3RDIGLBL

Rebco, I see you really like the pro. Good news. Do you find that you no longer need a service monitor to adjust focus and for white balance etc? This thing is supposed to save time and money in the long run. Would be great to set the camera per the test tool and leave it knowing you won't have to climb the ladder again later. Thanks.

I have a project in the works where the customer currently has a number of cameras installed by us. He now wants an access control system so we are putting together the list of equipment required. Here is one that is new to me but it is possible and I think I know the answer. He has a large fuel tank with no current access control on it. Anyone can go by at anytime and fill up on Diesel fuel and he will have no knowledge of it. Cameras have not been installed at this spot yet because of his request to wait until a new structure is built there, couple weeks now until completion. Anyhow. To operate the pump one just has to simply flip a light switch type switch. I need to put a proximity reader in here so the drivers can pass there fobs over it and start the pump. So the way I see it is using a low voltage activated relay to pass the 120VAC to start the pump. I need this relay to hold there until the off button is pushed so I plan to put a big red stop button there on the panel for the operator to deactivate the pump. Anyone know where to look for relays I would need for this? I can find them and figure out how to wire it all up but maybe someone has experience here with a simpler approach. Thanks

Tell you all what. Kerri Systems has got to have one of the most advanced access control systems out there (as far as customizing goes). The amount of customizing and programming you can do to it in order to adapt it to your needs is mind boggling. Check out the NXT Series. It's a TCP based access control system. Been messing with it on the bench, takes a while to get through the learning curve of it but once you get it it's very powerful. There tech support are very pleasant to work with, they have an online training course, which I did today. I can go through features and operation here but I would go on forever. I'm glad I decided to choose this one. The price was right and I am able to do the fuel pump install as well. Configuration is nearing completion (some learning curve delay) and wiring is nearly done at the customers. I plan to use there system moving forward for any possible future installs.

Does that question mean you may have a camera of choice but are afraid to tell me because of competition? jk I live in Canada but the business is based and operates in the U.S. I sent you a pm...

Here is a new one. I would like to add a small two camera system to a hobby race car. This car race around a track no more than a 1/4 mile for a full lap. This is a popular weekend activity and I thought it would be really really cool to put a camera system inside one of my customers son's car so they view a live feed of him going around the track while standing trackside. Has anyone ever done anything like this? I found a couple video transmitters that state they don't ship to the states due to high power transmission but I don't think I need anything crazy but maybe I do. This is more of a project thing because I thought it would be fun. Worse comes worse I just put a rugged DVR in there so they can view the fun later at there leisure. Which type should I use that would be inexpensive for a hobby car and easily moved into one of his other cars. I guess it needs to be portable is what I'm saying. Most everything I find need to be hardwired like for police vehicles etc.. Thx

I'm anxious to hear what you think about these. Not sure about your Pelco question as I never used one and I haven't tried this meter yet for lack of information. If it turns out to be a real time saver then I would consider one but the price is a bit high for a trial and error purchase. Thanks

You know I am with you on this one. I spoke to the electrician and I told him this is not listed as a class 2 per the NEC. I showed him the NEC 2008 book but for some reason he says it is. Who am I to argue. The customer is paying the elctrician to run the conduit so whatever, let the customer pay. I spoke to a couple different electricians and an engineer for a phone company about the grounding part of my install and both said don't bother. They said if there is a direct lightning strike nothing with save your equipment. THe phone guy said they have been trying to fight mothernature in this area forever. Although they can minimize damage they can not prevent it when you are talking 1000's of volts of a direct strike lightning bolt. He said I'll be wasting money for nothing. The direct strike would jump any type of suppression I put in there. He said use UPS systems for line fluctuations and ground any of the equipment per the manufacturer but that is all that will really be needed. Comments on this? What have your experiences been especially with coax surge protectors that are in line with the video signal. Is there any proof that these work or is this just a bunch of marketing hoopla??

