dalepres

I have a Hikvision 2032 camera and I like it pretty well but it appears to have one major drawback: I can't find any way to set the time on the camera. It has an option to connect to an NTP server but if the camera is not on the Internet there appears to be no way to set the time. Am I missing something? Has anyone set the camera time on this model?

I was doing it in iVMS. I did it in the browser and it worked - thanks! Oddly, syncing time to the PC appears to be the only setting not available both places but, instead, has to be done in the browser. Anyway, I can live with that. Thanks for the fix.

That's where I would expect to see sync to PC but it's not there.

A suggestion for the admins/owners of the site: this mini-nvr section is probably going to keep growing like crazy. How about a sub-forum just for these? Would that be possible?

Glad you're back Mike, because I want to order a couple more of these. I'll give you time to catch up before worrying more about the process to change the admin password. I do have a suggestion, if you have any input or influence with the designers and factory: it would be completely awesome of this recorder had a VESA mount so it could be mounted directly to the back of a video monitor. My system will all be in place before this could be in production but it would be a huge selling point, I think. Dale

Mike seems to have disappeared. I hope he is able to come back; this seems like a great NVR but the manuals and documentation are not great so it takes more support. Of course, if they'd publish better manuals and a good help website it would be easy. This is just one more reason why I recommend that most people do not do their own video system. I'm sure I'll get the thing working but those are delays that leave gaps in my security. Long gaps in security are the biggest problem with DIY security or surveillance systems.

I got my mini NVR from Mike a week or so ago (I was out of town so I am not sure exactly when it arrived. So far, it's a thing of beauty; I'm very impressed. I've tested with a couple of cameras and it seems to work quite well. I'm still setting up, though, and have questions. To start, I can't seem to change the admin password from the default of blank. Every time I go through the process the permissions for admin change to guest and there's no way to change it back; the drop down for permissions is disabled and I can't set it back so I end up cancelling before I lock myself out. Usually, with similar devices when I can, I create a new account with admin permissions and disable the original. I tried creating a new account but Operator was the max permissions allowed; I can't create a new administrator. Any help on the permissions issues?

Has anyone tried an external eSata multi-drive unit configured as a single eSata drive? I'm wondering how I can get the most drive capacity to this recorder. I want to get to about 16TB of drive space to do 30 days of 24/7 recording on 8 cameras at 3MP. (That still just blows my mind. In 1997 I worked for a company that had a terabyte drive array. It was almost as big as my desk.)

Now that I've started buying from AliExpress, the whole world has opened up. The latest thing I'm considering is a 200 dollar 4X PTZ camera. I really need an outdoor PTZ but the application doesn't justify a 500 dollar or 1000 dollar+ class camera. Has anyone used one of these or other cameras in this class of PTZ from AliExpress or otherwise? www.aliexpress.com/store/product/Top-10-CCTV-Cameras-1080P-2-0-MegaPixel-IP-Camera-P2P-Onvif-CCTV-Security-Network-4X/1333999_1961416815.html

Anyone think this is a real HikVision? It's more than the 200 dollar class cameras but I would pay that much if it is legit. http://www.securitycamera2000.com/products/2MP-1080P-High-Speed-PTZ-IP-Camera-4X-Zoom-IR-60m-ONVIF-WDR-HIKVISION.html

