SB_Jim

Are these Lorex (Hik) domes 2-axis? Can they be mounted on a vertical wall (portion under my eaves) to replace my bullet? Are there restrictions to mounting a mini-dome on a vertical surface? Joey, I'll be very interested to know the dimensions (footprint of mounting surface, height from mounting surface to top edge of dome).

My network settings are fine. I get email pics already as configured via NVR. I was unable to get the email settings to Save in the camera. Next time I play w/it I'll leave the NVR set to enable motion on that cam first.

Well, this didn't work for me.. yet. Via the NVR I disabled motion for one cam, de-selected send email, etc. Then I logged into the CAM itself, enabled motion, selected a few areas for motion detection, and attempted to copy my setting for email from what I use in the NVR to the CAM menu. I kept getting an error msg that prevented me from saving my settings. I enabled SSL and Auth, etc. - same as for the email settings I had set in the NVR. Any ideas?? I really had hoped to see the hi res image in an email.. at least for this test!

Nice gate & controllers you have on your driveway as well. Nice "catch" on your cams!

Ok, I admit - at first I was mistaken when I saw the picture of this item on Costco's website. The bullets look identical to my Swann IP's, so I thought they were marketing an IP system w/ 8 cams for this price. Only after looking a second time did I see the "SDI" - & don't think that I could have deleted my OP. I've got $1,521 into my NVR, 6 bullets, and a new 21.5" monitor.

Now this seems like a decent price for all you get. I paid $899 for my 8 ch NVR and 4 IP bullet cams, and another $349 for my 2 add'l IP bullet cams. This system (although SDI) is still HD and comes with 4 bullets and 4 mini-domes - all for $1,500. Might be a good option for some. Now if Swann would just come out w/ the IP mini dome like Lorex is selling (Hikvision brand). http://www.costco.com/.product.100037980.html Cheers.

That was my impression - that the NVR simply provided a "gateway" to the cameras!

Excellent. That'd be great - except that I receive emails from 3 of my cams, and there are always false motion emails sent - three pics a piece. During some times of the day, there are quite a few of these, and that file size would choke my network, or at least put a tax on it. But, if I were live viewing from home and disabled the email, perhaps I could capture the image to the NVR?

That looks like the spec for your camera, but your previous screen shot showed the actual file size of your still pics - which was around 200k each. I'd say my "pics" via screen shot were in the range of 500k each. Do you have the NVR? Have you ever attempted to set the email pics from that menu?

I'm not sure. All I know is I was getting images from the cam. can't check the NVR settings while at work. Id say set the NVR, and than set the camera, in that order. Interesting that from your screen shot it would indicate the snapshots were approx 215k in size - which is decent. When I receive email pics (the three that are sent via email for motion), the size is only about 19-20k! Good enough to see the image, but poor otherwise. I have set the email w/ pic function from within the NVR. Maybe I should log into a camera and check the settings 'cause that'd be an improvement. I've found that if I review previously recorded video using my laptop connected wirelessly to my NVR over my local LAN - I can pause and grab a really great screen shot in very nice resolution - probably much higher than the 200K that I saw in your last post. When I sent three of them to my office in a single email, the approx size of the email was 2-3 MB.

Well, it could be helpful perhaps in saving time w/ trial & error. I've been fine-tuning my motion over the period of 1-2 weeks - finding the source of "non-productive" motion events by studying the motion events that were recorded during various time of day, lighting, wind, etc. But, other than that it appears to be more of a "frill" function.

Well, if that's all it did, "yawn"! I was hoping for some pseudo- analytical that might improve on false motion.

Joey, Was that to a Hik (Swann-LOREX) dome? Was it just a toggle on/ off, or was there also a slider? That may be very cool!

Thx Joey. I remember seeing that. Is that a screen shot of the menu from logging in to your NVR via the LAN? It doesn't appear to be the client S/W.

Well, I don't intend to build an NVR. I own the Swann NVR - and it does it's job quite well. I was simply intending to have a $300 NAS device in another room of the house - hardwired back to my router - talking to my NVR to mirror the data. And I am curious as to whether or not I could "drive" my NVR and review content on the NAS. Joey - are you using an NVR or your own PC w/ BI or something like that? TheWireGuys - Thx for the suggestion.

I've thought about installing a NAS in a separate portion of my home to mirror the recording to my NVR. Am I hearing from the posts above that most NAS devices (like Seagate or WD) may only store raw data - which may prove to be difficult to review? I was hoping that if I needed to, I could "point" my NVR to the NAS and review recorded footage and make use of the search features of my NVR.

