cctv recorder thing giving me a Grey screen.

[helpmeimblonde]

Hi all.

My brother installed a cctv system for me. its been working fine up untill yesterday. i came home and saw the screen was grey....
so i turned it off and waiting for it to power up but all i got was the multi colour lines then no normal h264 with the beeps just the grey screen and red light on the recorder thing. i dont want to call an engineer as they said its £60 call out fee im sure its something simple.

can anyone help?

 

[sparkymarka]

what make s it ? if its swann bin it...

 

[helpmeimblonde]

no its not swann 4CH H.264 NETWORK DIGITAL VIDEO RECORDER CCTV DVR Linux system. no brand on it its worked well for the past year.

 

[EightyTwo]

Is the monitor working? Try plugging a camera straight into the monitor (if you can). Make sure that the monitor has the correct input/video source selected - I've been called out to monitors that have been accidently set to s-video rather than PAL, or something similar!

 

[sparkymarka]

Any model number on the back ? Or post a picture.

 

[helpmeimblonde]

eighty would i still get a rainbow start up screen if it was set differently and no beeps?

 

[helpmeimblonde]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NETWORK-D...237?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item2c6c0c4bfd

thats the one

 

[sparkymarka]

sorry but its a cheap Chinese machine it could be any of the following harddrive faulty/ power supply faulty..it may be a throw it and buy another job...

 

[ImayKnow]

Like a computer, I would first open the case and check all the connections are secure (to the hard drive etc)

 

[EightyTwo]

If you get the coloured bars, and you think that they are generated by the DVR and not the monitor, then the monitor is probably okay - especially if there is some kind of message from the DVR written across them!

Do you have any way of checking the 12V power supply? Do you have another one with a similar or higher current output (number of amps) that you could try? Or do you have some way of checking or measuring the output from the one you are using? You may find a portable DVD player, a big torch charger, a power supply for some Christmas decoration or LED strip lights with a similar supply - just check that it's 12V DC.

At this price, the power supply is not going to be of the best quality (!?!) and it could have gone south. If it isn't the PSU, it could be the hard disk - I guess that you brother fitted it. If he used a cheap PC disk, they can pack up after a year or two as they are not designed to be working flat out 24/7. You really want a disk designed for video recording...

It might be a reformat and reinstall job...

 

[helpmeimblonde]

thanks eighty i will check this. if it is the hard disk where can i get a cctv unit one from? as i got the disk from pc world.

 

[EightyTwo]

Western Digital AV-GP or Seagate Video ranges would be good. You'll need to check the physical size, storage capacity and interface type required by your DVR. There'll be plenty of places to buy these, including Amazon and eBay

 

[helpmeimblonde]

ok its not the hard disk or power supply
So i power up the recorder it powers up to the multi colour bars then no h.264 ive tested the hard drive it works ok, i put a new one in again nada, so i got another power pack from maplins again nothing.

so what happens is this the lines come on for 30 seconds as if its loading then the screen goes black, the hard disk i can hear running but theres no beeps.... its like it hasn't booted up.

the 3 leds on front come on. red blue blue the two blue go out and the red stays so it says it has power.

Is there another CCTV guru you talk with on here (he helped me with my alarm as well) may be between you you might help a lovely young lady like me

 

[catengineman]

Just following with interest,
Have you tried to use the other output from your recorder to a TV rather than the VGA output to monitor.
This sounds like the video card within has either given up or the monitor is not seeing the data.
If you get a picture on a std T from the coax output then it will give you a closer search point

Richard