It does provide that 3rd dimension a little but not much. Depending how much tilt you need it may not provide you with enough. I installed a camera where the mount was tilting a bit back and because the camera had to look to the side the horizon looked tilted. I was able to use that 3rd dimension (as I think you are referring to) to tilt the camera enough for a level horizon even when the bracket itself was not completely level. It does not have a whole lot of movement in that direction though so keep that in mind but it may be enough for you.

I don't have a reason for it but maybe something that will bandaid it. I assume that you are using a VGA to VGA connection? Does the LCD have a DVI connection as well? I'm wondering if you use a DVI to VGA adapter if you can try connecting the LCD to the Quad via the DVI instead to see if this would address it. There may also be a sync problem between the LCD and Quad where the tubes are not sensitive to it. The issue may very well be the quad and not necessarily the LCD. Have you tried a different brand LCD? You say possibly putting voltage on the coax but do you see these lines in the actual recording or just on the LCD display during live view? This could definitely help to narrow down where this would be coming from. Is there a video out on the DVR itself? If so do you see these lines when connected there? Not sure if I helped but maybe got you thinking about it a little more.

I'm not advertising for them but wondering if this is sort of what you are looking for? http://www.cctvimports.com/accessories-mounts-c-1_9/cmb-208-cable-management-bracket-p-234 It's got a ball type adjustment and it uses a single hex bolt on the underside to tighten it down. I've used the ones here with their heater blower enclosures with great success. The mount is very solid and the enclosure works well as I install them where the winter temps can drop to -40F and I've had no problems.

All 6 wires will be coming down the mast and terminating is a box where the conduit will then go to a stationary camera, a PTZ and a box designated for a the access control reader and a stop switch. No power will be brought in from the building, which by the way is a diesel fuel building. The building was built around the fuel tank and it has ventilation like crazy. So any how on to the wires... - 2 x 18/2 wires for the stop switch and one one set from the dry contacts in the access control panel. - 2 x Siamese - 1 x Cat 5 - 1 x Belden 8723 (equivalent) two individual shielded pairs for the reader All cables are direct burial stuff to with stand the elements. I will be lashing the cables to a messenger cable that is already sturng up by the electrician. I need a method of grounding all this. I can put surge protectors on the RG59 cables and the questions here is should I put them on both ends? I'm not sure about the 24VAC power for the cameras, how should I protect these so they don't fry a camera or the power supply. How about the Cat 5 control wire for the PTZ? How about the access control lines? I REALLY wish the customer would have listened to me when I said to put this stuff underground through a conduit. Now we will have all these issues to contend with. I know, the odds are probably low the the line will be struck but the risk is still there. I would at least like to have some safeguards in place. Thanks.

How are most of you utilizing the GV remote viewing software? I have a few quarks with DMMultiview so I resort to using the HTTP browser at times. I have a customer with 8 cameras and is using a GV1240 card with a Net I/O card. System works great but it kind of sucks all at the same time. If he wants to control one of his two PTZ cameras he and I find that they work better utilizing the HTTP browser and viewing one camera at a time. When using multiview it tries to stream all 8 cameras at the same time and of course is choppy to control. Now try to stream only one camera at a time in Multiview without going full screen! I've tried and the only way I see is clicking on the cycle camera button and immediately click the PTZ control button. Now I have a large view (not full screen) of the PTZ camera. The controls seem all the more manageable when using HTTP than using Multiview. Are others seeing this....I can't seem to get efficient PTZ control in Multiview, if I click quickly the camera moves much more than I want even witht he speed at 1x and using the HTTP a quick click results in a quick PTZ motion. I would think that multiview would have more camera viewing options so you can view one camera or all cameras one on app without having to go full screen. comments? Frustrating software to use. Don't know why I keep trying to work with GV. Maybe it's all in the devil you know.....!

