Before you call

The Zintronic company consists of people who like what they do and have many years of experience in the industry, we try to help all our clients - both those professionally dealing with CCTV installations (Installers) and those who set up monitoring on their own.

Our experience in the monitoring industry has allowed us to develop certain methods of operation, today we would like to share our knowledge with you - we will describe simple methods of device diagnostics when there is a problem with their operation. We encourage you to continue reading the article.

Imagine that suddenly the camera or recorder stops working. For unknown reasons, we do not have communication with the device, or at least it looks like it because we have lost the ability to preview the image. What to do ?

The first association will probably be - call the Technical Department. In this article, I will try to describe the steps to take before making such a call, and explain the most frequently asked questions by the Technician.

Before you call...

• Check the power.

Always first check that the device is properly powered.

• In the case of PoE cameras - check if the PoE switch to which the camera is connected shows the same activity of the LEDs on all ports to which the devices are connected (usually one LED will be on and the other will blink). Depending on the switch model, the LEDs may differ in color or arrangement. If the activity of the LEDs is different for the device being diagnosed - switch it to another port (you can swap the devices).
• WiFi network cameras and regular IP cameras use 12V power supply, here you just need to connect another 12V power supply (minimum 1A for cameras and 2A for DVRs), you can use 12V power supply from another camera.
• If you have an electric meter - we recommend checking the voltage supplied by the power supply.

• Check the wiring.

• The cable often fails, quite perversely - especially those located in an inconvenient way, e.g. already laid in the wall. We always recommend checking the wiring, whether there is a problem with the camera or a problem with the recorder. Unfortunately, here, so popular, checking the circuit with the RJ45 tester is not measurable, because the residual voltage transferred from the tip to the tester is enough to mark the cable as efficient, while CCTV devices need full cable capacity.

A good alternative is to check the operation of the device on a brand new, 100% efficient UTP cable (computer twisted pair).

• Restart the device. Always.

CCTV devices are such small computers, but without the ability to create documents; so you can (and even need to) restart them without fear. If the device has a power switch, or you have the option of invoking the device's restart command from its menu - do it; if this is not possible - disconnect the device from the power supply for at least 1 minute. (capacitors lose their charge), then connect the power.

Why does restarting the device solve half of the problems?

• Reboot causes:
• Clearing the device cache.
• Resumption of all systems together with the so-called self-check (the device checks the correct operation of each of the switched on systems).
• Reload device settings, or load default settings if no copy of User settings is available.
• Re-registration in the network according to network configuration of the device (the camera or recorder announces to other network devices that it is available at a given IP address).
   

As I mentioned - CCTV cameras and recorders work on the basis of solutions used in computers (and smartphones) and are susceptible to exactly the same problems.

• Restore factory settings.

Improper configuration of the device parameters affects its functioning. Sometimes it happens that we overdo it and, wanting to extract the maximum quality from the cameras, we will overload the recorder and the cameras will start to 'fall out', or we will configure the camera's shutter parameters incorrectly and we will not be able to see the image transmitted by it.

Restoring the factory settings of the device will load safe settings that are a compromise between the quality and performance of the device, unfortunately later you will need to reconfigure the device and adjust the network parameters.

• Update the device software.

Updating the software is usually a very good idea, just like updating Windows or Mac OSX - it contains fixes that eliminate detected problems and often adds new functionalities (if the hardware configuration allows it).

Zintronic devices are based on the software provided by the Manufacturer, but taking into account our (and your) comments, therefore you should never update the software found 'on the Internet'. To obtain the correct update file, please send an e-mail request for the update file to the address [email protected]

• Exhausted options? - nothing similar.

If all the above steps have been performed and the equipment still behaves incorrectly - call us; if the line is busy - try again in a few minutes.

• You will be asked to provide the name and surname of the person for whom the purchase was made;
• Prepare the purchase document - The technician may ask for the receipt / invoice number to verify identity;
• Make sure you know how devices are connected to each other:
• how many cameras are there and what type of cameras are connected
• how many and what type of recorders are working in the monitoring system
• how many and how the switches are connected and whether they are ordinary network switches or PoE switches
• which camera is connected to which WiFi switch or repeater/access point
• Briefly, but to the point, describe the problem and what you did

• Get ready for remote assistance

It may happen that the Technician will propose a remote connection for device diagnostics, for this purpose:

• prepare a computer (maybe a laptop) with Windows, one that you can connect to the main router of the monitoring system
• make sure you have unlimited internet access
• make sure that the computer (laptop) you will use will be able to install software (you must have administrator account rights)
• you will have physical access to monitoring devices and/or network devices
• you will have access to the WiFi network and configuration panel for Routers and Repeaters / Directional Antennas as well as cameras and recorders working in the monitoring network (you must know the passwords)
• you will have a spare, fully operational UTP (twisted pair) cable
• a spare 12v power supply would also be welcome

If for some reason it is not possible to carry out remote diagnostics at a given moment - you can arrange such a service on a day and time convenient for you (within the working hours of the Technical Department).