Swann REDALERT SW242-WDV, REDALERT SW242-WRA, REDALERT SW244-WDS, REDALERT SW244-WDW Operating Instructions Manual

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SW242-WDV / SW242-WRA SW244-WDS / SW244-WDW

www.swannsecurity.com

RedAlert

TM

Single Channel Security

Monitoring Kit

Operating Instructions

™

Advanced security made easy

SR242-WDV-10006-060809

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FCC Veriﬁ cation: NOTE: This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for

Class B digital device, pursuant to part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential installation. This equipment generates, uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in accordance with the instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio or television reception, which can be determined by turning the equipment off and on, the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more of the following measures:

· Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna

· Increase the separation between the equipment and the receiver

· Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that to which the receiver is connected

· Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for help

IMPORTANT NOTE: Prohibition against eavesdropping

Except for the operations of law enforcement ofﬁ cers conducted under lawful authority, no person shall use, either directly or indirectly, a device operated pursuant to the provisions of this Part for the purpose of overhearing or recording the private conversations of others unless such use is authorized by all of the parties engaging in the conversation.

WARNING: Modiﬁ cations not approved by the party responsible for compliance could void user’s authority to operate the equipment.

IMPORTANT SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS:

· Make sure product is ﬁ xed correctly and stable if fastened in place

· Do not operate if wires and terminals are exposed

WARNING: IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT CORRECT USE OF POWER ADAPTOR

The correct orientation for the enclosed power adaptor is a vertical or ﬂ oor mount position. Orienting the power adaptor in any other way will jeopardize the performance of the unit and/or create a high risk of malfunction and damage to surrounding environment.

Before You Begin

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Technical Speciﬁ cations

Video

Video Format NTSC or PAL Video Inputs 1 Composite Input Video Outputs 1 Composite Output Display Resolution 640 x 480 Display Frame Rate NTSC: 30fps PAL: 25fps Audio Audio Input 1 Audio Output 1

Recording

Compression Format Video: MPEG Photo: JPEG Recording Resolution Video:320 x 240 Photo: 640 x 480 Recording Frame Rate NTSC: 15fps PAL: 15fps Recording Modes Manual / Motion Multiplex Operation Simplex HDD Interface/Memory SD Card Hard Drive Support Up to 2GB SD

General

Operating Power DC 5V Dimensions 5.25” x 3.33” x 0.75” 133mm x 85mm x 20mm Weight 5.25oz / 148g Backup Method SD Card

Video

Image Sensor 1/3” CMOS Video Quality 400 TV Lines Number of Effective Pixels NTSC: 510 x 492 PAL: 628 x 582 Minimum Illumination 0 Lux (IR on) Day / Night Mode Color during day / switches to B&W at night White Balance Automatic Signal / Noise Ratio > 50dB

Electronic Shutter 1/60 - 1/15,000 NTSC 1/50 - 1/15,000 PAL Gain Control Automatic Backlight Compensation Yes Wide Dynamic Range No Lens 4mm Viewing Angle 90 degrees

Audio No

Night Vision

Night Vision Distance Up to 16ft / 5m IR Cut Filter No Number of Infra-Red LEDs 8 Infra-Red Wavelength 850nm Infra-Red LED Life 10,000 hours

General

Indoor / Outdoor Indoor Operating Power DC 12V Operating Temperature 32°F ~ 113°F 0°C ~ 45°C Body Construction Heavy Duty Plastic Dimensions - Camera & Stand 4.25” x 2.75” x 1.75” 108mm x 69mm x 44mm Weight – Camera & Stand 4.23oz / 125g Cable Length 60ft / 18m

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Table of Contents

Package Contents

Before you Begin 2 Package Contents 3 Overview 4 Layout of the RedAlert 5 Using and Installing the Wired PNP-50

TM

6 Using and Installing the Wireless Camera 7 Connecting Power and Cameras 8 Attaching the RedAlert to a Television 8 Motion Detection 9 Viewing Live Images 9 Capture Format and Quality Settings 10 Wireless Cameras and Interference 11 Advanced Motion Detection Settings 12 - 13 Playback Images and Videos 14 Accessing Images/Videos via a Computer 15 Troubleshooting 16 - 17 Tips and Tricks 18 Technical Speciﬁ cations 19

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INCLUDED: RedAlert Receiver/Recorder Antenna Instruction Manual DVR Power Supply (5V) Video In Cable Video Out Cable Theft Deterrent Stickers x 4

OPTIONALLY INCLUDED:

Wireless Camera Wired PNP-50TM Camera

Camera Power Supply (12V) SD Card

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Overview

Congratulations on your purchase of the RedAlert! This single channel video recorder is a terriﬁ c value for money security solution, as well as being easy to install, use and transport from location to location. Practically ﬁ tting into the palm of your hand is a neat feature as well!