Thanks 501. I have another question. In the 4 camera view is it possible to select which cameras you want to view? By default it appears to pick the first 4 cameras so what if I wanted to view cameras 3,4,5,6 or maybe 1,3,6,8 even being able to cycle through the other camera in quad view would be helpful. Thanks

We can't do wireless because of an access control reader being installed as well. I am interested in how you protect for lightning. We had electrician install two masts and they installed a messenger wire from one building to the next. All we will need to do is lash the cable up there. Should we just install surge protectors on the video cable? How would I protect the access control cable as well? I got power running over these cables as well for the access control and the cameras. I am meeting up with the electrician this week again as well because I need for him to run some conduit for me. The low voltage cables will be installed in a Class 2 hazardous location so conduit is required so I am leaving that all to the electrician. Thanks.

I would have to agree. I don't think it looks bad at all, I wish we could get crisp looking pictures like that in the analog world

I used Fujinon D/N len's in the screen shots I posted with the CP484 http://www.cctvforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=14187

I have a customer with a tight budget and I mean a tight budget...He wants a couple cameras one to view a gas pump from a distance to make out when someone is there, this a farm BTW. I can do this with a 100MM varifocal lens so this will not be an issue the issue is this. The second camera he wants to see how much gravel is in the back of a loaded dump trunk while the dump truck is traveling about 35 MPH past the farm house. I told him I do not have confidence is obtaining what it is he would like to do but I would setup a demo system with a couple different cameras to see if it is possible. He basically just wants to see how full the trucks are. He suspects people are paying for half truck loads when in fact they are filling up their trucks in the gravel pit they own. He has a street light by the road so I figure I would mount the camera looking toward the back of the truck as it is passing by and not the truck at a 90 degree angle going under the street light. I've seen cameras and how they handle moving vehicles and I do not have the confidence of getting a clear shot without the blur. The shutter speed would have to be quick and the DVR would have to keep up maybe an MJPEG DVR would be best but I don't usually carry those to try but I do have a GeoVision system that I could setup instead of a standalone. What do you think? Am I wasting my time with this one? I figured what the heck I may learn something in this process even though I'll be wasting my fuel and my time getting to their location.

OK. I have a really simple issue, I think LOL! I am trying to find a decently priced camera and by decent I've tried a few I have in stock that are in the mid hundreds, I then tried a higher end Toshiba camera that was in the mid $300's and I sent that back and tried another in the $200 range and darn it I can't find a good low light camera that works good at night and handles a bright sun in the day. I tried a WDR that was really bad at night as it was not true D/N I then tried a non WDR low light true D/N camera which worked well last night but I find the focus shift is just too darn bad. I focus during the day and as soon as the filter clicks away the picture gets unfocused so I then focus it nice and crisp for the night and when day comes back it is unfocused again.....ARG! I just logged into the DVR and the sun is out in full force this morning. Next to the building is shaded and in the parking lot is sunny. Well forget about trying to make anything out in the parking lot. It is so bright in the parking lot it's useless. I'm sure this is seen all the time, how do you get the best of night time and the best of day time in one camera without telling the customer that something that appears to be simple will cost them an arm and a leg to correct? Isn't there a camera that is just plain good all around? Getting expensive on shipping charges just sending camera's back and fourth to try one that will work well. This is what I think I need. A low lux below .01 (true D/N) because the nearest light is across the street so it is a lowly lit area. A WDR because of the sun in the day and maybe a pixel based WDR that can compensate for the bright spots in the parking lot while still maintaining a nice picture in the shaded areas. I can't break the bank on it and I would prefer one under $300 but could go slightly higher if needed. I've tried name brand and non-name brand cameras with no luck yet.

Ya this guy is a tight-wad. As you can see by my original post date this has been a while back. I went to this guys place 3 times, I even offered him the cable so he can run them himself to save cost I even borught a demo kit over there and setup two camera on tri-pods just so he can see what he would see. I set it up for motion detection at a specific angle to get the best view of trucks leaving the gravel pit. He was all happy with the setup I brought over and it was a low-budget system. I put the estimate together made 4 changes to it and here I am after a number of phone calls and a wide range of excuses with no sale. I've wasted enough time and money trying to land this one for little money anyhow. I haven't contacted him back but things will be different next time considering he is a 45 drive from the office.....argh!!! I'm preaching to the choir I know, most of you probably dealt with this before. I'm thinking of charging for onsight estimates. I'm spending more for gas and wasting more time with tire kickers than I care to deal with. I'll charge a site visit fee and if they go with us we will deduct the fee from their bill. That should weed out some tire kickers.....this is for another post though Later

