Stam Multimedia CCTV Complete review

[jisaac 0]

I have a brother that is working with me. I have him mainly because he is a financially minded person and I am not that great at doing the books. So that is his job title. But he is also helping out on installs and trying to learn. He is in NO WAY a technical person. So he gets extremely frustrated when he does not understand things during the install. And then he gets pissy. So I am trying to educate him faster (because the way its going right now he is not learning much). So has anyone tried the STAM MULTIMEDIA online CCTV course? I need to start him off with really basic stuff. And need him to learn alot. (he is pissing me off). Any thoughts or suggestions?

[JMANOFNVS 0]

Never heard of that one but I know Pelco has some nice training and its free.

[rory 0]

STAM used to be the only one offering CCTV training online ... very well known company, never used them so cant comment other that that.

 

When i first started i bought a book from LTC (Charlie Pierce) and it was a ton of help, oldschool CCTV mainly but thats best thing to start with .. i never did read the whole thing and lent it out and never got it back!! Arghh.

 

Check out the LTC training videos though, they should be more helpful than an online course.

 

Rory

[kandcorp 0]

When I began at MACE, I took that online course from Stam. It actually really helped me understand all the technical aspects of CCTV and video surveillance. I had a little technical/computer background which helped but the course really helped for someone that knew absolutely nothing about CCTV. Some of the material was kind of outdated but, that was about 3-4 years ago.

Isaac, it would probably be good for your bro. Is he somewhat technically inclined?

 

Got my Stam Online CCTV course Plaque hangin on the wall

[jisaac 0]

he is in no way technically inclined. Thats the problem.

[rory 0]

i never did any techical work in my life until one day i went out and trained for a month to install alarms then went on my own after that ... He's gotta WANT to do it otherwise its a waste of time ..

 

buy him the LTC video, that might be easier to deal with ..

[normicgander 0]

There's a book authored by Vlado Damjanovski titled "CCTV Networking and Digital Technology." I think I paid less than $30 for it online. I highly recommend it because it covers all the components of the CCTV system as well as signal egress methods, headend equipment and recording technology.

[cctv_down_under 0]

I have not read Vlado's new book, his old one was my bible, i know him personally and I can tell you that this book would not suit your brother because it is indeed like Vlado, very correct, very complex, i found it informative but I already knew a LOT, is there much about digital in the new book?

 

I have done the Stam course through CD's and although very outdated it is a great starting point!

[JMANOFNVS 0]

I feel like a slacker now! Learned most of what I know from talking to dealer/ installers, reps, manufacturers techs, co-workers and the internet (which includes here). The business has changed alot since I've been in it...couldn't even imagine what it was like when a b/w basic cctv cam cost hundreds of dollars or even before the internet.

[Jasper 0]

Your not a slacker. If you were you wouldn't be here.

 

And I am sure a lot of information you pick up is from feedback customers relay back, which you hear about.

 

Mgee - It sounds like your brother is just going to frustrate you more. It's not his business for one. He may never pick it up to the degree you want because it may not really interest him past a job. JMHO.

[surf1div1 0]

While reviewing this site, I've also come across a couple of the same options- Stam and the LSI- My preference would be something like a DVD course(or CD) as opposed to the online course so that I could review it for future reference- I believe from a newbies standpoint- like me that it would be more beneficial. Also, the Stam course is only a 60 day license if I'm not mistaken- what happens when you want to review it? Also, if anyone no longer wants there course and is willing to sell theres- even if it's a couple of years old, I would be interested even though I don't do this for a living, I'm interested enough to look into the formal education you would take to learn it. I've tried Ebay, and Amazon but to date haven't found anything used. Also, I've looked into evening courses from the local community college but don't see anything out here in California. Hey, I'm even willing to apprentice for any of you Cali guys on a weekend just so that I can what it's about. I figure hands on is great, but would appreciate the opprotunity to learn what it's about- PM me if your interested- I'm in Ventura County. I'm not looking for work, just an education )

AL

[rory 0]

Have you checked out this site, they have DVDs also.

 

ltctrainingcntr.com

[surf1div1 0]

Thank's Rory- Do you think I should get the whole thing, or from and end users standpoint what do you suggest?

[jisaac 0]

man i wish my end users took a tenth of the initiative to educate them selves on the products as you do. Because if not I get a bunch of questions like in the post "what is the stupidest question asked to by a customer".

Oh which by the way I have one that tops them all I think.

We installed a 32 camera system for a womans clothing store. And when we put our dvr's online we will log in about once a week to make sure cameras still look good. And everything is still operable. Well this location did not want a monitor at first. So about 2 months later she said she wanted one and asked if we had her's. I was like , " no we do not have a monitor of yours"?!?!?!? And she asked well how do you watch the cameras from your office? I was like, "over the internet".

You have to understand. It is 22 miles between that store and our office. That would be one hell of a cable run!

[Cooperman 0]

Singlemode fibre then (sorry, couldn't resist it!).

 

Back in the '70s, there weren't any training courses; you just had to use your common sense, or learn about CCTV the hard way.

 

Just last week, I went round to a client that was using a 15+ year old TOA line powered Vidicon tubed camera, that was not producing a picture (referred by a friend of a friend, so no chance to make any decent money out of it).

 

I whipped off the covers, tickled the circuits, and they said the picture was way better than they'd ever seen it before.

 

I happened to mention that if another engineer were to look at it now, 95% would say it's old technology and can't be repaired, when in fact there wasn't anything fundamentally wrong with it (other than the circuits needed recalibrating). Surpsise, surprise, they admitted that another "expert" had already looked at it, and said precisely that - it would cost them hundreds for a new camera as their old museum piece couldn't be repaired.

 

The moral of this silly story (if there is one) is that you can only learn so much from a training course, but you can't learn what they don't teach you - most of the courses I've seen have a lot of useful information, along with glaring deficiencies in areas that they don't tell you about.

 

For someone who doesn't have an interest or passion for learning about technology, any knowledge is better than nothing, but a little knowledge can ultimately be a dangerous (and expensive) thing.