Very funny on the cloud pictures... I understand the risks of buying cheap chinese junk. I've bought some that didn't work out and I've bought some that did. I've spent way too much money on useless junk on my surveillance system - and as much of that junk was top name junk as was cheap Chinese junk. That's why I posted here to see if anyone had actually used one of these. I was actually hoping to get a response from one of the aliexpress vendors that hang out here. My application is for a parking space. I have an informally reserved parking space at my in-town apartment. It's handicapped for my wife. The management put the handicapped space in specifically for my wife and for a few years no one else in our building ever had a decal or parked there. Now one other person parks there - he has a tag but can manage to run up and down the stairs with a case of water in his hands so, though I don't know what his handicap is, I know it won't hurt him to park one more space away. In any case, the one ignorant neighbor parks there any time he thinks we're not home. When I have to park elsewhere, I just need pan and tilt to easily point the camera to watch my car rather than his car. I don't need the zoom though it would be nice. I have a decent, inexpensive (cheap Chinese) camera now that works great but requires tools to move it. I would much rather spend 200 to 250 on this camera than 400 or 500... and if I give in to 500 then I end up looking at 600 and then 700. Pretty soon I find myself looking at 1000-1200 dollar cameras and realize I'm getting carried away. Up to now that's just meant the end of the search. This is the first time I've seen PTZ (even without the Z) cameras in this low price range. The apartment is actually in a good part of town in a pretty low-crime and safe town in the first place - but, over the past 7 years, I've had my car broken into twice and attempts at least 3 other times I am absolutely sure of and likely more than that. So, I have more to lose than 500 dollars but a high-end PTZ (I know, 500 is not a high-end PTZ) is just so much overkill for what I need to do with it. For now, I think I'll wait until someone in the US that I trust sells one - perhaps through Amazon - before I buy a PTZ. It doesn't happen that often that I wish I could move the other one.

I've mentioned the TI365/368 based cameras that use UC2 software a few times in various threads so I was asked to do a review here. I first built my surveillance system using analog cameras because IP cameras were just too expensive at the time. As Unix1992 mentioned in another thread, though, to have an effective analog system you need to have at least a 960H DVR - which is expensive. My first IP camera was a Geovision; it was a 720p box camera at the amazingly low price (on clearance) for 199.00. At that price, though, it still was not a clear win in value for IP cameras. I've always been a fan of SecurityCamera2000.com. They have some great FPV cameras and videos and support the RC model airplane community a lot. I don't fly RC but I do love reading about it and seeing the videos. I had bought some analog cameras from them and go there from time to time to see what's new. When I discovered there 108 dollar 5MP IP cameras, that was a real game changer. It was a quantum leap in value for IP cameras. I bought 1 for a test. It worked so well I bought 5 more. So let's get into the details. The cameras I purchased are: http://www.securitycamera2000.com/products/1080P-Ti368-9P006-5MP-CMOS-Outdoor-IP-Camera-ONVIF-w%7B47%7DBracket-IR-15m.html. These cameras are 5MP IP cameras for 98 dollars today. Someone somewhere wrote a bad review of the same camera under a different brand complaining that it is only 2MP native and it is upscaled to 5MP. Could be. But I can see the quality of the image go up as the MP goes up when I play with the camera so they do it well. Even at 2MP for 98 dollars it is a fantastic deal. I'm going to take a few posts to cover this camera because I don't want to bore you too long at once. So to end this first post, let me throw in a couple snapshots just to show the video quality day and night so you know it's worth continuing to read. These are from our in-town apartment, looking over into the parking lot. Well, I thought I'd post a night picture but PhotoBucket seems to be altering the images as I upload and they are destroying the quality on the night shot. I'll post more when I get home and when I figure out how to upload to PhotoBucket without having my images destroyed. The image shown is a 3MP capture.

Well, they can use that if it works for them.

That's what I said. Get a court order to protect the areas where you would expect privacy such as behind the fence.

You need to have a wide angle illuminator. IR illuminators tend to have very narrow beams. Here's one with 120 degrees coverage. http://www.amazon.com/CMVision-Wide-Angle-IRD50-Illuminator/dp/B00EDRQEOW That also has the benefit of being 850nm LEDs which produce IR that is invisible to the naked eye. Not all cameras can see 850nm, though, so you'd have to check your camera specs or experiment with some until you find one that works. The problem with this illuminator is that it looks like an LED illuminator to the experienced eye. Maybe burglars wouldn't catch on. You could try to find some IR transparent covering or something to make it look more like a standard light fixture, I suppose.

