Soundy

Are you talking the split-loom type that you can slip over existing wiring, or the heavy grey stuff that's used for running wires in concrete? Any building-supply store should carry either... the split-loom can also often be found at auto-parts stores.

Sawbones: Pins 1 and 9?? That's kinda odd... standard DB9 serial ports on a PC, pin 5 is ground and 3 is TX. You sure about that? (Side note of general interest: http://www.pinouts.ru is one of the greatest unsung resources on the 'net ) jam: from looking at the external pics of that unit, it looks like it has a number of different output methods that might work better with the gate, including a least a couple of dry-contact relays. Unless you have a gate controller with RS-232/422/485 inputs, I don't think you'd be able to activate them off a serial port (at least, assuming these ARE standard RS-232 serial ports). RS-485 labels the transmit connections TX+ and TX-... on the camera, you probably want to use the RX+ and RX- (although I have seen a few that label them TX as well, probably trying to tell you what you want to connect those terminals to on the other end???). Some will alternately call them TX(A) and TX(B). Termination on the cameras will most often be a small switch (DIP switch or similar) that terminates the end of the line with a resistor. You would only do this on the last camera in the chain though. You SHOULD be able to wire the cameras in a star topology as well - it's usually a lot easier, since all the cameras' video wiring is home-run as well and you'll usually pull the signal along with the video. Although it's not technically a daisy-chain, the end result is that the cameras are all in parallel, and it will usually work just fine. As for triggering the gates from the camera, that can be tricky... you don't want, say, a stray cat wandering through the frame, or a moth flitting past, to trigger your gates to open and doors to unlock. It could be useful the other way, though, whereby someone opening the gates (keypad? swipe card?) triggers the DVR to switch to a higher resolution/framerate on the gate camera, for a clearer picture of who's entering... stuff like that

Well, if I get a chance in the next day or two, I'll try it on my Vigil machine with the older HiCap card, it uses the same connectors... but I don't see why it shouldn't. All you'd need is an HD15 male-to-female extension cable - they'd generally be sold as VGA extensions. Something like this:

What model are these dome cameras? Are they PTZs (pan/tilt/zoom)? A few domes I've seen use RS485 for remote access to the OSD setup menus, but don't require it beyond the initial setup. RS485 typically should not need a special connector - it uses only four wires (+/- pair each for transmit and receive), and for cameras it generally just requires a single pair (transmit pair at the controller, to the receive pair at the camera). Most cameras I've seen use some sort of screw terminals or mini plastic connectors for them; a few have wire tails you splice to. The picture I found for the DS2 looks like it uses standard RJ45 jacks for its RS485 bus... as an IT guy, you should have crimpers handy for those You'd have to check the DVR's docs, but I suspect it will just use the center pins (4&5) for TX.

I know that a collie is a dog, but a dog isn't necessarily a collie. And by the way, I've dealt with plenty of spectrum analyzers in the audio world that were NOT oscilloscopes, but little more than a series of filters and LED drivers. Oh... and yes, alt-F4 still CLOSES a window. Shuts down the application, takes it out of the task list. Just the same as it always has in Windows. Ready for that Listerine enema yet?

Or you could collaborate with this guy: http://www.craigslist.org/about/best/pdx/1169369888.html

Is that using the HD-15 VGA-type connectors? A VGA extension might work...

From what I've seen so far, yes. But then I'm not fixated on super-high fps - most of our customers don't care about anything over 1fps, and the highest anyone has actually asked us for is 5. People get their minds set that they don't want anything less than 30, but the truth is, most wouldn't be able to tell the difference at 15, and even 10 gives plenty smooth motion - after all, we're talking surveillance here, not making movies (which, ironically, are shot at a mere 24fps).

The problem with the Sanyo camera is NVR compatibility. Vigil lists Sanyo in the DVR's "Network Camera Settings". Define "industry standard"? IQ has a number of models that will 30fps at 1.3MP, 20fps at 2MP, and 12-15fps at 3MP.

How do you define "top"? Top sales? Top quality? Top features? Top marketing BS? Generally the cheaper you go, the more sales you'll see...

Wow, missed this one entirely... apologies to the OP. Are you still needing assistance with this?

Depends what sort of "integration" you're looking for, I suppose... I can't speak for those two systems specifically, but in general, you'd most often looking at the ability either for alarm sensors to trigger a different set of record options on the DVR (eg. kick a channel or channels to higher quality when an alarm occurs), or for certain actions caught on the DVR (like movement in a particular area) to trigger an output to the alarm system. I would expect these two systems to handle both those instances; most of the PC-based systems I've seen do.

They work real well too " title="Applause" /> Excuse me while I take some Dramamine before I watch the second demo. That's the thing, autotracking is neat and can be useful for some situations, but ultimately, it can't really tell which of several moving objects is the priority. What happens if the cam locks onto a car driving through (like in the first demo), and meantime some ninja-thief slips past to do his dirty work? A live operator will know to track the suspicious-looking person; the auto-cam will only work as good as its programming. Without some really good analytics and extensive configuration, it WILL miss things. A better idea in this sort of instance is either multiple fixed cameras to watch the areas of concern, or one or two wide-angle megapixel cams to cover a larger area but still allow you to zoom in with good detail - what's known as "virtual PTZ".

