vitHoward

If you are still looking for a connector to fit your cable, check out the CaP System from Telecom & Security in Italy. Their connector will fit any size coaxial cable from miniature thru RG6 quad shield. www.telecomsecurity.it The connectors were sold in Austraila under the name CaP-Blue. I am assisting the Italians through a new company in the United States www.CaP-America.US

How about a 30-second BNC connector that you can't screw up because you can take it off and reuse it, but it can't be pulled off! I found these connectors made in Italy. They are just coming to the US. Remember the of Shick commercial where the fellow says "I like the shave so much, I bought the company?" Well, I didn't buy the company, but I am assisting my new Italian friends in getting the word out. Check out www.cap-america.us

I have done numerous tests. As long as the cable runs are less than about 300ft, there is no noticeable difference using passive baluns. Going above 300 feet, we noticed that the color burst started to drop, causing the colors to begin to fade although the image was still very sharp. The disclaimer: your results may vary depending on the length and quality of cable, the signal level of the camera, balun and a host of other site specific circumstances. Do I use them? Yes, and I have been very satisfied. I hope this helps. Howard Kohnstamm

You mentioned that you used RG6 cable. If the cable is copper covered steel center and foiled shielded, that might be your problem. It doesn't matter whether it is RG59 or RG6 as the RG number simply specifies the size. It's the construction of the cable that matters. Foil shielded cable allows the composite video to create "waves" that can cause ghosting. I had an 18" jumper in the middle of a 300 run that completely messed up my signal. It took weeks to find it. Look at the surface of the cable jacket. If you can see the "herringbone" pattern, it's the wrong stuff. Please post a reply to let me know if that's the problem. Howard

Ryan, I hope you had a good experience at ISC West. I'm sorry but with industry meetings on Wednesday, I didn't have time to walk more than about 60% of the show on Thursday and Friday. Howard www.videoguardit.com

Maybe we'll bump into each other. (and about ten thousand other people) Howard

Be prepared for sensory overload. There is so much to see and so much noise you'll likely tire quickly. Wear comfortable shoes and buy a case of water from a grocery or drug store. (It costs less than a single bottle at the convention center) Stay hydrated and you might as well bring some sort of power bar to nibble on while walking..... and you'll do some walking. Bring a suitable briefcase with a comfortable handle or a rolling case. It's amazing how much literature you end up carrying. Those free bags with the plastic handles get amazingly uncomfortable as the day wears on. Take advantage of some of the free information sessions, specially the one on NICET certification for CCTV. Wednesday 1:00pm RM506.

It's a very good thing! www.fmsystems-inc.com Hope this helps. Howard www.videoguardit.com

The camera master is so sensitive that by touching the focus ring and thinking about turning it will cause the digital readout to change. I got two of them and require that all of our cameras are focused using one.

There are several digital meters that will assist in focusing a camera. The most important thing about focusing an auto-iris lens is to open the iris. When focusing during the day, the auto-iris will close down creating a pin-hole. With a small opening almost everything will be within the depth of field. At night, when the iris opens up, there is a good chance that the picture will be "soft" of slightly out of focus. Use a #5 welders or cutting torch lens in front of the auto-iris to open up the iris. Then use whatever method you choose to actually focus on the target. Another tip: When using the two-man method, have the guy at the camera define "left" and "right". The man at the monitor can then give more specific instructions. move left, left, left, stop, right. etc. Instead of keep going, stop, the other way, not the other other way... Good Luck Howard howard@videoguardit.com www.videoguardit.com

Live two day training. Non commercial www.videoguardit.com

The engineers at Arecont are great technology people. (I love their cameras.) But they failed to check with the folks in the real world to see how we live. If properly back-focused, a zoom lens focused on a object will stay in focus throughout the range of the focal length. In practice, a very minor change in the distance from the imager to the lens will greatly effect the back-focus. Arecont has promised to address the situation. Unfortutely, when it comes to zoom lenses, we're pretty much screwed unless we're lucky enough to grab the right shim. By the way, I found an assortment of "shims" at a plumbing store. They're the washers used around faucet stems. They come in a lot of sizes and thicknesses. I grabbed a handfull last time I was in... just in case. Hope this helps, Howard Kohnstamm www.videoguardit.com

Lens aren't rated in megapixels because they don't have pixels. Some really sharp marketing guys/gals came up with the concept. The key is to have a GOOD lens designed for the format of the camera. Since most of the megapixel cameras have a 1/2" diagonal format, it's important to use a lens with a format diameter of 1/2" or bigger. A 1/3" format lens just won't do. A good lens is required because minor flaws in cheaper lens can't be detected with a NTSC signal camera. A megapixel camera might detect the flaw. (But I haven't seen one yet) Hope this helps Howard Kohnstamm www.videoguardit.com ps. NICET certification in CCTV systems is now available. Now you can prove to the world just how great you really are! www.nicet.org

