cirtemid

Ok, thank you all for the advice. I will proceed from here. I'll attempt to post again if any progress is made. Thanks again.

Hello all. I have two Swann DVR systems, one is a D1 type and the other is the 960H type. I want to add some PTZ cameras to the systems, but since I am having an extremely difficult time finding Swann PTZ cameras, I wanted to bite the bullet and try to use a different brand PTZ camera which is actually available. Has anyone done anything like this? I am thinking of getting some PTZ cameras from Lorex, Dahua, or any other brands that work with systems comparable to my Swann systems. Does anyone know if there are major compatibility problems software or hardware-wise between the different brands? Are the wire connections different between different brands? I've only used Swann, so I haven't looked into the other brands. Thanks for any and all help.

Wow, that is pretty involved. Yep, I'll need more qualified minds and hands than mine to tackle that one. Thanks for that information.

Hello all. I have a Swann DVR9-4200 and was planning on getting an external SATA drive for extra recording capacity. Going through the manual, I do not see how I can make the DVR actually start using the external drive. The manual does say that an external drive can be used for live recording like the internal drive. I see the procedure for setting up the drive--mounting, initializing, etc., but what do I to ensure that the DVR starts using the external drive when the internal drive fills up? I am using the overwrite recording method. Oh, the troubleshooting section said that external drives connected by eSATA can cause the system to hang up upon startup. Would this include the auto-reboot the system normally does to maintain itself? Thanks.

Hello all. I have a Swann DVR9-4200 which came with 4 PRO-642 cameras. I've added additional cameras, each with their own power supply. The cameras I have added are 4 PRO-640 cameras, and 1 PRO-751 Problem here is that my UPS that runs the system is out of plug inputs due to all the extra power supplies. Well, the UPS is out of plug inputs that are run on a battery--there are other inputs that run like any in-wall socket, but I am using the battery sockets for the Swann system. So I am wondering if I can get all of these cameras on one power supply by using a power splitter that links camera power lines with one power adapter. I have looked at the power supplies and this is the information I see for each camera: I tried to make this into a really nice table, but it came out all wrong. The commas separate the values for each device. An example here is the third value in each row. These values all go with the PRO-751. The last value in each row goes with DVR. The PRO-751 has an Output (Amps ) of 1, while the DVR has an output value of 0.2(2000mA). PRO-640 , PRO-642 , PRO-751 , DVR Input(Volts) 100-240, 100-240, 100-240, 100-240 Input(Hz) 50/60, 50/60, ~50/60, 50/60 Input(Amps) 0.6 max , 0.6 max , 0.4 max, 0.6 max Output(VDC) 12, 12 , 12 , 12 Output(Amps) 2 , 0.2 (2000mA), 1, 0.2(2000mA) What I want to do is put all the cameras on one power supply. Can I use the power supply for any of the cameras and possibly run all of them with it? I have extra DVR power supplies due to a couple of bad DVR-4200 systems I received from Swann. Could I use the DVR power adapter for all the cameras? Due to Swann stating not to use other power supplies than what is supplied for each device, I know this will void a warranty should something go wrong, and it can be a delicate procedure if it can work. I'm willing to do this if it will work. If I can get one power adapter that is adequate for everything, that would be ideal. Not to mention it is rather difficult to get that power splitter by itself, but I digress.

Oops! Thanks. Yep, you are right, the joystick is on the pigtail. My mistake.

Hello all. Does anyone know if the PRO-642 cameras from Swann are compatible with their D1 Trublue DVR that is not the 960h version? I have a DVR4-4000 with no cameras. The Pro-642 cameras are a higher grade than some others so I was looking at getting those, but I saw a description which said they are compatible with 960h DVRs. Would it be a big problem if I used them on the 4000?

Update: I received a new cable from Swann. I hooked it up and everything works. The one weird thing here is that Swann sent a black 60 ft BNC cable, when the Pro-642 that came with the system had a white cable that has the joystick for OSD controlling. I told them what kind of camera and system I had but they sent the type that doesn't have the joystick in the cable. So now I can't do any precise adjustments on the camera. Well, I'm not bothering telling them they sent the wrong type of cable. I'll just deal with it. I'm just glad the thing works now.

Thanks for that info. I got with Swann Tech Support and they said it was a defective cable. They should be sending me a new one. We'll see what happens.

