shockwave199

What exactly are you showing? What would be something to see is a snapshot export from actual footage to see what it's looking like.

LOL- that's a good one. Take a look at your version and see. It doesn't get any fresher than these- http://www.dahuasecurity.com/download_2.html

Thanks for that Don. Much appreciated. I contemplated CVI but the 1080p units are rather expensive and the 720p units aren't as feature rich on the back end- including no support for alarm in/out. Having to swap out my cable was the deal breaker. I'll swap alright, but it'll be for networking cable and an IP system. Thanks again.

If you start in with Hybrids, you're going down a road that is costly and a unit that is much bigger and more difficult to get a handle on for the average person. Frankly I wouldn't recommend it. Chances are if the dvr stinks, so do the cameras. It may be that the only thing to come of the installer doing the original is saving you running wires. If that's the case, cut your losses, and the installer, and put in a good 8 channel dvr and grab 8 new cameras. I have this ultimate mini and it's been very good- http://www.securitycameraking.com/8-channel-ultimate-mini-series-59081-prd1.html It's a Dahua. There's lots of videos to watch about it. It will do everything you mention you need, and I think it'll be more easy to log into! Certainly YOU can remotely- provided they are setup with internet there. Then maybe grab new cameras- nice vari focals like these to dial in just what you need- http://gadspot.com/p-451-gs6107.aspx And, you're done. Keep it simple for THEM, and YOU may have a shot at peace. Good luck.

No, sorry to say. I only use PSS too, not smart PSS which I think is a different app. It shouldn't be a big deal at all to uninstall/reinstall. Just make note of your networking settings before you do to make it easier to plug that info back in just right. It could have gotten corrupted and needs a fresh install. It happens. Good luck.

Reboot the computer. Last resort, unistall the app and reinstall it.

You didn't mention what your budget is. If you're really certain you have good condition RG-59 coax installed already, not the premade plug and play cable, you can consider HD-CVI as well. The dvr's are less expensive than HD-SDI, as is the cameras. They have 4, 8, and 16 channel units now, although I only see 720p for the 16 channel units thus far. But even 720p can suffice. But if you're going to install all new cable, pull cat5 for an IP system. Dahua systems are readily available and via PSS software, any location can be combined for single or multiple groups.

This is exactly why I will be going IP. My plug and play won't support cvi. If I have to swap cables there's no way I'd be reinstalling coax. This is actually a great post to cement my desicion, so thanks! I think qsee is being deceitful really. They say and even show in video for cvi that users are using their plug and play cable. That's not cool at all. The truth seems to be you either need actual rg59 coax in place already or you need to install new runs. I thought maybe they were actually including a better quality coax with their cvi kits but I guess not so. Again, really crappy of them to do. They sell actual coax but they over charge for it. Not really surprised they don't include it free in their cvi kits.

Is plug and play cable okay to use for cvi? I understand good rg59 coax is preferred but cvi is always touted as the easy replacement for your analog system. Many people, including me, used plug and play cables years ago. Most of my runs are 60-75' tops. Usable?

Is the camera POE capable? It should be. In which case you could use a poe injector. You run one cat5 cable to the camera and inside you put the injector in line for power and connection to your router. http://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-TL-PoE150S-Gigabit-Injector-compliant/dp/B001PS9E5I/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1401135835&sr=8-3&keywords=poe+injector+12v

I'm going on no sleep so maybe someone else can tackle your break out questions. In short, such a business as you have that has already experienced theft needs a good system in the event he needs to prosecute. Analog is simply not the way to begin. It's more than just the cameras. More than just the recorder. It's everything combined. You can't tweak garbage to make it work better. You can't polish a turd with this equipment. It's used in the hopes of supporting you with positive identification of individuals and their actions. I would suggest megapixel gear but the budget is only there for a single camera. Many would say, including me, to have a single quality camera than a whole system of garbage. At your budget, HD-CVI is a great alternative and really the best way to go for a whole affordable system that will provide HD quality that can be installed easily, and he can be up and running in no time. Simply put, forget the other garbage and at least start at 720p.

