Is there any more frustrating feeling in this entire
industry than needing a piece of video or a view from a particular camera, only
to find a camera out or a problem with your DVR? We have all had it happen to us. Most times, the cause is very simple the DVR
was unplugged, etc. Teaching your
drivers to observe the lights on the Event Marker box can be a key component in
your preventive maintenance program and getting problems with your video system
fixed before you lose a critical piece of video.
The event marker is two components rolled into one. Since many of your DVRs may be mounted in a
bin compartment or installed in such a way that the driver is unable to simply
see the status lights on the front of the unit, the Event Marker box also
contains status lights that will give you the most basic information on the
status of your DVR in addition to having the Event Marker itself so that a
driver can flag an incident on their bus.
The event marker has the button itself that marks a clip of video on the
hard drive and also has three lights that your drivers need to be aware
of. Those three lights are Power,
Recording and Video Lost.
Soon after turning the key to the “on” position, the DVR
will recognize the ignition input and turn the DVR on. At that time, the power light on the Event
Marker box should be illuminated a solid green color. As the DVR continues through the boot
sequence, the DVR will begin recording.
Once it has booted up and has started recording video footage to the
hard drive, the green power light will stay on and then amber Recording light
will also come on and stay on.
In normal operation mode, the green light and the amber
light should both be illuminated.
The third indicator on the DVR is the video lost light. When the DVR does not see video from one or
more cameras, then the video lost light will flash in red. It is possible that the power light will be
on, the recording light will be on AND the red video lost light will be
flashing all at the same time. That is
an indicator that the DVR has power, has booted up and is recording, but it is
looking for video from a camera that for some reason it cannot see.
It is important to teach your drivers to observe the event
marker box upon start up of the bus as part of their pre-trip routine. If your drivers notice anything on the Event
Marker Box other than the green power light constantly on and the amber
recording light constantly on after the DVR has had a chance to boot up and go
into Record Mode, then that needs to be reported to a technician in your bus
shop for advanced troubleshooting. The
technician can then plug into the DVR using their laptop and the provided
crossover cable to see what the problem could be.
For advanced troubleshooting or technical support, contact
247 Security at 866-693-7492.
