SB_Jim

I can slide the connector shell up the cat-5 until I reach the end of the male end that will plug into the female connector coming from the camera's pigtail. However, the weatherproof shell isn't large enough to allow the two halves of the weather-proof shell to engage the threads. And, this is using the 100' cable that shipped with the camera. Please tell me how this is supposed to work! I needed to run my cable thru conduit - so I've already cut off one male end of the supplied cable. In my install I'm using two cables to make my run, so I'll put a female connector on the end I cut off, and the existing male end is to connect to the pigtail female end coming from the camera. Thanks!

stroonzo, Thank you VERY much for providing this. This information is not contained in my NVR manual, nor the camera's brief instruction book. Where did you find it? I think they're all fairly clear to me, but I need some clarification on this: "Set the start time and the end time to define the duration for day/night mode." If I'm using the switching Schedule, is it implied that the default is DAY, and that the Start & Finish times to be set are therefore applicable to "Night" mode? Thank you. And, by the way, have you played w/ these at all? What was your experience? Jim

Max, Thank you! I'll give a try to each of them soon. Would love for the smart IR to be effective for close-up face shots. Jim

Howdy, I'm sure there are nine great posts on this, but my quick search didn't reveal exactly what I'm looking for. I own the Swann NVR. I have all cams connected via NVR, and view frequently via mobile app. My question is - If I know the address of each cam, can I access a cam via a browser or Safari on my iPhone while the cam is still connected to the POE in the NVR? Would I not enter something like http://192.xxx.x.x:port# ? If not, would I need to bypass the connection to the NVR and simply connect the cam directly to my router? Thx much, Jim

Thanks for your input. Perhaps I should have titled this post REMOTE viewing of IP w/o nvr. I do currently have the ability to connect to individual cams while I'm on the same subnet and am connected to the NVR by my laptop. What I'd like to do is reach a camera (and the camera's own menu) - using my iPhone. I do use a mobile app to access the cams - and it works fine. However, I'd love to be able to access the camera menu by remote. Currently my mobile app only allows me to change frame rate, resolution, and bit rate. Jim

Gazza, I'm sorry you had such a disappointing experience. My experience over the past approximate eight or 10 years has been anything but like yours. I frequently promote Swann consumer products BECAUSE of their good support. Very rarely have I had to wait more than a few minutes on the phone, and many times they have offered to call me back. They ask me for a time during which I'd like to receive the call, and they often call very close to that specific time. I've had excellent tech-support by phone, and also by remote connection to my computer. Just this past week I received a replacement IP camera because one of mine showed an anomaly during black-and-white that couldn't otherwise be explained. Before I knew it, it arrived in the mail, express. Maybe you won't change your mind, but I've been a Swann user for many many years, and their support is one of the primary reasons I'm happy to purchase their products. If you want a real measure of terrible support, try calling Lorex!

I think you're looking at the four channel manual, because my manual has this information around page 44. But you're right, I can configure any alarm input as normally open or normally closed.

I'm trying to understand how most contemporary NVR's (or alarm panels) work in regards to alarm inputs. Specifically, I'm trying to understand whether or not the alarm condition triggered at the NVR (coming from a PIR, for example) is based on voltage input, or is based ONLY on the state of N.O. (normally open) or N.C. (normally closed). If a PIR is wired to the alarm input (N.O. in my case, using a Swann NVR 7200-, will the NVR interpret a momentary "closed" circuit as an input signal simply by having the "circuit" closed, or does there also need to be voltage sensed when the N.O becomes Closed due to a PIR signal? Thank you!

Good luck in your searching & research. It's a bit of a challenge to find the "near perfect" solution for your needs. Sometimes you just gotta start out and learn by trying - which you've been doing. I can live w/ my "way too many motion events" - but it's not what I prefer. Thus, I'm looking into another solution to hopefully reduce those by a factor of 10! Jim

Although the Q-See NVR's have fewer alarm inputs, I believe that the pic from the OP showed a single input. If so, that may be fine for his needs. I have the Swann 8 ch NVR, and I'm in the process of finding an appropriate PIR solution for my cams - to minimize unwanted detects. Here's what the Swann manual says about the inputs (presumably the same for Q-See): "The Alarm: Sensor menu will allow you to customize and configure how you’d like the NVR to interpret input from and respond to the sensor input panel on the rear of the NVR. Alarm Input No.: The connection that corresponds to the input you’ve connected the sensor to. Note that the Alarm Input Number and the Channel Number don’t have to be the same. The <- characters indicate that these are alarm inputs. Alarm Name: The name you want to associate with the alarm. We suggest something descriptive and useful, such as “Lounge Room PIR Sensor” or “Front Door Sensor”. The NVR will use this name in email alerts and in the event log to let you know where alarms are being generated. Type: Whether the sensor is a NO (normally open) or NC (normally closed). You’ll need to check your sensor’s documentation to learn the correct value to use. It refers to the way the sensor tells the NVR when it has detected something. If this is set to the wrong value, you’ll get constant “false” alarms, which will stop only when the sensor detects something." The book also indicates that any camera or combination of cams can be activated for motion from single PIR.

Wouldn't this count as a Swann Dome (IP), or were you talking specifically a "mini-dome"? http://www.costco.com/Swann-HD-3MP-IP-Vari-Focal-Add-on-Dome-Camera.product.100089445.html

Or return them to Costco and order another pair in hopes that you get a current firmware release.

I once had a couple of occurences like that (using the Swann NVR). I didn't see them live, but saw them on playback. The Swann Lev 2 tech recommended re-starting my NVR and re-setting the config to factory settings. Note: save your config file first for loading once you've re-set to factory. In my case - this fixed the issue, and I haven't seen any signs of that anomaly since that time many months ago. Don't know if you're running your cams to a PC, or using the NVR. Thought I'd share my experience nonetheless. Good luck. Jim

Thank you Q.

Howdy Q, Do I understand correctly that updating my SWNHD-820CAM's to anything you list below would be of minimal or no value to me because I'm using them w/ the Swann NVR? And, it's the original NVR that records in 2MP at 30 fps. I'm thinking that for the many persons using these cams w/o the NVR - there may be more upside benefit to the upgrades? I believe that my cams are capable of 3MP, but I'm limited in my application due to using the older 2MP NVR. Thank you & I hope you're having a nice Sunday. Jim

I thought the cams were the same (mp capable) but limited by the NVR' s ability to record 2 vs 3. At least that's what Swann told me.

They aren't the same as the "IP" version. Might need to wait a bit longer.

You could consider the Swann dome for your room.

My quick look.. says that there's more vertical difference (change) than horizontal. But that's just my view.

Thanks for the clarification, Max**. We always appreciate knowing the little details that are important.

Surely 5mp is an worthy increase, no? I'd sooner just go for 2mp now, or plan for 5mp in the future as 5mp seems to be next up. 5MP would be awesome! But the difference between 2MP and 3MP may not be so dramatic to sway me! I'm generally in favor of "more is better" when it comes to resolution - but since I already own the 2 MP system - I could never justify upgrading to 3 - just for the res alone - all other factors the same.

Howdy "Mr. Swann", Even with a modest reduction - that's a lot of HDD capacity! 8 cams is plenty for my uses, but it's nice that that particular NVR is designed for fairly significant usage of up to 16 HD cams! I'd love to be able to compare 3MP vs 2MP at my own home to understand the difference & potential benefit. But, that's not an easy option - so I'll continue to be pleased w/ what I already own. By the way, the Swann View Plus mobile app has been very reliable for the past couple of months (when I downloaded it). My only "gripe" is that it doesn't seem to allow me to view at higher res while on my home network - as the previous version did. Is this a correct understanding? There seems to be less options for resoultion settings now, although it's still adequate. Cheers, Jim

Is the box larger than the 8 ch. NVR? The specs for the 16 ch. states: "•HDD: 3TB installed (expandable to 32TB based on removal of the supplied 3TB and replacing with 8 x 4TB HDDs)". Seems like it'd need to be much larger than the 8 ch. to accomodate 8 each 4TB drives! I've also been told that the 3MP recording is at 15 fps.

Swann does sell a dome, and you can find it at Costco.com http://www.costco.com/Swann-1080p-HD-IP-Vari-Focal-Dome-Camera.product.100070462.html

Joey, Swann says that there are hardware differences, and therefore the old (mine) cannot record at 3 MP via firmware upgrade. [Edit] - He also stated that the 3 MP is at 15 fps. Jim