Supernaut

I was looking to get a new DVR to work with 3 CNB cameras. Just 4 channels, nothing too fancy. Low Cost, reliability and relative ease of use (not like the one Digimerge I once tried out and could barely make it do anything) are my goals here. I came across this DVR in my searching http://www.surveillance-video.com/video-recording-mdf1212.html/ Does anyone have any experience with these units or know if they are decent? Thanks.

That clears up the diversity of hard drive options I see out there. I notice the green drives are cheaper but that has to be because of the lower RPM they operate at. Are Hitachi or Seagate any good? I can get a good price on a 1 TB 7200RPM Hitachi drive locally.

I'm about to purchase and Dahua DVR and have a question about the hard drive since I can't seem to find the info I need. I would assume this uses a 3.5" hard drive, as would most dvr's in general? And what about the SATA number, SATA II SATA III... etc?

Good advice. Just to further my education. What are "green" drives and "a/v" drives?

The purchase choice of camera has been a long running argument between my lady and I. So I hope I can learn something new here. In asking before here on the forum, these camera's were suggested to me. This one is rated to -40 degrees C. http://www.worldeyecam.com/store/cnb-vcm-24vfh-cnb-1-3-sony-super-had-ccd-ii-monalisa-600tvl-day-night-2.8-10.5mm-lens-dual-voltage-w-heater.html http://www.gadspot.com/p-262-gs4006cf.aspx And then this was found http://lorexstore.lorextechnology.com/pdfs/DCD210533-Specs_R3.pdf These cameras come as part of this package which seems like a good deal if the original price isn't just a bunch of crap. http://lorexstore.lorextechnology.com/product.aspx?id=1746&utm_source=20OFFMarch&utm_medium=email&utm_term=spring&utm_content=special&utm_campaign=20OFFMarch My questions being. Any thoughts on cameras listed? I notice that if a camera is not heated they usually seem to have a cold rating of -10 degrees Celsius. How important is it that they camera is heated? It can get down to -30 for a couple weeks of the year here. What happens when the camera gets too cold? Does it just stop functioning until it warms or freezes over? Any thoughts on Lorex or the dvr that comes with that package in particular? Also I can't seem to usually find viewing angle on most cameras. Is there an range that's fairly typical? Insight could finally get me some progress here.

Wow, completely opposite from my experience. Maybe try contacting a Regional Sales Manager from here: http://www.cnbusa.com/en/html/support/purchase.php I guess I'll fire off a copy to all 3 managers listed there. The usa@cnbusa.com address has done nothing there.

I was calling around suppliers in the area today and while none specifically sell CNB they told me they could order it. One supplier however was interesting to talk to as he tried to sell his own product. He offered this Speco model with claims that it is far superior to the CNB. http://www.specotech.com/media/resource_files/1f2c7598ca795a72723ef48e690176c3___HINT13D7G_spec.pdf While the specs to look impressive (at least to my novice eye), I think the cost and difficulty to obtain (unless you want to pay retail price) would make it probably not worth my while. And by difficulty to obtain, I put that model number into google and come up with a mere 9 results. He says its $198 from his supplier and he retails it for "nearly $300." Also he says while it doesn't have a heater its rated to -20F and he uses it at his own home and there is never a problem with extreme cold. Also claims they are excellent quality with 5 year warranty and he's never had a call out to replace one. I'm not a fool and I know he's got his own spin on it. He talks of the CNB like its the rusted out bicycle in the ditch someone previously mentioned. He also said that when you order them online (the CNB I mentioned) he says you can figure double the price by the time you receive it. I can't see that happening especially when some sellers offer free shipping over a certain price. I see American retailers that have the CNB I'm interested in and they have their own certifications and such. I think I'll just find the best price and roll the dice. CNB itself (both USA site and global site) will not respond to my email. This seems a frustrating experience overall. I haven't even began to tackle the issue of "what DVR to use" yet. A whole new can of worms that may be. Any thoughts on Speco and that model in particular?

