Metal Shaper Man

I would try again making sure you are running the system in the Quick set up mode to start. That way you don’t have to worry about all the advance menu features causing you confusing problems. If that works we can move on from there.

First, in the Quick set up menu, set the operation mode to ALARM, not ACT DET. Next, in the VMD setup, select the sensitivity for each camera. Then, select the desired sensitivity level, OFF, LOW, MID, HIGH for each of the motion detection areas selected. If I understand you correctly and, you have the VMD areas set correctly, I think just changing from ACT DET to ALARM will solve your problem. Hope this Helps

I’m not sure if this will help or not? Nevertheless, starting on page 36 of the operating manual they explain how to set up the Event Function (motion detection) which is very similar to the Panasonic WJ-HD 316 series Digital Recorder. I’m not sure if this is exactly what your are talking about but hopefully it will help.

I also bought a Speco HT-INTB8 so my comments may or may not apply to the other models as well. Nevertheless, I bought the camera about six months ago and it is back in the box lying on a shelf somewhere in my office. Though it was light sensitive, I found that any moving object looked like nothing but a blur moving across the screen or as mentioned above a ghostlike image. The bottom line is I wouldn’t recommend any of the Intensifiers to anyone.

When installing additional cards, I had to go to the program files and install the driver for each card added. I don’t know if it’s the same for the system you have but, you could check the installation instruction to see if you missed something.

It depends on the recording quality you set the recorder for. For example, High-density recording: 60 ips* (120 ips* @SIF). There are many available settings on the WJ-HD316. Just too many combinations of settings that effect frame rate to explain in simple terms. Nevertheless, the over all frame is divided by the number of cameras in use.

Rory, while you're here, come on up and visit us in Michigan. The sun is shinning and the temps vary from 0 to 15 deg. Never know, it might even get up to 30 deg.

Have you tried copying the player to the USB HD and playing the files as Original or Backup? I’ve never tried what you want to do. However, I do know that you have to copy the player to any disk you want to play the DVR files from. Anyway, I’m inclined to think that trying to play the file using the backup option on the player might work for you.

Your comments made me think of something else you might look into. This may sound unusual but, when installing a second HD in my DVR you must set the second HD as master along with the first. I don’t know what the result would be if I had set the second HD as a slave. However, I would think it just wouldn’t recognize the second HD. Anyway, you might want to check the manual for that too.

I don’t know your DVR at all but, had a thought that might be worth looking into. On my DVR the settings allow you to set portions of the HD to 10%, 20% or what ever percentage for alarm, emergency, manual and some others. In a since you are partitioning the HD. For example, if you have set the HD to use 10% for alarm recording, the DVR will not overwrite that 10% until it is completely full. However, the 90% left for manual recording may have become completely full several times before the 10% alarm portion fills depending on the amount of alarms. It may be worth checking your settings to see if your DVR has that feature.

I see your question, so, it looks like you have the idea. If you have a question or something you want to say about cameras for example, then select the camera topic and fire away. Simply pick the relative topic in regard to your question or comment then, reply. Note that most of the time you may not get an immediate reply. However, someone will most likely replay within the same or next day. There are a lot of knowledgeable people on the fourm with great info. Have fun.

Considering how nice the home appears in the picture, I think I would want to put up a nice lamp post, maybe, strait off from the front entrance. With the lamp post, the electrical, lighting and mounting is all in one package. Of course, there are many variables involved. First is, where should you place the camera within the lamp post or fixture. Second, how large the lamp post or light fixture must be in order to accommodate the camera. With a good search and some creative thinking you could most likely find a nice lamp post to meet you needs. As for covert needs, the lens might look like nothing more than a day/night sensor for the lamp. You may also want to set the post so there’s a post over a post so you can swivel one post over the other, hence, adjust the cameras direction or view.

RickA explains things very well. Maybe the glossary of terms from the link below will help fill in the blanks. [edit by mod-store link removed]

I watched a Pelco demo once where the guy focused the camera holding the smoked dome in front of the lens. If I remember right, the reason for doing it that way was to prevent focus shift after reattaching the smoked dome. I’m fairly sure focusing the camera that way will solve your problem.