K - you made me laugh! That's one nifty motion detection device! It caught my attention since I could mount it at the front of my house and have it control two or three different cams. Yea - With as much interest as I seem to have in all things "electronic", I think that home automation would be a fun project. I have one unused "remote" button built into my car that I don't use, and I was thinking that it'd be easy enough to simply open the gate to my back yard & garage, and also turn some light or appliance on in the house - all at the same time. Now, that's certainly not any priority, but controlling the thermostat and or lights / door locks could be cool! Having a guest arrive before I get home, or someone needing access to my back yard, I could open the back gate (already on a controller), and watch it happen at the same time! I replaced the bad cable that I pulled two weeks ago (6 in total) and finally got my other driveway cam installed. Now I've got one cam looking towards the street while another looks at the gate towards the garage. I don't park in my driveway. I'll have to do a bit more research on the PIR options for motion - seems like it might help me a lot. I want the emails, but not delivered by a moving truck!

Bizier, That technology does exist. It called analytics - and it's pretty cool from what I've seen in an online demo. However, it may be considered a bit of a niche item among many of us DIY camera owners for our homes. Kawboy12R - can something like this be used to independently trigger more than one camera? http://www.ezcctv.com/attributes/cmplx_dt_sht/filename/LGWP%203020.pdf In other words, can one zone trigger one cam, while another zone triggers a different cam? What does it take on the NVR side of this device to enable its useage if one were to set their motion to take input from a PIR?

I've got the same issues as you do - w/ the equivalent Swann system. The motion works very well, but all of the factors you mentioned - make it difficult to minimize false detections. I have lots of trees / plants / shadows from trees, etc. That makes it really difficult. The best I've found is to visit the monitor various times of the day to learn where the least action is happening. Try to be extremely selective in where you place the red box (detection area) while still keeping them in the areas of interest. On calm or overcast days - my motion is spot-on! So I've learned to just live within the constraints of motion due to plants, shadows, birds, etc. In one view of my side yard, even a lizzard on the fence set off the motion. I have all of mine on the second level from the bottom re: sensitivity. As already suggested, using a PIR detection device will eliminate all of the "visual" cues that are causing false motion recordings. Good luck.

MaxIcon wrote: "At 1/12 or 1/6 sec, auto exposure was still taking place. I tested this two ways - setting it at 1/6 in the day and seeing that the exposure didn't change, and walking in front of it to make sure there was no motion blur. If it were fixed at that setting, it definitely would have been washed out and blurred at walking speed. I also set progressively shorter exposures to see what it was actually using, but didn't write down the speed it changed at. I think it was around 1/500 or so, though. I'd like to see all these cams report the parameters on the web page - shutter speed, bandwidth, frame rate, etc." Thank you MaxIcon. I set three of my cams to 1/12 last night, and it did seem to help w/ getting less motion recording. However, I also walked into the FOV of one cam - where it was fairly dark, and boy was the image (during replay) terrible! It was under IR conditions for sure, but I was just washed out to the point where if I didn't know it was "me", the image would have been fairly useless. I didn't have time to change the aper. back to 1/30 and repeat the test.

It's always going to be off & on. Just wait a week or two.

My cams are all V4.0.9 130106 - 4 of them were purchased w/ the NVR and 2 I ordered 1.5+ months later. How would I assess what changes were included in the newer f/w, and whether or not it might be advantageous to flash? MaxIcon - were you saying that w/ 1/12 sec exposure that you had a decent daytime exposure still, or that you set it there, but there was some auto shuttering still taking place?

"Any advice is greatly appreciated. I am within my return window so that is not a factor. I do not mind spending the extra $300 if it is that much of a better system. Additionally, if the Swann comes with an added 2 years of warranty through costco I think that is worth it alone." You have an entire year to return an NVR. It is not in the same class of Costco returns as are cameras and TVs. I just returned my Lorex to Costco yesterday (purchased last November). I replaced it w/ the Swann NVR - the old Lorex was an analog system. It is indeed nice to have the 3 yr warranty. Very nice.

I'd like to see a couple of pics of your "box" mounts - to give me some ideas for improvements. Two of my cams are mounted way high up under the eaves, so definitly way out of reach. But, some of the others are within reach if you're quite tall, or happen to bring a small ladder with you In all cases I've kept the cables tight and generally out of reach by using cable securing hardware. In only one case is my Swann female camera pigtail connector inside the attic access. My cables all run thru attic roof vents around the house, so I could likely place either a box or some conduit next to the cams to make the cables less vulnerable.

Last weekend I had my first opportunity to remote view using my iPod Touch from out of town. The streaming via Swann NVR to iPod was a bit less than smooth, and I'm wondering how I might improve on it? I believe that I had my sub-stream settings at reasonable levels (quality, etc.) The variables I am aware of re: network capability are: 1) My own DSL upload speed from home averages 650+ kb (no other useage or hit to bandwidth while I was away. 2) Very high speed wireless connection on my "receiving" end at the home I was visiting. Guessing that this would in no way be a choke point. 3) While using my iPod on my LAN I have great performance - as might be exected. Still Sub-stream. Is there any advantage to setting the bitrate to Constant vs Variable?? I have 5 cams installed, and one more on the way. From my in-camera (Swann bullet) menus: