WRS_Mark

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahuqFAWKZgA&NR=1

 

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One of my suppliers mentioned they carried Wonwoo as their equivilant to CNB. Hilarious name) but anyone ever heard of them or used their stuff? Name sounds like ebay crap...

Absolutely my favorite analog cameras. Very well built with excellent low light capability. Whenever a customer can afford one, I recommend them without hesitation.

From the first post, I was referring to standalone DVRs, not DVR cards

 

Hikvision web site still down after this many days. Not that it says anyting good about them, bleh... :/

Hikvision has a fine hardware compression card and the software has been very good thus far. Nice and stable, very good recording quality, requires fairly basic PC hardware, easy to understand GUI. The only area of concern I have for them is lack of support for Megapixel IP cameras. In that respect, I have found the AverMedia products to be superior so far.

And x2 to what Soundy said about the cameras. Good but not great.

PM sent. Made a couple of other suggestions you may want to try as well.

It could be a low quality video balun but best way to figure it out test same camera with same length of coax and see the difference.

Or just a less-than-great camera. Had the same results when I did a system expansion for a customer. The DVR card had to be ordered from a distributor that I never dealt with before so I tried their cameras as well (made in Singapore, great specs -big oops). Same picture quality as what is shown in the image. Swapped two of the 3 cameras with my normal equipment and all of a sudden the image quality was great. A moderately expensive mistake.

One job, I had nothing but twist-ons to use. After less than a dozen of them, my wrist was sore, my fingertips were getting raw from the knurled barrels, and fingers on both hands were cramping.

Tip:

If you remove your pantyhose and put a couple of wraps around your fingers, you should not suffer as much damage to the skin, Sally. As far as pain in your muscles and ligaments, I recommend you change beverages from mineral water bottles to mini kegs for the purpose of strength training.

While I am absolutely sure that compression or even crimp on fittings are wonderful connectors, I have had no issues with the twist ons. Yes, they can be a PITA when it is cold outside (I do outdoor installs in -20c weather. Not because I'm John Wayne, I just like to eat in winter), but they do work when applied properly. Twist em on, add a couple of wraps of electrical tape in the same direction as how you tighten them and you're set.

As far as the comment about not having the right tools being the reason for using twist ons, well, that's just ludicrous. A $70 compression tool does not make you a qualified installer. The ability to plan an install, do it in time, following building codes, keep it looking like you did it while sober, overcoming obstacles without having to phone for technical and moral support 17 times a day and finally having the customer say they are happy with what you provided them with after you do a walk through with them, explaining how to use the system and calling them back after a week or two for a simple follow up makes you an installer.

60m distance isn't very far. I have used even cheap RG-59 on those kinds of short runs with never a problem. What is the longest run? 12VDC or 24VAC or both?

Had a thought... On an old Camaro I had, I used some brackets that held the sparkplug wires in line like that, and they were about the same diameter as RG59, you might try some of those.

That was my first thought as well. Any local auto part supplier should have a set of clips which will hold 4-8 spark plug wires. The only thing which you may have to do is figure out how to fasten it to a surface. Can you use an adhesive?

I have Averdigi running on my iPhone. It works but there certainly is room for improvement. The worst part is that you must re enter the IP address every time you open the app. Silly. But it is free.

Hi! It would be interesting to know what you have eventually installed: Stainless steel or aluminium housing?

I ended up going with the aluminum housing. The customer is going to monitor the housings and we will deal with anything that comes up if it comes up. Having said that, I will be sure to offer the stainless units in the future should I find myself in a similar situation. Appreciate the words of wisdom that you left in your post.

So I've never installed a permenent DVR to a car before... but I would be inclined to think that the DC voltage would be too inconsistent to use it directly. While installing other devices, I've found that the 4 different cars I've owned the DC voltage would fluxuate 25 percent or more even at the battery...

That is why I went with this to manage voltage:

http://www.powerstream.com/dc2.htm

The PST-DC/2812-8 model to be exact. Works beautifully. The only possible problem I can see with it is that it will output 12.08VDC right until the battery output fell to 10.1V. Car batteries do not like being fully discharged and will require replacement sooner than normal because of this but my intention was for a slightly different application than using the device as a mobile DVR. Of course, if you wished to really do it right you would install a small marine battery to keep the DVR operating and have a switch installed to prevent the system from drawing upon the car's battery when the vehicle is shut off.

 

i stoped using the 1304mob and for 3 weeks i have had running in a cab the 1304 sata with no problems at all even with pwerering down and up all the time.

Just out of curiosity, have you considered running the 1304sata directly off the battery? I tried that last June using a 2.5" 250GB WD Scorpio Black HD and "Step Up, Step Down" voltage regulator (12.08VDC constant output). Anyway, the DVR ran for over 2 days on a small, half charged car battery (cameras powered by another source). Seems that might be a good way to go.

Here is the reply I received from the ACTi factory rep:

"We have had very good experience with D-Link and Cisco PoE switches. D-Link is more price competitive though. See if your preferred distributor carry D-Link or Cisco PoE switches. I’d stay away from Netgear PoE switches as I have heard several complaints from our customers about these not supplying enough power for each port."

I did follow that up with another question just to get a few more details and ended up convinced that Netgear was not the way to go. But hey! If it works for you then great.

