Re: Help with CCTV

["Bob La Londe" <none@xxxxxxxxxx>]

"Jim Davis"  wrote in message
news:6e8ff96a-84f3-4f3b-b6e8-b55745320045@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

On Tuesday, May 16, 2017 at 4:46:20 PM UTC-4, E D wrote:
> You should not have bought any of this, but you did not know what you were
> getting into... it was price driven.
>
> When you are viewing the cam on screen that the mic is recording to, find
> an icon that actually turns on the sound recording. Also, it may be in
> your setup screens somewhere, so that you can enable the recording to
> actually happen. Plugging in a mic and hoping that it works, it not how
> this is going to happen. Just keep going thru every last setup screen in
> the entire software package bundled in your dvr, and eventually you will
> find it.
>
> But then again, it still may not work. After you spend all this time
> finding it, you may realize that it wasn't worth the deal that you thought
> you got after all.
>
> You actually paid $159.95 for your package which is about $100.00 too much
> for this kind of quality that can be bought directly from China for $59.95
> total... you were Ebayed!


Yeah .... Whoooweee! that's gotta really smart too.

I bet he won't be able to sit down for at least a week.

*********

You know I used to buy various "cheap" cameras, and "cheap" systems to test
in my shop because customers would always ask me about them and I figured
actually owning them was cheap education.  Sometimes you get a surprise and
its really the next step up in features and step down in price point.  I
remember when starlight cost almost $10K (back when I worked for Kurt) for a
camera body with no lens and no housing.  Now you can get fair starlight
(short range) for under 3... hundred at decent resolution.  It even has
internal computer controlled brightness blocking for headlights and other
sudden bright sources.

Sometimes you get other surprises too.  I found a really cool PT (no Z) 720p
IP camera once for under $100.  Plug and Play.  Almost.  When you installed
the browser plug-in to view it on your computer it also loaded malware.
Oops.  I actually used it for a while in a sandboxed environment.  Then I
found a work around.  I used a third party viewing software on my Android
devices, and the malware was not installed.  No access to the recorded video
on the sd card, but atleast it was useable.  I used it for about 5 years
before I got tired of having to reboot it more and more often to keep it on
the network.

12-13 years ago when MACE first hit the market I had a jeweler client come
back from a jewelry trade show all excited about them for the price.  So I
bought a system.  Back then it was strictly simplex.  Yeah it was a 16
camera DVR that came with 16 cameras, but if you were viewing only one that
was all that was recording.  If you were viewing recorded material you were
not recording at all.  I still have the DVR.  In fact I have one of my other
DVRs looped out to it for backup.  Amazingly the hard drive has not failed.
I do check it about once a month.  The cameras I actually used too.  They
were cheap cameras, but in all those years only one of them has failed.  I
don't use them for anything resolution sensitive like actual security, but I
use them every day.  I have three of them mounted on CNC milling machines in
the machine room.  That way I can see when a machine stops and is ready to
change stock for the next job or to change a tool.  I have a couple more on
open areas of the shop floor just to see if anybody has gotten by the door
cameras without me noticing.  They do that.  They even illuminate marginally
well at night with all the lights off.  Well enough to see a person moving
around, and then I can switch to one of the better cameras and rewind to
recognize who if I need to.   It was never a great system, but it was pretty
good, "for the price."  I still sold my client something better.

Even if you don't sell the "cheap" stuff you should know about it.  I quite
often had a customer ask me about some "system" or another and I would say
either of two things.

1.  (Usually for box store systems.)  I have heard some people say that it
worked ok for them.  If you really think it will work ok for you buy it from
somebody with a good return policy, set it up, test it, and if you are happy
install it.  If you are not happy with it package it up nicely and take it
back.

2.  (Often for inexpensive systems with a great price on-line or through
alternative trade channels (like a jeweler's association))  I have one in my
office.  Come on over and I will be glad to show the differences and you can
decide if you you want that or the system I think is a better value for your
money.

One comment about those old MACE cameras.  They have an audio pickup built
in, but the cables are non standard colors.  On most other things yellow is
video and other colors are audio or other connections.  On those MACE beer
can cameras yellow is audio and white is video.  I never sold any.

When I was cleaning out my shop last year I threw away a lot of video
equipment.