AVCONSULTING

One of your biggest problems is focusing properly, especially at night. You really need to focus the cameras during the evening or failing that you will need to get some neutral density filters from a camera store and hold them in front of the camera to fool it into thinking it is night time. The cameras you purchased and the lenses are good quality so it is primarily a setup problem. A standard TV will work as a monitor if you use the video inputs, not the antenna input. You'll need an adapter you can get from Radio Shack that converts a BNC to RCA. All of your cameras should have the electronic iris turned off and have the video/dc switch set to the dc side. You may also have to set the video level on the cameras. I'd strongly suggest getting an experienced CCTV technician to do all of this for you or you will probably end up spending a lot of your own time doing it and in the end waste so much of your time that it would be worth paying someone. Plus they can also help you get the most out of your DVR.

5 FPS will be fine for almost any situation. Remember that the analog mux recordings had a best 1 FPS when recording in real time. I've seen this company before and it looks like they have a pretty good product. They are a local company for me since I live in the Los Angeles area. Seems that the 32 camera add on option is the best way for your customer to go.

What brand digital video recorder is he currently using? It would be best to get another of the same type and then he can use his one remote to look at both DVRs. Depending on the remote software he might be able to view both DVRs at once, but if not he can switch between the two just by putting in each DVR's IP address into his remote program. Regarding buying factory direct, the majority of factories will not sell direct unless you are a fairly large integrator or distributor. You will be best served to go to a distributor who will have a wide assortment of products available at reasonable prices. Also most factories will require opening orders, credit aps, etc which as a startup company you probably won't have available.

Problem with wireless is the limited number of frequencies available so I think 4 is the maxium you can run in a given area. Also anyone with a receiver in your proximity can watch your cameras, although that might not be a big problem. Hard wired is a much better way to go. A quad will also limit you to 4 cameras so if you are considering expanding past 4 cameras then you might want to consider paying more for a 9 camera multiplexer.

Those prices are without a hard drive so you have to add that cost in also. And when you import them you get no warranty so any bad units you have to eat the cost. Most dealers in the U.S. don't want to bother with importing their own products and would rather buy them through a distributor or importer.

Except for used equipment on Ebay you won't find all you want for $500. Just a time lapse will cost at least $300, a quad would be a lower cost way to go than a mux, especially with just 4 cameras. Here is a link to a good source for equipment. Check it out first before doing more shopping. http://www.at-fairfax.com/CCTVPackages/CCTVPackage.htm

March ISC show is coming up faster than you think and I am going to start gathering information on IP addressable cameras and associated recording software. Outside of the obvious like Axis, Samsung, etc. does anyone have experience with some great IP cameras and software? This is the big new security area and I expect a whole slew of vendors to show up.

Here are some examples for you to check out. http://www.vitekcctv.com/Sections.asp?SectionID=1002#8

Here is a starting point for you. http://www.dvrcards.com/

I'm not sure what computer you have, regarding chip type, etc. A DVR card should be used on a computer totally dedicated to recording video and not shared with other programs running. Generally a Pentium IV 1.8 GHZ or better with 256 RAM, etc needs to be used. Forget those super cheap boards on EBay since they will most likely cause you problems and there will be no factory support. The most popular DVR card around is GeoVision and it isn't particularly expensive, it is very reliable, and there are several web based suppliers. Plus on this site there are some excellent GeoVision users who can help you with any problems you may run across. Here are a couple of GeoVision sites to check out. http://www.dvrcards.com/economy_dvr_cards.htm http://www.wisemicro.com/card.htm

This simple 4 camera embedded unit has 2 channel audio capability so you might want to look into it as a possibility. Here is the link to it and to some covert style cameras. http://www.vsscctv.com/ProductDetail.asp?ProductID=453055631 http://www.vsscctv.com/Section.asp?CatID=1002&SubCatID=3

You might want to look into a more simple embedded system. It will cost about the same as the card and a dedicated computer and be more reliable than trying to build one yourself. Here is a link to one such unit that is on special. http://www.vsscctv.com/ProductDetail.asp?ProductID=453055631

You might want to check out this site. It is a Glendale, CA company that is the primary importer for GeoVision cards. Also check out the VSSI web site since they have a 16 camera DVR on special at a very low price. http://www.wisemicro.com/card.htm http://www.vsscctv.com/ProductDetail.asp?ProductID=453056072 It runs on Windows 98 which may or may not be a problem for your application.