Before we get into the nitty-gritty of learning how to install, conﬁ gure and use the RedAlert, let’s just take a moment to discuss its features, strengths and limitations, so you can get the most out of your RedAlert.

How it Works

The RedAlert will record video or still images directly to an SD card, and it can be conﬁ gured to do this whenever it detects motion in the view of its camera.

It is an ideal monitoring solution for guarding speciﬁ c security vulnerabilities around the home or small ofﬁ ce. Some suggested applications include monitoring the front or back door, a main hallway, or a courtyard or balcony. If there is a single, speciﬁ c location that you wish to safeguard, the RedAlert is the perfect solution.

By correctly conﬁ guring the motion detection settings, and using a 1GB – 2GB SD card (available separately) you can get the RedAlert to function autonomously for up to months at a time!

A few key points to remember:

The • RedAlert can use SD cards up to 2GB in capacity. It will not work with

larger SD cards, as these conform to the SDHC standard, which is incompatible with the RedAlert. This is not much of a limitation, really. A 2GB SD card will record over 3, 500 ten second videos, or more than 60, 000 still images.

The RedAlert can monitor a maximum of two cameras at once (one of • which must be wired, the other one wireless) but can record only one.

Savvy users might have already noticed that the RedAlert has four wireless channels – the RedAlert is not recommended for multiple wireless cameras! See page 11 for more information about why we’ve included multiple camera channels.

Though it is remarkably efﬁ cient hardware for its size and cost, the • RedAlert is a miniature, self contained, entry-level video recording unit. It will (unfortunately) not operate like the mythical technology shown on television shows like CSI or 24 (we really wanted it to, but it turns out that sort of technology costs millions of dollars and doesn’t really work that well in real life, anyway). Bear this is mind when placing your camera(s): the closer the camera is to the action you want to capture, the more detail you’re going to get. For example, if you want to capture a vehicle registration tag, you’ll have to have the camera within about a dozen feet (about 4 meters) from the vehicle to capture the required detail.

The • RedAlert is a single channel recorder. It will only record one video/ image at a time. It can display two cameras at once, but, due to the limitations of the speed at which it can process images and write them to an SD card, it can only record one channel at a time.

If you’re using your • RedAlert with a wireless camera, be sure to read the section on page 11 on interference and how you can avoid it when you conﬁ gure your system.

Troubleshooting

Problem: The camera is looking out a window, and at night all I can see is white! Solution: The camera uses infrared LEDs to see at night. However, infrared light

will reﬂ ect off a glass surface, and bounce-back into the lens of the camera, washing out the image. It is not possible to use an infrared night vision camera to look out of a window. If you want to see outside, the camera has to be outside as well. Note that the PNP-50 is recommended for indoor use only.

Problem: The RedAlert is not capturing pictures/videos when it should, or it captures pictures/videos too often!

Solution: Your ADVANCED MOTION DETECT SETTINGS need adjusting. Basically, you can deﬁ ne how the RedAlert will look for motion, and how much motion it must detect before it initiates recording. Follow the steps on pages 12 and 13 to conﬁ gure the motion detection settings. If you’re using a wireless camera and the RedAlert is capturing pictures/video too often, it might be the case that there is enough interference in the video signal to count as motion. Follow the steps listed on page 11 to try to reduce the interference in your system.

Problem: All I see is a blank screen. Solution: Check the connections between the RedAlert and your TV - in particular,

check which RCA connection on the TV has the VIDEO OUT cable attached to it. Many TVs have A/V INPUT channels and A/V OUTPUT channels. Plugging the VIDEO OUT cable into an A/V OUTPUT will produce undesired results.

