LUV2TINKER

But would you need to hook up a PAL monitor to the Q-SEE DVR?

I have a Q-SEE QT428 DVR, that allows you to select either NTSC or PAL in the record menu. But I'm wondering if a PAL camera will work properly in the USA with with our 60 cycle power.

This isn't directly about CCTV, but it seems like it could be factor to be reckoned with when trying to properly configure the CCTV system. I keep reading conflicting explanations of how the motion sensors in dual outdoor floodlights work. Are those floodlight motion sensors merely receiving IR from the images in their field of view (passive IR), or are they also sending IR out and bouncing it back off those images? And the other question is a bit trickier, i.e. about whether there is merely one sensing area on them that encompasses the entire sensor or is it an array like a grid of sensors built into that same sensor (like with a CCD sensor)?

I looked at those IR illuminators on Amazon a while back. I'm trying to avoid those as much as possible, because there's a pretty big dynamic range of reflectiveness in things in the image in this application. And there's *almost* enough light to capture the images without resorting to that using just the camera, and without needing too much assistance from the AGC in the camera. That screenshot Stanislav posted just blew me away when I saw it - with all those parameters, like the IRE %, S/N ratio, etc., that change when you change something. I mean, I know those are theoretical, but that would still give you a rough idea of how it would come out. I'll bet there are really interesting formulas built into it.

Thanks guys. That helped me to understand how it works. What is that software those screenshots were from?

I'm currently using an F1.4, 3.5-8mm DC auto iris lens (also have a lens just like that but with video auto iris lens) attached to my b/w Ultrak KC4300, 1/3" CCD, box camera to monitor my vehicle at night. I only use it on 8mm, because that's the perfect size for my application. But I'd like a little more light entering the lens. Just wondering if I could get more light at night by using a fixed, 8mm, F1.2 lens.

Thanks Soundy. That's a good idea to harvest the female one out of a dead camera. Who knows what else might be on it I could use, like maybe a lens I don't have.

I have an Ultrak, video auto iris lens with a standard, 4 prong, square, male plug on the end of the cable coming out of the lens. I currently use that lens on a 552 Ultrak camera, but want to try that lens on my other other Ultrak camera (KC4300bk) that only has screw terminals (G, V1, & +B) for video auto iris. But I don't want to cut off the plug on the end of the cable. Can you buy a female plug you could just plug the male into, and strip off the wires coming out of the female plug to hook them up to the screw terminals?

Soundy, thanks for that info, including the part about the manual iris lenses. I don't have any of those, and wondered about them. Mine are just fixed iris.

Just want to make sure I understand how this part works, and I definitely want to be corrected if I have this wrong. I always think of the iris as being that "hole" inside the lens. In this non-auto iris lens (no power going to it), wouldn't the iris always be fully open? If so, then why would you need to attenuate the light entering the lens while back focusing it? I mean I did attenuate the light on it anyway, while I was adjusting the back focus, but did I really need to?

Just figured out the adapter. The lens on the KC4300 does have that 5mm spacer adapter on it. So that knurled part that you screw in and out of the camera is in fact for adjusting the back focus, like I was doing unsuccessfully. And the reason I couldn't interchange the lenses between the 2 cameras, was because I was using the adapter. Just put the 3.5 - 8mm F1.4 lens from the 552 on the 4300 and the 4300 focuses just fine, but probably won't have enough light at night for my application. But at least I know that the 4300 is okay. I'll try to put the lens I couldn't focus on the 4300 on the 552, but I'll have to reset all the dip switches first.

Sean, I've looked at pictures of these 4300's on the web, and the lenses appear to be identical to this one, and so does that black piece they go into. This lens says: Ultrak CCTV lens 4mm F1.2 Japan. It has a rectangular gold sticker on the the rear end of the collar that says "8 J". But I have to admit to being confused about this "back focus setup". The little bit of info I have for the KC4300 (mostly just specs) states that it accepts either C or CS lenses. But this lens doesn't state whether it's C or CS, and I've never seen a picture of what the lens that's on there actually includes. Like maybe part of it that I think is the lens is an adapter. And the same thing applies to the KC552BCN I bought that came with a 3rd party lens on it. In short, I have no idea what the adapters look like. But neither lens will fit on the other camera, even though both cameras supposedly support both C & CS lenses.

Thanks for the reply. The back focus adjustment on this one is controlled only by the distance you screw a black piece (which the lens screws into) into the camera. In other words, the CCD doesn't move forward and backward on this camera by turning the knurled knob labeled C/CS like it does on, i.e. a Ultrak KC552BCN model I also have. There's a locking screw at the top on the camera for locking it in position once you've threaded it in the proper amount to back focus it. This back focus adjustment was originally screwed in as far as it would go into the camera (clockwise), which moves the lens as close as possible to the CCD. I backed it out (turned it counter clockwise, which moves it farther away from the CCD), to various positions, and it didn't solve the problem. The farther out I turned it, the farther I had to move the lens focus past the center point it started out at when the adjustment was screwed all the way into the camera. So I ended up with it set all the way to "far" (ran out of room to fine focus it) So the back focus was probably about set in the proper position to start with - screwed all the way in. BTW, I did have it in a very low light area while adjusting the back focus. So that's why I was asking if the distance between the 2 lenses might be off a bit, and if that could cause this problem. Can't seem to wrap my head around what problems there would be if those 2 lenses weren't the proper distance from each other. This camera and lens setup is exactly what I need for my application, - b/w with plenty of light at night (the only time it's recording), because it has the F1.2 and the 4mm wide angle lens.

Been toying with an old Ultrak KC4300bk, standard res., b/w box camera (analog). It currently has what I'm told is the original lens - fixed, manual focus, F1.2. 4mm wide angle - not an auto iris lens. Can't get the focus to zero in on an object. I turn the focus back and forth in microscopically small increments in "near" and "far" directions, and it never gets completely into focus. It does this in all lighting conditions from low light to daytime image conditions. I'll zero it in as well as I can get it on an object at like 15 feet away, and that object never gets very well focused. And nothing else in the image before or after that object is in focus either. I tried unscrewing the lens a little from the camera to slightly increase the focal distance from the back of the lens to the CCD. But that didn't help. The "near" and "far" focusing collar seems to just move the entire lens assembly closer to the CCD. So I'm wondering: Are there 2 lenses in this lens assembly? And if so could the distance between them be off a hair?

Lurked for a little while, and discovered the depth of wisdom here is incredible. This place is sooo cool, and I have sooo many questions.