Subscriber Discussion

Rebroadcasting TV Feeds Into A VMS?

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Scott Bradford
•Jul 10, 2018
IPVMU Certified

I have full time security guards behind a gov computer system so sometimes getting outside information (or internet traffic) can be a challenge. When we had the bomber earlier in the summer (I'm in Austin, Tx) we had struggles getting quick updates.

 

My solution was to set up a TV antenna, through an off air tuner box, into a video encoder.. and running that stream into my VMS. That way, anyone who has access to the video feed also has access to live television. I struggled to find a channel, however. So, yes, people can watch the daytime soap operas but at least I can get traffic and weather interruptions for critical things. 

 

My other issue is that to get best reception, I had to shove the encoder and tuner in the ceiling on the top floor of another building, so if I want to change the channel, I have to walk over several blocks to where it is located and do it manually.

 

Any camera vendors out there,  how about that as a product idea? Integrate an off air TV tuner into an encoder and make the channel change button  or IR sensor part of the RS 485 so we change channels remotely through the web GUI. 

 

If anyone else has done something similar, I'd love to hear about it

(2)
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Brian Rhodes
•Jul 10, 2018
IPVMU Certified

Interesting, thanks for sharing.

What is the approximate range of the broadcasts?

Is the channel you're using a public access one?

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Scott Bradford
•Jul 10, 2018
IPVMU Certified
In reply to Brian Rhodes
I happen to be in downtown, so I picked up a bunch of channels. I'm using the local NBC affiliate since they break in with news and weather updates every 15 minutes or so. I'm using S2's magic monitor. They have a beta release for viewing a web page as a video feed. However, it doesn't work all that well (you can't scale the web page in the video window) and our corp firewall doesn't allow access to several websites. I figured by going 'off network' I'd have more flexibility and IT won't get as angry with me sucking bandwidth from the outside world
(3)
JM
John Moss
•Jul 16, 2018
In reply to Scott Bradford

Scott - help is on the way in MM v6.1 which has a "TV in a cell" widget.  Using the web widget to stream TV has some difficulties, just like what you'd see in a regular web browser.  TV in a cell lets you do channel selection and then display TV streams, adjust volume, etc.  The service we're using here is YouTube TV which offers free and paid content.

Release of this version is set to happen within a few weeks.  Here's an example of a screen gram from this morning:

 

S2 Magic Monitor v6.1 preview showing 3 cells of streamed TV.

 

(5)
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Brian Rhodes
•Jul 10, 2018
IPVMU Certified

Also, somewhat related: I use YouTube TV for a cable TV replacement.  In my area it is $35/month vs. $120+/month for comparable cable TV packages. I do not watch TV, but it has been convenient for sports and news.

In this situation, hitting a webpage to get live, local TV is already done. Not sure if using it for general viewing like OP's application is allowed under terms of use.

(1)
U
Undisclosed #1
•Jul 10, 2018
In reply to Brian Rhodes

Want the Rolls Royce Solution?

Look at the NGS pro:

Harmonic - Software based ccap

Couple the CCAP solution with a Christie Solution:

Christie - Phoenix

Once you have this built no one will want to go home and look at their TV.

UE
Undisclosed End User #2
•Jul 11, 2018

I have a site where the EOC is not manned except for events. They leave the weather Chanel on even when there not activated and the guards watch that channel via a PTZ in the room that is meant to record EOC activity when it activates.  

Not eco friendly but effective.

(1)
U
Undisclosed #6
•Jul 11, 2018
IPVMU Certified
In reply to Undisclosed End User #2

...the guards watch that channel via a PTZ in the room that is meant to record EOC activity when it activates.

The beauty of this system is its extensibility:

Want to add another channel? Buy another $99 micro HDTV.

Add a new PTZ preset for VMS “clicker” functionality...

(1)
UI
Undisclosed Integrator #3
•Jul 11, 2018

I did a site like this for a different reason.  We fed the daily tv shows (soaps and Oprah) into a section to keep the guards happy and looking at the monitors.  The center was television and the surrounding were cameras. Upon any alarm, the TV went away and they had to respond to the alarm to get it back. 

(10)
UM
Undisclosed Manufacturer #4
•Jul 11, 2018
In reply to Undisclosed Integrator #3

That's ingenious!

(1)
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Shawn Jepson
•Jul 11, 2018

I haven't tried this so am not sure if it would work but...you could get a Tech 4 from Silicon Dust - this is a box that connects to the TV antenna and then broadcasts the TV channels as streams on your network. 

Each TV channel has a different URL so instead of going across the street to change channels you could add each of the TV channels as a camera in the VMS and then drag and drop...

 

NB
Nicolas Bellego
•Jul 11, 2018

Never done that. But I imagine that using an android box with an iptv solution running on it and broadcast the hdmi output in this type of encoder should work

https://antrica.com/product-category/antrica-video-encoders/

 

U
Undisclosed #5
•Jul 11, 2018

This sounds like a fun project. I used to use NextPVR with a USB capture device as a backend, and used Kodi to access it. I think the NextPVR software supports RTSP so on the surface it seems like it could be integrated with a VMS, albeit a little hacky.

(1)
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Frank Farmilette
•Jul 11, 2018
A2 Systems

What VMS is it?

 

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Jon Dillabaugh
•Jul 11, 2018
Pro Focus LLC

All you need to complete your existing setup is an IP to IR forwarder like this:

Global Cache iTach IP2IR

You will need to have a list of the IR commands for your OTA tuner box. If yours doesn't have decent support that can provide them to you, find a brand of OTA tuner that can.

All of this assumes you have a network connection near the OTA tuner box.

(1)
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Scott Bradford
•Jul 12, 2018
IPVMU Certified
In reply to Jon Dillabaugh

That is pretty cool. Appears to be around $100. Not bad

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Richard Lavin
•Jul 16, 2018
Salas O'Brien • IPVMU Certified
In reply to Scott Bradford

We've used the Global Cache products quite a bit and they work well.

Another option would be to use a Contemporary Research 232-ATSC HDTV tuner.  It has a network port and an onboard Web page enables remote Web control.  With that tuner, if you want to change the channel, you can do it through the network rather than having to hoof it over to the other building.

UM
Undisclosed Manufacturer #7
•Jul 12, 2018
In reply to Jon Dillabaugh

They also have a PoE powered version:

iTach TCP/IP to IR (Infrared Control) With Power Over Ethernet

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Jeffrey Hinckley
•Jul 18, 2018

i am sure you can integrate the DO from the encoder with the “channel up” button on a HD off air receive box.  Do an auto scan and there you go.  There are now HDMI input encoders out there, even better.

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