Many crimes go undetected because the CCTV equipment has never been set up correctly ,we see Zoom Cameras left at wide and Speed Domes looking at Gates but the top 3/4 of the shot is the Sky, the Cameras are then squinting because of the light so the intruder becomes a sillouhette. The amount of times I hear “Oh I didn’t know it did that , if only I’d ………

Subject and Traffic percentage heights of the screen used to be as follow, I think the Home Office still suggests similar figures, but Cameras have more Zoom and more resolution these days and recommendations were drawn up when Hi-Res was 420TVL

The following are based on percentage of screen height

10%  classed as Traffic Observation (sees colour of Car but not make or model)

35% still classed as Traffic observation but identifies make & model of or car or gender of person.

80% Classed as Recognition,  this is when you can say ” I know who that is”

120% Classed as identification,this is when the image is good but no one has seen the subject before and is usually identified later by the Police. This means that 20% of an intruder is missing from the shot usually the feet up.

Our Zoom and Speed Dome Cameras can easily meet the 120% at distances in excess of 30 Metres, our top end products can achieve the 200% level, this is suggested now by many Crime Prevention Officers as they have taken the time to check out the latest CCTV technology, even though not an official percentage it is being recommended, 200% level means that top of the head to waist is filling the screen.

Recently we had images using the 200% method, an armed robber with a sawn off shotgun, wearing a jump suit and a Balaclava with just eye holes cut entered a building his head and chest filled the screen, her face was covered but Police still made an arrest based on just this image,  we hold the copyright on this shot and will show it but not on line.

Again all the above is a good rule of thumb even with fixed cameras, ” wide shot small subject,, simply move them closer” “Narrow shot large subject good recognition”.

Wow this is brand new, it sits along side our existing 32 Channel DVR model PRO7HDMI which is a great machine, HDMI, VGA & TV-Out,  all displaying at the same time for 500 odd quid with a 2TB Hard Drive, Rock Solid, Stable and Low Cost, we have sold around 100 in just a few weeks, no this is not being discontinued, too new, too good and good rock solid reliability so why would we drop it , anyway its here to stay.

Yes the new one is a beast of a 32 CH DVR is now here, we have had the Chassis tooled, Front and Rear panels, Mainboard & Graphics cards….assembly starts W/C 26th of March 2012, emphasis is based on driving the display at Full HD live and playback, Large LED displays at 1920 x 1080 and massive Disk Storage options without breaking the Bank.

Snippet for you all, these HDMI machines break all DVR Decoder recording resolution limits.

The brief I was given was ” a 32 Channel machine, totally ICON driven, Mouse & Remote Controls,  which has to be as easy to understand and operate as easily as our 4 Channel DVR’s, and no restrictions on the size of Hard Drives, so 8 Tb can be made up of 2 x 4Tb Sata drives, and no restrictions on even Larger Hard Drives that appear in the future, finally it had to be no bigger than a 16 Channel unit, also could I add an SD card slot,not sure yet about this.

We’ve done it, its ready soon, it will be on the site and will have more features at a cool price than any other 32 Channel DVR ever built anywhere, price will obviously be more than our DVR-PRO7HDMI mainly because of the latest disk controllers and the full HD graphics cards all squidged down down into a small unit.

What did you say you’ve got no Money, email our sales we can arrange a Lease to buy deal for you about £6.00 odd a week for every £1000.00 you spend and totally tax deductable, sorry businesses only, just sick back and we will forward your enquiry to the Finance Company and that’s it, all done over the phone, don’t think you even have to do anything just tick an acceptance box on an email and its yours,  easy peasy. if you need to we can do this for everything we sell, minimum spend is £1000.00 exVAT

Keep your eye on my Blog and watch our site.

Some of the load has been passed onto a new Tech Assistant who is a Graduate, specialising in Networking our DVR’s,with PC’s, Laptops, Mobile Phones etc, adapting DVR’s not only ours but virtually all of them out there, aiming to provide WI-FI for the DVR means no wires, this will help existing DVR users who hate wires, the future project is embedded Wi-FI which will connect your DVR to the internet just as easy as a PC does, in fact even easier as there will be no settings to change,just click auto.

