AVCONSULTING

From a features point of view I'd rate the Geovision at an 8. From an ease of use point of view, especially an end user who is not computer literate around a 3. From a GUI point of view also a 3. The Chance I would rate features around 5, ease of use 8, GUI 7. I think you really have to decide whether your end user base is going to want to put up with the more complicated feature set of the Geovision vs the relative ease of use on the Chance I. The Chance I video quality is very good, has good compression and the new Chance I cards are going to be hardware compression instead of software compression which should even be better. I personally would rather put a Chance I GUI into a customer's hands since it will mean fewer call backs for training and questions. Chance I has nice features such as search by motion, video timeline on playback, time and event recording, etc. The remote GUI looks identical to the local which is also good since once a customer understands how to use the DVR you dont' have to train him again on the remote. I think it boils down to whether your customers are going to want a DVR chock full of features but higher learning curve or something simpler and easier to use. Picture quality on both is pretty good.

First you have to see what other board he is getting with the Chance I. That is just a live board for viewing and has nothing to do with recording speed. The Geovision is a 480 fps live and record. Big difference. You have to add another board to the LIV16. You have to also get a CAP board. As far as GUI's go I like the Chance I better since it is a nicer layout, easier to program the settings, easier to use and access features. Geovisions main problem is that their features are scattered all over the place and you have to be very proficient to use the system. Chance I is simplicity itself. I can teach someone to use most of the Chance I functions in 20 minutes or less and I doubt if that could be done with the Geovision. Of course that is from a sales point of view and not from the point of view of one single user. I think more research needs to be done into the Chance I configuration before making a decision since only half of the system has been mentioned.

Yeah but how far do you drive everyday. Here in SoCal a 70 mile roundtrip to the office is normal. From my house just to the nearest store is 3 miles. When calling on accounts I can easily put on over 120 miles in one day. Sometimes even 250 miles if I have to go to San Diego and back. You could drive to Florida and still travel less. Although driving to Florida could present its own unique difficulties.

I've used the Chance I software and it is very good. Does pretty much everything the Geovision does and it has a nice GUI compared to the Geovision. It has a nice visual spread of the video that was recorded in the playback screen so you can see at a glance if when any video was recorded in a 24 hour period of time. The playback quality of the video is also quite good. It is a very popular board.

Rory is the Guru on Store Safe, he'll probably drop in and answer your technical questions. I doubt if GE would sell direct to someone buying 1 or 2 pieces and even if they did you would pay more than ADI or one of the other main distributors. If you can buy wholesale you also might want to check out a few other Kalatel distributors for competitive pricing. Rory has a good East Coast source and I know a good West Coast source. As for a good wireless system check out Wireless Technology. They have some pretty good products. Here is link to their website. http://www.gotowti.com/wti/index.asp

Oz, that wasn't a very hearty and warm reply that one would expect from you, especially from the friendly environs of Australia. Everyone here should be entitled to post their opinions. It isn't like we have Robert Bass here pumping his lame web site every post trying to lure suckers into buying from him. Disagreements on the merits of the different boards and software are always going to be present since I think we have figured out by now that there isn't one superboard/software combination otherwise we'd all be worshipping it like a sacred cow. Truthfully I don't like the Geovision or the Chance I in its many variations all that much. When it comes to PC boards I like the Digi-It, which is never even discussed here. Let's accept a wide variety of comments on all the areas we deal in so we can all learn a little more from everyone's experience. Now that I'm done with my soap box, I just want to add that "GEOVISION GUI SUCKS BIG TIME"

Well right now it says "not connected". It is 12:16AM Saturday morning here in Los Angeles so maybe the link is down. I'll try it again later.

I don't think they write any software since I've seen the same GUI on another DVR just a different name but I can't nail down the source. It is actually a pretty good but pricey system and it's main claim to fame is the audio. They also mix direct inputs and IP inputs on the same machine. Interesting system. I think the original post here though is referring to the maximum number of audio inputs on an embedded machine not a PC based. Below is a link to another site which looks just like the Silicor but under a different brand. Any ideas on who the OEM is? http://www.spytown.com/winvis240fra.html

Regardless of the good or bad points of the company, the software is definitely the same as Chance I. I've spent a lot of time on the Chance I products, having repped a couple of companies that use Chance I with various changed GUI's. First thing is Chance I offers a development software kit. http://www.chance-i.com/eng/pd_sdk.htm I sold Flashback systems out of New York which heavily changed the GUI on the Chance I product but John Walsh the owner definitely confirmed that it was Chance I boards and software that he was using, but if you looked at the GUI you wouldn't know it. Every Chance I variation that I have seen has always had the same setup screen GUI's, for some reason those don't change. I looked at the Vendoma DVR manual and the setup screens look identical to Chance I and Technovision (which is also Chance I). I doubt if Vendoma has done much if anything to change the product outside of some cosmetic changes. This isn't to say that Chance I is a bad product. I had good success with it, but it has its drawbacks when it comes to multi site access and some other things. I agree with CCTV 100% regarding Pelco and their problems with DVR's. I hear from local large Pelco integrators that it is an Achilles heel for them and that Kalatel is kicking their butts when it comes to DVR's. I don't know if there is any perfect low to medium cost PC based system out there. We have every major and minor Korean and Chinese DVR in the L.A. area and none of them so far has impressed me. With all their faults DM and Kalatel are still getting the lions share of the DVR market in the West Coast. Which shows that PC based systems have yet to overcome the somewhat justifiable fears that dealers and end users have of all PC based systems.

