cctv help

stevemcol

Keep an eye on ebay and look out for a CCTV DVR. They crop up occasionally at reasonable price. That will normally use a BNC connector and will record continuously to a hardrive, re-recording when the disk is full.

Linbox

You will have one channel on the vrc that will view whatever comes in from the scart connection.
You will have one channel on the TV that will view whatever comes in from the scart connection.

You should already have the scart connection from the vcr to the tv so that you can see whats on the vcr. (get this set up first)

Connect the cctv to the decoder scart socket. Power on the cctv system. Next find the channel on the VCR that sees the view from the camera. You will view this from the TV obviously.


If this doesn't work swap the scart plugs on the vcr and try again.

buglawton

You can also get a digital recording box from Maplin, that detects motion and takes snapshots or clips then stores them all. This way you can gather evidence if needed. A full system seems to add up to a fair bit though & I have not seen anyone post a 100% good review, there is always a snag or two along the way. But such a system would be practically as good as shop or premises security CCTV.

Doktor_Jon

brickie58 wrote: »

... if i connect camera to my tv it works fine but i cant work out how to record to an old vcr, my tv has 1 scart connection the vcr has 2 scart connections av1 and av2 and an rf lead to tv any help please,thanks.

Hi brickie58,

By accident, I just happened to be passing, so .....

In addition to the useful advice so far, first thing to do is check that the VCR is working ok, so you'll need a SCART to SCART lead which you can connect between your TV's socket and the 'AV2' on your VCR.
(or alternatively, you could use the 'Aerial Out' on your VCR connected to the 'Aerial In' on your TV, but that's not really the preferred option ).

If you put a pre recorded tape in the video and select PLAY, then using your TV remote control, select the AV channel on the telly ( could be marked as 'AV', 'EXT', sometimes channel '0' or possibly just a screen shaped icon with an arrow coming into it from the left ), then you should see the tape playback on screen.
(If you've used the aerial connection instead, just select the 'VCR' channel on your TV ).

You'll need a second SCART lead to go from AV1 on the VCR, to the camera, and that will need the correct connectors to fit your camera's lead. Generally speaking, a SCART to multiple phono lead will usually do the job, where the Video connection is indicated by a Yellow sleeved 'Phono' plug that can be married to a similar Phono plug on your camera lead ( you'll need an 'inline' Phono connector to mate the two plugs together ). Note that the red and white phono connectors are normally used for audio.

If your camera lead is terminated with a 'BNC' twistlock plug, then you'll need a female BNC to male phono adaptor, in addition to the straight inline phono to phono adaptor.

If your camera has a SCART Plug on the end of the lead, then you should be able to plug that straight in to AV1.

Also just to quickly mention, lots of TV's also have hidden video inputs (sometimes behind covers or panels ) which are mostly Phono sockets, and the camera can equally be connected to those instead of the SCART on AV1.

Just for your information, most SCART connectors have both Video In and Out on different pins, but where more than one SCART socket is provided on equipment, it may not offer that facility on all the sockets.

Once you've connected the camera ( and powered it up ) you simply need to select the AV input on your VCR, which again is the same procedure using the recorders remote control ( or the front panel buttons if fitted ) as you previously did for the TV, put a blank tape in the machine and press 'Record' - you should see the camera on screen, and if you stop after a couple of minutes and rewind you should be able to playback.

One final bit of very silly information .... if you do use a SCART to multiple Phono lead to connect any Audio Visual equipment, the plugs are often marked up as for example, Video In and Video Out, but some far eastern manufacturers get a bit confused about the concept of in and out, and so it's not unusual to find that the connections are actually wired the wrong way around - don't worry if you accidentally connect an In to an In, or an Out to an Out; touching wood, I've never yet known it to cause any damage.

Hope that helps ....

brickie58

thank you dr jon that works:j