Another further question on these types of cameras. When in night vision mode, do they simply amplify existing light or produce infra red light or something? I once tried to aim a infrared camera out a window and just got a massive reflection back. Is mounting one of these indoors looking out a window a realistic idea? Still no response from CNB USA after 2 attempts. Not too happy with the service there. Maybe I'll try their world site and see if I get some action.

Interesting. Are there any extreme cold users here that could testify to that? How much do the heaters usually cost to buy separate? It might be a way to same some cash if heaters are not needed.

I emailed CNB USA on thursday night and am still waiting replay. If I have no response on monday I'll probably phone them or something. In the mean time I found this good price. Has anyone dealt with this supplier before? http://www.supplycctv.com/vcm-24vfh.html I know that location is outside Canada. That's just on a part of my not caring and I think she's starting to give up on buying in Canada. I know what is recommended but they don't appear to sell the heated model of that camera which is a problem and why I'm still looking elsewhere. And what does she think is going to happen when ordering outside the country? I don't know. It just seems to be a female requirement to make things 10x more difficult than they have to be by any rational reason. What if it gets lost at the border? What if it gets charged at huge tax at customs? What if you can't return it because its outside of the country? What if you get taxed twice because you have to return it? What if aliens come down from space and turn the oceans into ketchup? ... And so on and so forth....

I emailed CNB USA on thursday night and am still waiting replay. If I have no response on monday I'll probably phone them or something. In the mean time I found this good price. Has anyone dealt with this supplier before? http://www.supplycctv.com/vcm-24vfh.html

Ah, I seemed to have missed this post. I live near Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. During a winter cold snap it seriously can go down to -30 and stay that way day and night for a couple weeks, and on some rare occasions hit -40 over night. No joke. It is usually only 2-3 weeks however, the rest of the time it will be -10c to -20c (14F to-4F) in most of the winter. This past winter was abnormally warm however. It only got ridiculously cold for one week.

This information has been most helpful. Now, I don't have a problem with ordering from a reputable American online store. However, my old lady is hell bent on buying from a Canadian dealer in belief that there will be some major problems with border crossing during purchase or possible return. Yeah I know its unfounded but I might as well tell it to our birds. Searching around with google finding CNB cameras in Canada is not easy, in particular the vcm-24vfh. Does anyone know of a Canadian source for that particular camera? Thank you.

