Aventura DMB-X series Assembly instructions

Mobile DVR DMB-X Installation and Setup Manual v2.5 © Aventura Technologies 2009 Page 1of 30
Mobile DVR Installation and Setup Guide
For use with the DMB-X series DVRs
V2.5 14th Apr 2009
CONTENTS
1.0 Introduction
2.0 Connecting up
2.1 Remote hard drives
2.2 Rear panel connections
3.0 Powering the DMB-X Series DVR
3.1 Power Connections
4.0 Setting Up - Main Menu
4.1 Log on
4.2 Camera Set up
4.2.1 Display Menu
4.2.2 Picture Menu
4.2.3 Recording Menu
4.2.4 Video Streaming Menu
4.2.5 Motion Detection Menu
4.2.6 Copy Camera Settings
4.3 Recording schedule
4.4 Replaying recordings
4.5 Administration menu
4.5.1 Utilities menu
4.5.1.1 View/Manage Log Files Menu
4.5.1.2 Write CD/DVD menu
4.5.1.3 Launch H264 Media Player
4.5.1.4 Launch external application
4.5.2 DVR setup menu
4.5.2.1 Disk Usage menu
4.5.2.2 Network menu
4.5.2.3 E-Mail
4.5.2.4 Live Preview Menu
4.5.2.5 Widgets Menu
4.5.2.6 GPS
4.5.2.7 Accelerometer
4.5.2.8 Logging
4.6 Add/Edit users menu
4.6.1 Local Access
4.6.2 Remote Access
4.6.3 Authentication
4.7 Alarm Settings
4.7.1 Switch to preview camera
4.7.2 Start/Stop alarm recording

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4.7.3 Run Program
4.7.4 Play Sound
4.7.5 Send E-mail
4.7.6 Send E-mail with snapshot
4.8 Alarm Logging
4.9 Hardware
5.0 Fault Finding
Introduction
Thank you for purchasing Aventura Technologies’ Mobile DVR.
This unit has been designed, developed and manufactured in the USA to the highest
standards and provides a reliable platform for video recording in the demanding road
transportation environment.
To ensure that you get started quickly and derive the most benefit out of this product in the
minimum time please take a moment to read this guide.
The guide will take you through the key steps of:
a) Connecting cameras
b) Powering the unit
c) Configuring the unit to record images to a hard disk, and
d) Downloading or backing up your recordings.
A separate guide is available for the Client software to be used by CCTV operators for
evidential analysis.
0BContents
First please familiarise yourself with the hardware.
In the DVR box you will find:
a) DMB-X Series Mobile DVR
b) Pigtail connector for power input (3ft long)
c) Connector with “pig tail” cables for video and audio input
d) HDD power cable
e) Pigtail connector for the Alarm input.
f) CD containing Installation and Setup Guide and Client software
g) Quick install guide.
In the HDD box you will find:
a) Ruggedized HDD
b) Mounting plate
c) Ruggedized USB A to B cable

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1B2.0 Connecting up
Connect all required cables in accordance with the information below.
For setup purposes we recommend the use of a PS/2 keyboard and mouse and a monitor.
The Mobile DVR also supports touch screen monitors in which case the keyboard and
mouse are not required. VNC (Virtual network computing) is also preinstalled providing
remote desktop connectivity using a laptop and crossover cable. The default IP address of
the DVR is 192.168.0.1 and the password is “matrix”.
2B2.1 Remote hard drives
The Mobile DVR records to ruggedized external hard drive modules via a USB connection.
This will be supplied with the hard drive. For hard drive and docking station wiring
information please refer to HDD manual.
2.2 Rear panel connections
Mouse and Keyboard
•Standard PS/2 connections are provided. USB keyboard and mouse can also be
used (ref USB ports below)
30BCOM 1
•This serial port is for communications peripherals (e.g. GPS or GPRS modems)
20BSVHS
•This connector may be used to output video in “S-video” format
•It is often used to export recorded images to VHS or MPEG-2 recorders
5B
Comp out
26BThis is provided for display monitors requiring a “Composite” connection. It requires an
RCA/Phono connector and 75 ohm connecting cable. These are not provided with the
Mobile DVR

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Notes
•If you wish to use the composite connection it must be connected before the DVR is booted. Once
the DVR boots it will auto detect the composite screen and display in NTSC by default (for other
regions change the output format using the normal Windows Display settings screen).
•8BIf using a touch-screen monitor to run the system, and the screen is new, then the screen calibration
will need setting up in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions. Drivers may also need
installing.
21BVGA
•This connector is used to provide video output to monitors used by bus drivers to
view live CCTV images, and also for monitors used by engineers for installation and
maintenance.
22B10/100 Ethernet
•This RJ45 connector allows the Mobile DVR to connect to a LAN/ WAN/ WLAN.
23BUSB Ports
•There are 2x Normal and 3 rugged USB2.0 connections for a variety of applications:
oRecording images to external hard drives
oArchiving or downloading images onto a CD/DVD recorder
oInstallation of drivers for new devices via flash memory sticks
oConnecting mice, keyboards, GPS units and G-chip sensors
24BVideo/Audio inputs
•The picture in 2.2 above shows 2 x15-way D-Sub connector for a 16-channel Mobile
DVR. A 4-channel Mobile DVR will have 1 of these 15-way D-Sub connectors. An
8-channel unit would also have 2 15-way D Sub connectors.
•Cameras are connected via 15 way D-Sub “pig tails” which are provided with the
Mobile DVR.
•The camera end of the “pig tails” are clearly marked “VID 1, AUD 1” etc to
distinguish between video and audio inputs.
•The 4-channel Mobile DVR uses one set of “video + audio pigtails”, each with 4
video and 4 audio connectors.
•The 8-channel unit uses two sets of the same “video + audio.pig tails”.
•The 16-channel units use two different sets of “video + audio pig tails”. N.B on 16
channel units ONLY the first 2 channels of each bank (i.e. channels 1, 2 and 9, 10
have audio).Audio Inputs require a line level input (2.0-2.4Vp-p,1kΩ)
•Video Inputs are normal composite video ( 1V p-p 75Ω)
Alarm Inputs
•There are 8 alarm inputs. Each input can take direct 12/24 volt vehicle system feeds..
The alarm inputs are connected as follows.
Pins 1 to 8 are alarm inputs 1 to 8 respectively. Pin 9 is ground and must be connected.
The alarm off state is between 0 – 5 VDC with reference to ground. From 5.1VDC – 50VDC
the alarm is in the on-state.

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3.0 Powering the Mobile DVR DMB-X Series
VERY IMPORTANT:
The correct wiring of the power connections is Vital to ensuring fully operational
functionality of the Mobile DVR series of DVRs.
Any deviation from these wiring instructions can be expected to result in a wide variety of
functional deficiencies.
3.1 Power Connections
The connections on the power plug are numbered 1 to 3 as below:
Power Input
Pin 1 – +SW - Switched input (12 - 24V DC)
Pin 2 – GND - (with respect to +Ve)
Pin 3 - +Ve (12 -24V DC)
NB: - Supplied lead is wired as follows. Blue = +V Green/Yellow=GND Brown=+SW.
An inline fuse of 7.5amp is required on the +Ve wire.
Power Output to HDD
Pin 1 is +5v Output
Pin 2 is Gnd
Pin 3 is +12 V output
3.1.1(+Ve) Pin 1connection must be wired directly to the vehicle’s +Ve battery Terminal (or
to a strap connected directly to the battery terminal), through a 7.5Amp inline automotive
fuse.
2
1
3
1
23
2
1
3
1
2 3
1
2 3

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3.1.2 Pin 3 is a switched voltage used to turn the Mobile DVR on/off. An input on this pin
above 11.6Vdc will turn the DVR on and maintain it in the on-state.
3.1.3 Note: - The DVR is factory preset to continue recording for 30 minutes after the
voltage on the IGN lead is removed.
4.0 Setting Up
All the required software and default settings are pre-installed.
Power up the DVR and wait till the system is fully operational, you will either see a
connected camera display or the “No Video Signal” message displayed.
Depending on your setup method (touch screen or mouse), either double tap the centre of
the touch-screen or double click with the mouse. Once you have double tapped
(“activated”) you will be presented with the following screen:
Once you are in this screen you can see there are sub menus. We will go through each
menu one at a time but first we need to logon.
4.1 Log On
Click on the “Camera 1 Setup” bar and the following screen will be displayed:
Enter a valid username and password (the default username and password being admin
and admin) into the respective boxes and press “Log on”.

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If you have a touch screen monitor or a mouse and no keyboard, then you will need to
press the “OSK” button to bring up the built in On Screen Keyboard shown below.
4.2 Camera Set up
Once you have logged on you will be presented with the “Camera#1 Setup” menu. This
menu has a variety of sub menus as shown.
5B4.2.1 Display Menu
The “Display” menu allows you to change the camera text along with options to change the
time and date format.
In this menu is also the “Mirror Preview Image” option. This option allows any camera to
show a reverse image (as viewed through a mirror) live on the in-vehicle display monitor
whilst keeping the recorded video images the correct way. This avoids the need for
specialist reverse image cameras.

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4.2.2 Picture Menu
This menu lets you adjust the Brightness, Contrast, Hue and Saturation (colour balance) of
image generated by the camera. Adjusting these settings may, to a limited extent, address
deficiencies in the camera image.
4.2.3 Recording Menu
This menu has controls for all of the recording parameters for this particular camera.
“Frame rate” is the number of pictures you wish to record every second.
“Encoding Bitrate” is the amount of hard disk memory used for each second of recorded
video and is a key determinant of picture quality.
“Fixed Bitrate” allocates a fixed amount of hard disk memory per second to record each
camera, regardless of the complexity, colour, light or motion in the recorded images.
“Variable Bitrate” will optimise the use of hard disk memory by assessing the complexity,
colour, light or motion in the image, and allocating less memory where there is less change
or complexity to record.

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“Fixed Bitrate” versus “Variable Bitrate”. For mobile applications or camera views where
there will be large levels of motion it is generally better to select “Fixed”. For applications
where the camera is static (rather than Pan Tilt Zoom) and where there is generally not a
lot of motion or change in the camera view, the “Variable” setting will save significant
amounts of hard disk space with generally minimal impact on the image quality. Note. If you
use a “Variable” setting and there is suddenly a lot of motion in the camera view, you may
find some initial blockiness in the recorded images.
“Audio” can be selected to record audio synchronised with the camera. This will require a
separate microphone installation. Note an Audio on a specific channel input will be
recorded with a like numbered video channel (i.e. AUD3 will be recorded on VID3 only).
“Picture Resolution” provides a choice of four image sizes or “resolutions”:
QCIF (176 x 144 pixels)
CIF (352 x 288)
DCIF (528 x 384)
4CIF (704 x 576)
Please note that the higher resolution that you choose, the higher the bitrate you will
require. We suggest an initial default setting of CIF for most purposes.
IMPORTANT:- Processing constraints on the video capture card means that you cannot
set all cameras to record at maximum resolution and maximum frame rate and maximum
Bitrate.
Recording at the highest image resolution settings (4CIF or DCIF) and at the highest frame
rate setting (real-time 25/30 frames per second) should only be set up on a maximum of
half the channels at the same time (i.e. 2 channels on a 4 channel Mobile DVR). The other
channels must be set at CIF where they can still be run at 25/30 fps.
For the vast majority of mobile applications this constraint is not a problem. CIF quality is
sufficient for most evidential requirements, and the smaller image sizes require less hard
drive space.
“Video Standard” provides a choice of PAL, NTSC and SECAM depending on the national
standard you use. Generally PAL is used in the UK and most of the rest of the world. North
America uses NTSC. SECAM is used in France and some other EU markets.
7B

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4.2.4 Video Streaming Menu
Streaming means transmitting live video images. This requires a TCP/IP network which
you need to configure independently.
The setup menu is almost the same as the recording menu. You can stream live video from
a camera at resolution and Bitrate settings which are independent of the video recording
settings on the same camera. This allows you to configure the streaming to the available
transmission bandwidth whilst retaining the required recording quality. If bandwidth is not
an issue then we recommend using the “Use recording settings” option.8
B4.2.5 Motion Detection menu

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“Set Motion Detection Zones” provides a choice of having motion detection functionality
on either the whole camera image or on specific areas of the image. Motion detection
zones are set up by clicking and dragging the mouse over the required areas in the image.
“Sensitivity” is an important setting for effective practical application of the motion
detection functionality. In outdoor environments, a Very Sensitive setting should not be
used since it can result in false activations caused for instance by birds or leaves blowing in
the wind. Motion detection can also be activated by changes in lighting or shadows, and
not just by physical motion.
“Adaptive Motion Detection” provides more effective results under difficult low light
conditions where images tend to be less distinct
4.2.6 Copy Camera Settings
At any time you can copy the settings to any one or all of the cameras by using the copy
settings button.
B

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4.3 Recording schedule
You will need to use this menu if you do not want to continuously record video from all
cameras. Configuration can be either for all cameras or individually camera by camera.
The unit can be set to record on different days of the week, and at different times of the
day. You can have multiple schedules per camera. For instance you could have continuous
recording between 0800h and 1700h, and then from 1700h to 0800h to be recording only
when motion detection is activated.
0B4.4 Replaying recordings
This screen allows you to view recorded material. The numeric button at the top left of the
screen determines the camera number. Only channels that have recorded video will be
displayed. First select the camera number that you wish to review, and then pressing the
“oldest” button it will play the oldest recording from that camera, and “latest” will play the
latest complete file of recorded material for that camera.

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IMPORTANT NOTE: The Mobile DVR’s video recordings are compiled into files of a
configurable minimum size. See Disk Usage Menu below for how to configure. Only
when the minimum file size is reached is the video recording stored and made available for
review. This is an important feature to note because you can only view the latestcomplete
file i.e. you cannot view the very latest video images that are yet to form the minimum-sized
file.
You can pause, speed up or slow down the video replay using the play controls.
Alternatively you can go directly to video recording of a known date and time by using the
“Search” option. This will bring up the following dialog box.
You enter the start time and date of your required recording using the up/down buttons and
then press “OK”. It will then play the recording closest to the requested time.
You can also “Save” clips to a USB flash disk or other removable storage device. Press the
“Save” button and the following dialog will pop up.
Select the camera required and then the start and end time, then press “Save Clip”.
This will bring up a dialog box asking where you wish the file to be saved. Browse to your
USB flash device and press save.

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11B4.5 Administration Menu
This menu has a number of sub menus. We will go through them one at a time.
4.5.1 Utilities menu
13B4.5.1.1 View/Manage Log Files Menu

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This menu will show you all the log files for the system. If you click on one of the log files it
will give you information such as start-up/shutdown times, log on info, and parameters that
have been changed. These log files contain valuable information for maintenance support
activities.
14B4.5.1.2 Write CD/DVD menu
This menu will allow you to archive recorded material from the Mobile DVR to a USB
powered CD or DVD recorder.
Press the “Add” button and select the camera required and the start and end times. Then
click the Ok button and the system will automatically calculate the amount of disk space
required for the chosen recording. This appears in the main menu under “Size (MB)” to the
right of the video recording. Then tick the relevant option boxes if you wish the Mobile
DVR’s proprietary playing software to be included on the disk and if you wish the recording
to auto-start when inserted into a PC.
If your recording medium has sufficient capacity you can add more clips by clicking the
“Add” button. This will bring up the following screen and allow you to repeat the process.
IMPORTANT NOTE: The Mobile DVR recordings will only play using the proprietary
software. This is a security measure. Recordings will not play in standard Windows Media
Player.
Once you have chosen your options, ensure you have a blank disk in the optical drive.
Then press the “Write CD” button and the chosen video will now be written to the disk.

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15B4.5.1.3 Launch H264 Media Player
This will launch the Mobile DVR’s proprietary stand alone media player which will let you
browse for recorded files and play them individually.
4.5.1.4 Launch External Application
This menu option allows any third party software to run on the DVR. This could be anything
from Sat Nav software to remote connection to other systems. Simply browse “...” to the
application you wish to run and then click on “OK”. Then to launch the application click on
the “Launch External Application” button.
16B4.5.2 DVR setup menu
This menu has a number of important sub menus which we will go through one at a time
17B4.5.2.1 Disk usage menu
The Mobile DVR can record onto more than one hard disk. This menu allows you to set
which disk(s) to record on and in which order. When disk(s) are full, the menu allows you to

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choose whether to stop recording or set to record over the oldest recordings (which are
then lost).
In this menu you can determine the file size at which all video recordings are transferred to
long term memory and are thus available for replay. When video files are replayed you
may notice an occasional short pause whilst video is buffered for the next file. The default
setting of 40MB is a good compromise between disk fragmentation and replay
performance.18B
4.5.2.2 Network Menu
This menu allows you to change the port used for the built in web server and the port used
for streaming live video. Port 5050 is the default port for the video transport and port 80 is
the default port for the built in web server. You can also limit the amount of simultaneous
connections to the web server in this menu.

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4.5.2.3 E-Mail
This menu allows you to input the account details for your mail server if you wish to use the
“Send Email” functionality in the alarm menus (see alarm menus)
1B4.5.2.4 Live Preview Menu
This menu will let you change between the two modes of live images. Depending on which
variant of the Mobile DVR you have will depend on which Live Preview method to use
Note. Default mode is 25 FPS @ 4CIF using the Aventura Direct Draw live preview mode. If
mirror mode display method is used for a particular camera the live preview will change to
Aventura live preview mode. You cannot change the Preview frame rate to 30fps this
however does not affect the recorded video.

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4.5.2.5 Widgets
The widgets menu allows you to select which real-time data to display on the live preview
screen. All of these status displays will not be displayed during local playback, however
they will be displayed in the client software except the Alarm and Recorder status displays.
All alarm information is available in a different format (see client manual).
“Speedometer”
The speedometer widgets so the actual speed of the vehicle calculated from the optional
GPS unit.
“GPS Information”
Speedometer Large Speedometer Small

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This displays the number of satellites detected, the GPS co-ordinates the altitude and the
heading.
“Recorder Information”
This shows the camera status. Is the camera connected or not (Green/Red), is the camera
set up to record (denoted by the R)
“Alarm Status”
This displays the alarm condition (Green for activated and black for de-activated). This is a
good engineering tool to verify alarms are connected correctly.
“Accelerometer”
This shows the braking/acceleration and cornering forces on a real-time display