Installation Hell

[qcbook 0]

I recently had an installer put in 6 cameras and a geovision 16 camera card system at a specific location. He ran cat5 to all the cameras. Currently I am having major problems with the system. The computer refuses to stay up and constantly is rebooting. I called Geo and they say it will reboot due to a weak signal. I have checked the computer and it is working fine. I have also checked the Geo card and it is fullly operational as well. Additionally I took the computer back to my shop and plugged in a few cameras and everything worked fine as well.

 

I am beginning to think that there is not enough power to the cameras and this is creating the problem. The installer ran the cat5 back to a central location where he split the cables into video and power. The video got a balun and the power got a simple radio shack 9v power supply. Since the runs are much longer then 20 feet is it possible that the cameras are not getting enough juice and thus are tripping up the geo system. Also if you think this is the case how can i up the voltage or resolve this issue??

 

PLEASE HELP

 

thanks in advance

 

asher

[AVCONSULTING 0]

First, 9vdc is generally the wrong voltage for cameras. Check the camera manual if you have one, it most likely needs 12vdc. Also how far is the cable run from the camera to the GeoVision. You might want to get one transformer for each camera and have them a couple of feet from each camera if possible. If not you'll have to get a pretty big power supply since CAT 5 is very thin cable and the voltage drops quickly. It sounds like a voltage problem. DVRs are very sensitive to camera signal level and you need good voltage to the camera or you will have a weak signal.

[rory 0]

some of the all in one quad camera kits (kmart type) use 15volts. They use telephone wire and not cat 5. Check your camera type and make sure it doesnt require more power, ive never heard of 9 volt for a camera also.

 

I was given the horrible job of hooking up one of these last year, to a real crappy PC based DVR system, with no name and no manual for anything. It had already been installed in the previous store, and they just wanted it moved, but it was not even working at the previous store due to improper connections. Anyway, I ended up just splicing the tel wire, power and ground all went to one 2a 15-18v power supply. The ground was actually the ground from each cameras video ground, only way it would work! So basically out of the 4 wires in a 2 pair telephone wire, it uses red for positive, yellow for video, black for ground and green for audio. audio only used 1 wire also. (i may have the colors mixed up just from memory, but it was something to that affect).

 

Ill never touch that kind of thing again, but i needed the extra cash and they didnt want to spend anymore than labour at the time. All that splicing was annoying, but taped etc as neat as possible. another thing they were running windows 98 and doing accounting, POS and word on the same machine so it crashes often!! You can only suggest, can not make them upgrade.

[cctv_down_under 0]

You will probably find that the cameras are not sending strong enough video signal due to not enough power being sent to the camera, this can even make a camer appear B/W on a DVR screen, Geovision software will constantly restart if you do not de-activate and limit the ports not used.

 

In other words if you have a 16 camera DVR and only 14 cameras then if you do not both de-activate and limit the ports then it will reboot the software constantly.

 

I would not be surprised to find out that it is a weak signal causing Geo to not think there is actually a camera there but I hope it is just a simple de-activation problem.

 

Plug your VCR output to it and limit it to 1 port and play a video for an hour and see if it plays up.

 

Also after de-activating and limiting the ports you need to restart Geo for it to take affect.

 

Latsly two other things that can cause this: if you are usisng an SIS or VIA chip then it could be a compatabilty issue, let me also know if the camera is designed for cat5 or a converter has been used, it may be as simple as running local power to the cameras or usuing a dsitribution amplifier, also check to see that the powersupply is regulated and that you do not have ground loop as this can cause the same problem.

[qcbook 0]

OK....

 

I fixed it....my installer was a super idiot. I went back to the instal location and took the dvr computer with me. I checked all the cat5 wiring again and noticed a lot of splicing going on? So i looked more carefully and it appers that three of the cameras were hooked up to the same power supply?! (DOOFUS) Also you guys were right...the power supplies being used were 12v 500mwa. So i took all the wiring apart and hooked it up such that i now have one power supply attached individually to each camera. I also limited the camers inputs on the geo to the number of cameras I currently have hooked up....

 

Thank gd i am happy to report everyting is up and stable. Btw i am using baluns for the install (they are passive ones dont remeber the co name)

 

thanks for all the help

 

asher

[cctv_down_under 0]

No problems, are all the pictures clearer now?

[rory 0]

one power supply for all cameras will not cause a problem, once you use a high enough amps for the number of cameras you have.

 

Rory

[cctv_down_under 0]

And dont have an earth loop!

[rory 0]

yep, there are ofcourse other factors that may cause problems. Im talking about very short distances, all cameras in the same room (retail store). Normally I only use the Altronix Fused Power Supplies, unless I have a very long run which will use its own power supply near the camera.

 

Just saying I didnt have a problem with the '1' job i used a single 2a power supply 15-18 V for those messed up cheapo kmart type cameras! Then again i wouldnt even throw them in the same catagory as CCTV!