Keep your eye on my Blog over the next few weeks and well let you know how we get on.

Up until now Remote Camera connections could only be viewed via a LAN or across the Net via a PC or Laptop,or via a mobile Phone,  what was left out was the Apple Mac…not any more as we have the Software for the Mac is it is now ready and is free with our models DVR-PRO’s in 4  & 8 Channel versions , and DVR-PRO4′s in 4 & 8 Channel versions, the other models hopefully should follow soon. Easy to install, easy to set up,  just like a PC.

We have maybe 100 enquiries so far this year to our technical lines asking if they can log in using a MAC , so you guys are out there, just give us another call, let us have your invoice number you bought the DVR on and we will email it to you free of charge,  or if you need to login using your MAC check our DVR specifications and it will tell you if a Mac is supported, the simple solution is to just order one.

We have had over a hundred of them in for repair in the last 6 months, none of which are repairable almost all have the paint burnt from inside the housing, several smoke on start up and spark inside and across the terminal strips, there could be some fire risk with some, many have been bought off Ebay, just as many from CCTV Camera on Line stores in the UK, and many by installers who couldn’t resist their very professional appearance,  some have had them replaced over 5 times and still failed. They are just not serviceable… now how do I spot one of these…. dead easy, a really well made metal slim Lockable wall mounted cabinet you can see these on almost every UK CCTV sellers site (except ours of course) all sprayed the same colour beige or light grey, internally a single Power Supply, 4, 6, 8, 16 & 18 Channels, some a bare board and others covered by an aluminium cover drilled with regular 4mm holes…. power connections are via a row of slotted screw terminals….note there is no fan.

Now just think about it they come from the Far East where the Mains Input Voltage is 220 Volts AC, here we are 240V AC, some of the units have a 220V ac to 240V ac rating,  the moment you power up they are over-driven and not cooled, you know it has taken almost 20 years for the PC Power supply manufacturers to realise what our Voltage is, they originally had the same problem but at last they have cracked it but not the CCTV Power Unit makers they designed and built them for their Home market of 220V.

On a brand new unit tests show they are greatly under rated, you already have some units offering 16 & 18 Channels with only 10 Amps rating which actually is only 5 Amps when you remove the Regulators and check them, basically draw 3 Amps at 12V and something will naturally warm up , the rating they offer without fan cooling is simply ridiculous.

The built in time bomb is the design, the 240V input terminal block is right next to the 12V DC output block separated by a piece of plastic 2mm thick , (this is the dangerous bit when it goes wrong, it must have been the same guy who designed these who designed modern high revving aero engines by putting the carburettors and fuel lines above hot exhaust pipes,  how do I now i used to fly one) when these units overheat which initially starts with the awful design where they ensure a steady start by loading with  a 10 Ohm 1 Watt resistor which instantly gets too hot to touch but without this they won’t start up smoothly with output voltages all over the show.. (poor old cameras).

This component is doomed to fail, when they go they flash usually cut into the board which as soon as switched on is starting to overheat and getting weak causing an arc from the input to the output…. Yes you’ve got it 240V AC momentarily on to the 12V DC output, the result goodbye cameras and at the worst goodbye DVR.

Naturally one sends the Power Unit back to the Supplier which finds the Seller has either run off or replaces it with another which has the same built in time bomb, maybe too late a 240V flash may have already destroyed the cameras and we have seen instances where the 240V AC has returned back from the Camera down the Coax putting 240V AC into the Camera inputs on the DVR.. yes goodbye DVR,  this flash tales about 1 Microsecond to travel from the popped Power supply through the Camera and back to the DVR, now you try and prove what has happened bearing in mind the Seller now has the Power Supply back, you won’t know the Cameras and DVR are blown until you reconnect a new Power supply.   If you have one of these don’t wait replace it.  it is virtually impossible to prove to your supplier that a mass of damage was the fault of the Power Supply even if you still have the unit because by this time the unit is dead.

