro trying to focus dozens of cameras a day in precarious locations, it may be worth the money.

Yes, I know what you mean. On top of that, I've noticed over the last few years (after the dot-com bust) that they've been shifting their stock away from the "esoteric" electronics stuff on which they built their name in favor of more main-stream consumer stuff that you can buy anywhere. For example, yesterday I went looking for some odd DIN connectors and 75% of their display was empty! It was really depressing ...

Ah, paradise. Well... we're in the middle of a major hail storm here. Weird. While on the topic of the weather: We had a tornado in South SF today. Reportedly ripped through a number of structures and was caught on video.

Right. Emailed the main manual. Thanks for your help!

Rory, Emailed manual. I've already sent email to Jason and his tech guy and hope to get some help tomorrow. Like I said in my email to you, I thought I saw something of interest at the end of the manual. Too tired now to make use of any new information, so will be trying again tomorrow evening.

Good tips. I can ping the DVR from a CMD prompt on my PC, but can't telnet (because I'm not clear on the username and password settings) or connect via a browser by entering the IP address. Kodicom has a client app to connect to the DVR. The doc ..well sucks.. and there's really nothing helpful there for anyone but a network jock.

Kodicom 516. 2Wire 1000SW modem/router (Yahoo/SBC DSL). Hardwired ethernet wire (that's why I went to Fry's) connection between modem and DVR. Main problem is figuring how to configure the connection settings from the PC client. The DVR appears to be able to ping the modem, but the DVR UI and docs are really unclear on how to set this stuff up or how to check what's going on.

Observation: You noticed a difference with the LCD monitor. What type of monitor were you using before the LCD? From your description, you had two types of monitors connected to the DVR. Were they from the same video output?

Rory, I haven't forgotten about your request to post shots from the new 721 camera, but woke this morning with the realization that maybe I can't import a video signal into my PC. I had just assumed I could import video via the VGA or S-Video ports, but can't seem to find a way to do that. I guess PCs can only output video from these ports. If anyone knows otherwise, please let me know. Went to Fry's anyway .... just because I COULD . (And what a sorry place that's become -- they'll probably be going out of business soon.) Couldn't find half of the connectors I was looking for, but picked up some of the stuff I needed to get the Kodicom DVR connected to the DSL modem. Unfortunately, couldn't get everything to work. I've got some questions out to tech support, but probably won't be able to get any screen shots posted for a few days.

The first thing that pops in my mind is that there may be a PAL / NTSC compatability problem between the camera and DVR.

Ah, paradise. Well... we're in the middle of a major hail storm here. Weird.

Sorry to RUB IT IN, but some of us live in civilization.

Si

I'm now doing the Vulcan Mind Meld. If that fails, I'll pick up a cable manana.

It's not connected to any network It's a low priority in my installation.

It's dark now and the thrashing has stopped. Yes, it's the UF500 and image now from the camera is amazingly good! There's probably a sensitivity setting on the camera menu that I need to twiddle. By the way, I went to capture a night shot with my laptop, but realized that all of my VGA cords go directly into the displays that are not connected to the internet. I'll need to invest in another VGA cord to capture an image. Maybe I'll go to Fry's tomorrow....

Now this is interesting.... I'm currently watching the camera thrash between color and B&W modes.

Received two Samsung 721's today from our friend Hermin. This is what I can report so far: * Overall this is an excellent camera. Very nice image and color balance (even when monitored on a 50" HDTV). * Lots of features and an RS-232 input so they can be set remotely. Two issues: * These cameras do not work correctly in B&W mode when powered with 12v DC. You must use 24v AC. This is not noted anywhere in the manual, except in the troubleshooting section which suggests using "AC power source" if you have problems switching to B&W mode. * The lens back adjustment requires that you loosen two delicate pin-sized hex screws on either side of the lens mount. Fine for clock makers; maybe not so good for ham-fisted CCTV installers. Installed one today and waiting for dark to see how this baby performs with IR illumination.

I'm assuming you have each camera connected to a separate terminal on the power supply, rather than all 10 on one terminal. If so, it's easy to troubleshoot any power problem with a multimeter. Check the AC power at both the PS and camera terminals.

Found a great source for video connectors: http://www.btx.com/products.asp?Cat1=Video+Connectors

One camera connected to the TV is better than nothing. That's how I started several years ago to keep track of cars in a driveway we share with a neighbor. Our cars used to get some suspicious-looking dents; so, rather than go stand out in the driveway every time a car pulls in or out, we just checked the camera. After I felt more comfortable with having a camera, I added more cameras; then a mux; then a time-lapse VCR... Now I've replaced the mux and VCR with a 16-channel DVR and am adding more cameras. One tip on your first cam: If you want color, invest in a good day/night camera. That way you have the option to expand to IR illumination should the need arise in the future.

Personally, I'm a DYIer with a dedicated 16-channel Kodicom DVR. It's a bit overkill for a home installation, but my interests in CCTV are more hobbyist than a deep-routed need to record everything that goes on outside my house. After researching and installing various CCTV gear, I can really appreciate the amount of specialized knowledge you pros have and the types of unique challenges you must encounter and don't for a minute question that you deserve what little money you earn marking up the equipment you sell to clients. You make an honest living the hard way. That said, I suspect there's a market for a variety of high-quality 4- 8-cam DVR packages targeted to the DIYer. There could be various packages that are customized for indoor-only, outdoor-only, indoor/outdoor, day/night, etc.. I've seen such packages for sale, but they're mostly made up of cheap components. The objective here is to offer high quality components and some level of customer support for the entire system, like you'd expect from Dell or Apple (which really isn't very much) and a forum like this to exchange stories and installation tips with other users. I don't intend to start any new business myself, but suggest that some of you might consider this an option to explore in addition to your traditional one-off installs. Hopefully this type of sales model would empower the end users more and inspire freer exchange of what might now be considered "trade secrets."

Cheap shot. Maybe we wouldn't be forced to buy from Radio Shack if us little people had access to the information and prices in the Dealer's Only thread. Dealers, consider the basic business concept that, if you don't expand your customer base, someone else will take it from you.

Interesting question: how do you confirm a RS-422 / 485 signal? Both its presence and its meaning. (Please don't post the answer in the dealer's only thread.)