groovyman

In my opinion Antec makes a great product. Back in the day when I was still building PCs I almost exclusively used Antec cases.

I have a client with several DM DS2 systems out in the field and we were able to use IP Cam Viewer to connect. One drawback is the setup - you need to add each channel individually, but then you can sort the channels into groups which is a nice feature.

Very nice build. Hope it serves you well for years to come. Just a suggestion for cooling - one thing I always like to do is use hard drive fans. They cool down the drives dramatically. I don't know if it will fit in between the drives in that case though. Something like this.

I've never been able to do this with the Aver DVR - all I use is the Aver Nano though. The latest Nano firmware has a Backup feature where you can specify a timeframe, lets say 11:45 - 12:15, but when you go past the hour it still produces 2 files. When I convert to AVI or MPG I'll get two segments, but I can join them using a third party program. I shouldn't have to do it, but it's not much of a big deal to me. Many times I'll produce a DVD and that way I don't have to be concerned about the segments or have any possible issues with playback due to codec issues.

You can also go to the company websites and see what type of online support is provided. Look for manuals, software, firmware and how often the info is updated. Additionally, look at what they have online for discontinued product. Sooner or later whatever you buy today will be discontinued at some point and it's good to know if legacy manuals, software & firmware is available when you need it. If you cant find anything about discontinued product on their website chances are you won't find anything for your product when it reaches that stage. Compare the online support for companies you mentioned to a company like Aver for instance. http://averusa.com or http://surveillance.aver.com They regularly have software, firmware and manual updates and it's easy to find. I'm not saying their support website is the best, just something to use as a comparison.

Does the TV have a composite input? If so then you can use the existing Cat5 cabling with a couple of video baluns from the spot out port on the DVR. Connect one balun to the spot out and the other to the TV using a RCA Male to BNC Female Adapter. Another solution, if you need to use the vga port on the DVR, is to use the same setup above along with a VGA to RCA Converter. It would go DVR VGA Output --> Converter --> Balun (with RCA Male/BNC Female adapter) --> Cat5 to the other Balun (also with the RCA/BNC adapter) --> Composite input on TV. RCA Male to BNC Female Adapter: http://www.pimfg.com/Product-Detail/R-001 VGA to Composite RCA, S-Video and VGA Converter: http://www.pimfg.com/Product-Detail/SB-VGA-AV Passive Video Balun (Terminal Type): http://www.pimfg.com/Product-Detail/NVA-P-100

Is it a windows based pc? Did you open the ports in the windows firewall or third party firewall/internet security program (if one is installed)? I can forward all the ports I want to a pc based DVR, but the ports also need to be open on the pc itself. If they're not then the communication will be blocked at the pc.

http://portforward.com/english/routers/port_forwarding/Netgear/VMDG480/Dahua_DH-DVR0404LE-A.htm Don't be concerned that these are instructions for a Dahua DVR. The method is the same.

So, one of my clients opened a store 1 block from the beach. It usually takes me 2 hours to install & configure the POS system, but this took me 3.5 hours. I kept being distracted by the, um, nice scenery walking by. What horrible working conditions Being on an 8ft ladder pulling cable for the cameras really sucked too. What I had to see when looking down - fuggettaboutit!

Must have been a living hell

Come on down to South Florida. Speed Limit is 70MPH on the FL Tpke, but if you do 70 you have people crawling up your ass. 75-80 is the norm but many drive much faster. I do an average of 20,000 miles per year and rarely see drivers pulled over for speeding. Maybe once every 3 months I'll see speedtraps. The first time gas hit $3/gal. I started driving slower. It was amazing how much better I felt while driving. I really did it to improve gas mileage, but got that extra benefit of being calmer throughout the day.

Thanks MaxIcon. I really don't trust most of the reviews that I read on shopping websites. You really never know who's behind them, both positive and negative. Anyway, this is another case of taking action after a situation has happened. The employee hasn't had any issues since the last one a couple of weeks ago. I guess the ex-employee ran out of friends to do his bidding The owner believed the current employee as he really is a good a guy and the complaints against him just didn't make sense.

Have you tried the Swann NetViewer program? They have it listed for download under 2 models: DVR4-2500 and DVR8-2500. I don't know if it will work with your model, but the worst that can happen is it won't connect. http://www.swann.com/downloads/drivers/DVR_2500/Netviewer-Swann_V1.2.7.233-ENU.exe By the way, the entire directory tree under http://www.swann.com/downloads/ is open and accessible.

The Aver Nano (4 & 8 Channel) support audio in, but they don't have RCA connectors as I'm used to. Take a look at the pics - how do I connect a mic? All the mics I have come with RCA connectors & cables. Do I need to strip off the RCA connector and insert the bare wire? What do I plug into the ground input? I feel silly asking, but this has me a little confused and I figured I'd ask before ruining a cable. Thanks for any guidance.

How do u like Aver Nano ? viewtopic.php?f=3&t=30147

Thanks. Makes sense. I never had the occasion where I needed to strip a cable w/ RCA connectors.

I don't know how I see myself being buried, but I'd like to go quietly in my sleep like my grandfather - not panicking and screaming like the passengers in his car

Freakin hilarious!

I've also been using DynDNS for many years and actually have a paid account. The price went up and my latest renewal will be $20/yr. which gives me 32 hostnames. I'm currently using 25 (each a different location) and charge my clients a small yearly fee. It's an easy sell as they don't need to pay $10-$15/mo. for a static IP they'll never remember anyway. At the end of the year it comes out to a very nice dinner for my wife and I

Well, there's alot to consider when choosing a surveillance system. I just installed a mostly analog system in a 1200 sq ft business. IP wasn't needed to capture what was needed. The cost was much lower also.

That's funny! Nah, never considered one of those, but thanks for the suggestion.

Thanks for sharing. I sometimes consider getting a Ford Transit Connect here in the US for my business. I mainly work on POS systems and quite a bit of local area networking along with pc/server configuration & repair. There's also the occasional audio & TV installations - oh, and of course some CCTV I carry alot of parts in my car (Pontiac Vibe) and it's quite full. This morning I needed to purchase equipment for a job I did this afternoon: four 24" LCD TV's, one 40" LCD TV, mounts for all, am/fm receiver, ceiling speakers, two UPS and two desktop PC's. I already had a DVR w/ 7 cameras and all cabling in my car and I fit it all in (it's an art), but it's days like today where I really needed more cargo room. As far as the price of gas and insurance, along with tolls, wear & tear and time spent traveling, I build that in to my fees from the beginning. I'm up front about it too and never get any complaints. People understand.

I got some people fooled I dabble in CCTV, but I'm no expert. I just try to use some common sense and draw from past experience The sun can always cause issues. You'll see that the effects will worsen then get better with the time of day as well as the time of year. I have locations where the sun comes in through windows, reflects off tile floors & other items (both indoor and outdoor) are terrible with some camera placements for certain periods throughout the day. Just need to play around with sun sheilds & camera placement to prevent the rays from beaming into the lens. Camera quality has alot to do with it also. Where to place cameras all depends on the location, environment and what you're trying to capture. I can't give a direct answer to that question.

I hate this type of marketing. Just confuses the buyer into thinking the system is better than it is. I'd agree that 30fps @ D1 isn't needed, but that DVR doesn't have D1 on all channels to begin with. Under Features is says: - 4 Channel D1 Real-Time Recording and Play Back Simultaneously Under Specifications it says: - "Playback resolution" 3 x CIF + 1 x HD1+ 1 x D1 which is most likely how the DVR records - "Image Quality Setting" Supper[*] Best, Well, Good, Medium, Normal and Low which is probably FPS, but doesn't say what the FPS are or if it's per channel or global. I'd look for something else just on principle. *Their spelling, not mine

Glad it's working and hope the nonsense stops, or you can positively ID them if it happens again.