AVCONSULTING

Yes, where are the cameras from? Any link that we can check on since they are unfamiliar. Not much to go on right now. Also what info on the DVR card.

Here is an interesting approach to the CCTV market. Dome prices are retail so I would guess dealer is probably 20% or more below. Read the payment and policies. I wonder how many people would be willing to risk buying from them. Even at the lower prices it still represents somewhat of a risk. http://www.ptz-camera.com/

I thought you might find it funny to see. My guess is that the guy who owns American Water Distillers (found them on internet also) was overseas doing some buying and stumbled across this line and figured it would be an easy way to make money. I think he may be surprised to find that he has a lot of inventory that isn't going to sell. Joke will be on him. Watch for price drops soon on his web site.

Let the poor guy keep it. He's a good customer, albeit he hasn't paid his bill yet. Maybe he'll leave some acorns as good faith down payment.

All new lenses of the varifocal type are now DC driven. Video driven lenses are pretty much history. Generally they were in 2/3" or 1/2" format. Just make sure you have the switch on the camera in the DC position when using an auto iris lens. You can tell the difference by looking at the barrel of the lens. Video driven lenses have two small screw pots in the barrel which are used for adjusting the light range of the lens. DC driven lenses have no such screw pots because the adjustments are in the camera not on the lens. When using an auto iris lens make sure you turn off the camera's auto light adjustment or the lens and the camera will fight each other for control of the lighting. Unless your camera has an unusually good light range you will need to use an auto iris lens for outdoor scenes so it can properly adjust for the brightest daylight light to the lowest nighttime light. Also make sure you adjust the focus at night, or fool the camera into thinking it is dark by using dark filters in front of the lens. As far as 24vac or 12vdc in line lock, that was only important when using switchers, rarely used these days. Quads, Multiplexers, DVRs, all automatically compensate for out of sync camera signals. Just make sure with either 24vac or 12vdc that you have enough current at the camera or your signal will be very weak. More problems with weak current happen with 12vdc mainly because people use low current power supplies while most 24vac power supplies are very robust. These days there is almost no difference in quality between 1/3 and 1/4 inch cameras. If you use a varifocal lens then you will almost always be able to find the right focal length.

Just stumbled on this site which shows a line of Linux O/S DVR cards. http://www.cybervision.com.tw/

http://www.approtech.com/

That is really funny. Perhaps he is setting up an early warning system for hunting season.

Well, after spending 20 years in the CCTV industry I retained some knowledge, but now the industry is changing so fast I'm afraid I'll be left far behind. I'm sure after the ISC show I'll be so confused with all the new technologies and offerings that I'll think about retirement again. I may have to go back to school and get a networking degree to be part of the new era of CCTV. As for jobs, I'm sure in the U.S. there will be many openings for security wise people who understand digital video. Although why you would want to leave Australia is beyond me. I spent some time down there and it was fantastic. I even toyed with the idea of moving there.

Here is a place that specializes in central station video monitoring. You could probably contact them regarding what they are charging and price yours accordingly. http://www.sentrycom.net/sentrycommand/index.html

Won't work. Your video camera is baseband video and your TV booster is RF video, two totally different formats. You would have to convert the video from the camera into RF using a RF converter. It really isn't a good way of going.

Intermittent video? If so it could be the slip rings in the dome. You may have to yank it and send it back to Kalatel for an overhaul.