Hello all. I just recently got a Swann DVR9-4200 with 3 PRO-642 cameras. I am having a problem with one of the cameras, and I believe I have narrowed it down to the 60' BNC cable. Here are the methods I used to come to this conclusion. Here is how I am labeling the items involved: Non-functioning Pro-642 Camera--A Non-functioning 60' BNC Cable--B Functioning Pro-642 Camera--C Functioning 60' BNC Cable--D DVR Channel #1--1 DVR Channel #2--2 The normal situation is Camera A is connected to Cable B, which then goes into the DVR Channel 1. Camera C is connected to Cable D, which then goes into the DVR Channel 2. 1. Camera A- Cable B- DVR 1--> no image. Camera C- Cable D- DVR 2 -->image 2. Camera A- Cable B- DVR 2-->no image. Camera C- Cable D- DVR 1-->image 3. Camera A- Cable D- DVR 1-->image Camera C- Cable B- DVR 2-->no image A-B-1-->no image C-D-2-->image A-B-2-->no image C-D-1-->image A-D-1-->image C-B-2-->no image As you can see, the case of "no image" was always with Cable B. The only thing I have not tried is to switch the ends that go into the DVR and the camera. The ends of the BNC cables are labeled "DVR side" and "Camera Side." Are these ends absolute? Will there be a problem is the "DVR Side" is plugged into the camera or the "Camera Side" is plugged into the DVR? I am wondering if this one particular cable is labeled incorrectly. The 4 cameras and cables came as a set included with the DVR, so this is one defective cable out of four. Does this sound like a defective BNC cable to you all, or do you think it is something else? Thanks.

Thanks. I finally got my other DVR and set both of them to use NTP; same ports and all. I appreciate the help on this.

Ok everyone. I finally received my third 960H DVR and this one works! Whew! Thank God! Thanks to all of you for the input. That is definitely knowledge to keep in mind for future reference. Can't tell you what happened. After going through the gamut with Swann Tech, they set me up for a replacement. Had to send in the faulty unit, they took a week and a half to do whatever, and I get a new unit. I hook everything up, and the cameras start showing, although it took a little while before they registered. Seems the DVR is set for 1024x768 resolution, although it can show 1920x780. The latter setting doesn't look very good to me though. This may be a TV issue. Minor detail. I'm just glad the blasted thing works. Thanks again to all.

To milkisbad: These dvrs do not have a BNC output, only VGA and HDMI. I did plug both of those outputs into the tv together. I watched both of them to see the results. They both did the same thing. I would watch the VGA channel until the screen went blank, then I switched to the HDMI channel, unpowered the dvr, repowered it, and watched the results. Same for both--Swann loading screen, then blank screen. Depending on the tv, I would see a "format not supported" message.

thank you for your response. With the first unit, I did connect it to a different tv. I still did not see an image, but I did not get the "format not supported" message. What I find strange is why the Swann loading screen would appear and then everything goes blank. I figured if it was something with the dvr, the swann loading screen would not even appear. Wouldn't that hold true for the tv too, if something was wrong with the tv? These tvs I speak of have VGA and HDMI connections, and one of them has the input labeled as PC. This is just the VGA connection for that tv. So I take it these tvs can be monitors as well. Now with the second unit, I actually saw an image when I connected a camera to the dvr, nothing else worked. Swann tech support said that maybe the reason I was getting a blank screen was because since the dvrs are programmed for motion detection, not having a camera connected caused the dvr to constantly look for a camera, therefore causing the issue. All well and good I suppose, but I've had other Swann dvrs just say Video Loss when no camera is connected. Both of these just had blank screens. Hopefully I'll be getting the 3rd unit in a few days and can try it out.

Hello all. I have twice now unsuccessfully tried to get a Swann DVR9-4200 960H Dvr to function. I bought one unit, it did not work. Then I ordered a second unit and it did not work either. Has anyone else had a bad run with the 960H Dvrs? Here is the issue. Once I power-on the dvr, the Swann loading screen appears for about 20 seconds, then the screen goes black and stays that way. My tv will then say "Format not supported." What does this mean? I've never seen this. I've gone through the gamut with Swann Tech Support. We tried the following: a. Plugging the unit into the wall instead of the UPS I was using. b. Trying with a VGA and an HDMI cable. c. Switching the power supply of the DVR and the cameras. d. Opening the DVR, unplugging the SATA cables from the HDD, plugging the cables back in. e. Along with opening the DVR, pressing the reset button located on the DVR board. All the above attempts netted the same blank screen. The HDD light on the DVR would come on, then go off permanently. On the second unit, one extra step was taken. I was told to plug one of the cameras into the DVR. I did this and was able to see the camera image. However, nothing else worked. I could not access the DVR menu. Neither the mouse nor the DVR button worked. The camera image did not show any symbols indicating motion or recording, even when I was moving the camera all over the place. I am severely puzzled that I got TWO bad units. After the first unit was deemed to be bad, I took it back to the store and exchanged it for the second unit. Long story, but I actually ordered the second unit and it was delivered to my home. Both units came from Best Buy. I'll be returning the second unit to Swann and getting another one. Anyone else had problems like this?