New user here could use some help with a setup. I'll try not to make this too long I live in a mobile home park in Alberta, Canada. I have had a long time problem with my next door neighbor, too long to write it all here. Lets just say he's an arrogant ass probably 45 years old with all the maturity of 8. His wife isn't a whole lot better. The longest standing problem with these people have been their dogs crapping on my lawn. In the summer sometimes on a nearly daily basis going on for 2 years. I've tried damn near everything in my legal means. In the most recent incident I threw the dog crap on their deck which led him to call the police. He made up a story how I broke into his place twice and threatened him which the police didn't buy at all. The situation didn't go his way in the slightest which lead him to throw a tamper tantrum and threatened a formal complaint against the police. Lets just say the police were happy after that to work with me to charge him with whatever we can. They also said they're sorry I have to live next to this and feel bad for me. Its just one of several stories in this paradise. It seems the police are out here every month or so and every time that ass clown is involved. They've been to his house twice in the past week for what best I can tell is a spousal abuse situation. Hopefully he just ends up in jail soon and I don't have to deal with him We own our homes here but a landlord owns the land. I have struck a deal with the land lord that the neighbor from hell has to get rid of all his 3 dogs if I can provide photo proof of them in my yard. This has been difficult because I'm often not home. I drew a starving artist windows paint picture of my yard. It is relatively to scale by eyeball. Brown lines represent fences. The property line ends 1ft west (on this side of the street) of our homes. The primary camera needs to be in the center where the arrow points. My living room is in the middle of my home, also my TV/entertainment stand is there. Also there is a hole in the wall there where a satellite tv cable goes through, this is where I would put any camera wiring. I would connect the DVR to my plasma TV located on that wall. One camera on the front of my place would be nice as well but wiring would be much more complicated. I plan to live here until My lady and I can save a 20% down payment for a house which should be less than 2 years. Believe me I would be gone away from this human garbage ASAP if money were not the issue. In the interest of selling this place I want to molest the walls as little as possible with holes for wires...etc. Another consideration is temperature. In the winter up here we usually have a few weeks were the temperature is -30C (-22F) or worse, sometimes going even lower than -40C (-40F) but that usually only happens a day or 2 per year. The camera(s) would have to be able to function in severe cold. The cameras need to be able to provide night vision. Just decent enough that the police would find it acceptable. I don't need to guide a missle through a door way 3km away here. Cost. I hope to do this for under $1000. I think $1500 would be my absolute limit. Its bad enough I have to waste any money due to the trash I live beside. I am very new to this but not 100% green. I had a Lorex camera system a few months ago but returned it. I bought Lorex after reading reviews which seemed to indicate a good value for the money. I was broken hearted to learn that infrared cameras can't look out through windows and I couldn't install those cameras outside due to the temperatures here. It was 4 cameras with a 250gb dvr system for $400. The camera video quality system seemed decent and night vision good enough for my purpose when I tried them outside. My intent was to run at a relatively slow frame rate for little hd space usage. I have a motion light out there that helped a lot as well. I understand heated cameras would be more costly. So would any knowledgeable members have any particular advice for cameras, camera systems, my best course of action, or anything at all? Also this isn't just to capture dogs on video. I just plain don't trust them. If I went on vacation I wouldn't put it past him to vandalize my place. And who knows what else. Lots of good people living amongst 65 mobiles in this park and I get stuck next to these people. I must have been one of Genghis Khan's henchmen in a former life to deserve this.

Sorry I haven't been on here in a bit. I'm in my last year of trade school and busy studying and writing finals. Also dealing with the fact that Rogers is about end its wireless internet in a couple weeks and I have to find a new service so I'm in the works dealing with that. Looks like its going to be Xplornet which has many angry customers but seems to be pretty much the only game in town now. I could write a book on my anger toward rural internet availability and service in Canada but I won't get into that. Nothing particularly new and exciting here. I thought the dirt bag may be in jail after not seeing him for a whole week after the cops were there last week. I keep an eye out so I see who comes and goes from there. But he poked his head out the back door on the weekend so he's still around. Dam. I think 3 camera's will be adequate. One overlooks the driveway and I believe 2 can handle the yard. I would like to stay a fair bit under budget. 4 camera dvr will do the job. When I move out of here and into a house I believe 4 camera's should still be adequate. Those Dahua recorder and camera systems look good and have nice images. It also raised the question about compatibility. How is one to tell what camera's and DVR's are compatible with each other? Is that pretty well the be all end all of value for my money or are there other products I should probably consider? Any what about recommended vendors? Especially that I live in Canada if that makes any difference. I have eaves only on the front edge of my home facing the street. Almost makes me wonder why they bothered at all. The cameras on the side will have to mount to the siding, probably to the aluminum strip near the top above the vinyl siding. Not that I plan on aiming camera's out windows anymore, but someone mentioned infrared camera's can look out through a window? When I tried that before all I got was a bright reflection back at the camera and they couldn't see anything outside.