Haven't heard of VDI. Do you have a link for them? Here is a link that has several low cost cameras with LED IR's which last forever (well almost). They are also weather resistant so you could have them outdoors or in a barn type application. Also a link to another interesting product that could have applications for a barn to detect intruders. http://www.at-fairfax.com/Camera/Infrared.htm http://www.voicealert.com/

The spelling is correct. They are trying to look like a Kalatel, maybe even in for a lawsuit down the road. A Kalatel is way more expensive. One other option on your DVR is to get a DVR card and install it into an appropriate computer. Remember that the computer is totally dedicated to the DVR so it is not a multi-purpose machine. Here is a link to a popular source of DVR cards. 4 channels of wireless is not a good idea. There is too much chance of interference. Hardwire whenever you can. Wireless cameras (those with the transmitters built in) are a poor way of going since the cameras themselves are usually low end board cameras. You should stick to using an outboard wireless transmitter. Wireless cameras are mainly for covert indoor use. http://www.dvrcards.com/economy_dvr_cards.htm The MLV10 is not a camera, it is only a transmitter/receiver combo. You still need a camera.

This is not a complete DVR but has to be used with a computer. Once you start adding in the cost of the computer you aren't too far away from a standalone DVR. You can't just use a computer part time as a DVR and also run other programs on it. In order to have a reliable DVR your computer has to be devoted 100% to the DVR. I wouldn't get this add on device. Instead if you are going to use a computer you can get more reliable and less expensive DVR cards. Look in the forum discussion under DVR cards for more information. I can't tell from the description if remote video look in is available. I don't think it is. For outdoor lenses you have to use auto iris so don't waste your money on the cheaper no iris lenses. You also will save yourself a tremendous amount of grief if you use varifocals. Varifocals are the only way to go these days. The cameras are compatible with all DVRs, standalone or computer based.

Look into this unit for your wireless camera. http://www.supercircuits.com/STORE/prodinfo.asp?number=MVL10-WR&variation=&aitem=2&mitem=21 Then get these for the cameras. http://www.at-fairfax.com/Camera/HighResolution.htm (the day/night version) Lenses: Get a varifocal auto iris that brackets the focal length you decided on. http://www.at-fairfax.com/Lenses/Varifocal/Vitek.htm DVR standalone, no computer needed http://www.at-fairfax.com/DVR/VitekDvr.htm#vtdvr04 Housings, mounts, power supplies and other misc items: http://www.at-fairfax.com/CCTVHardware.htm

Here is a link to an online lens calculator, you can use it to verify your findings. Also consider a varifocal lens which is like a mini zoom. http://www.supercircuits.com/STORE/lenscalc.asp

I know the owner of Vitek. I can pass along any information you would like.

Use this connector on the video input on your TV, not the antenna or RF input. http://www.vitekcctv.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductID=135

I think this might be what you are looking for. http://www.no-ip.com/services/page/free/dynamic/dns

Had an interesting meeting with the U.S. based GeoVision people. They showed me the new 6.0 software. I was not all that impressed with their search screen GUI. Very cumbersome, not easy to find clips. I think they really need to have a visual graph of recorded video the way Kodicom, Idis, and others have for easy video retrieval. I also found out that the object search feature doesn't work via remote which is a real problem. I did like the Dynamic IP capability and also the fact they record the reader software right onto the CD with the backup. The POS feature is very lame. Difficult to find clips, no way to use parameters like find all transactions above or below a certain price level. Very limited search parameters. No easy way to backup a POS clip once found, and no bookmark feature to mark a clip for viewing later. Also object search is very clumsy compared to IDIS, or Magic Radar. Guess you can't have everything. I think they have some dynamite features but present it in a very clumsy way which could be made much easier through a properly designed GUI.

For interesting toys, check out this. It is a remote voice annunciator and it is really inexpensive. About $149 U.S. for the whole system. www.voicealert.com

Try using a DVR/Quad which has the quad and dvr all built in to one small box that remains in the barn. Then take the feed from the output and send it wireless to their TV. Here is an example of such a Quad/DVR. http://www.vitekcctv.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductID=175

Make sure the quad you get has loop thru, that would be 8 connectors. You will loop through the quad and into the DVR. Have you thought about using a wireless LAN system and use the DVRs networking capabilities to view it from a remote computer? If you do go with the quad and loop thru make sure you set the termination switches on the quad to loop thru position.

http://www.geovision.com.tw/002/en/company.asp