Problem: The RedAlert isn’t showing images from my camera. Solution: The RedAlert might be monitoring the wrong input. Press the DISP

button. If this does not work, and the camera is wireless, change the wireless channel of the RedAlert by pressing the SET button. If this does not locate the camera, check that the camera is supplied with power. If a wired camera, check the connections to the RedAlert. Finally, be sure that the camera can see an image: if the camera sees only black (see other Troubleshooting tips) it might appear that the RedAlert is not getting a signal at all.

Problem: I can’t ﬁ nd right channel for the RedAlert on my television. Solution: This can be a little tricky. First, make sure you’ve got the RedAlert

plugged into an INPUT on the television. The plug should be color coded yellow, the same as the connector from the RedAlert. If this is the case, look for a button on the TV or remote called AV, TV/AV, AUX, Auxilary, Channel 0, Video, DVD or something similar. Some TVs have multiple AV channels. If in doubt, speak with the manufacturer of your TV - they’ll know what plugs connect to which channel. If all else fails, try using a different TV. (Please, don’t call and ask us about this one - we don’t know what your TV looks like, nor how to make it do anything useful!)

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Layout of the RedAlert

Channel 1, 2, 3, 4 LEDs: Displays which wireless channel the RedAlert is conﬁ gured to receive. This is in no way automated, and the RedAlert will only receive images from one wireless camera at a time. To change the channel that the RedAlert is monitoring, press the SET button.

SET: Changes the wireless channel that the RedAlert will monitor. This is the only way to change the wireless channel – there is no function to cycle automatically, as the RedAlert was, simply, not designed for use with multiple wireless cameras.

MODE: Switches between RECORDING MODE and PLAYBACK MODE.

SNAP: Commands the RedAlert to capture a still image or video immediately,

using the current recording mode and quality settings.

DISP (Display): Changes the viewing mode from wired to wireless camera, or vice versa.

MENU: Opens the MAIN MENU. The functions of the MAIN MENU are covered in much more detail later in this manual (the whole second half, actually!).

ARROWS: Used to navigate when in the MENU, and as SHORTCUT buttons at other times.

OK: Used to select items whilst in the MENU.

SD CARD SLOT: Where you put the SD cards you want to record to. The RedAlert

can record to SD cards up to 2GB in capacity. Be sure that the write protection tab on the SD card is set to off.

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About the Wired PNP-50

Your RedAlert may have come with the wired PNP50TM. If so, read on to learn about your camera

and how best to install it!

The PNP-50TM captures color images during the day, and switches to black & white at night. It can see up to 16ft (5m) in the dark using its built-in infrared LEDs.

Of course, if your RedAlert did not come with the PNP-50TM, and you don’t have a wired camera attached to the RedAlert already, there’s no reason you can’t purchase one and add it to your security system. The PNP-50TM makes a great partner to the RedAlert - and it’s stylish!

Installing the Wired PNP-50

1. Select the position for your camera

It’s a great idea to plug the YELLOW RCA connector into a TV and hook the BLACK connector up to the power supply whilst deciding your cameras position, as you can see exactly what the camera sees as you experiment.

2. Attach the camera

Use the screw holes on the base, and use appropriate type of screw for the surface you’re mounting the camera on. Be sure to mount the camera so that the lens is upright - otherwise your images will be upside down! If attaching the camera to the ceiling or mounting it high on a wall, align the lens upright (as shown above).

3. Attach the power supply (12V)

The power attaches to the BLACK connector. The YELLOW connector attaches to the VIDEO IN lead on the RedAlert.

Note: The PNP-50 is for indoor use only, and is not weather resistant. Moisture, dust and ﬂ uctuations in temperature will cause undesirable results.

Accessing Images/Videos via a Computer

One of the most convenient aspects of recording to an SD card is that, if you have an SD card r open the RedAlert’s images/videos directly.

To playback, copy and delete images using a computer:

If you’re having trouble playing back the videos created by the RedAlert, consider downloading VLC Media Player. There are versions of VLC available for Windows, Mac OS and just about every other operating system you can imagine.

