I am setting up a 16 camera system for an apartment building. Right now I'm working on camera placement and I have a RCA LYRA 20gig portable dvr. I think it is a rd2780. This is designed to record tv shows etc.

I'm trying to used this RCA LYRA as a portable dvr to test different cameras and different lenses in order to make installation as easy as possible.

The problem is the portable DVR doesn't recognize the CCTV camera signal and I get a blurred black and white video. I'm using a male rca cable from the camera to go into the lyra female rca jack.

At first I thought that maybe the DVR was the problem so I bought a new RCA LYRA 30 gb DVR and I still get same result.

My question is do I need to buy a protable DVR especially for CCTV? They do look cheaper made and not really built to last. Is there some way to convert the signal from the camera so I can use the RCA LYRA dvr?

I know there are 4"-6" screens you can view at the location to see what the camera "sees" but I would like to be able to view the recordings from the camera at the office on a computer to compare camera placement etc. thank you for your time and any help. Donovan

Phew, you are making things really hard for yourself my friend.

If you are setting up 16 cameras it would be a wise to purchase a CCTV test monitor, most of the advertisers here supply them

e.g http://www.directlvs.com/product/monitors/Portable/portable.htm

Or you could buy the DVR / PC Card you are going to permantley use and run the cameras throught that whilst you are testing.

What are you going to use to record the 16 Cameras ?

It looks like it's accepting a standard composite input. They make BNC to Composite converters and that should work. Have you tried looking at the settings inside the DVR?

You do have problem that's rather strange. First of all find a small standard home television receiver with video input. Plug in your cameras
individually to see if they are working. That is a good start. How you describe your problem, it is hard to pin point what the problem is. If you use this method, don't connect the DVR. Just have camera, power supply, cable to TV and that's it. Another thought, Make sure you have the correct power supply for the cameras.

If you buy a sevice monitor...then buy one with a loop out..this way you can focus at the cam and someone can concur at the head end