Tag: CCTV solutions

Buying a cheap DVR?….then prepare to buy twice

What DVR to buy?

What do customers want and expect from a CCTV solution when they are originally sold the the concept?

Clear crisp images.

Well most customers will expect crisp, clear live images to watch during the day and to be fair pretty much all camera systems are capable of producing this. A pre-installation demonstration can illustrate this well and most customers are happy to buy on what they have seen.

The pitfalls.

However what most end users fail to realize is that the live images are just a small part of the overall solution. So many times after an incident has occurred that they find out too late that they have purchased a system that is quite frankly totally unacceptable.

Why?

How can this be? Well often they discover to their cost that the DVR has let them down , no matter how good the pictures look “live” it is the play back and the information that can be gained at this crucial point that makes the difference between a good CCTV system and what can only be described as quite simply a white elephant..

What goes wrong?

Several things can go wrong when the customer comes to review an incident. One of the most common we have come across is that the hard-drive has failed. Cheap DVRs have no internal monitoring of the hard-drive health and no visible or audible indication that it is failing or worse, has failed. The consequences are obvious ..no pictures to review.

Other problems.

Other problems are that the DVR images are are a pale replica of what the customer has been used to watching live. This is because the picture quality that has been laid down onto the disc has been reduced to save hard-drive space. Either the pictures are jerky or pixelated and any attempt to zoom in on the incident is met with a mass of pixelated squares. Worse still the installer may have made the picture quality too good, so we have great images but find that we have recorded over the incident we are looking for. It may turn out you will have only one or two days recording.

Unhappy customers.

All this leads to customer dissatisfaction and in many cases the customer will find he spent a lot of money and achieved nothing. Correct advice is essential to ensure that the correct DVR is purchased in the first place . This may of course cost quite a bit more money at the time of the original purchase , however it seems  pointless to buy a DVR that is effectively useless!

Buy cheap, buy twice!

So think hard when deciding what you want to achieve from your CCTV system , Some applications may only need the very limited recordings that cheaper DVR’s will give you , but if you need a CCTV solution that you can rely on to give you the highest quality and lengthy service, its worth shopping around for the DVR that will actually give you EVERYTHING that you want.

New Euro 46 from Castle Care-Tec

New intruder panel.

Castle Care-tec are upgrading the base euro 1 panel currently known as the Euro 1024 and renaming all there current panel range in the process. This change will come into place on April 1st 2010 and they will also update the in-sight remote connection software to enhance connection speed and functionality.

Flexible.

Expandability is not a feature of the new euro 46, but the extra benefits the new panel has should prevent the need for upgrading most systems. The Euro 1 Plus will now be re-badged as the Euro76. The Euro 76 is the same as the original Euro One Plus this does allow flexibility to add additional zones and can be expanded as before.

New features.

Below we list some features and understand that the dual-com will now fit inside the redesigned panel layout.

Euro 46 (Grade 2 and 3) v Euro 1024 (Grade 2)

The Euro 1024 can only be used as a Grade 2 security solution where as the new Euro 46 has the flexibility to commissioned as grade 2 or 3.

The Euro 1024 has 28 inputs the end of line resistors are restricted to 4k7 / 2k2 , DEOL or SEOL.

The Euro 46 has 46 inputs (thus the name)  True Double Pole wiring can be configured or DEOL wiring, however both can be integrated together should there be the requirement euro 46 also supports SEOL resistors. 4k7 / 2k2, 1k /1k and 6k8 / 4k7. are the selective resistor values that can be used•

The Euro 1024 only has 4 part set modes this can be limiting at times.

The Euro 46 actually has 6 separate areas that can be individually configured.•

The Euro 1024is limited to 20 codes whether they be manager or user.

The Euro 46 has the added value of 75 codes that can be programmed as manager or user.

The Euro 1024 is limited to the use of 4 keypads across the whole system.

The Euro 46 now has the ability to support up to six separate keypads on the system.

The Euro 1024 has one size box and this is a large enclosure.

The Euro 46 has two different size enclosures so you can choose depending on needs and space available to fit the panel.

An additional feature of the  Euro 46 is that it has a Switch Mode PSU this a is cool running process that ensures battery life is prolonged.

Integrated Door Entry Control and integrated Access Control are part of the standard set up and the panel supports remote maintenance better known as ARM.

Integrated with CCTV solutions the logging features complies with a policed monitored CCTV system and is easily tested and commissioned using the on board forced walk test facility.

Conclusion

Castle have thought long and hard about this panel panel and the new features allow it to fit into a market place dominated by small to medium size installations. The flexibility of this panel means that with the right marketing and trouble free from any un-found bugs we predict a that this panel will be a winner.