It is available free online, at http://www.videolan.org/vlc/

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About the Wireless Camera

Your RedAlert may have come with the Wireless Camera. If so, you’ll want to read this section on

how to install and use the Camera. Also, see the section on page 11 on how to get the best results from it.

The Camera is a weather resistant, analog wireless camera. It captures color images by day and black & white at night using its built-in infrared LEDs.

Remember: the Wireless Camera needs to be connected to power via the supplied power adaptor. The term ‘wireless’ refers to there being no cable between the Camera and the RedAlert.

Installing Wireless Camera

1. Select the position for your camera

You can attach the camera to power and, if the RedAlert has already been attached to a TV, check both the cameras view and the level of interference at the same time (see page 11 for more information on wireless interference).

2. Mount the camera

Use an appropriate screw type for the surface your mounting the camera to. Make sure the lens is upright relative to your subject - you can tell easily as the antenna should be relatively upright.

3. Connect the camera to power via the supplied power adaptor

4. Set the camera’s channel

The Wireless Camera can transmit its images on one of four channels. To set the channel:

Unscrew the front of the camera 1. case.

Locate the 2 dip switches near the 2. lens - they are located

Using a toothpick or similar, ﬂ ip the dip 3. switches to the desired conﬁ guration, as listed.

Channel 1

Channel 3

Channel 2 Channel 4

Dip Switches

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Connecting Power and Cameras

Attaching the RedAlert to a Television

The RedAlert is capable of receiving images from one wired camera and one wireless camera at a time (though it can not record both simultaneously).

To attach a camera:

Plug the camera into power using the supplied power adaptor (12V).1. If your camera is the wired 2. PNP-50, connect the Video In cable to the AV input

on the back of the RedAlert. Attach the RCA connector from the PNP-50 to the RCA connector on the Video In cable.

If your camera is the 3. Wireless Camera, set the camera channel as appropriate. See the camera’s manual for details on how to do this. Using the SET button, select the camera channel on the RedAlert.

To connect the RedAlert to a television:

Be sure you’ve already connected the 1. RedAlert to power using the supplied power adaptor (5V).

Using the supplied RCA video out cable, attach the AV OUT on the back of the 2. RedAlert to an AV INPUT on the back of your television.

Tips and Tricks: Be sure to plug the RCA connector into a VIDEO INPUT on the back of your TV (or front, if your TV has them there). The video input (as opposed to audio) is usually color-coded yellow. Also, watch out for VIDEO OUTPUTS, which many TVs come with.

Advanced Motion Detection Settings

Motion Detect Sensitivity

The RedAlert’s MOTION DETECTION threshold can be conﬁ gured. This means that you can choose exactly how much motion the RedAlert needs to detect before it will start capturing images. This is a setting that should be deﬁ ned carefully, as if the setting is too low insigniﬁ cant events (such as a passing bird or a minor interference event) may trigger the RedAlert to record. If the setting is too high, the RedAlert might not record when you really need it to!

The best way to conﬁ gure the MOTION DETECT SENSITIVITY is to have an assistant to play the part of pretend security risk. This way we can observe how the RedAlert reacts to your unique environmental conditions, and conﬁ gure it to deliver the best result.

To set the MOTION DETECT SENSITIVITY optimally:

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Viewing Live Images

By default, the RedAlert will boot up straight into LIVE VIEWING MODE. The DISP button will cycle between displaying a WIRED and a WIRELESS camera connected to the RedAlert.

The RedAlert is capable of displaying images from two cameras at a time. To achieve this, one of the cameras must be wired, the other wireless. As the picture from one camera is displayed in miniature within the other camera’s picture, this is referred to as Picture In Picture mode (PIP MODE) .

Press DISP once to switch between the WIRED and WIRELESS camera.1. Press DISP again to activate PIP MODE. 2. Press DISP a third time if you wish to swap the positions of the main and 3.

miniature images. Note that whilst the 4. RedAlert can display two images at once, it can only

record one at a time.

Motion Detection

If the RedAlert recorded everything it saw all the time, you’d wind up with hundreds of images (or hours of video) where nothing is happening! That’s not very useful for anyone, as it would ﬁ ll up the SD card too fast, and leave you searching through hundreds (or more) ﬁ les to try and ﬁ nd the incident you are after!