Yes we do produce Power Units, all fan cooled and 240V AC rating at the input and 12V DC output but at 40 Amps, the mains input is sited at the other side as opposed to the 12V DC output and we still use a 10 Ohm Resistor which is rated at 10 Watts not 1 Watt and also wirewound and heat sink mounted for cooling, this works by reducing a section of the unit to 5Volts and loading the resistor across this so the unit looks at this line for loading prior to the 12 V rail  and therefore starts slower a 120mm silent fan is extracting any heat from above the Voltage regulators and major components which generate heat.

Good side.. the cabinets on the Big Bad Wolf imports are really good, puts UK metalworking to shame pity about what’s inside, if you do have one that works it won’t be for ever, you should do the lottery because you are one of the lucky ones, it was only this morning that a CEO of a Chinese Electronics Manufacturing Company relates to these units as a ” Buying & Selling ” product not for using.

How do I understand all this, I was a Switched Mode power supply designer in a previous life and a Power unit service engineer for the UK’s largest Computer manufacturer plus over 12,000 of these power supplies later with  Big Brother.

Check this Stock code on our site as an example, there is a new model out now but photos will not be ready until mid March, spec is similar PSU/16/CAB/40A

Each ARRAY III (LED) has the equivalent of 200 x 5mm LED’s built into its Power Train, so Night Vision Power seems to go on and on and on.

Designed to operate at maximum effect when the Camera is zoomed, range can easliy exceed 100Metres in total darkness and remain focused, the autofocus still moves slightly to keep the target subject as clear as possible.

Its also on our 27 x Motorised Zoom camera, 1/4″ Sony Ex View HAD body is built into this unit, still retaining the autofocus which is fast and effective,  now the Dual ARRAY’s on this are something else,   they can see at 100 Metres when Zoomed,  (you don’t buy any of this kit to run at Wide angle),  each ARRAY is just huge and is the equivalent of hundreds of standard LED’s .

Watch our site for the the “BIG ONE” 36 x Zoom, autofocus,  the works, 800 TVL at night, Dual ARRAYS with 24 x 20mm ARRAYS in each single ARRAY, night Vision exceeds 200 Metres… I/R Cut Filters will be standard and weatherproofing to IP66,  I will have it out of the Lab and finished ready for production end of march –  early April approx.

The local Crime Prevention Officer suggested to her that when he was in the States they put beams around the perimeter of the property so the Alarm goes off before they reach the house, not after they are inside….. how cool is that,  so here she is in our showroom,

One of our engineers explained how easy to install and how efficient they are, “when they go off get out of bed”  he said…   anyway here’s how you do it.

1: The Beams comprise of 2 units,  Transmitter and Receiver which can be set up to 100Metres apart,   Insert the batteries into the Units.. the Sun Charges these for you , “what if we don’t get any sun”  she asked,  that’s not a problem duck, they will hold a charge for up to 30 days not even England is that dull”  now screw to a wall, Post (Post kit is included) or Tree,  line of sight range to your panel can be up to 500 metres by line of sight, line the units up through the built in sights, they flash at each other 10 times so both know their other half is there,  and by the way the unit takes up to 16 sets of Beams or even Wireless PIR’s, Magnetic door & Window sensors plus Smoke Alarms.

For reference we have a Solar Charged Wireless Repeater that sends the signal up 1.5Km from the Beams to the Panel

2: Screw the panel to the wall, connect the Power pack and plug into the mains and switch on, the beams are pre-set for you and paired with the panel when they leave our factory,  arm the panel with the Remote Control and block the beams to test them……………..finished.

3: Siren is internal but we have an external unit which is wired but simply plugs in, about 115 dbs with a flashing strobe for less than a tenner,  still hate wires we have an external Wireless Siren with Flash which is also Solar Charged like your Beams.. even easier.

4: Set to waist height so the wildlife walks underneath, only big things set these off,  just make sure nothing grows in front of them.

5: Later you can plug it into your BT socket, the in built Auto-Dialler can call you mobile when it goes off.

