SB_Jim

Agreed! I also am very thankful for the kind and knowlegeable assistance many of the "experts" are providing. I have a new-found appreciation for their technical excellence! Re: Costco, I believe that they are the primary seller of Swann's items in the U.S. And, unless Swann is done selling them via one of the largest distributors in the world, I would expect them to be available many times. Patience is your friend! J.

The cam proportions look different - more stretched in length - & different mounting base. I suppose they could house the same "insides" in a different housing.. j

... and here are my last two pics. For sure one new cam will replace existing - looking towards garage & gate. Option for an add'l cam to look towards street. J.

May I please jump onto this topic as well? I am replacing 7 analog cams w/ 4 1080P IP cams (Swann) to begin. As I've been reading on CCTV, some persons have suggested that obtaining a really good view of someone is perhaps better than having the cams more on the covert side. I'll likely purchase a 2-pack to make it six cams total, but I'll begin w/ four. My question is - how do I make best use of this 4MM cam (or maybe it’s a little wider thx to MaxIcon’s recent analysis) on the back of my house. I have two entry doors, and I have one existing analog cam facing the first door a person would approach coming thru the driveway gate(see red arrow in pic). All analog will be replaced. My limitation seems to be that my eaves and rain gutter block much of the view - not to mention the possibility of an IR wash-out from reflection from gutter and/or rafter-tails. Here are a couple of misc pics of the area I wish to cover. At the far end of the house is a gate (out of view). What I’m considering doing is moving my new 1080P cam further away from that first door / gate area such that I could actually use a single cam to view both doors (and perhaps the side door to the detached garage). I did temporarily hold the new cam against the stucco - as if it were flush-mounted - just about at the level of the rain gutter - and I was able to see the area along both doors - plus a view of my garage side door. Here’s the current view w/an approx. 6mm cheap analog. Next is the area I'm trying to cover. Lastly, here's the view from the new cam if it were mounted up near the existing - not making the best use of it's wide angle. I realize that this location would be pretty obvious to any intruder (who chose to jump the fence from a neighbor's yard) and could be vandalized. Another new cam will be installed in a similar location under the eave facing the front door. That cam could be used for so much more than just the front door - such that I'm also considering mounting it flush to the house (under the eave) where it'd provide a view of the front door and the walkway approaching it - along w/ a bit of the front yard - yet is still not highly visible from the sidewalk and certainly not a car on the street. And another cam will be much higher and viewing my gate from "outside" the gate along the narrow driveway. It'll be a nice upgrade from the current 660 TVL analog that's there now. And, if I buy a 2-pck, I could also replace the existing cam looking out the driveway - although I don't park there. It's just a good view of anyone approaching my rear gate (7 ft tall, powered, no handle). The fourth new 1080P could be installed on the opposite side of the house from the driveway - from fairly high up like the driveway cams - to view the only other likely entry point into my back yard. Will throw a couple more pics in next thread for driveway / gate cam locations. Thank you all for your valuable expertise and constructive comments. Jim

MaxIcon, Nice work - and thank you. Jim

What do they say about it thus far??

FWIW, I've had excellent support from Swann. The evening hours are best since E coast folks are in bed and they often reply within just a few minutes. I rarely wait more than one minute when calling Swann. . Good luck with LOREX!!!

I believe they do their own s/w updates, etc. They've sent me new firmware before, if that's what you mean.

Lorex Tech Support is terrible - primarily due to the difficulty in reaching someone. They are NOT available for emails (like Swann is, and Swann replies well), and their hours are far more limited.

8 CH NVR w/ 4 Cams - package for $899. Will consider more cams as time goes. Currently using 7 analog, but will focus more on cam placement. Two of my current analog have a great over-view of the street area, but provide no direct benefit to protecting my home. Looks like these cams are going international! Just happened upon this Hik video / advertisement. Who can translate for us?

I'm hoping so. I'll be anxious to compare nite images with my analog cams. I have lots a of ambient lighting so non-ir would have been fine. I'm hoping that in time you experts will find some other cams that I can run thru the NVR. The package 8 CH was the easier solution in the short run - although the idea of a dedicated PC has grown on me somewhat.

Interesting. I recall seeing that review that indicated these cams could be used w/ other NVR's - which I was suspicious of. By the way, a Swann tech wrote to me last week and said that each camera draws max 4W. My 4 cams are not installed outdoors yet - need time to pull existing analog wires before I can run new. However, in the limited viewing of boring indoor images - I don't yet see any "soft" edges. But, when mounted outdoors - they'll tell the real story. I was a bit surprised at how warm the cams felt to the touch w/o the IR going - but guessing that's totally normal. J.