Thus, to save storage space – not to mention your time and sanity – the RedAlert is designed to record short videos (10 seconds in length) or take a series of still images whenever something happens in view of the camera. We call this MOTION

DETECTION.

To turn MOTION DETECTION ON or OFF:

Press MENU.1. Use LEFT and RIGHT to navigate to the 2.

MOTION DETECTION icon. Press OK to toggle MOTION DETECTION 3.

to ON or OFF, depending on your preference.

The MOTION DETECTION icon will be 4. displayed in the top left of the screen

whilst enabled.

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Capture Format

The RedAlert has selectable quality settings. You can record images/video in HIGH QUALITY or LOW QUALITY.

HIGH QUALITY is delivers the maximum quality the RedAlert is capable of producing, and is useful for situations where details in your images are desirable. HIGH QUALITY images/videos take up more space on your SD card than LOW QUALITY.

The RedAlert can record in one of two formats: it can either record still images (in JPEG format) or 10 second video recordings (as AVI ﬁ les).

Quality Settings

To change your QUALITY setting:

1. Press MENU, and using the LEFT/RIGHT buttons, navigate to QUALITY.

2. Press OK to toggle between LOW QUALITY and HIGH QUALITY.

3. Press MENU to exit, saving your changes.

LOW QUALITY conserves space on your SD card at the expense of image quality. The upside of LOW QUALITY is that you can store many more images/videos on your SD card – though these recordings will not look as clear as those recorded in HIGH QUALITY.

To change the CAPTURE FORMAT:

Press MENU, and using the LEFT/RIGHT 1. buttons, navigate to CAPTURE FORMAT.

Press OK to toggle between PHOTO (still 2. image) and AVI (video) formats.

Press MENU again to exit, saving your 3. changes.

About these ﬁ le types:

JPEG (often just JPG) is a very standard compression format, retaining most perceivable detail in an image, whilst vastly reducing ﬁ le size. It is the most common type of compression used for images distributed via the Internet. The high compression ratio allows many hundreds of images to be stored on the supplied SD card. Any recent computer of any type will be able to read .JPG ﬁ les. (The name JPEG comes from the Joint Photographic Experts Group who developed the standard.)

AVI is a popular video format, which is highly compatible with most computers and computer-like devices (such as recent mobile phones and even video game consoles). AVI is an acronym for Audio Video Interleave, and has been a popular video ‘container’ for many years. The term ‘container’ means that it is a type of ﬁ le which holds video data, rather than specifying exactly what kind of video data it should hold.

Wireless Cameras and Interference

If the image coming from your wireless Camera is distorted, you’ve probably discovered the bane of analog wireless technologies: interference. To help you get as much out of your RedAlert system as it’s capable of delivering, here’s a brief rundown of what interference is, and how you can try to minimise it.

The Wireless Camera transmits its images on a radio frequency of 2.4GHz. This is way over the range of the average radio, but there are some (in fact, many) devices out there that transmit data on this frequency.

Things such as wireless computer networks, cordless phones, baby monitors, car alarms and Bluetooth enabled devices communicate at and around a frequency of

2.4GHz. Other devices, such as microwaves, create radio “noise” at this frequency as well.

Placing your cameras or RedAlert near these devices, or having any of these devices in between your cameras and receiver, can cause interference and affect picture quality. This happens because the signals are so similar, that they get mixed up with one another, and your receiver will have trouble ﬁ guring out which is which.

If you want to visualize how interference occurs, imagine playing two games of football simultaneously on only one ﬁ eld. The players will continually collide with one another, and occasionally forget which ball is which! Naturally, when two games are played at the same time on the same ﬁ eld, both games suffer, take longer to play and neither team will score as often as they should.

This is exactly what happens when two wireless devices used too close together!

To discover what might be causing your interference, we suggest disconnecting all other wireless devices one at a time to ﬁ nd out which one is causing the problem, and adjusting your setup accordingly.

Bear in mind that a wireless device from nearby homes or businesses could be the culprit, and other than asking neighbors politely to turn it off, there’s little that can be done about this problem.

If you are experiencing interference or poor image quality try the following steps:

If this is the case in your environment, consider changing to a wired system or to

a digital wireless system, as these are not subject to interference in the same way

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