AVCONSULTING

I've sold Ameba product before and they have been a pretty good factory to deal with and have been around for awhile. I looked over the manual for the DVR but can't figure out who's they are using. I don't know what the pricing is, you might want to post it in the dealer forum, but the unit looks sound and the warranty is nice. Definitely worth pursuing. In regards to the other DVR discussed in this section I looked at their remote software and I'm almost 100% certain that it is a Chance I or Chance I variation.

I went and took a closer look at the screen shot on the DVR they are selling and I'm almost sure it is a variation on the Chance I software. Maybe someone else can look at it and see. I find it funny since we have a huge discussion going on about all the variations of Chance I and who is carrying it. If it is Chance I or one of it's myriad versions then it is a pretty good DVR.

According to the link you posted they have an 8 camera system for $1899. That is with the 120 gb hard drive. Why didn't you get a quote on that one? Which one were you quoted that was $3000. The camera prices aren't bad, looks average pricing to me. I'm curious mainly about the DVR.

Just received this information from Technovision, which is Chance I under a different brand name so should cross over to the new Chance I boards. Board Model No MPG120 MPG240 MPG480 1 Camera Input 4 channel 8 channel 16 channel 2 Audio In 4 channel 8 channel 16 channel 3 Sensor Input 4 channel 8 channel 16 channel 4 Relay Out 4 channel 4 channel 8 channel 5 Composite Out 1 channel (Switching) 6 Compression Codec MPEG4 Hardware Codec 7 Available channel No. for each of resolution NTSC 352 x 240 4 ch. 8 ch. 16 ch. 704 x 240 4 ch. 8 ch. 16 ch. 704 x 480 2 ch. 4 ch. 8 ch. PAL 352 x 288 4 ch. 8 ch. 16 ch. 704 x 288 4 ch. 8 ch. 16 ch. 704 x 576 2 ch. 4 ch. 8 ch. 8 Display Frame Rate - Real Time Video NTSC (720x480) 4 ch 8 ch. 16 ch. PAL (720x576) 4 ch 8 ch. 16 ch. 9 Frame rate per sec. at Recording Mode NTSC 352 x 240 30 fps/ch 30 fps/ch 30 fps/ch 704 x 240 7.5 fps/ch 7.5 fps/ch 7.5 fps/ch 704 x 480 7.5fps/ch(2) 7.5fps/ch(4) 7.5fps/ch( PAL 352 x 288 20 fps/ch 20 fps/ch 20 fps/ch 704 x 288 5 fps/ch 5 fps/ch 5 fps/ch 704 x 576 5fps/ch(2) 5fps/ch(4) 5fps/ch( 10 Image format Preview/Recording YUV/RGB 11 Recording Mode Watch, Normal, Motion Detection, Sensor, Event 12 Back-Up DAT, CD, DVD, Network Drive 13 Remote Connections TCP/IP;LAN, ADSL, VDSL 14 PTZ Interface RS232/RS422/RS485 15 Software Feature Image Security WaterMark Application software POS , Access control , etc Protect System Hardware Watchdog 16 Compatible system CPU Eq. and More than Pentium IV- 2.0GHz Main Board Intel 865, ASUS 865,GigaByte865 RAM 256 MB (minimum) VGA Later than ATI 7500

Are you sure that is the right website? I just tried it and all I saw was an ad on how to make websites. Nothing about CCTV training. Maybe you should check the link again.

Just to add to the Aventura/Chance I confusion, I got off the phone a few minutes ago with the Chance I USA office (they are trying to get us to switch from Magic Radar to Chance I) and he said that first the new hardware compression boards will be available around end of June, and second that Aventura buys their DVR cards from Chance I Korea and then modifies the software with Chance I's approval and that Aventura does not have access to the source code. He also said that Technovision is another OEM purchaser of Chance I cards. He also confirmed that Chance I makes their own cards in Korea. The person I spoke to was Han Kim from the California HQ of Chance I USA. He even invited me to go to Korea and watch them make the boards. I think he is accurate in this, especially since he said he'd be happy if I bought the boards from Technovision or Aventura, as long as I got Chance I cards from someone instead of Magic Radar or some other brand.

Judging from the E Bay listing I'm pretty sure it is PAL compatible, so you have a hookup problem. You should run the video out into a composite video monitor or a TV with a video input. It won't work on a VGA monitor of course. I don't know what you are trying to hook it into, is it some type of package system you got that uses telephone style connectors instead of RCA or BNC? Also your original system might actually be NTSC.

It sounds like you might have an NTSC camera. Where did you get it from? Any name, model number, etc. to help track down it's origin? You might want to try feeding it directly into the video input on a TV and bypass the combiner box you are using just to see if you get a picture straight into a PAL monitor.

No it is just the 16 camera version of the 4 and 8 channel Nuvico/Vitek models. Don't forget the new models are going to be rated at 30 fps per channel on record.

Bummer, it didn't look like it saved the first time. Can't delete it so I made it shorter.

I got a prelimnary spec sheet from them when they were in town showing the standard DVR they currently have in the line. Doesn't say too much except that file size is 1-2.5 kb depending on quality. 30 fps per channel on record and live view. Built In CD/RW, Linux embedded, Up to 1.2 TB of internal storage, two USB ports, multi-site remote software, static and dynamic IP support, backup files into AVI & JPEG formats. Physically it looks nice. Mouse driven, or front panel controls. They said it would probably be around 50% over the cost of their present DVR model pricing. Definitely should compete with DM and Kalatel since neither have such high speed fps recording or compact file size. And pricing should still come in below both DM and Kalatel. Again about 2 months before it comes into the country.

