Re: Recomendations wanted for outdoor video camera (make/model) and retailer

["Robert Green" <ROBERT_GREEN1963@xxxxxxxxx>]

"Marc F Hult" <MFHult@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message

<stuff snipped>

>>Do you have the full manual or know where it could be found?
>>
>>Do you really have 32 cameras or did you buy an extra as a spare
>>or for another location?

> These units are apparently current models that sell new for more than 5X
the
> shipped price through eBay.

If they work, that's quite a deal.

> There is a ~52.77% chance that one can plug in a
> serial connection, fire up a terminal program at 9600,8,n,1 (or
> thereabouts),  hit the carriage return, and all will be revealed
> through the unit's 'embedded' ASCII-based  control program.

There's also a chance the unit's been mostly fried.  The vendors make it
pretty clear at that low price, all they'll grudgingly guarantee is that the
unit is not DOA.  They add that all they know about the unit is that they
can see a single video output from a single camera input.  If they work
properly, it's quite a bargain, I'll agree.  (So much so I just bought 2!)
Goldcircuit seems to have a fairly decent feedback rating, although that
really means little these days.  From what I can gather they are "an asset
recovery firm" -- in other words, Repo Men!

> If not, the complete manual might prove even more useful than
> expected and will be sought ;-) It looks like the download you
> cite may just be the first page.

I've put in a request to their "techincal support" (sic) group for a copy,
electronic or otherwise.  While it appears there's much you can do without a
manual, I'm not sure I can set the video motion detector up correctly
without some written guidance.

> Having multiplexors is (for me) all about not having to run more cables.
> Having two multiplexors is so that one can be on the 3rd floor/attic and
one
> in the basement.

That makes sense.  I bought a second one primarily as a backup.  It would
cost $100 for a tech to even sneeze on the unit, let alone open it up and
diagnose it.  I've had key "junction" devices fail before (gateways, hubs,
switches - and back in the good old days a whole Alloy slave chassis with 6
modem lines coming into it) that caused no end of trouble to repair.  A swap
out unit would have been a godsend in each of the previous cases.  Swapping
in a spare would have been a lot cheaper than my time rigging a temporary
solution, in most cases.

> (The exterior and interior walls of my house are
> solid, 185-year-old bricks so running new cables
> is not a trivial exercise. The inside of the exterior
> walls used to be insulated with horsehair,

Probably more ecologically sound than Styrofoam or urethane but I hope it
was cleaned first.  I've had some stable experience and eau de cheval isn't
exactly a sought-after scent. :-)  I bought some natural goose down pillows
from Canada once that I knew must be the real deal because they smelled just
like -- you guessed it -- geese.  Especially when the humidity was high.  I
had to wash them about ten times in scalding water to get the goose stink
out. Now they're odorless but have the consistency of lead birdshot.  What's
the R value of horsehair?

> but that was removed late in the last century and most are
> now skim-coated brick. Even if I value my time at  minimum
> wage, it's much preferable to multiplex than to run more cables.

Yes, it's easy to lose sight of what your time's worth.  Another reason I
got a second multiplexer was to assist in determining if something that
seems not to be working appears on both units or is limited to one.
Experience has also taught me it's not a spare until you've actually swapped
it in once to confirm that it works.  Sort of like "a backup tape isn't
really a backup unless you can successfully restore it."

> My long-term fix is to do what I did at my last house
> which is to build out("build-in", actually) the existing
> walls with stud-and-drywall, insulated and wired walls.)

Was it on any sort of historic register?  My carpenter friend bought a 200
year-old house (although I think he agreed to restore it as part of the
deal) and he's extremely limited in what he can do in terms of
modernization.  Not only that, after ten years of loving restoration they
built a new county incinerator about a mile away.  That's when Hank took in
interest in home weather stations, particular wind trends. :-)

Well, if you get hold of the manual (which I assume is at least 25 pages
based on one of the URL's), please alert me and I will do the same for you
if GVI responds to my email.

Thanks!

--
Bobby G.