Chance I has a software development kit so there can be a lot of variations in the GUI but I have found that almost every version I have found has the same remote and same setup screens in common. The GUI part can look radically different. Flashback is a big example if you look at their screen shots, but when you go into the setup menu it is identical to all the other Chance I versions.

Seems that the Chance I USA is still under construction. Try this site. http://www.chance-i.com/eng/products_board.htm I find it odd that they could use Chance I software without using their board. Also Chance I is introducing a new set of boards with hardware compression.

Found Vendoma. Actually it is nothing more than a Chance I card, which you can get from www.chance-iusa.com. Lots of companies using Chance I cards these days. I think in the New York area one of them is John Walsh who has Flashback DVRs, www.flashbacksystems.com. Technovision also sells the Chance I card under their name, www.technovision.com and given some time I could drum up about another 3 or 4 places.

Do you have a link to Vendoma? Pelco is using the Picasso board for their new DX8000 system. I'm not sure if Vicon is still using Sunjin since GSS became the big Sunjin importer and I think aced out Vicon. Here is an interesting link to some Korean DVR companies. Net Promax which is popular here in SoCal is using Comart. SoCal is a hotbed of DVR activity because of the large Korean community. I think we have more small DVR assemblers per square foot than anywhere else in the world. Makes for tough competition. A lot of discounting going on. http://www.koreadvr.com/eng/members.htm

From the tales you have told regarding crime in your area, Iran and Iraq look like resorts. You sure a ballistic housing can last?

Funny. Although a misconception since Explosion Proof cameras, housings, etc are not designed to withstand an explosion but to prevent an explosion from an electrical spark. As far as Iranian standards they should be using 220vac, PAL compatible equipment.

I'm curious as to what recording system you are going to use for 32 cameras. Maybe you could let us know what it is and how it worked out. Also are you going to use coax or Cat 5 for your video transmission? Welcome to the forum.

Not sure how Geo would market in your territory, but if it is anything like in the U.S. then be prepared for them to negotiate multiple price levels with all your competitors so you'll never know if you are getting the best price. And you'll see Geo cards all over the internet at discount pricing. You might want to consider going with Dedicated Micros instead. They are consistent in their pricing, strictly regulate internet prices, and are HQ in England. Their DVRs are excellent quality, and although may not have all the features a Geo system would have they are rock solid embedded units. Another alternative would be GE/Kalatel which has similar products.

Most likely you have two problems. First you are using RG6 with aluminum braid which is very poor shielding for CCTV. You have a lot of loss in that cable. Second you are using light duty transformers and pushing the amperage through a long cable run so you probably have low power at the cameras. First thing is to unplug all the cameras from the quad and then plug them in one at a time and see if one of them causes the quad instability. You might find that only one of the cameras is causing the problem. The quad processor is sensitive to bad signals and even one camera problem will cause the instability. Also try plugging a transformer in close to the camera that shows instability and see if that helps to clear up the problem. Chances are there is nothing wrong with the quad or the DVR but in the cable or power. Also your connections may be bad. You have a lot of troubleshooting ahead of you.

I think they are the same unit. Looks like you have found the OEM for that line of DVRs.

The motion detection feature on the Appro monitors the video feed signal it gets from the quad. The Appro would react the same regardless of the particular bnc output you would use from the quad. You will have to address the fluctuating picture problem instead which could be caused by ground loop problems, fluctuating voltage problems, bad coax connections, or other factors. The quad you have probably has a picture zoom feature and that is why you have a vcr out, vcr in connections. If you aren't going to use the zoom on playback feature then you can just run the quad out picture straight into the DVR, but that will still result in recording whenever the picture fluctuates since the DVR will interpret it as motion. Maybe you can describe your installation in more detail, especially in regards to camera cable runs, length, type of coax, type of power cable and number of power supplies, voltage and amps, etc.

Check out this link and see if helps answer your question. http://www.geovision.com.tw/002/en/piracy.htm

Doesn't your multiplexer have loop thru connectors on the back? Most I've seen have them.

Try this first. See if your local distributor will get you one on a trial basis. It might just do the job. ftp://www.pelco.com/AESpecifications/EA2010_series.RTF

Splitting using T connectors has mixed results. Sometimes they work just fine, you really have to go on a case by case basis. The problem with T connectors is that they cut your impedance by 50%, your signal strength by 50% and can cause wave reflections or an imbalance in the signal. Because multiplexers and DVRs are extremely sensitive to impendance and signal strength it is a toss of the dice on how well they will work. Still given the low cost of a T connector it is certainly worth trying first.

Here are some outdoor cameras with built in IR illuminators you might want to check out. This site is a good start to look at some of the offerings available. Depending on the distance you may need to go up to the larger units. Also some links to accessory items. http://www.at-fairfax.com/Camera/Infrared.htm http://www.at-fairfax.com/QuadSwitcher/QuadSwitch.htm http://www.at-fairfax.com/Camera/BoardType.htm