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dvr camara system

In WA, the law says "to record audio, both(all) parties need to know" That is why all banking/etc tell you up front that "this call might be recorded"

IMO, audio at a car wash isn't of much value. What I found of value is the ability to talk to a customer. I had vibration detectors on equipment and it would call me and turn on the ability to talk and listen to them. It did solve problems with people beating on the equipment.
 
pitzerwm said:
IMO, audio at a car wash isn't of much value. .
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I use the audio in the Gas Station Cashier and Car Wash cashier loading areas.

It has been useful when the customer says the loader told him "X" and I was pretty sure it was BS.

It was also useful if the person claims the employee did not act appropriately and I can see how much truth that statement has . It also "encourages" employees to act appropriately if they know you can see and hear them.
 
mjwalsh said:
I thought all of us had signs posted prominently in all our pertinent places within our facilities that read "Audio is Recorded for Quality Control"
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Then it wouldn't be recorded without their knowledge or consent.
 
Kevin James said:
$16,000 is about right for a Commercial 15 camera system. The key word is “Commercial” I have to laugh at some of the car wash operators with a quarter mentality who don’t fully understand the difference between “Commercial” and “Residential”. The Costco system is a wonderful system if you’re looking for a play thing. I’ve got a Costco system installed at my beach house and it works OK.
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can you tell me the difference between Commercial and Residential system
 
another reason I love my qsee: just found out today that I can dial in remotely, look up a video of a lady hitting my IBA from 2 weeks ago, then back up the video clip locally to my laptop....

no I don't sell this stuff, and yes I doubt that the $15,000 commercial versions are 30x times better than the costco version, at least for what we need it for. (to justify the 30x more in price)
 
Earl Weiss said:
Is that "Quarter as opposed to "Dollar Coin" :)

Please elaborate.

What are the specifications of the commercial systems not available in the lesser systems?
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Earl,

On the quarter vs dollar comparison. I noticed Big Leo's looney tooney decal on his Wash Select recent Pic & it did have a flair of an improvement over what some of us have ... in my hopefully shared opinion.:o

I see where you are coming from on your valid question on specification comparison.

We have two extra expensive up to 16 Kalatel DMVre commercial systems that are over 7 years old. One was bought used. They do tend to have higher resolution & more fps displaying than most of the lower end systems. I was hoping for a phone app instead of just relying on remote desktop on my Droid X phone & hopefully on my employees cells phones. It has 16 alarm dry C contacts on the back ... if someone sees value there. Not sure on its motion detection alarm output portion ... that is why I posted about that. Assembling the self playing CD evidence for the police is easier on a XP computer because GE Kalatel did not seem to have updated as good as they should have ... software wise that I am aware of.

So there are pluses & minuses including long term cost considerations. Since it appears Kevin has experience with both the more commercial & the more residential ... hopefully ... he will find the time to share his specific experience a bit on both.

mike
 
Head's up tightwads- Here's a basic Qsee system on sale!:

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11612358&cm_mmc=BCEmail_733-_-NDLFeat-_-2-_-MarketingItemName#BVRRWidgetID

My computer running geovision has bit the dust. At that price I may get one of these to try it.....

I will add that places running friction and express tunnels can save enough on damage claims over time to pay for a higher end system. Most of the time my system has been used it's just been to see what the heck happened in my absence, and lower resolution stuff has been adequate for that. but before the advent of digital, 600 TVlines was considered very high end.
 
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I just bought one of the Q-See systems from Costco after reading this post. I bought the 16 channel with 16 cameras. I have one camera sitting in my desk and one screwed to the back deck of the house trying to determine if I am going to keep this thing. I'm concerned that I won't be able to see much once I install them at the car wash. I think they may work OK in each bay if I put them in the corner and point them across the length of the bay to the coin box. I don't think they will be good enough to capture a license plate though. I was thinking about calling car wash cameras and ordering a few of their IR660 cameras to hang on the corners of the building to capture plates. Still on the fence about keeping or returning. Is everyone else happy with theirs, or am I expecting too much for a camera system. This is the first one I have ever had or messed with.

Thanks,
Lighthouse.
 
FWIW I have this system . Works well in the bays. Mounting base is not as good as I like. (2 axis - not 3). You need a camera that has audio capability if you want it.

Gives a good picture in the bay. Height will determine if it will get license plates.
 
My Q-See has 520 TVL cameras and I have no problem reading a license plate. I have a camera in the corner of each bay pointing towards the coin box. The feild of view is wide enough to capture most of the car. I'll see if I can get a snap shot or a short video and post it so you can see the quality for yourself...
 
Does anyone have a good source for some signs stating that video monitoring is being used. I want to hang something over each meter and a few other places around the wash.

Thanks,
Lighthouse.
 
We ordered Zmodo 16 channel 8 camera 1tb DVR system from Amazon, price was $339 comes with everything but the monitor. We will let you all know how it goes and if we really like it.
 
I started on the install today at the wash. I got the DVR and monitor where I wanted it and powered up. Just had enough time to get one camera up. I put it in the corner at the opposite side of the meter and at the far end of the bay, so it looks down across the car and to the meter. I drove my truck in and out several times trying to see if I could grab the tag number. With where I have it mounted now, I can for sure see 4 out of the 6 numbers on the tag. I am going to mount another one tomorrow in another bay and this time I am going to mount it in the middle of the exit looking down to the vehicle and towards the meter. I think I will be able to see down the sides of the car better and hopefully with the tag being straight on, I will be able to grab all the digits on the plate. I have a nice soffit on the entrance and exit, so I think the camera will still have plenty of protection. I am for sure going to order 3 of the IR660 cameras for tag recognition for the corners of the wash. I should be able to cover both entrances and the dumpster for all the dead beats dumping tires.

Thanks,
Lighthouse.
 
I work nights from home and I'm certainly glad that I don't have internet at the car wash to stream live video or I would not get any work done. These cameras are addictive. Everytime I walk by the monitor at the wash, I have to stop and watch people in the bays.

Lighthouse.
 
Bill.

Says it supports up to 2 TB HD. Did you upgrade it? Was it hard to do?

Have you tried the USB Backup to DVD RW? If so how did that go?
 
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