DailianInCCTV

Okay so the Place I have been asked to provide a quote for installation on is a motel complex comprised of Multiple Buildings Okay sorry about the rudimentary drawing there lol. Basically here is the problem I am facing, the clients want all the cameras located across the *2* building acting as an overlook towards the other buildings, which is fine, I intend to use a PoE system for them since wiring the power to each device is more problematic than running an outdoor ready CAT 5e to each Wireless Camera. This is where is gets tricky: The clients want the DVR Located inside building *2* however, they ALSO want the system to be accessible via internet so that they can just log into the app on their phone or tablet and check up on the cameras at any time. The only location that has any hardwired devices is *1* this is where the clients have ALL of their Routers located (who installed it like this I don't know, but this is the dilemma I'm working with right now.) I'm curious if anyone knows of any PoE DVR or NVR that has a built in Wi-Fi card so it can attach to a wireless network? If not, how would I go about making this DVR/NVR attach to this wireless Network? Would I use a Wireless Bridge that attaches to the Wireless and then ethernets to the DVR? Does anyone know of a model of Bridge that supports Port forwarding/Triggering like that? I'm assuming at this point I'd have to enable Port Forwarding/Triggering on the clients ISP Modem, then the Router, and then the Bridge as well? Would this even work? Do I tell the Client that they're SOL on the cameras running through the network, or should I find some sort of AC/DC Solution that works for them and then just install Wireless IP Cameras? I've never installed Wireless IP Cameras before, but I have a lot of background in general Technical Support so I'm sure if there were instructions I could easily follow them. PLEASE HELP, I'm running a new company and trying to build up a positive reputation for my organization so I can feed my family, and having this semi-large company become one of my clients would really go a long way for me. Thanks.

I hate to post to such an old thread, but am hoping you can help me! I have begun working on a UTP camera system for a client, and their system is wired using power supplies that are plugged in and then wired with UTP wiring that goes throughout the area into several cameras, the cameras are all 12VDC systems, they are BNC cameras that are spliced onto the UTP line using passive Video Baluns, however I believe some of the units are experiencing Ground Loops. The Power Supplies all appear to be standard 2-prong plugs, the circuitry inside appears to have a single ground wire running from the AC to DC transformer to a ground, but how can I tell if the individual cameras are grounded? if they are not grounded properly, how can I properly ground them? The symptoms of this system are many, some of the cameras are not displaying color fully (some appear almost fully black and white, but the cameras are in fact color), most of the displays are plagued by ghostly looking faint black translucent bars that are vertical in orientation and scroll from the right to the left of the screen. Others appear to also have what appears to be waves rolling up and down them (like how they demonstrated wavelengths in high school). then there are a few that simply do not produce anything but a black screen with random squiggles of video intermittently. the DVR recognizes that the cameras are sending a signal (they don't report as video loss, and they report whether they are in Motion detection mode or recording mode.) but there is no way to see what is being displayed. Are these symptoms of a Ground Loop? Also apparently the last technician who knew absolutely nothing about technology at all repaired a camera, it functioned for a day and then began showing the same massive video failure symptom as before. Is it possible for Ground Loops to take down cameras eventually? (as in it doesn't have to happen immediately?) the system has been in place for nearly 8 years, it hasn't been maintained properly in 6 years, (I have CCTV installation experience, but when I did the installs, I always did them correctly to begin with, this was done haphazardly - nothing labeled, CAT5 cables bent at 180 degree turns and zip tied, UTP wiring flushed out of the casing and 6-18" in some locations have been untwisted!) it is a nightmare CCTV installation and they just want me to magically fix it. On top of this, it's a 5 story Hotel with well over 100 cameras in place, so simply mapping out the camera locations is a nightmare! (a past employee actually reset the DVR's in the hopes of getting away with theft, and all they accomplished was to get caught, and delete the names of all the cameras on the dedicated DVR's - so now the locations are all uncomfirmed and many of them are improperly labeled on a Grid I was given and told to "fix". I'm not a veteran of this stuff, and I'm so glad this website exists because there seems to be some incredibly knowledgable men and women here who may help me continue to put food on the table for my children and keep this job which I'm really thinking I can learn something from and thus I am enjoying it, despite the occasional pull my hair out frustration when I troubleshoot something to the best of my ability, implement changes and fixes, and it doesn't do anything but nominally improve a non-working signal. I'm not worried about getting fired, as there is no way this hotel can afford someone with even my limited experience and my college education to come and do this with the pay rate they're offering, but I know that if I cannot figure it out, I won't continue to waste the companys money on paying me, I would feel as if I'm taking advantage and I don't want to feel that way! I am going to inform them to purchase a Test Monitor to use on the network, however, I am wondering if there is any test monitors that allow the direct connecting of the UTP wires from the Ethernet Cable? or if I'd have to splice them to a video Balun to connect to the monitor to test the signal strength at the different splicing locations and find out where my data signal is being degraded?

