CraigVM62

After a couple of years of frustration with a 32 Channel PC based system "I-View Cards" I have decided to replace it with (2) 16 Channel Stand Alone DVR's. I am swaying towards the Samsung SHR-2162 and am wondering if anyone has any experience with this particular model. http://samsungsecurity.com/product/product_view.asp?seq=66 Giving up a good number of FPS compared to what the I-View System provided, but hoping for better long term reliability and simplicity for the customer to use. Thanks

If you get a box filled with soggy packaging, that was us trying to send you some

How many of you guys have a one or two of these in your toolbox. Maybe it is because of my "Sparky" electrician roots, but I have come to depend on these I call them my "Low Torque cordless screwdrivers that never need recharging" until my wrist calls it quits

Looking for a stand alone DVR with a couple of features as a priority... 16 to 24 channels with the ability to set the record speed and perhaps resolution differently on each channel individualy. Application is for a cafe where the majority of the cameras do not need to be high resolution or beyond perhaps 10 fps. There are 4 or 5 cameras "entrance, cash register, bar..." where 30 fps and higher resolution viewing and recording are desired. I scanned a good number of posts to see if this question has been answered and found nothing, so sorry if a recent post addressed this and I missed it. Thanks

I checked into the prices for the GE models. They sound like very nice units, but a bit out of the budget for this project. I found this Speco unit that, from what I can tell from the manual I downloaded, has the ability to configure each camera individually. http://www.specotech.com/cart/products/productDetails.asp?prodID=836 I have been very happy with several of the Speco cameras which I install on a usual basis, but this would be my first experience with one of their DVR's.

Ideal !!! Do you have the model number of the GE unit your talking about. I can then call my distributor and see what the damages will be. Thanks Rory !

Is it possible to combine an RF signal, as from the cable company with a composite video feed over a single cable, then separate it at the other end ?? I was thinking how you can combine an RF signal with Voltage for a DBS Dish via diplexers. I have an installation where I prewired for a 12 zone Russound CAM6.6 Audio System. Now at time of trimout, the customer wishes to use a CAV6.6 Controller to distribute video to 6 of the zones. Though I did not wire for the video feeds to any TV's in the home, these controllers are sitting right next to the structured media panel. So I could steal the coax runs in that panel to the desired TV's in the home. Problem is if these runs become devoted just for the Russounds Composite video feeds, they won't be able to have HD Cable boxes also at the TV Locations. With todays digital cable systems, I just don't know how that would effect the Composite video. I also don't know how the voltage blocking diode in the diplexers would effect the digital cable. I know if I was reading this post, the first thing I would ask is why there is only a single coax feed to the TV's , this isn't 1980 Home owner insisted on having a friend of his install all the TV, Phone and Security

I don't want to degrade the composite signal by modulating it. Also, I think by modulating it, a diplexer would no longer be needed, just a combiner / splitter. The contractor that installed the "structured wiring" pulled cat-5 along with the coax to the majority of the flat panel locations. When I saw them doing it at the rough in stage, I asked them why. They looked at me like I was dumb and enlighten me that if the homeowner decided to go with a dish, the SAT Receivers needed a phone line. Note that these TV locations are all up high on walls for flat screen TV's I figured it wasn't worth the time to try and point out the obvious. Now what they did might be a blessing. I don't know why I overlooked this before. I am thinking of using video baluns now.

So much of my time has me hanging off of ladders, that I use a tool bag so hopefully everything I will need will be within easy reach. The thought of having to make any more trips up and down a ladder than needed makes me feel like I am waisting time. My Van has 3 different sets of tool bags. One loaded with everything for rough in of wiring, A second mostly for trimming out electrical. Lastly is a set moslty for trimming out low voltage. It has the hand tools more specific for that need and two huge framer type bags to carry a supply of what ever I am putting in at the time. With my bags weighing up to 20+ lbs at times, I have found that the suspenders to be a must to prevent back and hip problems as the years go by. At 45 I can still run a 40 minute mile I use the same type roll out drawers as VST_Man. It is nice to be able to have my van stacked to the roof with boxes of materials, yet I can pull out the drawers to access most commonly needed tools, supplies.

I don't install near the exotic systems that many do here. But my most recent install utilized a Digital Watchdog Stand Alone DVR http://dwddvr.com/productdetails.asp?rid=28 Granted this is the nicest stand alone I have installed to date, so I have not been spoiled. Judging by what I see at the monitor, it comes very close in performance to the PC based Geovision and I-View Systems I have worked with that cost 2x to 3x as much. Though it lacks many of their advanced features, it seems to have everything most home owners and small business customers that I have worked with are asking for. It falls in their budget to boot. I have also been very happy with the Speco CVC-EX550 for the same reason bike_rider mentioned. Though I have found the pivot point of it's mount can allow water to get in if completely exposed to our North West rains. I use a dab of silicone now to eliminate the problem. Regarding Video Systems acting as a deterrent, I have had a few success stories. The biggest is a large auto body shop that had problems with people jumping the fence into their "Bull Pen" to vandalize and break into cars. Over a 2 year period, they averaged one incident a month. I installed several dummy cams "Real housings, glass slightly tinted and real cables running into building" along with CCTV Warning signs. Last time I inquired, it had dropped down to 2 incidents in 3 years. I am not, nor would ever consider going into business of just selling dummy systems ... but so far it seems they can't hurt. I also could not agree more in that CCTV falls well behind other priorities in the steps to real security.

