C.O.P.

I finally got it to work by using a keyboard/joystick I purchased for $90.00. (I saw this fix in the forums for someone else who had similar issues.)

I tried Geovision but they refused to help because it was not a genuine Pelco???

Thanks for the tip Hard. Unfortunately it did not do the trick.

How about some input from Rory (yes Rory, I know it's a "budget" camera but I'm on a budget )and/or Soundy.. any ideas (or idears as we say in New England)?

I purchased a used ACD-PT200Z High Speed Mini Pan/Tilt/Zoom. http://tinyurl.com/nr5ksa

The camera seems to be in good shape. I can get video from it. The diagnostics work fine. I just can't get the PTZ part to work.

I am using a GV800 card with software version 8.32.

I am using an RS 232 to RS 485 converter.

The comm1 is set to 8n1 9600.

The camera boot displays "Pelco" as its protocol therefore I selected a Pelco protocol (I tried the pelco dome D and P and a few others at 8n1 9600), address 2, 19200baud. I tried setting the GV camera address to 1 and 2.

I setup the camera in the geovision general settings and mapped it. As mentioned above, it receives the video but can not control the ptz functions through the software. The multimeter detects a change when I hit any of the PTZ functions in the software but nothing happens on the camera.

There is continuity between the RS485+ and RS485- at the camera so I assume the control wires are intact.

The self diagnostic goes through the PTZ ranges fine so nothing is stuck.

I tested comm port 1... it is fine.

Any suggestions?

I was thinking about using the telephone poles by my house for camera locations but I assumed it would be a "no-no". Around here, you're not even supposed to staple signs to the poles... nails and staples can cause the pole climber spikes to slip... since they use bucket trucks these days, maybe it would be ok.

 

Have any of you used telephone company poles?

 

Maybe I'll have to make a few calls.

 

Yes you will need a permit and a electrician to put stuff on the polls I would NOT just go and hang a box with out one. How are you going to get power?

The particular pole I was thinking of using is the one that has the leads for my cable and phone lines. I planned to "piggy-back" the power line along those lines then down the pole in some conduit. After some inquiries, I canned this plan. Basically, the camera could be considered "abandoned property" unless I take the proper steps (I don't want to) and 2nd I figure people would be more likely to mess with the camera if they think it belongs to one of the utility companies. I may toss a dummy camera up there in the future though.

For now I'll stick to by my fence.

I was thinking about using the telephone poles by my house for camera locations but I assumed it would be a "no-no". Around here, you're not even supposed to staple signs to the poles... nails and staples can cause the pole climber spikes to slip... since they use bucket trucks these days, maybe it would be ok.

Have any of you used telephone company poles?

Maybe I'll have to make a few calls.

A friend of mine told me you could run into problems if for some reason a person (or persons) is depending on the cameras for safety... like a woman leaving her child alone for 15 seconds to compare labels of products on a lower shelf or something. Of course that puts you back to what Scorp said.

I wouldn't worry about it though. I can't see where it would be any different from an "alarm" that sounds like a barking dog, etc. It's meant as a deterent, not as a fact.

That said, it would not surprise me if someone with a 'barking dog alarm" got sued by someone else for not having an actual dog... "While I was breaking into your house, your "dog" scared me because I was bitten as a child. I dropped my baseball bat on my toe which caused me to trip and break my nose. None of it would have happened if you hadn't made me think you had a dog!"

Only in America baby!

BulkCCTVStore.com

No particular reason.

Ok, start the guessing.

I posted because I figured the advertisers must pay money for the ads (probably not much) and would like to know they do SOME good.

That and no one responded to my post about "where to buy".

just a quick little FYI. I placed an order with one of the advertisers last night.

Wow, thanks HW.

I'm not sure how I missed that one.

Back to rethinking.

I am finally ready to make the move here. Could you guys PM me with recommendations (or quotes if you are a seller) for places to purchase the following?

1 Panasonic WV CP504 (not the L) Box

1 Panasonic WV CP504 (not the L) Dome

1 Geovision GV1240

IR lighting (prob flood up to 75 feet)

Lenses

roughly 100ft cable

misc supplies

Yes, I will be looking at the sponsors.

Thanks in advance.

If 15 fps is "smooth" to the human eye, what would be the need to go above that? Where would a FPS over 15 be helpful?

Noice! Thanks.

Given the above revelations, I assume then that doing 4 and 4 would work just fine.

I did think of a couple potential problems besides the added system demand...

The cards have to be identicle... so if you/I wait too long, we may not be able to get the 2nd.

Probably the most important for me... I'd need 3 PCIE slots. I only have 2 (my video card uses 1 so I only have 1 left). My system is old but was higher end when I bought it (I try to buy top end to minimize how often I have to upgrade). I assume new motherboards come with more PCIE slots these days. If so... I can still go with 1 4 channel then upgrade my board if I need another card... hmmm but then it would be cheaper to just buy the 8 channel card (new board prob = new CPU, new memory also).

Ok, I am done thinking in type.

According to this:

http://www.apexcctv.com/support/Downloads/CaptureCards/GeoVision/Installing-2-GV-ComboACards.pdf

You can go with double Geos up to 32 channels but the system requirements jump up a bit.

I know it's a link to a store but I didn't know how else to do it.

I am curious about doubling the cards. I also thought about just going with a 4 channel card initially with the idea I'd add another in the future if needed.

My wife is getting a little "iffy" about the money I am talking about spending. I WAS going to do the Geovision 1240A with the idea I REALLY doubt I'll ever want more than 8 cameras.

Thanks to this post... I am now thinking about starting with 1 Geovision 800 (4 channel) and adding a 2nd later if need be. Saves money on the front end.

Besides the increased demand on the host PC (not sure why that is)... is there any particular drawback to going a 2 x 4 system?

I'm not sure about that. There seemed to be lots of video clips to somewhat back it up. Yes the "nude" thing was overstated because the person had to have a particular type (and color if I remember correctly) of clothing on and the person didn't look nude... you could just see their "shape" better.

I think it was along the same lines of what computer geeks do to "strip" chicks in pictures... if they are wearing light colored, clingly clothing, they adjust the contrasts and such until you can "see through" the clothes.

This convo flopped anyway. I'll have to think of some other controversy.

Do security companies work off cost-plus pricing for equipment, door hardware, etc? It would be a lot easier for me to know that if I want camera that cost xx that I would pay xx times 20% rather than having to go through some bargaining session.

I RARELY use contractors that can't/won't give me below retail cost on supplies and equipment. If they get a 20% discount and then mark it back up 20% fine, as long as it's still less than I'd pay retail.

Question on the cable runs... when you guys are talking about run lengths, do you automatically assume there are verticle and horizontal components to the run? The idea being a camera 25 feet away may require 50ft+ to get to the recorder if you have to go up and down walls?

I love watching you guys work... but isn't this kind of a "another name for the nick name of Richard-block" to a fellow CCTV company?

I'll answer that question myself. No. You don't want a negative experience to put a black eye on your profession. I think it would be wonderful if all professions policed themselves.

There is one thing I don't think I saw discussed yet... over runs! I have had the wonderful experience two times now where a contractor gets to a crucial point in a project then tries to up the contract cost because of "unforeseen circumstances". I believe subbing out the work to the various professionals could help this. The idea being the overall project is broken into smaller, more specialized, pieces so if you have a problem at any point, it will be easier to find a replacement contractor for that piece.

Another tactic I have seen (I hear is pretty common in construction) is loading up on jobs to secure future work. The contractor takes on more projects than he can handle then "meters out" his workforce to try to keep all the customers "happy". I have also been the victim of this practice. A simple clause that imposes a penalty of some type for each day/week past due the project is will help get the contractor to "focus" on your job.

Do the residents still want the association to spend these $$$ on a massive security system or would they rather have something else? Not to get off topic but if you guys have gone years without this system, why do it now? Have there been problems? If so, can you address them with a smaller scope project?

Last thing is... and I think someone may have touched on it... I wouldn't trust plans that are years old unless I walked around and confirmed by good old common sense that they made sense. You'd probably have to do it at night and also during the day... looking for bright spots and shadows. You have had some pretty wonderful advice tossed out there but I think you need to decide your risk factor and what you can really expect to prevent here. A system to counter a hardened and experience criminal would have to be much more hardy and thought through than a system to simply prevent grafiti and petty theft. Are you looking to stop the "james bond" kind of guys (you'd be looking for coverage on rooftops, all windows, fire escapes, body count in vs body count out... the ideas are endless!) or simply keeping bitter exes and vandals at bay by forcing them to go to easier targets? What is the makeup of the residents? Would they be high risk or low risk? What about individual security... there are locks/alarms on the doors, windows, and peepholes???

In short, if you want fort knox, get a designer (not this guy) that can handle the job and expect to pay for it. If you want "reasonable" safety and/or chances to catch perps... common sense goes a long way.

Normally, I'd say it's ok if this guy is a little over his head (I think Rory said... first time for everything.) BUT the fact he seems unwilling to be flexible and learn a few things tells me he should get what he deserves... nothing.

Out of curiosity... why did they pick the mid quote again? seems odd. Perhaps the management company has something to gain here??? It's not unheard of. Perhaps you should let these guys know what the other bids quoted for hardware. If the high bidder quoted much better equipment (with lower markups) they may be the better choice. Heck, the low bidder may have quoted better equipment. I'll pay for honesty any day!

As you can tell, I am NOT a CCTV guy... I am just a fan of working smarter, not harder.

I remind you of the thread about "smart customers".

I'm bored so I figured I'd try to spark a discussion.

I am curious what experiences you guys had, if any, with the sony night vision seeing "through clothes" controversy several years ago?

I read stuff about camcorders and such... it just hit me a little while ago that it was probably a big issue for security cameras too.

Are there any markings on it at all? manufacturer etc?

If you have the camera, you may be able to go from there (it could be a stock lens). Google the camera model and find the specs. You should be golden after that.

Thanks Rory,

I run IE8 straight up (I hatezez toolbarz... it burnz us!) with Vista.

It was confirmed to be a problem with the virus update and is fixed now.

Seems to be fixed now. I just updated and no warnings.

Sorry about the positive false!

I use Zone Alarm.

The forums say it's a bug yet this is the only site I have the problem with so far.

Everything I do on the CCTV forums this morning makes a warning pop up about the Trojan.JS.Redirector.ar.

From what I have read, it looks like my virus software may be reporting a false-positive... as in they need to update their definitions but, I wanted to post something just in case. Everything was fine last night. Better to be safe than sorry I guess.