Hello all, For some time, I've been complaining about the lack of picture quality of recorded video due to the NTSC standards from the 1940's. I've seen the future and it is finally here. I'm using a camera with a pixel matrix of 1600x 1200. It sure beats the heck out of the 740 x 240 we get with today's DVR's It requires some downloadable codecs in order to view over the internet but the following link shows actual unretouched images of two side by side cameras lookinng out of my office window. http://www.videoguardit.com/hi-def-comparison-pics.html What do you think? Howard Kohnstamm howard@videoguardit.com PS. Besides being a systems integrator, I offer a two day course in CCTV basics. I'll schedule a class anywhere that I can get a group of 15 or more people.

Rory, The recorder I am testing is as good as any I have ever used. All of the basic controls, plus a lot of neat new ones. I can actually "zoom" almost 300% without lose of video quality. You can't do that with conventional cameras. Since the unit has been on the market for several years, they have all of the bugs worked out. What is new is the ability to also record the high definition. Yes it is IP based, motion JPEG 1600 x 1200. Most flat screen computer monitors don't have the pixel count to display the image at full resolution. I'm using CRT's with new video cards to test the units. I'll a little reluctant to give out too much specific info at the moment. I want to get a solid jump on my local competition before showing all of my cards. I expect within the next months many more manufacturers will realilze that the new world is here and they need to get with it. I wish you could round up 15 or so folks in your part of the world that would like some serous but fun CCTV training. I sure could use an excuse for a Bahamas trip. Howard howard@videoguardit.com www.videoguardit.com

Rory, The big change is that the dealer costs are low enough that they can be sold for under a thousand dollars with a decent margin for the installer. Several DVR mfg's are beginning to produce units that are very reasonable. It's not a cheap system, but I'd rather spend my time on a good system with a decent profit than on a half dozen that I barely break even on. By the way, what did you think of the video? Howard

Up until the advent of the DVR, most customers were content to have one video tape for each day of the week, so they wouldn't normally have more than a week's worth of video. Some never bothered to even change the tape. They just left the tape in the machine and let it rewind once a day. By the way, in normal 24 hour mode, we only had 5 images total from all of the camera. Why, all of the sudden is it necessary to have a months worth of video. Most of my customers know within a couple of days (maybe a long weekend) if they have an incident that they need to save. I'm thrilled to have good clean high quality images even if I'm only going to get 2 to 3 images/sec for 8 or 9 cameras. By the way, if you get a chance to look at the video images, try zooming in. At 300% we still have good images, at 400%, not so good. To answer the comment about recording. The images are motion jpegs so they are not compatible with standard DVR's etc. They require a computer with special software. Cheaper than a DVR because we don't need an image capture card. The images are already "captured". Our world is about to witness a major revolution!!!!!! Howard

We're shooting for 2 to 3 images per second. By recompressing, the file size is running 30k to 50k, about 2 to 3 times the size of a standard video file. Hard drives are cheap. Picture quality is priceless. Almost sounds like a mastercard ad. hk

Your answered you question. "Cheap" cameras. It looks like the camera does not have an actual iris. It is probably getting too much light. The electronic shutter does not reduce the amount of light but the amount of signal.

NOLA, RG6 65% foil shielded cable is perfect for modulated signals (Cable TV, Antenna systems, etc.) The foil shielded cable normally has a copper clad steel center conductor. CCTV is pure voltage (less than 1 volt). It requires a solid copper center with a 95% copper braid. The size doesn't matter except for distance: ie, RG59 is good for runs up to approximately 1000 ft. RG6 goes up to 1500. Please feel free to give him a copy of this email. If he would like to check my credentials, he can go to www.videoguardit.com. Using the wrong cable (shielded) is one of the many mistakes on which I based my training class. Thanks for posting the reply about your first problem and let your engineer know that the wrong construction cable was the culprit. Howard

Cooperman, It's so nice to read a post from someone who knows what they are talking about. Cheers! Howard

NOLA, Please let me know what construction of cable is being used. I've got a quarter betting that it's foil shielded. Thanks, Howard www.videoguardit.com

I might have mispoke. I was talking about the Camera Master CM-1 from FM Sytems in California. I've used it for years and really like it. www.fmsystems-inc.com Howard

That's what I love about this business. I learn something new everyday! Howard www.videoguardit.com/cctv_essentials.html

I'm curious. You mentioned that you were using RG6 cable. Is it CCTV cable, solid copper center with a 95% copper braid or CATV cable with a foil shield. If it's foil shield, then that's where your problen is. The foil is designed for a modulated signal not for the low current of a CCTV composite signal. I had a 18" jumper of foil cable mess up a 200 ft run of the correct cable. Replacing the short jumper cleaned up my interference. Howard www.videoguardit.com