Here are some post and a link pertaining to camera setup tools. I hope it helps. http://www.cctvforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=4861&highlight=cm2 http://www.cctvforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=5431&highlight=cm2 http://www.cctvforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=5135&highlight=cm2 http://www.fmsystems-inc.com/prod_list.cfm?cat=test&industry=none

The link below describes a diagnostic tool I've read about. There is another I read about as well. I will try to find the link and post it later. http://www.difinitron.com/vm417.html

I don’t know anything about Diginet but, found this on one of their sites under FAQ. "What happens when my hard disk is full? Normally the system will begin to overwrite the recorded image files, oldest first. You can choose for recording to cascade from one drive to another ( i.e if the "C" drive is full, the system can begin to write on the "D" drive), if you have more than one hard drive." Maybe it’s just as simple as telling it, or clicking on, what drive you want it to continue recording to. For example C to C, C to D and so on??? If the settings allow, I would think if one set it to record from C to C it would continually over right on the C drive. Just a thought that will hopefully help

First I want to say that I'm not one of the pros I mentioned above. Yet, I do know from reading replies posted on the forum that the PTZ protocol has to match the controller in order to operate the PTZ camera. The question is, will the selected camera work with the equipment you have or what will you need to make it compatible with the equipment you already have? For example, check the protocol used with the DVR you bought and check the protocol used with the camera. Does the camera come with a control unit or not? That is just a couple of several questions that need answers before spending tons of money on something that may cause big head aces. I find that just adding two or three extra cameras to cover the areas a PTZ can’t see, unless moved to that area is more cost effective. Plus, you have a continues view of the areas not covered by the PTZ at the moment. As for which of the PTZ you mentioned, I would make the Panasonic my first choice after considering all the compatibility factors or if having a PTZ is necessary at all.

I took a look at the HT-650IR VFHQ on the Speco web site and I didn’t see anything about it being a PTZ, whereby, one can control the camera remotely. However, the veri focal definitely has advantages. You can adjust the lens to 4 mm, or wide angle to watch over a fairly large field of view. You may also adjust to 9 mm for a much narrower field of view and anywhere between 4-9 mm. The veri focal lens allows the camera to work in a verity of scenarios therefore, in my opinion, a good choice. As for the quality, I agree with what I think CCTV_Suppliers is saying, “You can always get better equipment, but in general, Speco makes decent components.â€

I don’t know very much about networking. But, sense there may not be many on the forum today with the accurate knowledge in regard to answering your question, I will offer some fixes for some of my negative experiences. First, admin may not be the password but the user name. Second, the password may be 1234 or nothing at all. Third, popup blockers have caused me many problems. I would think it should work if you have an IP address for the DVR, the Subnet Mask set correctly, the Gateway set correctly and the HTTP Port Number. I also find that there is a Data Port setting, Command Port setting, and a Remote Playback Service RPB Port setting. Like I said, I know very little about networking. Hopefully, my comments will lead to something that will help.

I doubt that this will be relevant to your situation at all. I also must say that I don’t know anything about Storesafe. Anyway, I just found it interesting that both HD’s must be set as Master when I added the second HD to my Panasonic WJ-HD316. I don’t know for sure but, I don’t think it would hurt anything to try it.

I have a Sony YS-DX 516 Multiplexer and a single channel HSR-X200 digital recorder. You can view each channel separately or in multi screen during live view or playback when using it with the Sony Multiplexer. However, there are many negative issues in regard to the set up because the recorder was really designed for single channel recording. There are just too many issues to discuss here. From my experience with this early model recorder, you would be better off taking the money you would spend on a single channel recorder and put it into the newer digital recorders with the multiplexer or mux built in. As to why your recorder or DVR is not working properly with your multiplexer, I think it may not be compatible with the recorder. When I was researching, before buying, I found that only certain multiplexers would work with certain recorders. In fact, Sony gave a specific list of multiplexers that would work. And, if I remember correctly, the few other manufactures I looked into did too. Anyway, if it were me, I would do as I mentioned above. Put your money into something better and keep the multiplexer and VCR for a backup if something should go wrong with the newer equipment.

Thanks Rory, I'll give it a try.

I was wondering if the day light savings time change has affected the playback on PC based DVR cards like Geo for example. It seems as though the playback program is confused as to which file it wants to play between 12:00 AM and 2:00 AM. Simply, because of the hour roll back, there are two separate videos or files recorded at the same time in one night therefore, making my video jump or flicker through the video between 12:00 AM and 2:00 AM like it just doesn’t know which one to play.

Like you Rory, I highly suspect that the files are in the folders. I looked in the folders and clicked on the thumbnail view. Everything came up as a thumbnail except for a few files during that time period. That few files just show up as a file, no picture. As I said above, by dragging through the timeline to what would now be the new 1:00 AM or adjusted time, the video played fine. Common sense tells me that it plays correctly because I’ve passed the first set of 1:00 - 2:00 AM files. Anyway, I don’t know exactly what the conflict is. And, I guess it wouldn’t really matter unless the bank robbers decided to rob the bank between 1 and 2 in the morning during the time change. Nevertheless, I just found it interesting and wondered if the higher quality PC based DVR cards or programs did the same. I’m interested in the positive features and the problems the higher quality PC based DVR’s might have because I would like to try one in the near future. As for my embedded DVR’S, the Panasonic WJ-HD316 went through the night with no problem. For example, it played different events between the two different 1:00 AM through 2:00 AM time periods. Simply, all that changed was the time stamp.