Relocating the neighbor is out of the question. He has the landlord mostly convinced he is some kind of upstanding individual. He's good at manipulating people who are easily swayed with a phoney smile and outright lies. When the trash moved in he fixed up the old mobile he bought and made it look pretty new, which in turn makes the park look better over all. The land lord I don't think is very able to see past that and doesn't want to think any bad of him. There is also age discrimination. The lowlife and his wife are nearly twice the age of my girlfriend and I. The land lord is old enough to be retired. Its just the natural way of things that old guys think young guys are trouble, or stupid...etc. He's never around to see what actually happens here. That all said its not that he outright takes the neighbors word over mine. He's told me a few times he can't tell which of us guys is bull****ting him. That frustrates me to know end because the police and bylaw were able to figure it out pretty damn quick. I would doubt if a lying sociopath like that would be able to keep a straight story. When there is a mountain of one sided evidence and you still can't tell who the liars is? C'mon. The best I've been able to achieve is a formal letter saying the neighbor has to remove their dogs from the park if they're caught on camera in my yard. It may be just good enough. I had another neighbor suggest we can get the trash booted out of the park. I can't imagine how that would be achieved, I've never heard of the landlord kicking anyone out and can't imagine it happening over anything short of a lengthy petition. I have thought making a deal to move my unit 10 spots down the street to where one burned down last year and the lot is still vacant. The land lord might approve that but it would surly be at my expense. A semi truck would be needed and crew with the guys who attach wheels to these things. Then at the new location I would need new skirting around the unit. When I investigated for insurance purposes I was told by a manufacturer that process cost $5000 (probably not including skirting), which included moving it 100km from their facility. Not sure what it would cost to do in the park. Not cheap I'm sure. I have to get off to work but I'll keep an eye out here. Edit: quick note about cutting off their economic supply. I often see them leave in their SUV in the evening sometimes after things are closed in town. The local store closes at 9 and there is nothing else around here, the next towns are a 20min drive away in one direction. They drive off and are back in 5 min. Often wondered if they're dealing something. Usually happens at least a few times in the evenings.

This advice is starting to look good already. While a hidden camera would be great to catch him in the act. I some how am uncertain about the full potential usefulness of catching him in the act doing something with a hidden. It seems the Canadian courts have a strong tendency to be very lenient on people of his... ethnicity, in order to keep a shred of population balance in "the system." I don't intend to start a controversial argument with that, just explaining my rational somewhat. I could imagine him vandalizing my car or something then some liberal judge explains it away with internal pain due to years of his people's suffering or something to that effect. That kind of thing happens here. I think the obvious bad ass camera system might be the better way to go. Knowing what a baby he is he would complain about it to the land lord and the police. The police already told me I'm free to put up cameras as long as it doesn't record into his yard constantly and they would tell him the same thing. He would complain to the land lord who already has wind of this situation and my intentions, and then when he doesn't get his way he would throw a tantrum. This would probably originate when he is forced to come in my yard to trim the grass along the 1ft of his home. He would be on film the whole time and I'm sure quite pissed about it. I wish I had a setup like that last summer when his (then) 13 year old step daughter was rolling around in my yard drunk out of her mind with her friends. Would have been poetic if they rolled through a dog turd. I phoned the police then to do something about it (there was a kid drinking and driving involved in the situation as well). A seemingly dim witted cop showed up (who I spoke to), the girl was simply sent home and nothing became of it. I would have thought if a police officer found a 13 year old kid so drunk she couldn't walk and making out with a guy who's old enough to have his own pickup truck, that there would be an immediate discussion with the parents even if it was 4am. But I guess not. This happened before the police started coming here on a semi regular basis however. With the neighbors track record now it might have gone differently. The land lord has no idea what goes on around here and doesn't really seem to believe what I say. I guess the stories do sound pretty incredible. I think visible cameras may piss him off enough to inspire him to move away. And if I catch his dogs on camera and he has to give him up, maybe the whole family would push him to get out of here and go where they can keep the dogs. The wife and kids seem very attached to the dogs. The best part of this scenario is I don't really see a way I can lose and can get some peace of mind after 2 years of this hell. It was so nice and peaceful here before they moved in. My girlfriend and I just want to live in peace. We're 26 years old, live quiet, don't have parties or bother any one or have a problem with anyone else in the park. There is a nice elderly lady who lives on the other side of us who said will always vouch for us if a witness is needed. She also said she doesn't even know when we're home unless she sees my car in the drive way. I lived here a year before the trash moved in an never had any problem or even one dog turd on my lawn in all that time. My girlfriend proposes we keep the cameras hidden till we get him on something, then mount them to show off to the world after.