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SEANHAWG

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Posts posted by SEANHAWG

  1. Posted

    Okay I gotcha. According to the manual, I think these multiplexers can do a triplex operation but in order to record and play at the same time you have to have 2 VCR's in the system. One for recording, one for playback.

     

    You have to admit though, windows 95 was the best version! LOL.

  2. Posted

    Yes you are correct. I am simply recording what is on the screen via the video out.

     

    Their is a "VCR out" on the multiplexer, although I thought it was just for when you can play back the video and use it to digitally zoom in on a box when the tape was recorded in 16 camera view. I will have to mess around with them both to see what I can find out as far a muxing and demuxing. I have the manuals but they really arent very descriptive when it comes to stuff like this. I am sure that the recorder I have will be able to demux the video as both the multiplexer and VCR came from the same retailers security system. Will post questions along the way. But here is one to begin with, please tell me what the "triplex" term means in layman.

  3. Posted

    Fella's

     

    I have several used multiplexers and I even utilize one in my current 16 camera system that I have which is also hooked up to a Samsung Time Lapse VCR. I know just a few years back that this was the standard way of doing things before DVR's became prevalent and I am sure there are still quite a few people doing this.

     

    There are alot of advanced features on my multiplexer such as motion detection that will trigger my VCR on. Alot of these advanced features I have not even delve into yet but I am on a quest to educate myself more about my products. What I do now with my current setup is I record 24/7 set at 240 hour mode on my VCR. During the day, I just set the multiplexer to switching mode and it will record all 16 of my cameras which switch every 3 seconds. At night, I set my view at 4 camera view for my four most important cameras and just record that way. I could set my multi to 16 camera view but the boxes are so darn small that you can hardly make out anything, plus the frames per second is pretty low when I do that and then when you run it through a time lapse VCR it makes it even slower. My Multiplexer does have an option to digitally zoom in on a square during VCR playback but everyone knows how crappy digital zoom can look. I could set my multiplexer to motion detection mode but what if I have motion going on 8 or more cameras at the same time. I feel like I am losing the opportunity to record all 16 cameras. My question is, is there a major feature or function that I am possibly missing out on? Or how is the best possible way to get 16 cameras recorded with a 16 channel multiplexer and one VCR? Or is this just the major limitation of a VCR system? I am open to any and all suggestions and counter-questions.

     

    A little bit about me: I just happen to run across the opportunity to sell these products just about a year ago and I have become fascinated with this industry and thoroughly enjoy doing this. I have learned quite a bit about this stuff within the past year but I still want to learn more and become as educated as possible. I can usually help my customers with the basic hookups on my products but every now and then I get a question that stumps me about an advanced feature so that is why I am here. Quite often, my customers are installers and are way more educated than I am on my products but its the do-it-yourself homeowners who I really need to reach out to. We all start somewhere right?

  6. Posted

    I learn something every day. So that explains why my 16 channel multiplexers are advertised as 30 fps but when I switch to multiple screens, their is more time in between frames. For example, when I had one camera up, the video was at full 30 fps, at 4 camera view the video is a little less "streaming", at 9 camera view the views look a little more "lapsing" and at 16 camera view, it is very "lapsing". The whole unit is set at 30 fps but the more cameras shown the less fps per square. Very interesting indeed. Thanks for the info guys. I love learning new stuff in this fascinating field.

  7. Posted

    I hear ya. I bought some cheap cable one time and I was amazed at how much the picture quality was diminished, it was the cheap kind that had the connectors pre-installed on it. The cable just looked flimsy to begin with. Never again on that.

     

    This cable that I buy works as good as any normal priced cable I have bought. Before I started buying the $125 cable. I was paying $198 from a reputable commercial CCTV distributor here in my home town. I notice no difference in the 2 as far as build and quality. So I have continued to purchase these spools on an ongoing basis. I have used it on runs as long as 500' and no picture quality is lost. I also have several feet of it exposed bare outside my warehouse. I have them hooked up to my Samsung, Ultrak, and Costar cameras.

  9. Posted

    I buy alot of 1000' spools of RG59 Siamese Cable. The cheapest place I could find it is an Ebay seller who sells it for $125 shipped and its good quality cable too, shipped in a spool box which is a plus too.

     

    Does anyone know of a place that is less expensive.

  10. Posted

    Thanks for the info.

