CSG

I'm gonna let you in on another secret, hookup all 16 cameras and your PPS is gonna drop to 3.75 pps.

The cable is rg-59 siamese with 18 ga power wires. The Power Supply is a large 12v Altronix (12.7v by my Fluke DMM), connectors are Amphenol 3 piece crimp, cable runs are about 75 - 100 ft.

In contrast, here is an image from a Pro-Video bullet D/N with IR, auto-iris lens. CVC-7706DNV http://www.specotech.com/cart/products/productDetails.asp?prodID=690 Night www.consumers-energy.com/ebay/provideo.jpg Day www.consumers-energy.com/ebay/provideoday.jpg

Dedicated Micros has a mobile 12v DVR, and there are provisions for remote viewing with a PDA. www.dedicatedmicros.com

These programs look interesting, but how do you use it. Do you use it as part of your proposal, or after you get the job? Either way, it seems very time consuming to layout your customers entire facility just to make pretty pictures. Some of my proposals go three typed pages and that can take me upto 4 hours with research. To measure the dimensions of rooms and CAD the cctv layout looks like a full time job for little return, unless you are getting paid as a consultant. What do you think?

Yeah, I tried a ProVideo Day/Night bullet cam with built in IR and I get glare on that one too. I was hoping the WizKid WZ15N would do better, I just ordered one.

I have a Watec 902B hi-res low lux monochrome camera, 1/2" format. Bought it a few years ago and never used it. What sucks is that it uses video iris only. A 1/2 varifocal video iris lens costs $350. You think it's worth it or should I just ebay the camera and get rid of it?

well 8 x 48mm would be nice, but typically i shy away from any lens slower than F1.2

The manual that comes with the ut is USELESS> I agree, but that useless manual comes printed in 4 languages! Nice uh? Telling the unauthorized user how to access the system, when 80% of DVR;S out there are left with default passwords. Well, you should change the password, but even if you don't, most CCTV installations don't have top secret video on them. You can't really do anything to them remotely other than playback. The new Sprites now have an internal flash card that will allow the unit to continue to function in the event of a drive crash, albeit without recording. Don't know if that makes the hard drives plug & play or hotswap. There is no erasing of video for security reasons. One thing that most of you will find really annoying is the fact that for a unit this costly, there is absolutelly no method of backing up the unit other than an external SCSI hard Drive. Come on!!! Well you could use other scsi devices such a zip drive or dat tape. Newer Sprites have a DVD-R. Does ur client really need to backup video? Does GE Kalatel provide free service after 2 years?

Herm, I've sent DM's back to the factory for repair many times, sometimes they bill, sometimes they fix it for free. When they do charge the cost is usually nominal. For instance I had a Sprite 16 channel that got hit by lightening. Knocked out the clients computer network and phone system too. ( It hit the network and from the network cable hit the Sprite). The mainboard was fried. DM charged $275 to fix plus shipping. Unit was way out of warranty (over 3 yrs old). I thought that was reasonable. I charged the customer $500.00 to cover my express shipping charges & service call.

anyone ever try one of those suction cup dart pistols to shoot a messenger line ?

There was a guy on Ebay that was offering to upgrade the HD on Sprite 2's for a set fee.

Rory, Yes that is true the installation I referenced did have some outdoor flood lighting which was enought to light up the Sonys. Not many installations are pitch dark at night however. I'm not knocking Extremes, I love to install them whenever the client has the budget, which is not often. Have you noticed, at least on the EX82s, then need their own transformer/power supply? I first powered them off the Altronix power supply with the Sonys and the EX82's picture was screwed up, and it wasn't ground fault. When connected to a wall trasformer the EX82's work fine. I see Extreme later added in their documentation that EX82's require isolation transformers.

Selecting the proper camera is only 1/2 the issue. What kind of lens will you use? And how fast the lenes? I have installed Sony Day/nights with a 3x8 F1.0 lens next to an Extreme EX-82 twin cam with IR illumination, and the Sony provides an equal picture at night for 1/2 the cost. Use a F1.4 on that Sony and the night picture will suck.

I am not impressed with some of the motion detection i've seen on DM Sprite 1 unit. Granted its an older unit (4 years old), I had a camera set up for outdoor high sensitivity in front of my office for test purposes. Just so happens that a parked car got hit right in front of the camera ( a Sanyo day/night hi-res). The motion detection missed the event entirely. It was set for a 6 sec. pre and post activity, and the object it missed was a moving garbage truck striking a parked car. I won't recommend motion detection to clients unless they understand there can be gaps in the video, even during critical events. Also, when you set some cameras for record on activity only, and some full time recording, its gets more tricky as the DVR starts interlacing the video between cameras, slowing down the FPS on some to pickup the slack on the cameras with activity. The end result I think is that you still may get gaps during critical events.

DM Sprite 2's , with at least an 25k file size. Even moving the file size larger doesnt seem to matter. Maybe i'm just too picky.

I'll only install outdoor cameras in Pelco housings. One of my employees talked me into using cheaper housings once, and when I go back to that job for followup calls I am embarrassed to see the hardware rusting, loose, mounts shake, and worse, dirt and water accumulating inside the housing. Never again.

Rory, I can't tell the difference between a 330TVL and 480/520 after its processed by a DVR. It all looks like grainy crap Tony

I dont think your Pelco keyboard will interface with the Dedicated Micros DVR. DM makes their own keyboard for that purpose. Not sure if your Pelco domes are compatible with the network software, you should check DM's website under the support section. there are a limited set of Domes/PTZ controls that are compatible. You can also call DM's tech support line, they are usually pretty helpful.

My tech just installed one, it comes with a VGA port and a composite monitor port/BNC. I used a regular CCTV monitor, a Samsung CRT 15" color, but a 15" VGA monitor would have been cheaper. I haven't visited the jobsite yet to check it out for myself yet, will do this week.

I never did run into Altronix, my legs started aching after trecking from the subway, and Northern didn't interest me. I was impressed by the big Honeywell layout. That big CCTV console setup they (2 impressive racks) had must cost 100k+? I did get to meet Will Ryan from Extreme. I asked him if Extreme would ever bring out their own DVR, he said no way! (What a DVR that would be!) I walked by many DVR setups by various reps, wasn't impressed by many of them. They are a dime a dozen, and most of the video seemed grainy, or the cams were out of focus. The DVR reps need to do a better job with their booths, to highlight out what makes their DVR better. Price? Features? Capacity? Video Quality? Many of them just display their product and lay out some brochures and a briefcase, well i dont have time to talk to 30 of them in one afternoon lol.

ADT was there. Does anyone still do their dealer program hehe.

I was at the show on the second day. I noticed that Dedicated Micros and GE Kalatel were missing. I thought $5.50 for a bottle of water from the Starbucks concession was kinda steep.

I plan on going Thursday