One last suggestion. I saw someone post about this q-see HD system. Strongly consider a 500 dollar budget and really have a worthy system. Decide quick while the sale lasts. http://www.costco.com/Q-See-8-Channel-720p-HD-Security-System-with-2TB-HDD-and-8-720p-Cameras.product.100104432.html?catalogId=10701&keyword=865574&langId=-1&storeId=10301

LOL- I didn't mean YOU don't get it. Your brother in law doesn't get it. Sorry for the confusion. You want to know why no one else has responded to this age old question but me? Because, as you must know yourself, it gets very tiring trying to make suggestions when someone is 'convinced' they can just go the cheap route. Most simply ignore such foolishness here. If it weren't for me trying to help with a suggestion, this tread would have sunk to the bottom of the ocean. So I figured even though it's another 'I need a six camera system for 300 dollars' scenario, I'd try to offer help. And my suggestion is still the cheap route. It's just better cheap than the others. I've done stuff for family. It can be a nightmare. It's a no win situation really. When the cheap garbage dies, it's your fault. When they have a crisis and the footage is so terrible you can't see anything useful, it's your fault. They always want a simple cheap system just to keep an eye on things and for a deterrent...until there's a crisis and then they hit you with 'why the heck didn't this work- you suggested this thing.' And let me guess- you'll be either installing it or helping to do so right? I made a suggestion above. That's a better place to start at merely 200 dollars more. If nothing in the place of business is worth anything, install garbage. Better yet, install cheap fake cameras if all he wants is a deterrent factor. Or certainly install one of garbage systems you mentioned already. They'll give you a picture. The colors will be skewed in the daytime and so noisy at night you won't see anything of value. Details will be hard to come by for anything more than very close up shots- not something you really get for 3.6 lenses. I'm not being mean- I learned from those mistakes too. All it amounts to is wasted time, money, and effort when you could have spent a bit more and done it right from the start. So, good luck to you.

Garbage. Install garbage and when he gets robbed and has nothing to show for it, maybe then your brother in law will understand he shouldn't be convinced about something he knows nothing about. You can't cheap out with this. I have nothing more to say to a guy who doesn't get it. Sorry.

The system you mention is not a good one. Not worth the effort installing that one. Consider this one- http://www.amazon.com/Q-See-QT5682-8E3-1-8-Channel-Surveillance-High-Resolution/dp/B00I3DOZHK/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1400893337&sr=8-3&keywords=qsee That will at least get you good images. I haven't used it so I can't say much, but you have to go with a minimum quality and the one you're looking at falls well below it. Q-see is fine, although RMA returns/exchanges can be tedious. Good luck.

I'm not even sure what you're saying you fixed. What did you do that helped?

Dahua 2mp 30x ZHlIf9PZydw Why couldn't you just enable digital zoom in the camera? It will only kick in when you zoom tighter than the optical zoom. And once it's enabled, a controller should have nothing to do with zoom limit, no? It'll keep zooming until the camera reaches it's tightest zoom, I would think.

It's not terrible to have two units going. With PSS software you'll be able to view both systems blended into one view. Another way to go if the deal is there is to buy an 8 channel system with four cameras included. Then you add cameras as funds permit.

A camera without IR can actually still show a very usable picture in moderate fog. With IR, it's a white out conditions looking snow storm.

You might need to rethink that. Unless you're very fortunate, spiders will be attracted to the IR. That becomes a deal breaker. Rain and fog will make an IR image unusable too. Think about separate IR fixtures. Nice pics, btw.

Last resort- is there no way to do a hard reset on the camera itself?

Huh. Well pics of the focused cameras would be good to look at- post some please.

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If you have eight cameras hooked up to an 8 poe nvr, or 8 cameras in a poe switch and import them all into a non poe nvr, which scenario causes the least amount of stress on your home network? I'm assuming it's the poe nvr, where the only stress will come if you're monitoring in software or remotely.

I don't think dahua software is garbage. It's not perfect, but it's far from garbage. Someone would have to prove to me how wonderful hikvision software is. So far, no one speaks a word about what it can do better than dahua. All I hear about is hikvision cameras. Almost nothing about their nvr's or software. Until I read or view a comprehensive review on a hikvision nvr, it's remote software, and it's mobile software, I have to assume it's nothing special. The few small glimpses of it all have left me unimpressed, leaving me much in favor of PSS and gdmss+ or idmss+ mobile software.