Understood ..... Please let us know how things go when this gets to court if and when you hear the details. Would love to hear the defense, if he decides to fight it.

That was great .. Did any cameras catch him doing the dirty work by chance? I don't have any catching bad guys at the couple of storage facilities I have done. I do have two good ones that I wish I would have saved. One was a guy at the keypad pulling up and punching in numbers. While he was waiting for the gate to open, he quickly looked around to see that the coast was clear then burried his finger up to the first knuckle in his nose. He must have not entered the number correctly as he had to reach out and punch the number in again .... with the guilty finger no doubt. The facility manager saw the footage and now carries hand disinfectant for any time she needs to punch in codes at the keypads. Second one is a guy we call "Mr. Peepers" who seems to suffer from a vision problem. When he reaches out to enter his code with one hand, he uses the second to make an OK sign with his fingers. The curled fingers are used to make a small hole to look through. No one could understand what he was doing until I rememberd those glasses that are made up of multiple pin holes.

With the cost of RG-11, if the distance requires running it, I think that is when considering Cat-5 with Active Baluns might be worth considering. Especially if more than one camera is the issue.

Think of it this way.... He must think your HOT Seriously though ..... I would go to the local Golds Gym, go over to the area where guys are benching 400+ pounds and tell them the problem your facing. Ask if one of them would be willing to go knock on the neighbors door. When he answers, Mr. Universe should just say "I noticed you have a camera pointed at my girlfriends balcony, can you explain to me why this is?" in a very calm voice. I personally would want to be across the street video taping it just to catch the look on the guys face. I am also wondering what effect a laser pointer, especially one of the extremely power green lasers would do if you set it up pointing directly into the lens. Does anyone know if it would cause damage to the camera ???

having the low voltage wiring in the same electrical / fixture box as your outdoor lighting would definitely be a violation of the National Electrical Code. All states have amendments to the NEC, but keeping low voltage out of electrical fixture / junction boxes is consistent. Most importantly is the fire hazard should 120 volts energize wiring designed for low voltage. Then there is also the reasons Kensplace mentioned. Unfortunately the NEC and most Electrical Inspectors have no concerns about low voltage wiring running near high voltage wiring. They just don't want to see them under the same staples, pulled through the same holes over any distance, or within the same box where connections / splices are taking place as mentioned above. They are inspecting for fire dangers, and often have have no clue if the low voltage wiring will function correctly because of it's close proximity with high voltage wiring. I would not be concerned if you had to run the video cabling close to high voltage wiring for a foot or two at one point. If your concerned about it, separate the DVR's power cord away from the video cables running into it to compensate. CollinR's note about insects being drawn to the lights is something to consider, especially if your going to utilize video motion detection.

Will these domes be mounted where they are not struck with direct weathering? I have had less than positive results with exterior domes unless I can place them under eves or some kind of cover. I do like the advantage of domes not easily giving away their direction of view. I have not been able to find domes that can provide the flexibility that standard cameras and housing can for the price "variation of lens, image quality...." Unfortunately I have not be able to find a standard housing that is as "tamper proof" as a dome camera can be

Well.... For #1 You pretty much have the same definition of "Terminate" as I do, though I typically think of it more as the connection at the ends of a circuit or wire run.. Such as terminate the wire to a wall jack. For #2 Normaly, when I think of "loss" at a connection, I think of signal loss with coax cabling with an RF signal. That Loss could be at a coupling or at the termination points where you always need to accomodate for some signal loss no matter how well your connections are done. For #3 I can't think of a situation where you would want to solder a connection with twisted pair type wiring. If needing to do a splice you could use bean or butt splice type connectors. At terminations, devices will have screw down type terminals or some kind of punch down termination. With wiring topologies that utilize Cat-5, Cat-6.... that utilize the twisting of the wires to keep signal integrity, splices and terminations will need to keep the wires twisted right up to the splice / termination point. I don't know if that will help, especially with #3 which I was not 100% clear on what you were asking.

