HiddenMountain

haha, yeah, everything meant everything... I got the idea from Sean from Ne!!y's, who is another one who has vanished from this forum. I remembered him telling me that when he started he bought used systems to resell. The PTZ I bought from him was from an old Target store actually. (weird. It won't let me post his name...) So I now have this amazing, expensive as heck, DVR sitting here, hoping to find a good home. I did get 12 cameras with the sale, as well as two monitors, 3 TV's, and about 2 miles of cable. And, just for good measure, the guy I borrowed the skyjack from gave me all of the extension cords that were up in the ceiling too, about 1000' of them! But until I sell the stuff, it's a capital loss to me...

What a great thread, glad I found it! Loved the video Odesys! Q2U, That's how it starts... And no, there is no 12 step program to deprogram you. I got into CCTV by necessity. We live way out in the wilderness of BC and as soon as we had the high speed wireless, I got to work on my system. There was a fellow who used to be on here, Sean, who was selling new and used CCTV equipment and I found him by searching with google. It was through him that I found this forum and have been learning ever since. I have a good friend who owns an electrical supply and contracting company and he was impressed with my set up. He recommended me to another friend and another, and they have friends and away we go.... I haven't quit my regular job yet but the notice has been given for the end of this summer. Lord willing and the crick don't rise, I will be doing this until I retire in about 10 years... Then, it's into the motor home, left turn signal on, and we're heading South every winter!

Hey elreplica, Keep me posted and when you get the restore disks let me know. I'll do what I can to help.

What's with all this? I mean, this forum is about helping people with CCTV questions. If it turns out that this forum is a bunch of DIY'ers, sticking together and helping each other out then, I ask, what the hell is wrong with that? There are some very knowledgeable people here now that did not come here with infinite knowledge. They learned it on their own and by asking questions or by trial and error or by just figuring stuff out. You have to be the type of person that likes to help others out with what you learned; some do, some don't. Out of necessity, I had to learn how fix my own appliances. I gain knowledge from people - some being experienced repairmen, willing to help at forums like fixya and the like. But guess what, I still see Sears appliance repair trucks all over my neighborhood. Like ShockWave said ... Yes, I realize that things change and people move on. I am still gleaning a lot of knowledge from this forum. I was just wondering what happened to some of the guys that were here when I joined. For instance, Soundy was a fountain of knowledge and a pretty good guy too. He and a few others just seem to have vanished. Nothing wrong with the DIY'ers helping each other out. That's how I got started in this myself, as a DIY'er, and then someone asked me if I could do a system for them, and then another and so on. I'm still far from being an expert and frankly, I feel very under qualified to be doing this, but, at the same time, I love electronics and helping people, so this is a good fit for me at this stage of my life. I guess my frustration comes from not having my peers readily available to pat me on the back or kick me in the rear as needed. FWIW, I am the consummate do it yourself-er. I have built my own house, installed my own hydro-electric generating system, wired it (with 24V and 12V, as well as 120/240V), plumbed it, roofed, floored, dry-walled and ceiled it. I have done all of the landscaping, basically carving a lawn out of the forest..lol.. and am also the head mechanic for keeping the vehicles running around here. When it came to installing a CCTV system, it wasn't that big of a leap for me. Now I'm learning the finer points of using a router to make moldings for finish carpentry... That said, if I can learn something, or even contribute, then this forum is still valuable, not only to me, but to anyone who needs information about the CCTV world.

Among other things, it seems as though the really knowledgeable members are either gone or not participating anymore. I feel like the guy who got to the party just as everyone is leaving

I'm looking for the mobile, mounted to the vehicle type systems, like the one in the link I provided. Like I said, the Windshield Cam is the only one I have seen so far. The Roadhawk is close but it looks like it only has forward and backwards facing cameras, which would be basically useless for large vehicles. I'm looking to offer these types of systems and would like to know what all is out there.

I was just looking at some of the old topics and Kawboy12R had suggested a new forum dedicated to mobile CCTV. I have been looking into one system, mainly because it's the only one I've found so far, and it seems to be pretty well built. Not cheap at around $2000.00 for a 4 channel system. Here's a link... http://www.windshieldcam.com/ It's mainly designed for trucks but it could be adapted to other vehicles, although the cams would look rather strange on a car... Any one have any thoughts about these or know of other makes out there?

Reguarding cheap Chinese crap... I was of the same opinion as you. They are notorious for the shoddy construction of just about everything! The CCTV world is no exception. However, I have a short story that may open your eyes... I have a good friend who is a gunsmith. Top notch, best of the best craftsman. He was working at a sporting goods store for years when the owners sold to some Chinese immigrants... He was, um, PO'ed, but since he had customers who he valued, he stayed on. He made it quite obvious to the new owners that he didn't like them. One day the new owner came to him and asked him why he was so hostile to him. He said, or rather yelled, "I hate cheap Chinese crap!" The new owner surprised him by agreeing with him. He explained, in China you literally get what you pay for. You want something for 50 cents? Someone will make it. You want the same thing for 50 dollars? someone will make it. The problem is the West's addiction to low cost stuff. If you want quality, they are quite capable of providing it, but you will pay for it, just as if you were buying the same thing made in Germany. He got the message and no, his store doesn't sell cheap Chinese crap...

