jakesoundels

If you can work the wire under the siding you will be okay. Like I said, Cat5 has been exposed for a while now in all sorts of Pennsylvania weather. Other runs around the house are in conduit but I never got around to placing the run up the side in it. Besides, if you have problems you know what needs to be done.

3 years here...and it is regular cat5 running up the outside of the house. Still works like a charm; is getting faded though

Well, I don't want to say for sure but I'll bet Groucho can weigh in on the issue. You know you'll have to either place a male lead onto the CNB power or cut and strip the power lead from the balun right?

Good to know. Thanks. I wasn't aware there were terminals at the camera end. Now these cameras are going to be installed outdoors and most of them will be installed on vinyl siding with the wires being hidden under the siding. Would I be better off using baluns and cat5e or would you go with the siamese? I'm mainly worried that I won't be able to fit the baluns under the siding presuming I won't be able to fit the baluns into the camera housing itself. This is why i'm choosing the siamese. Any thoughts would be appereciated. The best part for Cat5 is the flexibility down the line for IP not to mention it is easier, overall, to work with. This is the power connection on the CNB These GEM baluns will fit nicely in the back box of the VCM

The camera end has screw terminals for power. Just splice a pigtail onto tbe dvr end of the siamese.

Seems like it is either time to go back to the seller to see if he can send another. But, to tell you the truth, ebay was never a reliable source for CCTV. You can buy an 8 way 12 VDC CCTV from other, more reliable sellers.

That was my next question.

How are you getting power to the cameras?

...And don't forget to make arrangemets if you have a dynamic ip like signing up for a dynamic ip service.

How small of a camera are we talking here? There's this by Kt&C And there's this: And I don't think there is any other way to hide the wire other than mounting the camera on a custom painted junction box. It doesn't have to be that deep.

This one works great:

Don't forget to use a good disk defrag and cleaner every month or so! I use Auslogics defrag/disk optimizer and Ccleaner from filehippo...all free Run the cleaner first

I think those are you're only options. A static ip may cost more but if you don't want to go the dynamic dns route a static is the best way to go.

Seems that way to me.

Your dvr would have to subscribe to an update service like dyndns. But you will have to pay for the account.

The easist thing to do is go to no-ip.com and sign up for a free dynamic dns account. You can choose a custom web address to access your dvr. You then have to look for their free updater client and download/install. This runs in the background of any pc and periodically checks to see wheather you internet ip address has changed. If it did it will change it on their server and you will be able to access the dvr with the address you created on no-ip. Only issue here is the computer has to always be on - or on often to detect ip address changes. I have an old dedicated pc with the service on it. I also leave the cameras up all the time. So all I have to do is turn on monitor and there are the cams. Comes in handy if I hear a noice and want to check quickly. If you can, use static on your dvr. Make sure you can access the dvr over your local network (lan) using the static ip. For example that local ip will most likely be 192.168.1.x. The x represents a number you either created or the dvr came with. DCHP allows your router to automaticlly change the local address of the dvr at any time. You don't want this. With static the dvr is telling the router it is happy with its own local ip address and the router will say no problem. Some dvrs subscribe to auto dns updaters like dyndns.com but that service is no longer free. I use that one, and its updater, but was grandfathered in before they started charging.

Maybe, maybe not. Is he including installation in that price or is installation on a separate line? My bet is the unit records at 7 FPS at D1 for all 16 channels and higher frame rates at lower resolutions. DVRs with those specs are ROUGHLY in that price range especially if handling/installation/set-up is included. Not that I want to take away from your price concern but unless you are recording activity from superman 7 FPS is plenty; I've handed lots of 3 and 7 FPS footage over to the police which had resulted in arrests. Can you take any screen shots of the DVR's software and live view screens so we can get a better idea what type it is?

You said you've worked with budget dvrs in the past but what is the budget(s) now? If its on the low end you can't go wrong with the dahua.

I usually copy the dav file(s) to the desktop then use the converter. It works with one or many files.

^ ++++1

Is there any video play back going on, in PSS, at the same time you are converting? I noticed that too and have to click "stop". Then the conversion really speeds up. There is also batch converter I use every now and then: http://tinyurl.com/9428vhz

I think it looks really good! If it were me I'd lower Sidewalk 2 just a hair so it is below the tree line like Sidewalk 1. Then, maybe, at the bottom of the screen you will get a better face shot when someone walks by. But it might not be that big a deal.

Keep in mind my 4 channel Qvis records up to 30 FPS on the first channel and up to 7 FPS on the other 3. I have a Blackberry and Dahua has not been supporting DMSS for Blackberry for a while. So I have an older version on my phone - a bit clunky to use but it works viewing 1 camera at a time - no playback. Again, for my needs it is okay.

I have a qvis and have no problems whatsoever with playback/back-up quality. In fact I was able to provide police with daytime footage recently and the subjects were identified by other witnesses and later arrested. The camera is a CNB VBM 24VF and the subjects were about 15 feet away from the lens (and its relative setting). At night I have 75 Watt motion lights near the cameras; faces are not washed out because I also lowered the contrast after sundown ( a feature you can place on a timer for overnight applications (or daytime for that matter). The functionality IS excellent but, if not used to it, it takes a bit to get used too. Its remote software, PSS, is better for playback and use it everyday. Make sure you get the latest version for your Qvis especially since it has a playback timeline bar which makes it easier for spotting motion in a 24 hour period.

OKay, and what are you imputing to access the an image remotely? Your public IP? If so, and you are using IE, you may have to enter a colon followed by the port number after entering the IP. Are you using software or IE to access the DVR? If IE can you access the DVR in IE - if so do you need to enter a port number?