Anyway you can check out the Wireless Solar Charged beam Kits yourself, Stock Code No : WL-BEAMS-PANEL-KIT

I will try to find the time to put some more detailed installation instructions on the site soon.  TTFN

Ideal matching of I/R to lens is achieved with 2 x ARRAYS on 4 – 11mm lens units and 3 x ARRAYS on 9 – 22mm models , the latter offering up to 80 metres of I/R at a narrow shot setting,  most buy this camera for a long range narrow night time shot,  for maximum effectiveness an advanced OSD setup is included as a support for the 9 – 22mm lens and offers easy fine tuning using the small joystick switch under the Lower panel Cover.

Too much I/R at close range is helped by the I/R filters but what if all this power whites out the subject when not as close, this is cured by fitting an I/R power adjuster to each of the CAM50′s this allows the installer to turn down the I/R, all you will see is the small control which when turned anti clockwise reduces the intensity, how easy is that… a Socket with a Cable fitted with BNC sockets is supplied for a Test Screen or outputting to a Single screen.

Outdoor or External Cameras: used to monitor outdoor locations such as entry and exits points, parking areas, etc – these must have a weatherproof casing and a bigger range of lens sizes, which can be fixed, manual Varifocal or motorised Zoom,  all external cameras that need to see at  night must have built in Infra-Red, the larger housing can accomodate more powerful I/R, for example a camera mounted under the facia on a house  can loose approx 12 -15 M of its I/R power before it reaches the gate. see our stock code CAM6/2.8-12/650/GREY as an example

Anti Vandal Armoured Dome Cameras: these are camera enclosed in a small armoured dome which are all armoured and should withstand the first blow with a blunt object, the fixing design should render them very difficult to steal and  intended to go unnoticed.  The subject is unware they are being recorded and this type of Camera can be installed a lot lower down giving you a more horizontal shot instead of looking at the top of an intruders head.

Dome cameras are typically used where there is more close traffic so closer shots are required,  see our stock code: CAM12/2.8-12/700/EFFIO

Indoor or Internal Cameras: indoor cameras are meant for indoor use only and can be mounted in a wide range of locations within a premises. These cameras are ideal for monitoring and recording footage for inside offices and monitoring cash points or tills and checking on shoplifting and chance thieves.

Vandal Proof: These are outdoor cameras in the Style described above as Anti-vandal Armoured Domes, these are protected by much tougher glass frontage- making them hard to vandalise, perfect for areas that require the highest of security. They are also weather proof.

Bullet CCTV Cameras: These cameras are housed within a bullet shaped housing and are used in a variety of locations. Being small in size, having an integrated design, offering a viewing in a range of light conditions they offer a fairly low cost solution,  modern integration now offers a small housing, 35 M I/R, and I/R Cut Filters, see our stock code: CAM18-3.6-600-GREY

Covert Cameras: a convert camera is used when a conventional camera is not appropriate and are perfect for hidden monitoring. They can be products that are ignored and can be connected just as a convention CCTV Camera, the most popular being in a standard Alarm PIR,  our stock code: Cov2 . Big Brother Systems offer a highly comprehensive range of convert solutions.

PTZ Cameras: these are the ultimate in internal and external surveillance, you can pan right & left, tilt down to 90 degrees also Zoom optically 22 x,  27 x and 36 times bring the subject very close for ease of identification, all can tour to preset positions,,e.g. 8 seconds at the gate, then 8 seconds on the shutter door, 8 seconds on the MD’s car and back again to position no: 1.

Technology has enabled us to build advanced yet economical Cameras using PTZ control for both indoor and outdoor use.   PAN/TILT for indoor with built in Infra-RED is now an economical solution and ideal for auction houses, Shops & market halls etc these are not only capable of touring to presets they are cheap to buy cheap to buy check our stock code: PT-20-IR   for external use Speed Domes now come with or without I/R and it has only been in late 2011 & 2012 that it could function correctly by fitting our I/R ARRAY III’s that actually turn with the camera resulting at up to 150 Metres of Infra Red night vision in pitch black conditions,