Lindopski 0 Posted April 4, 2011 Hello All CCTV Testers ! I need one to lug around to a few DVRs in various locations around my trusts. at the moment I am carrying a 17" monitor and its cables, a keyboard and a mouse. as you can imagine it isnt fun and hence why I am looking at these things, I am a total noob however and dont have a clue what to go for. Is there one out there that would make my life easier and if so which is the best to go for? Many Thanks Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tomcctv 187 Posted April 4, 2011 Hello All CCTV Testers ! I need one to lug around to a few DVRs in various locations around my trusts. at the moment I am carrying a 17" monitor and its cables, a keyboard and a mouse. as you can imagine it isnt fun and hence why I am looking at these things, I am a total noob however and dont have a clue what to go for. Is there one out there that would make my life easier and if so which is the best to go for? Many Thanks Hi Lindopski. there could be an easyer way. if you know the make of dvr you are connecting to. if it has network. you could just carry a laptop with a crossover cable and just plug direct into dvr Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Soundy 1 Posted April 4, 2011 What are you thinking of in the way of "testers"? Something like just a service monitor for analog cameras? Something for IP cameras? Something that tests cable as well? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lindopski 0 Posted April 5, 2011 Hello and thank you for the replies. I have inherited the CCTV side of things from my predacessor who was a CCTV installer in earlier life. I come from an IT support background and as no one seemed to want to help the security manager with these things I sort of jumped in to assist. We use Avermedia and Dowshu DVRs, mostly Avers now to be honest though we still have a few Dowshu around. One of the problems I find often is that cameras seem to lose connection, so some way of testing them externally from the DVR itself would be handy - equally it would be useful to attach the gadget up to a DVR and see what is on screen. I may still need to carry a keyboard and mouse about but its better than carrying monitors and allsorts I think that some of the issues we get when a Whole DVR is playing up is that there is a network issue of some kind and attending them locally to prove they are online and recording fine helps when I have to hassle the network teams. These DVRs are all viewed remotely at a security office via the network and (in the case of the aver units) Cm3000 software - Cant remember the dowshu one off the top of my head. Any equipment that would help, would be handy to be honest - I could also do with sitting a few courses I think to get up to scratch but for now I have been looking at a few testers but being pretty wet behind the ears its fairly confusing as to what I really need. One of our local stores is doing this one https://web.nhs.net/owa/redir.aspx?C=d24f1146b35741729b9e47c671c651f7&URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.moretonalarms.co.uk%2fshop%2farticle_278%2fCCTV-Tester.html%3fshop_param%3dcid%253D88%2526aid%253D278%2526 It looks like it would do the job alright but like I say I am a bit new to it all. Ive gone from the world of ICT to a world of Door security/alarms/mag locks/power supplies/CCTV etc. I love it all but just want to improve and I think think that something along these lines will help me speed things up a bit as at the moment I am lugging about a monitor/keyboard/mouse and the power for it all - usually there is no power near the DVR either which is a right PITA! The laptop idea is good ,but for some base camera testing as well a proper unit might be more use. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tomcctv 187 Posted April 5, 2011 Hello and thank you for the replies. I have inherited the CCTV side of things from my predacessor who was a CCTV installer in earlier life. I come from an IT support background and as no one seemed to want to help the security manager with these things I sort of jumped in to assist. We use Avermedia and Dowshu DVRs, mostly Avers now to be honest though we still have a few Dowshu around. One of the problems I find often is that cameras seem to lose connection, so some way of testing them externally from the DVR itself would be handy - equally it would be useful to attach the gadget up to a DVR and see what is on screen. I may still need to carry a keyboard and mouse about but its better than carrying monitors and allsorts I think that some of the issues we get when a Whole DVR is playing up is that there is a network issue of some kind and attending them locally to prove they are online and recording fine helps when I have to hassle the network teams. These DVRs are all viewed remotely at a security office via the network and (in the case of the aver units) Cm3000 software - Cant remember the dowshu one off the top of my head. Any equipment that would help, would be handy to be honest - I could also do with sitting a few courses I think to get up to scratch but for now I have been looking at a few testers but being pretty wet behind the ears its fairly confusing as to what I really need. One of our local stores is doing this one https://web.nhs.net/owa/redir.aspx?C=d24f1146b35741729b9e47c671c651f7&URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.moretonalarms.co.uk%2fshop%2farticle_278%2fCCTV-Tester.html%3fshop_param%3dcid%253D88%2526aid%253D278%2526 It looks like it would do the job alright but like I say I am a bit new to it all. Ive gone from the world of ICT to a world of Door security/alarms/mag locks/power supplies/CCTV etc. I love it all but just want to improve and I think think that something along these lines will help me speed things up a bit as at the moment I am lugging about a monitor/keyboard/mouse and the power for it all - usually there is no power near the DVR either which is a right PITA! The laptop idea is good ,but for some base camera testing as well a proper unit might be more use. Lindopski. were are you based ......... northwest i guess if you are using dowshu. you should be able to do anything with the CM3000 (if setup right) control / set / alter / and get alerts from all your units. are you using standard or gold CMS Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Soundy 1 Posted April 5, 2011 That link requires a login - how about just a make and model of the unit you're referring to? For an analog service monitor, I just use a portable DVD player with an A/V input - similar to this: For IP cameras and remote access, I carry a netbook (Asus EEEPC model) - small, light, great on battery life, easy to read even in bright sunlight with an LED screen. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lindopski 0 Posted April 5, 2011 Hello again sorry about the link , not sure why you cant just view it. I think after some digging its a MKM310P(N) cctv tester ? I have looked around and there are loads Rapport II and others also. I am based in the North West - The Wirral actually and CM3000 is a good bit of kit but when the network is playing up I lose comms with some of the DVRs - network issues are the bane of my life CCTV wise every new strategy to block viruses or others ****s up the CCTV good style and the network seems to be changing all the time - new DNS servers and adresses,Domain controller server address changes etc, stuff being blocked on ports and other such nuisances - hence the lugging about with loads of kit. Locally the machines are usually ok its when they hit the network I get grief and thats where CM3000 picks it all up from,or doesnt as the settings all need changing on the DVR's locally (usually the case) I think we must be on CM3000 standard not gold and hopefully now most of the messing about network wise is done life may be easier but a portable gadget would be handy to take around. We dont have any IP cams as of yet - its all bog standard co-ax jobbies which are all usually ok till a jenny test kills a couple Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tomcctv 187 Posted April 5, 2011 Hi Lindopski am on the wirral also. the tester you have listed will not do what you need. it is only composite connection so you cant control anything with your mouse and keyboard. i take it the dvrs dont have a local monitor ?? remember CMS is port reliant are all your ports the standard avers 5550/5555/9999/53/1053. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dirk_D 0 Posted April 17, 2011 this is what I use: http://www.cabletronix.com/pdf/cctvmeters.pdf Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