If your intruder can hear the activation of the relay built into an outdoor motion detector, then you have bigger worries on your hands. Like his disabling the cameras with his X-ray / Lazer vision eyes, or being that he is faster than a speeding bullet, will the cameras even pick him up ??? The closest I have come to making an exterior motion detector covert was just disabling the LED. Then I realized I wanted them to know they tripped something, but not knowing what to expect. In the past I have used the Optex products but still had some issues getting them dialed in correctly to avoid false alarms "security system". For CCTV use I guess a false trigger is less of a hassle. Has anyone tried the Roconet WatchOUT Dual Tech motion detectors before ??? http://www.riscogroup.com/Products.aspx?proid=69

Starting out as a residential electrical contractor, I can't begin to count how many thousands of exterior carriage lights I have had to install. For reasons that Scorpion mentioned, I can't see having good results. On a conventional carriage light as you posted a photo of, having the camera installed within the glass would suffer the reflection problem even without tinting. You would need the camera lens right up against the glass and sealed, much like you see on bullet cams with IR LED's around the lens. Or remove the glass Also expect alot of images of bugs being attracted to the light. If your recording via video motion with your DVR, this can be a PITA You mentioned a camera with a higher magnification lens. That would be a tight fit in all but the largest carriage fixtures. The few bullet cams I have seen with lenses up to 5-55mm are rather long and expensive. Not alot of room in standard fixture boxes also, especialy after you have the electrical wires and wire nuts rolled back in. There is good reason why the NEC keeps electrical and low voltage wiring from sharing the same junction box. I was wondering why you want the camera to be so covert? Is this to catch someone in the act or avoid any camera theft or just not wanting to take away the cosmetics of the home?

I grew up in Redding "Go Shasta" so realize it is night a day difference regarding the rainy day issues we deal with here near Seattle compared to there. Rain-X does keep the water from beading up on the dome lens, but as with any Rain-X treated glass surface, the water quicly rolls down in large droplets, each time causing a large distortion of the image. With the DVR set to motion recording, you can imagine what the results are. As it is, I install a little ridge on the front edge of the sun shields on conventional housings keeping the water from dripping off the front causing the same problem. Acts kind of like a roof gutter on a house. Up here if you drive around and look at residential and commercial installations, you will find that dome cams are non existent unless mounted well under cover. Washington St. aka "The Umbrella State" No eves to hide cameras under as this is the front of a commercial building. Nothing but 20 feet of flat wall. If one is to go to the extend of building an artificial eve, one might as well build a cage as Rory originally suggested. If your going to build a cage, you might as well then stick to a conventional camera / housing / bracket as your photo shows

Rory, Since I only wish I had the IQ and mechanical ability to come up with a universal wiper system for domes... This is the best I could come up with. A simple metal mounting plate and perhaps 1" pipe cut at a 45 degree angle and welded to that plate. It would be mounted just above the dome and almost touching. I am guessing if a rope or chain was tossed over the dome wall bracket, they would just slip off ??? Maybe I could call it the "Dome Slipper" Still, even with a dome via a bracket / wall mount, there is the problem with water that is bouncing off the wall, splattering onto the lens. The lenses within would need to be pointed running along the wall. Right where the dome lens would get much of that splatter. The camera locations are around 14' off the ground so a bit higher off of the ground than the customers would want to ladder up to for cleaning. Heck, I hate having to go that high if I don't have to.

Rory .... You truely are the "King of Links" .... I sould have known you would have come up with something. " title="Applause" /> I have a feeling that would surpass the budget by a few too many zerro's but ya still got me Also, I have tried Rain-X on some of the first domes I tried mounting on exposed walls years ago. it does help a bit, but still had customers complain about the blurry image during and right after rain storms. So now I only consider them if mounted well under eves or other cover

Feel free to read earler in this thread where the problems regarding domes are addressed .... unless you know of one with built in wind shield wipers Again the cameras MUST be mounted on an exterior wall in one of the rainiest states on the US.

I just finished up trimming out a home where 3 PTZ cameras were installed on the exterior of the home. This is a Summer home so the owners just wanted to be able to remotely observe what landscapers and other hired help was getting done in their absence. When they told me what they wanted, I subbed out the CCTV Cameras as I have really no experience with PTZ cameras. My hands were pretty full doing the rest of the low voltage work so it worked out well. The CCTV Sub installed the 3 cameras recessed in the flat soffit that surrounds most of the homes roof line. I am not 100% certain bit I think they used the Everfocus F8-EPTZ1000 They really didn't stand out that much and everyone "homeowner and myself" were impress with the image. I was somewhat surprised as the camera's specifications, and price I was charged was by no means exotic.

I would also guess it is the power supply if that is one thing the problem cameras have in common. If the power supply shows to be OK. I would then check the image at each camera with a portable field monitor. If image is good at camera, have you disconnected the camera feed in at the DVR and hooked it directly up to a monitor. I ask this as I had one customer go in and adjust the camera settings "brightness, color, tint" at the DVR to accommodate the image on a very bright day, not understanding why images became very dark at night. Lastly would be if all problem cameras share a video balun hub. I would be interested in hearing what you find out. Good Luck