Nuvico and Vitek are OEM'ed by Pinetron. Same exact DVR with private labels. Pinetron is Korean and their web site is www.pinetron.com. They have excellent playback and with the USB port you can use CD/RW, DVD/RW or an external hard drive. Vitek will be importing the Nuvico and loading in the hard drives at their Sun Valley location. Nuvico puts their hard drives in at their Englewood NJ location. Since they are identical units the Vitek may be more convenient for you since they are in the Los Angeles area. I would guess that pricing would be the same from your local CCTV distributor.

It won't be out for two or three months. Anything in particular you want to know about it? They are targeting DM and Kalatel with the new XG unit. One thing it will have that DM and Kalatel don't have right now is full 30 fps on each channel, even up to 16 channels. It will have a new compression with an average file size of 1.5-2.5 kb down from around 18 kb on their current dvr. Looks like a nice unit.

Where is your store located? When choosing cameras I'd suggest making sure you get a camera that has a varifocal lens which is a lens that can be adjusted to get the field of view that best suits your application. Remember that the wider an area that you view the less detail you will get. So for example if you have a camera watching the entire register area you will not get enough detail to see individual denominations of currency. I'd suggest getting all color cameras since they cost just a little more than b/w and your DVR is already setup to use color. Definitely use motion detection when recording, so it is important to get a DVR with good motion detection capability. I'm not so sure the Digimerge has a good motion detection system built in. At least while reading the instruction manual I didn't see much in the way of setting the area that is covered by video motion detection. To view from home you will need to have a DSL available with static IP address unless you want to use the slower modem and direct phone line (something like a video fax machine). Hope this gives you a push in the right direction. Also make use of the various internet sites that show products and pricing.

You might want to just consider a low cost embedded (standalone) DVR so that you don't have to go out and buy a computer just to load in a DVR card. 4 camera embedded systems are pretty inexpensive these days and provide excellent quality video. Or you could get a two camera server and put it on your network and then download the images onto your computer.

I posted this in another thread but here is a link to the new Vitek DVRs which are networkable and can be hooked up to an external CD/RW for backup. They are higher than what you had asked for, but do have some nice features. In the Los Angeles area Tri-Ed, VSSI, Alarmax and Fairfax Electronics carry Vitek. I think in the price range you had posted you'd have to go to the non network products, but then if you add a server it will boost the cost back up anyway and this way you get full remote access. http://www.vitekcctv.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductID=181

The new Vitek DVR only uses the hard drives for video storage so you can actually change out a bad hard drive easily. It has networking, etc. In fact the factory ships the DVRs to Vitek with no hard drives and they load them in at the Vitek offices. Here is a link to check it out. http://www.vitekcctv.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductID=181

I would have to believe that the Vendoma DVR, or at least the Version 4.0 software is Chance I. I just downloaded the manual for the DVR and compared it to the manual I have on Chance I, and on Flashback which is also Chance I, and on Technovision and all of them have the exact same setup GUI's. Where you set the camera fps, main setup, motion setup, etc. they all are identical. All of the above companies have altered the main viewing GUI and playback GUI but none of them bothered to change the setup GUI's. So Aventura seems to be using the Chance I boards and software and customizing the main GUI's. All the functions are also the same. I didn't see any features on the Aventura that weren't on the other models. I guess you'd have to download the various manuals yourself to confirm what I'm seeing.

The three AVC products I have seen locally are in the Vitek line. They are the VT-WBS2 two camera server, VT-DVR01 single channel DVR and VT-DVR04/Q 4 channel quad/dvr. Then they have some networked DVRS but those are made by Pinetron and are sold under the Vitek name. The Vitek website is www.vitekcctv.com. I think there is also an East Coast distributor for AV Tech. Rory or Hermin might know since they are more familiar with the suppliers out there

Which model in particular were you looking for? Do you have a local distributor that you use for most of your CCTV products?

The lower end AV Tech is ok. I've been told by one of my friends who buys from AV Tech that the single channel and four channel are fine but that the 16 channel is not so good. He won't even bring it in for his product line. You'll need to find someone local of course to sell it and to service it.

You can do some investigating on the internet first for some pricing. Is that cost including installation cameras, etc? To get a feel for pricing on various cameras and DVRs here is one place to check, although there are a lot of places on the internet and I'm sure some of the other guys have some places they like. www.at-fairfax.com

I got an email from Technovision, another Chance I reseller that the new cards are coming out soon. Here is a link to Technovision. I'm not sure if or how the software will change. You might want to go on their site and check with them on the changes and also get some pricing. www.technovisioncctv.com

Two quick things I gleaned from reading the manual, which you can download from the Digimerge website. First the file size storage is pretty big. Anywhere from 35kb to 60kb which eats up a hard drive pretty quickly. The other is that I couldn't find anywhere where you can define the motion detection area. It doesn't look like you can mask out any area in the camera's field of view so if you have something constantly moving, such as a road, or maybe a flickering computer screen, or whatever then you will be continously recording even on motion detection only. Looks to me like a pretty unsophisticated DVR so hopefully it is really low cost. Considering you can find PC based DVRs these days with loads of features at really low pricing you might want to seriously look at some alternatives first.

This is a relative newcomer to the market and is carried primarily by ADI. I think that Alarmax also has it. I've heard mixed reviews on the company but have yet to try it personally. I'd make sure you get some type of return guarantee on it from your distributor. I don't think it has a way of backing up video to a CD/RW. Something to check on.