Hey djkyle65, If you read all through these posts you know what you provided is nearly not enough for anyone to provide you an effective solution. What is your budget for a system? I assume you will want it recorded? Are there any lights in your back yard or is pitch black at night? What is the size of your back yard? How far away do does the camera need to see? Do they seem to put the trash in the same location all the time? As you may have gathered from reading the more you try and cover the less detail you will get unless you want to spend some $$ on IP Cams but seeing the title of your post you don't want to spend this much. Your best bet for a low budget system might be a Cosco, Sams Club big box store pre-packaged kit. There are some posts on here regarding those pre-packaged systems you find at the big box stores. But....if they keep dropping off in the same spot you would be better off getting one good camera than a bunch of low budget ones. Good Luck, I hope you get em!

oh super...thanks. Do the megapixels work with it I mean the one of a higher magnitude or is the GV limited. Wondering if I bought a 3mp camera if it would record at the 3mp level or is the recording quality much lower than that of the 3mp making it worthless to spend that kind of money on a higher end IP cam. How does the record quality look with an IP Cam? Thanks

Thanks Lolo Wolf Do you go through a distributor for your cable? Can you PM me with your source please? I can find standard RG59 with messenger but none with Siamese and messenger if that's the case what are you doing on the power side? Thanks

Thanks Rory. I know they're blue but I did not pay attention if they were that blue. I know the rugs there are dark green because I took one out last night to shake the pieces of drop ceiling and insulation off of it Those definitely look dark green. I had to turn the brightness down a tad on the DVR at first because that white countertop was killing the contrast of the picture. The cash and counter looked as if they were one at first. I have to go back this week to adjust that cash cam a bit to the left. I noticed this afternoon that customers standing there were not easily seen unless they were right up against the counter. At the same time I think I will turn down the iris a tad, although it's not that bad, I might break it if I mess with it too much LOL! Overall the customer is really happy with it so I guess that is what counts the most Armyofone, I have not sent back the Arms yet but I am not going to mess with them anymore. No matter what I tried to do with both of those CX550DN the focus shift between day and night was so bad and noticeable. It was worse than the non-True Day/Night cameras I got although when they were focused at night the picture was outstanding until day time came around. Thanks for the tips though I appreciate it. BTW: This was snapped at 7:15 this evening. Pano's on the right of course the Arm vandal domes on the left.

Didn't turn out bad at all. Here is the install I completed this past weekend with the two CP-484 on the right side of the screen and two vandal proof Arm's on the left. The upper right is mounted to a brick chimney and the lower right is at the peak of the front of their building. I don't like the location too much of the lower right but the customer wanted the flexibility of moving the camera if he wanted to in other parts of his parking lot. We settled there due to the low roof line and a lack of other install spots. What you think? Those Pano's actually worked well which is my point anyhow.

Not sure if I'll help much but this is what I do and think. I think it all depends on what the market will bear in your location. Right now there are a lot of people without work due to economic conditions so I'm seeing more challenge in the estimates I put together. THis is how I figure mine and it is really a start because sometimes I play with it a little thinking about that tight space or how long of a run. I typically start with $150 per camera installed, $300 for DVR setup including network configuration through whatever router they got, $250 per PTZ camera as I usually got two cable run plus PTZ programming. THen on top of that I got the hardware markup which varies really so I have no science there. Curious to see how others figure it but this seems to work for me, other may get more per camera and other may get less. I do not charge per foot of cable so the cable is included in my labor charge per camera. Thats why I just use this as a baseline because if I have a long run for the cable I will charge more for that camera than the others. My estimates include one line item with a description of what is included. I NEVER itemize it on the estimate unless I need to because I've been burned this way in the past.