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

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

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.

(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, 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. 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.)

HTH ... Marc Marc_F_Hult

If they work, that's quite a deal.

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!

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.

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.

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?

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."

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.

| >>

| >I've been searching the above site for a product manual, but both links on | >that page: | >

| >

| >and | >

| >

| >seem to point to the same 1 page spec sheet. I would imagine only having a | >spec sheet would make programming and understanding this beastie a little | >intimidating. 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. 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. 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.

Note that some of the other units on the site do have the full manual available which might be helpful if they share the same ASCII protocol. (Unfortunately, the 9-input version of the MUX16TC--which would be the closest--also has its manual link pointed at its spec sheet.) If anyone finds the real manual please post; I bought a couple as well...

Dan Lanciani ddl@danlan.*com

Darn! It was a good idea, though. That's pretty odd that two different "manual" buttons only point to spec sheets. I even searched

The Ebay site lists only one left! We are the Muxmen, I guess. Hopefully with the three of us owning the same device we'll be able to figure out most of the device without a manual. It sure would be nice to have one, though.

-- Bobby G.