------------------------------------------------------ I really like this wording never heard from any techs in my life but both have CRT and that how u compare them hmm and u call your self tech ? I don't think so by the way I have 2 scopes at home I can sell one cheap I don't mind to help beginners Hmmm.... ya know, I've been in electronics for a good 30+ years, I've never heard of a 'scope "sometimes called a spectrum analyzer" either. Some 'scopes CAN BE USED as a spectrum analyzer, as one of their many functions... but the two are NOT the same thing. Scott's taken every opportunity here to 'whip it out' and offer himself for measurement... no need to stoop to his level, I think he's proven himself relatively deficient. He'll argue around and around forever without ever backing up his claim that VLC is of ANY use in determining a CCTV camera's TVL. In short, methinks he doth protest too much.

In addition to that, that latency will continue to drop as on-camera processing improves. It wasn't that long ago that it took eight hours for my PC to recompress a two-hour DivX movie to MPEG-2 for DVD authoring... modern machines will do it in 30 minutes or less.

A used color quad should go relatively cheaply... or for that matter, even a used 4- or 9-channel color simplex or duplex mux would suffice. Are these color or B&W cameras? If B&W, you could even go with a B&W mux for probably next to nothing.

Hey, no problem. When can I expect my kickback check?? (kidding, KIDDING!)

It might help to know if the supplier's location matters to you (do you want a local source, or is "mail-order" fine?), and if you do want local, it would help to know, local to where? We use mainly Visual Verification Systems around here, with ADI/Burtek as a backup...

Perhaps a better solution in that case then, is either an analog PTZ, or a higher-resolution, wider-angle IP cam with "virtual PTZ". The one casino I'm aware of, AFAIK, is using only stationary IP cams (mostly 1.3MP IQs), not IP PTZs.

What are you using for NVR software? I've seen a casino set up with IQEye cameras and Vigil DVRs, they haven't had any issues that I've ever heard of. Obviously survtech's experience isn't universal.

Take a look at some of IQ Invision's cameras (www.iqeye.com) - their Alliance series domes also have composite out that we've used to feed Customer Awareness monitors on some sites. The base models start at full 1.3MP (1280x1024). As far as framerates, is there any particular reason for going full 24/30? I find even 15fps is virtually indistinguishable from 30 for anything except fairly fast action - as far as surveillance purposes go, you save half the storage with practically no loss in video quality. Even 10fps will be sufficient in most cases, and still difficult for most people to notice the difference. Mmmmm, tasty space! Most NVR software will have adjustable motion-detect recording, allowing you to alter the sensitivity as well as masking motion areas. If you don't need to RECORD at 24/30fps, you save a lot more space as well. Well, I can suggest Vigil, because I'm most familar with them... I dunno if you'd consider it a "Ferrari" system (can't say for sure because I've never dealt with anything higher-end than that; we tried a Pelco DX8000 on one site but both we and the client hated the interface), but it would at least be an LT1 Corvette, or maybe a Viper It's currently the corporate standard for at two of Canada's major oil companies that we supply (at least for their BC and Alberta regions), and we're gradually migrating a large upscale restaurant chain from GeoVision (Vigil w/ RAID5 storage and a mix of analog and IP cams at all their new sites, and replacing the Geos as they die). If you go to www.camacc.com or www.3xlogic.com, you can download a 30-day, fully-functional trial version of the Vigil software to test with your cameras; just tell it you're installing as an NVR during setup (scroll all the way down when it asks what card you're using) . And no, I don't work for Camacc/3xLogic.... just really happy with their products and support.

Latency IS there, although it hasn't yet been an ISSUE on any of our sites. Never had a problem with packet loss, either (at least nothing that's caused any noticeable problems - if it's happening, it's only measurable for someone who's looking for it). I think a lot of the problems people run into with IP are, frankly, the same as any others they run into with CCTV, namey, the use of cheap equipment. People who generally diss PC-based systems, for example, have often run into too many low-end PCs that can't handle the load placed on them. Those who dismiss CCTV in general as not being any kind of useful are typically basing that on having seen the output from cheap systems. Likewise, most of the problems I've heard of with IP usually comes from overloading low-end switches, or the use of cheap or poorly-handmade cables.

Usually, they're trading off picture quality for small size. To coin an old phrase, "Small, cheap, good - pick two."

Twist-ons could be a part of your problem - they work just fine IF they're installed properly, BUT they can be tricky to get on right; getting a solid connection with them is far more sensitive to the cable being stripped back properly. Others here will be able to point you at an electronic video splitter (I've never used one, personally), or you could replace the MUX with one that has ins AND outs on each channel (often called "looping inputs"), that will let you properly chain the signal through it.

Hey Scott, I think everyone else is still waiting for you to show proof of your claims that it's possible to determine the actual TVL resolution on a CCTV camera using VLC, per the original post. Until then, I don't think anyone here will believe that you actually know what you're talking about.