trfish

Tom: thanks for the tip on just using NO/NC connections. When I got home I tried it and it works fine. What originally confused me was that the "normal" state of the DVRs sensor input with nothing connected is shown as "low" on the sensor test dialog box. When I connected the sensor input to one of the DVRs ground pins, the test display showed "high". This is opposite what I would have expected, but as long as it changes state that's all I need to make this work.

That would be great, but I don't know how to do that. The 4 sensor inputs are marked 1 2 G 3 4 G. The NO/NC connections are an output of the box, so I shouldn't connect them there. Are you saying that if I just connect a relay's NC or NO between one of the 4 inputs and one of the G terminals, that I can trigger it by tripping that relay? (I know I have to set whether it's normally high or low in the GUI, but I thought that meant I had to drive a voltage, not just a contact closure) Thanks for all your help....

Thanks Tom, Right after I posted I called them and got through immediately. I was told the the inputs take 6vdc max. I would prefer to use a NC/NO connection, but it looks like the 4 inputs on the back of the EH1116H expect a voltage input rather than a relay contact connection. The motion detectors receiver has 4 zones with 4 different NC/NO trigger outputs, but only one +12vdc output.

I'm a bit bummed out here. I've been on hold with Aver's customer support chat line for an hour and still haven't gotten through to someone. I'm hoping that once I do they can provide this info. If they do I'll post it here.

Hello, I recently purchased an Aver EH1116H-4 DVR. I would like to hook up a third party motion sensor and trigger recording when the motion sensor detects activity. The motion sensor provides NO/NC relay outputs, as well as a +12vdc signal when motion is detected. The Aver DVR says it supports sensor inputs, but doesn't state the maximum allowable voltage. Can I just hook the 12vdc signal from the motion sensor directly to one of the four sensor inputs? Or is it looking for typical TTL voltage levels (i.e. 0 to 5v)? From what I can tell, just using the relay outputs from the motion sensor won't work, since when I test the trigger input with nothing connected it says it's "low". Thanks!

By the way, I'm not locked on either of those two, and if I can get something "better" (more reliable, better UI, etc) for a little more, I'm interested in that too.

Thanks! This is very helpful.

Based on some recent posts here, I also checked out the Revo R8DVR4-1T. That also looks like a great setup. Recommendations (or pointers to other discussions) would be appreciated. Thanks!

I would like an 8ch DVR. I have a house with 2 analog cameras already installed, and plan to add more later. I've tried Lorex LH330 series and Swann Dvr8-3000. The Lorex freezes started re-booting several times a day just days after I bought it. Also, I don't think it's D1 (hard to tell from the specs). The Swann's motion detection seems buggy; it misses big events like a car driving past the camera (catches it half the time). I've played with the settings and tried calling tech support but no luck. They've told me several times that they needed to escalate it and that they'd call back, but we fail to connect. After checking out many of the posts here, it seems that folks like Dahua or the Avermedia eh1008h series. I like that they both do full D1, and that they both have external trigger inputs (so that I can trigger recording from a motion sensor far down the driveway). I almost went with the Avermedia box but recent posts make it sound as if they might be slowing down their support for security DVRs. For Dahua, if I buy something from say SCK, it's not clear to me whether there are any firmware updates at all. The other thing I like about the EH1008h is that it allows me the possibility to add IP cameras in the future. For me that's a nice-to-have, but not necessary. A good windows client (or browser access) is preferred. I have a shiny new 2TB drive waiting to be stuffed into one of these boxes. Can anyone recommend one of these DVRs over the other? Thanks!