Camera will not work on PC based

[Bishop 0]

Hi,

Please help me help my Nephew. He's bought a new 2.8 gig PC to create a security system from scratch. He bought a 240fps DVR card. Sounds good.

 

He then bought two cameras off EBAY but they will not work on his PC. I told him to try the cameras on his TV set, and they both work.

 

How do you select cameras that will work on PC based security systems, or are there cameras that will work on both, PC and TV?

 

What is the camera key to look at for PC use.

 

Thanks in advance for the help.

[scottj 0]

should work on both with no problem. Then again, we need more information on what type of video capture device and software he is using in the PC. It also would be helpful if we know what the cameras are.

 

 

scott

[Bishop 0]

Both are made of Sony coponents, the ADD said, 60 foot range IR Black and white cameras, with 12 Volts powersupply and the built-in cable has a BNC male connector with 4' long cable.

I have a PC based security system myself and I tried his cameras on my DVR connectors but no video. I currently run 4 security cameras on my system without problems. He liked my system so much he's building his own.

I'll call him and try to get the cameras model numbers, and post again.

 

thanks

[CCTV_Guy 0]

Just a quicky comment and I'll leave you alone ....

 

I agree with Scott. If you have video displayed consistently on the TV AUX channel, then the camera is putting out unmodulated composite video. Period.

 

If neither you nor your nephew can view the video on your respective PC systems, I would suggest two things ....

 

a) while the camera is connected to the TV's AUX channel, vigorously flex the video cable over its entire length, and especially where it terminates at the connector. Also vigorously flex the power cable, especially the power connector. If the display remains constant, no flickering, etc, then the camera is probably doing what it should. Go on to step b).

 

b) check the switch settings (hardware and software) on the PC card/system, especially if you're both running the same system. The question now is why is the PC system not working with an unmodulated composite video input?

 

Just one old man's opinion .... probably worthless, but at least it's sumthin' to try.

 

bill

[scottj 0]

What capture board and software are you both using?

 

Also, are your 4 cameras on the "working" home system color or also B/W?

 

 

 

scott

[Doug 0]

The fact that you can see video on a composite monitor in no way guarantees that the video will appear on a digital system, a large number of cheap (and some not so cheap ) cameras on the market put out signals greatly exceeding the recognised standards.

 

Most analog devices will accept the out of spec signal without any problems, not all digital systems will.

 

You will probably need to attenuate the signal or replace the cameras

 

For further information you could take a look at

http://www.fmsystems-inc.com/articles.htm

and select DIGITAL VIDEO RECORDER PROBLEM SOLVING

 

Doug L

[VST_Man 1]

ntsc pal setting?

[Bishop 0]

My nephew just sent me the information on the camera box. It says Sony Componets TCB2012,140193

 

Thanks all

[CCTV_Guy 0]

Doug,

 

Thanks very much for your post and your link .... I learned something important from your post.

 

In the five years we've been doing this, I never encountered the situation described in your linked article, which may possibly be the situation Bishop is experiencing. I knew of the video levels of course, but it never occurred to me that a device would shut down because the level rose to, say, 2v p-p (indeed, it never occurred to me that a signal would rise to that level!)

 

It has been my experience that if I could see the video on my laptop at the camera, but couldn't see it at the server, then invariably (in my limited experience) the problem has turned out to be an intermittent power or cable connection, water in the BNC connector (I see that occasionally in our wildlife apps) or something of that sort.

 

I learned something from the webpage you provided. Thank you.

 

Best wishes,

 

bill

[baywatch 1]

I'm with Bill, thanks Doug for a very interesting link.

 

Les

[rory 0]

FM systems has some "Ummm", can I say dedicated sales staff ... cant say more than that, but lets put it this way, they don't seem to be the manufacturers, cause their sales person was more desperate than me, scarey enough to scare me off. I probably shouldn't mention their advertising CD is just a copy of their web site ... but they seem to have some decent products.

[Doug 0]

I don't know about any salespeople they have or had, but I went to their facility a couple of years ago to pick up a "camera master" test meter and they certainly manufactured that at their own facility. From the look of their fairly small place I would say that they design, test and at least manufacturer the initial product runs in house, some of the equipment they may send out for manufacturer and some they may buy and rebrand, who knows for sure, but from what I saw I would say they do most work in house at least for the test equipment anyway.

I think they do much more business in broadcast and cable TV than they do in CCTV

 

 

Doug L

 

FM systems has some "Ummm", can I say dedicated sales staff ... cant say more than that, but lets put it this way, they don't seem to be the manufacturers, cause their sales person was more desperate than me, scarey enough to scare me off. I probably shouldn't mention their advertising CD is just a copy of their web site ... but they seem to have some decent products.

[rory 0]

if this is so, they are the most desperate manufacturer ive ever seen.

[Doug 0]

They send me literature periodically and maybe call me about twice a year trying to sell their products, but thats nothing unusual, I personally wouldn't describe them as desperate but I really don't know, what I do know is that the only product I have used of theirs is the 'camera master' and that pretty much does exactly what they said it would..

 

Doug

 

if this is so, they are the most desperate manufacturer ive ever seen.