I mentioned that the images have been reduced - in one case by me and in all the other cases by PhotoBucket. You can't see the original quality yet - I mentioned in my very first post that I would work on finding an upload site that doesn't destroy the images - so your judgments are premature. If you can find me a Hikvision 3MP camera for 98 dollars, I'd like to see it. But I don't accept the automatic assumption that Hikvision is a better camera. You all keep saying that like it's Gospel and we are just supposed to accept it. I've yet to see any proof or even evidence to back up those statements. What I see are warranty problems people have after buying those brands online, on-camera motion detection not working on ONVIF, and people being locked into a single supplier for hardware and software.

My original post also states that these cameras come with software, IOS and Android apps. So your only complaint seems to be that Dahua or Hikvision offer twice the warranty and we all know that's not the case. If you buy cameras online you are stuck with the service from the seller. No warranty will be provided to you by Dahua or Hikvision. And, honestly, if a camera lasts a year, it's almost certainly going to last two, three, or even five years. If one in ten break that rule then you pay enough for 5 additional cameras to buy ten in order to get the additional warranty to cover that one-in-ten exception. The numbers don't add up.

Well, if PhotoBucket was destroying the 3MP night vision so that I could see it, I'm not surprised PhotoBucket destroyed the day image as well. The night vision looks completely gray when I upload it in full size but if I reduce the image size before uploading then PhotoBucket doesn't destroy it. I can post a reduced size but basically correct looking image but the resolution will be greatly reduced. I can also post the altered PhotoBucket image. It's not advertising at all. Just because I use the cameras at 3MP doesn't mean that the 5MP mode shouldn't be mentioned. I mentioned it and even mentioned the drawbacks of it. I also mentioned the con of the email and FTP uploads not working for me. I don't get how you think it is advertising and not review. I think the problem is that it is not Dahua or Hikvision. I also posted that I would add more later. I started with some basics about the camera and then planned to continue with more images and my opinions. If there's no interest in non-Hikvision or -Dahua cameras, then that's fine. I'm going to post the night pictures as uploaded to PhotoBucket so you can see the issue I was describing but, beyond that, since there's no interest in inexpensive Chinese cameras, I won't continue the review. I have nothing at all to do with the camera makers or sellers and have no reason to simply advertise their products. If you look at my history of posts here, when I joined a few years ago I knew little to nothing about IP cameras. When I purchased these cameras Hikvision or Dahua cameras with similar capabilities were twice the price. It's the price of cameras like these that have forced Hikvision and Dahua to reduce their prices. As for why go cheap Chinese rather than Hikvision or Dahua? Well, I don't think it's an either/or because Hikvision and Dahua are cheap Chinese cameras. I would not be a bit surprised if the camera inside is not exactly the same board. The value claims of those brands mostly come from their promise of support but people who are buying Dahua and Hikvision online are not getting any better guarantee of support than you would get buying these cameras - in fact, if you buy them from AliExpress you can be sure you won't get as good of support and you may not get an actual Hikvision or Dahua camera. If the only valid cameras to discuss here are Hikvision or Dahua, and throw in perhaps Axis and Mobotix, I guess they could just ban any discussion of other cameras. Funny because when I started here it was all about GeoVision, another cheap Chinese camera sold at expensive prices, and Dahua or Hikvision were barely acceptable alternatives. I hardly see GeoVision mentioned any longer. Because of all of the "Cheap Chinese Cameras" talk here, I avoided the cheap cameras and started my system with GeoVision DVR cards and my first IP camera being GeoVision. But I kept reading about people's success in using the cheap Chinese cameras so I tried these. And they work. I don't know why people shouldn't or wouldn't buy them. There's been a lot of talk lately on here about the cheap Chinese mini-NVRs. 39 pages of basically people's success with them. Issues to be sure but in the end it is mostly successful. I suppose we should quit talking about those and just stay with Hikvision and Dahua NVRs as well? Night vision reduced before I upload to PhotoBucket: Uploaded to PhotoBucket without reducing on my end. Besides reducing the size, you can see how they destroy the image. Even though I upload was 2048x1536 they reduced it to 1024x768 and destroyed the color in the process:

These cameras are built from boards produced by, I think, tpsee.com. It's hard to tell for sure; there could be even another manufacturer up the chain but I think tpsee actually makes it. They also create the UC2 software. These cameras are based on the TI 365/368 Video Processor chips. The cameras are available from SecurityCamera2000.com, TMEZON, and a few others in the US on Amazon and eBay. YOu can also search for UC2 CCTV Software on AliExpress and find several different cameras based on the TI chips and using the UC2 software. The first 6 of these cameras I have I bought from SecurityCamera2000.com. Here are the specs from their site: Features: 1/2.5'' Aptina 9P006 5MP CMOS Sensor TI DaVinci DM368 DPS Resolution: 2 MP:1920×1080@30 fps; 3 MP:2048×1536@15 fps; 5 MP:2592×1920@10 fps Built-in Dual Filter Switch IR-Cut System Dual video stream transmission Support IE 10.0 browsing and parameter Settings (ActiveX) H.264 video encoding Support the motion detection record (By UC2 Software client) Support iphone/Android remote Day/Night, Night vision distance 15 meters RTSP://192.168.0.123:554/mpeg4 Support Blue Iris video software Support Synology NAS surveillance Support ONVIF 2.0 Support Milestone System support P2P and cloud access. Support iphone /ios android mobile remote APP: Seetong DC 12V Power input Working Watts : 7W In 5MP there is no substream available so I stuck with 3MP recording. It was good enough for my needs and allowed me to save processor utilization by viewing the substream. Recording 2 channels on my laptop uses 3% of CPU. Recording the same 2 channels using Blue Iris uses 100% of CPU. At home I've had as high as 6 cameras recording using UC2 at one time, all on 3MP record, and only got to about 24% CPU utilization and I have a very old processor. This is why I often recommend using a single brand of cameras and using the software that comes with the cameras. By optimizing the software for use with the single camera brand, they can be much more efficient than can be done with ONVIF. The cameras have a 2MP lens so with 3MP and 5MP modes they start to fisheye - more on 5MP than on 3. You barely can see it on 3MP but it is visible, though not distracting, on 5MP. For making HD movies of the family, this would not work but for a security camera, the little bit of fisheye is ok. It would not affect the ability to identify a suspect. I really struggled with getting the email notifications for motion detection working from the cameras and once I did get it working I was flooded with emails showing nothing at all except the static view - no people, no motion. My Synology NAS does a great job of motion detection so I use it and ignore that I can't make it work right from these cameras. Others have posted that they had it working. I might, when I have time, work with SecurityCamera2000.com tech support to see if I can resolve the email notification issues. They have offered in the past to do a remote support session where they will log into my computer and can see what's going on. The remote access system they use is a fairly well known commercial product - I don't remember the name right now - so it is fairly safe to let them get into your PC. I also have not been able to get the load to FTP working but others have reported that it works for them. Again, I just let Synology handle it for me and will work with tech support in the future to try to resolve it. I'll add more at a later time.