The factory ACTi rep I spoke with strongly recommended against using Netgear PoE's. Go with the Cisco.

What model of ACTi camera are you going to be installing?

 

Somebody said that the Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P worked for him for his AV-6480; however that has a P45 Chipset.

 

I have a system running two 6480's with the GA-EP45-UD3P motherboard beside me right now. Operates beautiful. Wish the system was mine to keep but it is going to a customer next week.

Well I went back a few weeks ago and found where exactly those live wires terminated:

Yep. -That is an indoor surge protector.

Then last week I went back and replaced all but one of the old cameras in -20c weather. Came upon this gem:

I accidentally broke the lens. Combined with the "Half Bushnell", I will be building a glass case to house both cameras for future generations to marvel at.

Guess what? It's the "middle man" who is the one installing the system. It is the "middle man" who is providing the technical support. It is the "middle man" who comes out and performs the quote. Most of the professional installers on this forum who provide volumes of absolutely invaluable knowledge are "middle men". Seems the "middle man" plays a pretty important role in this business.

That being said, it pays to shop around, ask for references (the most overlooked yet most crucial aspect when picking out someone to perform the job) and if you find a good one who is competitive on pricing, go with them. As I explained in the previous post, just don't expect the equipment to be priced comparable to Ebay. Or Walmart.

Or maybe the same customer will not pull the same crap at Walmart because he/she is going to have a heck of a time finding anyone working there who could put together something as complex as a good CCTV system. Anyone can install a four camera system they buy at Costco or any other retailer but to do it right, to know what will work best for what application and who can properly install the system requires someone with knowledge and experience. Comparing a big box retailer to a reputable local dealer/installer is not the way to look at it. The retailer is not going to come to your home or business, assess drawings, check lighting conditions, distance to target, point out special considerations, etc., and then quote for you a custom system which will work based on experience and understanding of CCTV systems. Instead, they are going to point out the different products they sell and read the specs to you and give you a price. If that suits you, then great. I cannot speak for everyone out there but generally my markup on hardware accounts for the time invested on average with making calls, doing an on site assessment (even at places sometimes a couple of hundred miles away), spending time figuring out exactly what will work best within the customers budget, writing up the quote, ordering the equipment, tracking shipping, fighting at times with customs and then delivering the equipment. That usually gets me to break even and the labor rate is my profit. So yeah, I can understand someone who doesn't give all of the minute details when performing a quote because that someone will not be in business for very long.

l was using a icrealtime pro dvr previously that actually caught the cause and start of the fire,much to the surprise of the investigator.l havent decided if l want to go with a pc based system or a dvr like previous.l am looking for simplicity of search and quality of recorded video.Looking to spend upto $5k for 10 cameras and a recorder/dvr .

Ideas would be great.

$5k is a pretty decent budget so finding a system which will work shouldn't be a problem. Are you planning to go with any cameras outside or just inside?

The 230EX, if it is from cctvwholesalers.com is no longer available. The 832EX is a great camera but with a 2.8mm lens you will not get a great picture if you are looking to cover the entire bar based on the dimensions you gave in your last topic just because you will be trying to cover too large an area witha single camera. Go with 4-6 of them and you will be smiling.

The problem is more the ones who DON'T tell you they're getting multiple quotes, but instead get you to jump through all sorts of hoops and go to extreme lengths, wanting all the fine details, only to take that and buy everything themselves from eBay or something... basically making you do all their legwork while doing nothing to discourage the impression that they actually want to give you the business.

It's the nature of the business though. Fortunately, I am pretty lucky to have a customer base that is pretty decent about all that -probably due to my geographical location a hour away from Edmonton. But regardless, the way I look at it is that characters like that usually end up being more of a pain in the long run than the amount of money I would have made on the job would justify. One thing I am noticing more and more of is that I am getting calls for system repairs and replacements of the junk sold at certain sites and at certain "Big Box" stores which makes it easier to convince business owners that going for the cheapest price isn't the best practice.

I always use zip ties and a base. If you ever have to get at the cable or add another it makes a difference. If you do staple through the wire it may be a project finding the short or open. We do not even staple phone wire. data never

I would just add that screwing a zip tie to a surface is probably the safest way to go. As mentioned above, if you have to move that cable you might have some fun pulling the staples without accidentally causing some damage to the cable.

So wait... Customer comes in for a quote, and tells you he's comparing quotes... And at some later time you see he has CCTV installed...

 

You are saying that he used your expertise that you put in your quote to purchase the gear you specified and install it himself, right?

 

How you you know he didn't just find a cheaper quote, like he said he was looking for?

Exactly. I had that happen to me a while back as well. Customer told me he was looking for a system which will meet certain specifications, I put together a quote after visiting his business, called him back for feedback, was told he is still "thinking about it", drove by a couple weeks later and he had cameras up. Big deal. It happens all the time for one reason or another and all I can do is make sure the people who pay me for the equipment I sell and install are happy with what they get then maybe they will pass on my name. Next!

You're probably just better off exchanging the unit for a new one being that AverMedia has already offered to do this. Seems as though you are having a couple of problems with the unit including remote viewing. If your upload rates on your internet connection are acceptable then I would say in combination with the screwy playback, the DVR is probably a "Monday Morning Hangover" product.