Okay, so I'm not completely ignorant to Surveillance systems or networks, but this system is baffling me! I took on a new job recently after losing my technology firm to employee embezzlement, and this job was for an IT Department at a Hotel, this hotel used to have an excellent CCTV system and server, but that was years ago, and there has not been an IT department since, they've had basic caveman maintenance guys running the show since. the system needs a massive amount of work done on it currently, however, they have one camera they desperately want me to have working, and that's their Presidential Suites hallway cameras for the 1-5th floors. All floors but floor 3 are operational currently. However, it appears that they're exhibiting poor quality video signal (some aren't displaying color very well, like the Tone has been turned up and the color screen and contrast reduced), and most of the cameras are displaying what appears to be a ground loop (due to me seeing vertical black bars that travel from right to left on each individual display). There are four cameras that are displaying virtually no image whatsoever! it is a very faint digital line scramble that comes through intermittently, but otherwise is showing a black screen. However, the DVR does in fact acknowledge that it is receiving a signal from the camera! My belief is that there is a ground loop in the data lines somewhere (the system has over 100 cameras in the hotel, my largest setup prior to this was a paltry 24 cameras, but since I was the installer, I know it was done with the utmost care and quality). I'm used to using 24 VAC cameras, but these are all 12 VDC cameras. They are powered via Wall Warts, and the Wall Warts are connected to the individual cameras via spliced CAT5 lines. Spliced CAT5 lines are also running the data stream through Video Baluns (the cameras are BNC systems, the Power and Data Lines are run to Baluns and are spliced onto the Ethernet system. The Power cords are spliced using Small wire pinch splicers onto the proprietary power connector, which is then simply plugged into the camera - for warranty purposes we don't want to damage the existing cameras power or data lines to just splice them directly onto the CAT5 cables.) I have never really used a Multimeter before, but I have traced the lines using a Tone Generator and Probe, and have verified with that the toner that the data line reaches soundly from camera all the way to active DVR receiver. Can anyone provide links or explain to me how to properly test both the data systems and the power systems to ensure that the DC power levels are within proper limits? How does one properly determine that it is in fact a ground fault and not some other problem? (I see ghosting from one camera to another, so I know Crosstalk is occuring too, however, this doesn't seem to be a problem for the current management, at least not imperative to repair right away, the primary concern is establishing connectivity to the lost cameras, and determining what is causing the system to drop off repeatedly?) Side note: apparently one mission critical Camera was repaired before by someone from Maintenance that had almost no experience in CCTV or IT, and it was working for all of 29 hours before going offline and not continuing to function. What troubleshooting tips does anyone have for me? How do I test the cameras? (I've tried Swapping the cameras, re-doing the splicers, checking the baluns for failure by using known good ones, I've ran the Line Toner to ensure that the connection is functioning, but I also read something about looking for Ground Loop in the data line - something that can happen with 12 VDC cameras easily - by testing the Data Line against ground and looking for some very small discrepancies.). Thankfully the employer is being patient with me because of the sheer amount of damage that has been caused to the system by the cavemen in maintenance over the years, they've installed cameras with improper hardware (framing screws, etc. I am curious in a building with metal studs, can a framing screw going through the mounting hole of a 12 VDC camera cause it to effectively ground out against the Metal stud and degrade/eliminate picture?) I apologize for the massive post, and really would appreciate any help that can be offered to me!