Is the router already connected to the cable modem? The WAN port on the router should connect to the LAN port on the modem - but that's a issue for your home network and not a video surveillance issue. If your home network is working, including wireless, don't change anything based on what I said; I'm just saying how it should already be based on what little info we have. So, if your network is working then you just need to connect your NVR and cameras to the network. If you're only going to have a couple cameras there's no real need for a separate video network. If you're going to have several cameras then you will want a separate network. Assuming you will put the surveillance system on the primary network, you have a couple options. If your router has a built-in switch (extra Ethernet jacks on the back) then you can plug the NVR and cameras into the router directly. A better option is to purchase a new EThernet switch and plug an Ethernet cable between any port on the new switch to any available port (other than the WAN port) on the router. Then plug the NVR and the cameras all into the new switch. Other than running the cable, setting up a simple video network is that easy. AS for cameras, I would not start with wide angle cameras. People think they are doing the best thing by starting with a couple of wide angle cameras covering a lot of territory. The problem with those cameras is that you have only a few pixels of face and you need all the face pixels you can get. Get the right lens, depending on how far the camera is from the target, and target your entrance and choke points. You don't have to catch them wandering around your yard; you need to catch them coming into or out of your house with your stuff. Wide angle, general coverage, comes later. This wide-angle-cover-the-whole-yard-with-two-cameras notion is used to sucker the inexperienced with pre-packaged systems. Cover the doors. Cover the hallways. Cover the windows. Basically in that order, depending on your own house design. Generally, around here, you're going to get recommendations to go with Hikvision or Dahua. I'll throw in Cloud2000 from SecurityCameras2000.com or any compatible camera - the boards are all manufactured by tpsee.com regardless of who's selling them. YOu can go with the SC2000 cameras or search AliExpress for http://www.aliexpress.com/wholesale?SearchText=outdoor+ip+camera+uc+software and find a bunch of other similar cameras. I've used the SC2000 versions and several from AliExpress. For an NVR, I would not recommend using a kit NVR. I have two of them sitting in my junk pile. There's a thread here about mini-NVRs and you could find several good choices there. THe cheapest way, if it works for you, is to have all your cameras from the same company (Hikvision, Dahua, tpsee (UC2)). That way you can use the software that comes with the cameras on your PC and don't really need an NVR to start.

You can get a single-port POE injector for about 20 dollars including power supply. Plug one end into the camera and the other into your router (assuming your router has a built-in switch). This is less expensive than a POE switch for a single camera. You definitely need an outdoor camera, as mentioned. I haven't seen many outdoor cameras with SD Card sockets but they do exist. The problem is, even if you find one, you will have to go outside to recover the SD Card to look for problems. I haven't used one yet but based on the mini-nvr thread here, I would recommend a mini-nvr with a small hard drive or just run the software that came with your camera on your PC or laptop.

Another consideration in camera placement is to make sure that each camera has a camera looking at it or at least watching the access path to the camera - though looking at the actual camera is best. When I started my system I had only two cameras in place, mounted close together and facing 180 degrees apart. I had the ladder near by and a couple punks used my own ladder to climb up and cut the cables and burglarize my house - and I had no video at all. I was already working on fixing the issues; they were always in the plan, I just hadn't gotten that far yet. Of course that's all fixed now. There are no exposed wires, all cameras are in the view of another camera, junction boxes are tied to the security alarm system, etc. Punks are getting smart. They're not all as dumb as the dumb ones that they like to show on TV and YouTube. Plan ahead.

Under-cabinet vent designed for the toe-kick under your kitchen cabinets, hidden walls, hidden in the attic in a temperature controlled pocket - in other words, remove the insulation underneath and put it on top of the box. The last thing you want is the bad guys to take the video out with them in a PC or fake stereo receiver. You can also consider a sacrificial-lamb NVR for burglars to find so they don't spend too much time looking for the primary NVR.

I would definitely go with the very best Ethernet cable you can possibly afford and not run any coax. Go with CAT 7 if possible, CAT 6e or CAT 6, at the minimum. Not only will that Ethernet cable be able to carry your cameras but it will distribute audio and video for your entertainment systems as well. The cable will be so over-capable for carrying CCTV video that you could easily tap in at any port with an inexpensive Ethernet switch and share the same run with data, Internet, entertainment type video, audio, home automation, etc.

If you haven't been inside a Costco then how do you know you want the system they carry? If you had ever been in a Costco, or a Sam's Club, you'd know that the folks who help you in the electronics department don't know much about electronics - if they did, they wouldn't be working at Costco or Sam's club. Instant gratification of getting to walk out with a surveillance system and take it home to install is good but the only benefit you get of a retailer near you is that your credit card gets credited a few days more quickly in a return than if you return to Amazon. I suggest reading around here, posting questions about what your real surveillance requirements are, and looking for equipment that people can tell you from experience they would meet your expectations and actual requirements. It always cracks me up when the TV news shows video of someone who robbed a convenience store and all we see is blur because the convenience store owner thought he would save a little money by purchasing a kit from Costco or Sam's club.