Take a look at Extreme CCTV. A Canadian company that has infrared cameras, wireless cameras, etc. www.extremecctv.com

Is there an Australian site for the cameras? I don't know what cameras they have for other areas in PAL version. Of course all the cameras here are NTSC. Here is a link to a distributor and you can get dealer prices by signing on and getting a password. No charge for that. They just don't want end users getting on the site and looking at wholesale prices. They usually mark up around 20% from their cost so you can figure out what distributor is pretty easily. Hope it helps. http://www.vsscctv.com/ManufacturerProducts.asp?ManufacturerID=127

I'm not sure what they do in the other areas of the world since I only handled the U.S. distribution. Here is the link to the web site showing the models I carried. The regional office for CBC is in Torrance, CA about 5 miles from where I live so I'm still in touch with the RSM, we have lunch about once a month. If you have any specific models you have a question about I can ask him and see what he knows. www.cbcamerica.com

Rory is right. I sold my company to an international distributor called Richardson Electronics and retired to, what else, consulting. The last refuge before going to the old persons home. I've had many years experience with CBC which is the parent company of Ganz, Computar, etc. I know the owners and all the people at the factory and they have the greatest service around, except for maybe Pelco. The products are very good and reasonably priced. You can't go wrong with them.

You might want to avoid making your own machine and go with a company that builds a turnkey unit. This company uses all Dell platforms and has a card that is very compatible with the Dell components. I've seen it work and it is actually quite good. You can get it in 60 fps, 120 fps, 240 fps. Here is the web site for them if you want to get some more information. www.flashbacksystems.com The nice part is being all Dell except for the DVR card you get the Dell 3 year warranty on the computer. It is all Dell approved.

I agree with our OZ associate in that the Ganz are definitely top quality and a very reasonable price. I used to be a master distributor for Computar and Ganz and found them exceptionally reliable and backed by a factory who is second only to Pelco when it comes to customer service. Maybe equal to Pelco.

Regarding coax surge protection check the Vicon listing on their V15LPG at http://www.vicon-cctv.com/pages/prodindex-frame.html Generally speaking it is not needed unless you are in some area that might have severe lightning problems. Of more concern is a strong video signal free of ground loop problems that could negatively affect your video quality (although it will not harm your DVR card). As far as PAL vs NTSC those are standards for different countries. The U.S. is on the NTSC standard. Try to find if possible a supplier that is in your geographical area since you may need onsite assistance in training and setup. Also you should look into loading some anti virus software onto the DVR as they can get affected by a virus just like any PC on your network.

Yes, that is correct, the police would also need a multiplexer and a DVR to decode the system, or the customer could offload the video onto a simple vcr using the video playback out connector. That is the generally accepted way of archiving video with the very simple one channel DVRs. Another way is to feed the video playback into a Dazzle 80 video to digital converter which allows you to record AVI clips into a computer which can then be saved onto a CD. The single channel DVRs main purpose is to allow an end user who already has a substantial investment into a multiplexer the option of removing his old time lapse vcr and installing a dvr instead. Dumping the whole system and going with a dedicated multi channel DVR is always a better option but unfortunately not all end users have the monetary resources to do this.

Using a one channel dvr is really no different than using a time lapse recorder except you have a higher frame rate available, better video, and faster access to the video. You still get the same encode decode function so you are really only recording one frame at a time and watching one frame at a time. You get a full sized picture, not 16 squashed little pictures. If you envision a one channel dvr as essentially a tapeless vcr you will see how it works out. This is not to say that it is equal to a dedicated 16 camera DVR.

I want to clear up a possible misconception by our Australian contributor about multiplex recording. Any multiplexer regardless of brand records full size images in a rapid sequence. A quad records compressed images but not a multiplexer. Each image recorded by a multiplexer is a single camera shot and they are encoded and decoded to record and playback. So you will not suffer picture quality from a multiplexer recording as you would a quad, or multivision system, but you don't get the higher frame rate you would get in many self contained DVR systems. You also don't get many features such as object search or record on motion only. The whole idea of the single channel DVR is to allow someone who has already invested in the multiplexer to replace an old VCR rather than toss the mux and vcr and buy a whole new system.

Actually Terry Ainsworth from Kodicom Australia is already importing several items into the U.S. along with the Kodicom boards. He is doing quite well from what I've heard so you might want to look into doing something similar.

Try this company. Here is a link below. They have all sorts of connectors. http://www.vitekcctv.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductID=126