Have you checked to see if your ports are open? Lot's of ISP's will block them to keep the spammers at bay. try this ... http://www.canyouseeme.org/ Also, have you changed the activex settings in IE?

Greetings all! My handle on here is Hidden Mountain and I have been a member of the forum for almost two years now. I started as a complete noob, and found this forum after I had sourced out a supplier for my home system but didn't really know what I was doing. With a lot of help from some folks on here, I managed to get my system up and running, doing what I needed it to do, which is thwart the bad guys, and give us peace of mind. Among other things, I can watch my cams on my android from anywhere, and I can control lights too, which is really cool! It's funny how one thing leads to another and a friend who owns an electrical contracting store put me in touch with a couple of his customers who wanted CCTV systems, one personal and the other commercial. Of course, the government can't just let anyone loose sticking cams anywhere they want, so I had to get licensed. And to get licensed, I needed to register a business, since I wasn't working for someone else... Which lead me to making a website, which is one of the reasons I'm saying hello all over again! So, without further ado, http://hiddenmountai1.wix.com/security-systems Yes, it's a free website, but I'm trying to keep my start up costs as low as possible. I'm only doing this part time until the end of this summer, then I hope to be doing this full time as long as I can. There is a mountain of knowledge that is required to work in this field! I have been studying as much as I can cram into this old brain, and I think I'm grasping the finer details now. If anyone in the Vancouver BC area, particularly the Upper Fraser Valley, or anywhere in BC for that matter, needs help with their CCTV systems, or just wants to chat about it even, give me a call or send me an email. Cheers, Jon...

Aha, another of the very last Zellers customers. Man, that's tough one. I made sure that I got all of the goodies when I removed the DVR from the store. There are two recovery disks, 0710-2880-0104 and 0710-2881-0104 for mine. I'm not sure if they're compatible or not. You will need a SATA HDD, but I never had to partition anything, just ran the disks and it all works. Once you have obtained and run the disks, the default password is 1234. Good luck!

Well dang, I couldn't have said it better myself! In this case, solar sounds like the best option. A car battery is not designed for long term, deep discharging. They are made to start a car. Cold Cranking Amps mean absolutely nothing in an off-grid power set up. You are looking for the Amp Hour rating. Of course, the higher the better, but not all deep cycle batteries are created equal. Marine deep cycle are useless as well, even though it's call a "deep cycle". I love it when someone else has done the work for me! ^^^ what he said... And like groucho said, game cams will work as well, and if they are powered with an auxiliary battery, they can go for months without a charge up. And with motion detection they won't fill up an SD card too quickly, unless there's unwanted motion "noise". And a small solar panel wouldn't hurt... Also, I can tell you from personal experience, the ability to check your cameras from a smart phone or on your home computer is invaluable. You can set the DVR or NVR to send you an email with a picture of the perps too. Of course, this depends on available internet connection and bandwidth...

Out here in the boonies, we have some good old boys that like to shoot things. They are basically vandals with rifles. My question is, is there a bullet proof housing available for a reasonable price? It would be awesome to not only catch the idiots shooting, but to be able to keep recording as they reload!

hey, that's not a bad idea... " title="Applause" />

This thought has crossed my mind... haha We have "Private Drive" and "No Hunting" signs posted, as well as "This Area Under Video Surveillance" at the gate. It hasn't sounded like an day at the shooting range yet this year, but then, the season has only just started. I was thinking that a steel housing with some 1" thick tempered glass would be available somewhere... Maybe it's time to get inventive...

Dang... That's not a Costco brand there eh? And, as for the armed response, I tend to agree. All shooting back does is escalate the situation. Now, if they were coming into the house uninvited, that's another story. I tend to agree, a bunch of dummy cams in the trees would give them something to plink at, while catching them on the covert cam doing it.I already have a camo cam down there, so adding a few dummies would be a good distraction. Thanks for the input guys...

Haha, thanks tip ex, I was just going to do that! Yes, the issue was resolved with the credit going to tip ex. I did a search and discovered another, much older thread that he'd replied to, regarding Intellex DVR's. That thread died, but the fact that he knew his stuff prompted me to send him a PM. He not only replied right away, but after a few days he guided me through the process and now it's working just fine. Thanks tip ex, your help was invaluable! And thanks for this forum where we can come and find answers! And, as for the Intellex... wow, what a nice machine. Obviously it's a bit much for a home system, but for light commercial it's the Mercedes of DVR's. I have it, and the rest of the system, for sale in the classified section, however, I might have it sold to a gas station in my area. I have to say, I am just loving this stuff. There's lot's to learn and the practical application of thwarting the bad guys is just a bonus!

I have an Intellex LT 4.3 16 channel DVR, 4 Pelco colour domes, 1 Sanyo colour box, 4 assorted B&W Box, Acer LCD monitor, and lots of peripherals for immediate sale. $2500.00 obo.

After a year or so, I have finally managed to connect my Android to my DVR, via gDMSS. Checking on the house while I'm on the road gives me great peace of mind. (Although my wife is now paranoid and wants a Judy Jetson mask!) The only problem is that unless there are lights on at night, there is no visible image. Fairly obvious, I know, but since we live off grid, leaving lights on isn't an option. I have a couple of timers but my wife doesn't like them when she's at home. My question is this. Is it possible to control electrical equipment, in my case lighting, through my gDMSS and Qvis Apollo DVR? My thought is, and I might be way off here, if I can activate my PTZ from my android, why can't I send a signal to the DVR which would trip a relay, or two or three, that would turn on/off some lights. I have looked around at some other remote control home automation stuff, but I have already spent too much money on this stuff, according to said paranoid wife!

Thanks eh! I initially found them on fleabay. Did some hunting and the cheapest I found was for $15 each from DEI... some guys were trying to get rich by selling them and had them as high as $80 but most only marked them up to $20...

have a look at WEMO switches Thanks for the thought ak357. I looked into all kinds of different devices that are coming onto the market, and there are some pretty cool things out there. But I wanted to build my own set up, just for fun and to educate myself.

Ok, after a lot of head scratching and hair pulling, we have achieved our objective. It has been quite a learning experience. I can now control 3 separate 12V circuits via: My DVR, which includes WebService and my android phone via gDMSS; my 12V remote control and various push button switches throughout the house. It all came down to some automotive alarm latching MOSFET relay controllers. Once I had these guys, it was relatively easy. This is my power distribution panel. It was a fire alarm panel that I gutted and re-purposed for this job. Starting from the top right; an automotive fuse block, used to protect all of my household 12V circuits as well as my switching circuit. There are a couple of busses; the smaller top one is for the various household circuits, the lower one is for my switching circuits. Below them, on the right, are the three MOSFET controllers. They are Dynamic Electronic Industries model 611T. They are unique in that the polarities can be reversed on all points as well as be used as timers for up to 100 seconds. So, you can use a positive or negative switching control, which came in really handy for... The remote control unit. It has only positive output so I had to set the MOSFET controllers to positive as well in order to keep it all in sync. The three brown and three pink fuses are from the MOSFET units. At the bottom left are two 12V Bosch relays. I'm going to add another one for the last remaining circuit soon. So there it is, and the cool part is IT WORKS! haha... and who said it can't be done? I can now control three 12V circuits from anywhere in the world via my phone. How cool is that? If I want to get really fancy, I can use a 611T to control a 120V AC circuit. The only thing missing is a clapper...lol

Well, after a month on the road I came home and just did it. I got the DVR to control an LED test light. I even used the phone to turn it on and off! So there is hope here. Now, just because we see a little success, we have to push the limits. Just before my trip, I ordered a 12V, 4 channel remote control, the type street racers are using to impress each others girlfriends with by remotely turning their LED light displays on and off.... I am so glad to be past that stage! So, what do I want to attempt? Only to control 4 circuits with 4 different switching controls. A. The DVR, via the phone, the mouse, and WebService. B. The remote control. Great for around the house I reckon. C. Regular household wall switches, using 12V instead of 120. D. Motion detection. To turn on the lights and to active an alarm. On one circuit only though. I think it can be done. My hydro electric guru friend says it can. I just need to wrap my head around it and do it, neatly...

Yeah, It's been a long day... Thanks for the simple explanation man. I'll be on the road for the next week at least, so it'll be a while before I can get back to playing with it. I will be checking this thread though, so if anyone else has any suggestions, I'm all ears. Thanks for your help everyone!

Hi Tom, thanks for the reply. As I can be a bit thick, according to the wife and personal experience, I need a bit more info. To wit, which remote software are you referring to? The DVR or the gDMSS? After checking out the links that Owain gave me, I'm getting a bit more confused. I'm rather tired of letting the blue smoke out of my electronics! It can get expensive to experiment with this stuff! I've searched the web for wiring diagrams but that's just a wild goose chase since no-one has the exact same scheme... This does appear to be within reach though. it's really not that complicated. the back of your dvr should look similar to this, with plug-in screw terminal blocks: the top row include your alarm outputs - three pairs of 'no' (normally open) and 'c'ommon relay outputs. at the most simple, you can just run the power for a light fixture through one of them, the way you would normally wire in a switch (they'll support up to 2a at 30v). if you need to control more current, use the output to trigger a standard 12v relay. once that's wired, you can use the 'slide switches' tom mentions in your dmss software to toggle those outputs on and off. Ok, first of all, I don't remember you sneaking into the man room and taking a picture of the back of my DVR... Second, Groucho is looking rather scruffy, when was the last time you gave him a bath? Third, I found this nifty program that tricks PC's into thinking they're androids... It's beta, and a bit buggy, but it's a start. Now, in this pic, you can see that I was browsing the help section because i haven't got a clue... When I look for the slide switches, I can't find any. Now, it is a know fact that I sometimes can't see the obvious. I admit it. I must be missing something here. Also, when I poked around the pinouts on the back of the DVR, there wasn't any power that I could find... I think I may be losing it. (I've been doing paperwork all weekend so I'm a tad frazzled, and this has been a nice distraction when wifer wasn't looking... ) I can feel a solution rising to the surface, or it's gas....