shockwave199

Doesn't look like the IR is on at all. Get that on and I'd bet you'll be stylin man. You're almost there!

Do you need a 6-50mm lens? Other than that, a gadspot GS831SM is a way cheaper option and it would probably be comprable- under 100 bucks. The Vitek at 3-400 bucks I would not do, personally. Nothing special except it having a good varifocal lens.

For those who are interested, I had the great opportunity of having a busy street out front today. This was a great time to observe how the auto tracking is doing, adjust settings, and watch some more. There are still tweaks to be done. I need to zoom match a bit tighter for closer shots, but that is a delicate balance to strike. As it is, it's not bad. It's keeping tabs on the action and zoom matching well- much more than I could ever do manually, that's for sure. I was pleased it was doing well too, considering it was a breezy day. The camera did not get distracted from branches or leaves. A work in progress, and night time has challenges too- different than daytime. But this is promising. For anyone considering an auto tracking camera, my situation is pretty tough to master. If it can behave well here, it can do so in even better conditions. And the better the cameras software, the easier it would be to dial in. 2DAIR69_vB4

But that's the biggest mistake made, and that's why for everything else a camera has, it usually needs to be a varifocal as well. And they need to be well placed. Your camera- it's capturing some of the driveway and maybe closest to the camera, the front door? Either location may be too compramised by that positioning. Because of the limitations invloved, you need to cover critcal areas with a very specific fov's. Wide shots are fine, but not for actual ID'ing in two different areas just because they're in the shot. It's just not practical with analog. In your example you need at least two cameras- one to cover the front door and one much closer to the driveway, perhaps looking straight down it if possible. In your current position, why am I seeing sky at all? I'd start by pointing it more downward to capture way more important things than the sky. This is why I always suggest homeowners get no less than eight channels for residential exterior. You need tight fov's for critical spots such as door and windows. Then you augment that with wider shots if you want. That's why it's critical to put yourself in front of the cameras. THEN you understand how much you can't see detail in your shots with poor positioning. As much as I love having large fov's for some of my channels, you need to give that up and tighten up the shot for critical areas. Then you'll have something. Balance the two out- tight shots for critical areas and wider shots for overviews, so you have ID detail and still have a full view of your property. And I'm just a DIY'r here, so consider the source.

Not just you. I was looking forward to seeing a vid of that camera too.

Having gone through it, I would suggest avoiding boxed systems. Buy an eight channel D1 dvr separately, and then buy good cameras appropriate for each location. Mix and match cameras is fine or if you like one certain camera, use a bunch of them. The empire camera is much better at night, however I think when you spend the bucks it should absolutely include TDN so the day shot looks good too. You may be able to strike a good balance by adjusting the colors for that channel in the dvr. Sometimes a slight push to the greener hue side with a little more satuartion is all it takes to deepen the color to be acceptable during the day- unless it's really bad with skewed color overall. It's also tough when doing youtube vids because the picture quality drops even more. Maybe your vids were uncompressed because they were short. My vids are typically longer, so I go with best quality MP4, which is another resolution drop. I think for the newbie homeowner there IS good quality to be had with analog. But opposed to what's written on the sides of that nice box you put under your arm when you walk out of the store, it simply isn't that easy to get the best quality you can. The formula for homeowner success IS rather simple though- quality hand picked separate pieces, the pain of installing it yourself, the pain of recuperating from that experience, and about 1k in your wallet for gear that will make all that work at least worth it.

But doesn't that put the quality of the monitor over the actual image quality?

I see- gotchya. Oh well, sorry for the confusion!

Just checking in on the cameras at 3:30 am and saw these two guys, which I followed until they split. They weren't a problem but in the wee hours, everyone on foot or bike is of interest in front of the house. fFcnM3tvILM

This is what I thought he was looking for-

He need actual data from PTZ to capture in real time all the time u are talking about OSD I'm talking about real time pan, tilt, zoom readouts which update with every movement of the camera. The settings for displaying such info on screen of course is in the OSD, which is what I was refering to. But I'm not even sure that's what he's getting at.

Not quite sure if I follow you, but in my ptz it's a simple display setting with choices of position on the screen and how long it displays, such as seconds, minutes, or constant on. Any movement and those numbers of course keep updating while displayed. I keep them off. The only info I have show is zoom numbers. I suppose the only way to know how a camera supports the display is a pdf manual or asking the seller to confirm.