     

    The only thing is the recordings are measured by Fps as opposed to Ips on this DVR. For example, when I go into the menu it has a place where you can toggle the fps. I set this to 30. Even though it says Fps, is it really Ips? It doesnt really say anything about IPS anywhere.

     

    And just out of curiosity, why couldn't a DVR record in 30 fps? I know this is a bad comparison but a Tivo, Dish Network, and Direct TV can record in full video speed, why cant a security DVR? It pretty much has the same concept as a VCR and DVD recorder, it just saves to a hard drive, why the loss of video quality?

  11. Posted

    If I am not mistaken, 30 fps is the fastest video stream correct? If so, then its definetely not showing 30 fps because the difference between the "monitoring" view and the "recording" view is noticeable. Not a great deal or anything but as said before I get more "streaming" video with my analog VCR set at standard 6 hour time. Is this pretty normal for DVR's

     

    I'll compare it to a dish network DVR, whenever you record a tv show, you can play it back and it will look exactly like you did the first time it was live. This is not so with the Vitek DVR, the picture looks like a very fast time lapse video.

  13. Posted

    Hi,

     

    I just bought a Vitek 4 channel DVR:

    http://www.vitekcctv.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductID=582

     

    I love it so far but I have noticed that on playback the video doesnt seem to be full stream. I have it set on 30 fps (highest it will go) and the highest quality recording possible yet it still seems to be slightly "lapsy". For example the video quality looks a ton better when just monitoring the cameras as opposed to playing back the video. I am sure this is to conserve recording time but I figure there would be a way to get it to record at full stream but with just less recording time. Is this pretty normal for DVR's? Its nothing that will impede me from seeing what I need to see but still I can get a better recording out of my analog Samsung VCR recorder set at normal 6 hour recording speed if I wanted to, thats the only thing that kind of ticks me off. Please let me know.

  14. Posted

    Hi,

     

    As some of you may know I sell used equipment and I have a good grasp on how to wire a basic system and such. I am thinking about installing a few systems here and there for some homes and businesses to see how that goes. What I do not have a good grasp on are the basic tips on how to run wire through a house/business and connecting mounts to different materials and what not. I know this seems like pretty basic stuff but I know that the best installers are the ones who can conceal the cable as much as possible and make everything just nice and neat. This is what I need some help on. I just want to make sure I am as equipped with as much knowledge as possible before going out in the field. Can anyone recommend any type of reading material and/or website?

     

    Thanks,

     

    Sean

  17. Posted

    I know this is a fairly basic question but I am the type of person who likes to know about all of the little things that can save me time. I sell RG59 siamese cable to my customers at their specified lengths. If I need to get say a 50' length off of my 1000' spool, do they make some sort of reel that will unwind that 50' into a perfect circle? Right now I am doing it by hand and I have to go slow in order to get a good round circle of cable. I know this sounds like a basic question but when you have several orders to fill and then you have lengths like 300' to unwind, the cable can start to get in a mess if I get in a hurry. Can anyone make any suggestions on some good reels?

  21. Posted

    I'm sorry, I dont have any screen pics of the converted cameras, but here are the listings to my ebay ads of the 2 cameras:

    http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=250609241824&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT

     

    http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=230469257797&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT

     

    They are my Ultrak KC552BCN and Costar CCC3400 that I carry. You probably wont find too much info on the internet for them as they are mostly commercial grade.

     

    I could be mistaken but I think he does more than just remove the IR filter and replace it with something else. He says that he sometimes "fries" the cameras in the process, so I am not sure exactly what he is pushing the camera to do.

     

    Thanks for all your help and info.

  22. Posted

    I sell used surveillance equipment and I have one customer who buys my Ultrak and Costar box cameras and somehow converts them to a "UV wide spectrum" camera. Normally these cameras cannot really see well in real dark or pitch black conditions with a typical manual iris lens, the lux is 1.2. But he somehow takes them apart and does something to the internal parts which makes them able to view in the wide spectrum UV range. The cameras are able to see in conditions where almost no illumination is needed at all. He does not use or install infrared LED's, yet he makes these things to see in dark really well. I am well aware that anyone can take the small Infrared Filter out of a camera which makes it able to see IR. But he is doing something more than this because IR illuminators are not needed with these cameras. Is there any idea as to what he is doing?

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