Regardless of what is superior, I think it comes down to the specific application. In Tom's example of cameras getting better, true enough. But at what point does the average homeowner need to have cameras for cctv that are as good as the digital cameras they take holiday shots with? I believe even with quality MP cameras there can still be a point of diminished returns for many residential situations. If you want to compare how lovely snow covered tress look, or how wonderfully crisp the cars look in the driveway with MP cameras, fair enough- they'll smoke analog cameras all day long until the sun sets. And there's nothing wrong with getting the best gear available if that's what you want, or more so what you need. If you need to capture plates of moving cars, or large crowds in expansive areas, or large parking lots, I'd consider MP cameras for sure. Being able to drill into those kinds of shots and still have clarity for ID is key. But in residential where you're covering doors, windows, and driveways, it may not be necessary to have MP cameras. I mostly see poor lighting, poor positioning, poor camera choices, and poor focal distance for the field of view when I see shots of peoples setup in residential. It's not easy for the DIY'r to understand all the considerations when putting cameras up outside, having never done it before. But if you get it right on all counts, analog can still provide the ID shot needed. Analog or MP, it's still frustrating to know that all it takes is a hoody, sunglasses, or a mask to get the crime done without positive ID. It's like they don't even care if they're on camera. So whether or not you need analog or MP to capture that, tough call. It's according to budget and application I think. Well installed, either one can be useful, imo. Not well installed, either one can fail to produce an ID shot. The sad fact is, even well installed, BOTH won't do much for ID'ing even a borderline intelligent crook.

I noticed that in all the images. I'd be curious to see the detail improvement after all are tweaked.

Are both cars purple? Looks like the color may be off, now that I look at that day shot. You should also consider improving your exterior light out there on the driveway. That one little fixture isn't cutting it. Cameras love additional light at night. The night shot in your first post was actually the least noisy image, save the IR smear. Maybe cleaning the dome did the trick. But you had something set better for less noise. When changing settings you are unsure of beyond defaults, keep notes to find your way back.

To return the whole package, you'll need to pack it all up including the cables, cameras, dvr, the works. If you like the cameras and you've run the cables, you may want to consider purchasing a Dahua PRO 8 dvr. It's gonna cost you money over the top of what you spent on that packaged system- about 400 more bucks for the dvr with a 500gb hard drive. That's the approximate penalty price you usually pay for buying and installing a pakaged system. I bought a q-see package and the dvr has been great, but the cameras came down quickly. Every one was upgraded- all eight of them. Time, effort, and more money spent to do that. You live and learn with this. There's no way around spending at least a grand for an eight channel system- at least. A four hundred dollar package deal with everything included is almost too good to be true. Usually, it IS too good to be true and you end up having to upgrade something in the package that either breaks, is outdated, or just inferior to what you can buy separately. They count on the customer who doesn't know any better, that's all. Get your mind settled on spending as much money for the dvr that I suggested as you did for that whole package. Keep everything else in line- all eight 600tvl cameras if you like them. The wires have been run- you are invested in that install now. Put the dvr in line, get it all working, and there you go. Keep working on q-see for that replacement dvr. Be sure they make good on it. Don't let them off the hook. But in the mean time, you'll have a working system that in the end, you'll prefer. Either that, or pull it all down, box it up, return, and spend a grand piecing together and installing another system. No matter how you flip it, it's more like a grand. Good luck to you!

MUCH better now! Nice! Post that night shot.

Considering those images, there's a third school.... Analog Seriously though, I hope you get it sorted

C'mon - get out there and sweat a little Actually, I'm right there with ya. Wait until you get a nice cool day. The way the weather has been you may need to wait until September though. Yeah, last year I quickly realized uh, it's summer- there won't be any ideal day in an attic until mid fall. You either wait or you sweat and work. I chose to sweat and work- I wanted my system installed. Good luck!

Not a bad idea with the tv, but I find the remote jockeying too much if it doesn't work quite right and you need to switch the source on the tv remote and then go to the cable remote and then back to the tv remote- a pain. I have a netbook with a remote view open all day to see the cameras- it helps to see when people knock at the front door too. I just take the netbook with me if I'm hanging wherever in the house, if I care enough to.

I would be VERY cautious about using any chemical cleaner on the dome. If it's scratched, exchange the camera. You shouldn't have to accept a damaged camera. But I would not use any polisher chemical. I only clean my dome face with either a damp micro fiber cloth or more typically, a dry eyeglass cloth. Never a chemical. You run the risk of damaging the dome and then you'll only see a smeared, blurry image- the dome ruined. Far as the swann, outside of using the remote which may be finiky like you said, I think it may be user error when it comes to making presets. You shouldn't have to restart the camera and all. I would read the camera documentation carefully. If creating presets via the swann isn't working right, you should be able to go into the cameras osd menu and create presets directly there, and then just start/stop a tour from the swann menu.

I'm not sure, but it sure does look like a simple matter of a filty dome. Have you cleaned it since installing?

Very cool. I'm not affiliated- I just recommend good places that I've had experience with for certain things. Enjoy.

No problem. And to boot- each camera comes with a power supply too.

You need to use your no-ip host address when viewing remotely. If all is setup properly in the router, you'll be fine- including the proper port for your phone. Don't forget- your address should include the port number, such as mycams.noip.tv;89 The 89 for example, is the port associated with the dvr.