Lev 2 tech says the mobile app is being worked and update will be posted via app stores per usual. No date given, but thought not too long a wait. They are aware of the issues.

Really. Right now there is a dearth of IP package selection at Costco; no network Swann's, no mid-range Q-See package (8 ch. IP with 1080?), and the Avertx at the high price and a less than desirable camera mix (for me). I emailed Swann but haven't heard back yet. Hopefully they are just waiting for the next run with fan mufflers and hard right edges . I liked their lens selection better, and I'm ready to go if they show back up. I ordered mine on Sunday April 14th - the last day of their $899 sale for the 8CH NVR. I was curious to see if Costco would then sell for $1,199 the next day, but it was actually removed from their web site altogether. I'm sure it'll be back since Costco is their primary retail seller.

I'd call the fan noise "moderate" at best. It's not a hush, but it's also not a "whoosh"! Mine will be installed inside a cabinet in my office - and I know that that will quite it a lot. There's ventillation via both the door edges, and I've also got a computer fan installed blowing the warm air out - and it's not very noticable at all. If an intruder happened to enter, I'm sure they wouldn't be drawn to it, especially with the alarm going off! If it were simply on a desktop (location), it could be heard - but still not terrible by my standards. YMMV.

Excellent work, Sherlock! Nicely done.

Hello, First post here & I have really enjoyed learning so much on this forum. I've had a couple of DVR's, and am trying to become familiar w/ all things IP & NVR. But, I do have some questions that I KNOW the experts here can easily answer as I search for a new home NVR & IP cams. Don’t most NVR’s allow the use of IP cameras from various mfr’s? I’d love to purchase an NVR and then pick & choose my own cameras – even if by several mfr’s. Should I be looking for an NVR and cameras that are “ONIVF™ compliant”? Is that the standard that guarantees interchangeability of various camera Mfr’s w/ different NVR’s? I understand that my current analog 660 TVL cams w/ BNC terminations cannot be used with an NVR. But, are there two cable styes – in general, or three? 1) Analog w/ BNC, and SDI – also w/ BNC, and 2) PoE? What does Serial Data Interface mean in comparison with my current non-SDI DVR? Will there be a compromised image if I use an SDI camera w/ my existing BNC cables? My cables are all 50-60' in length with no extensions. With an HD 1080P NVR and the ability to configure each camera for resolution & perhaps bandwidth(?), would I be able to set one or two cams to record 30 fps @ 1080P, and then set other cams to record at lower res, etc., in order to maximize the time before the HDD begins to overwrite? With two cams installed in a location looking essentially past each other (opposite direction, 10-13 ft apart), the IR from each cam rather washes out some of the image. If my cameras were capable of masking, could I simply mask an area equal to the size of the opposing camera (since I presumably don’t want to watch my other camera), and minimize the source of glare? Anyone tried this? I'm open to buying an HD system from Costo - if I will ultimately have some choice in adding cameras. It must be capable of recording at 30 fps in 1080P - although I wouldn't need that for each camera. Like some of you, I'd love to know more about the Swann 8CH 1080P. The cams are 2.1MP, and the IR rating seems reasonable at 115 ft. I owned a basic Swann DVR for 5-6 yrs, and had no trouble w/it at all. It is now at my brother's home, and has continued to operate fine, and the remote view is very stable. I'm anxious to graduate from my 660 TVL cams to something in the order of 2MP - and some of the bullet cams sold w/ these "kits" are rated 2.1MP. I would also be interested in some of the other Chinese brand cams that seem to be popular among you experienced folks. Thanks so much for your time & thoughtful replies! Jim

If so, what are the chances a Hik can will function w/ the Swann NVR? What is the general opinion of Hik cams among professionals? Solid mid-grade, or less?

I think B-Winkle was right! Might that imply that if Hik made a small dome that it would work w/ the Swann??

Are you using 554 for your RTSP port? Are you using the correct app? There a specific one for the NVR. Jim

[quote name=" What are your fps? If your at 30fps' date=' you can drop that safely by at least 1/2 to save some hdd space. And lastly, is your dvr capable of having an additional hdd installed or can you upgrade the existing single slot to a bigger hdd?[/quote] Vector18 - thanks for the reply. The fps would be 30, so I like your idea to cut in half since that would still be adequate quality! I'll need to do a test & run the one cam F/T, and the other 3 on motion only. Then check the length of time before overwrite occurs. The NVR comes w/ a 2TB drive, and can accept another 2TB drive - plus an external. Unfortunately, the external is via USB2 (or 3?) and I don't think that connection would be fast enough to record like the internal drives. I appreciate your feedback, Jim

Hello again, The cameras (with the Swann 8CH NVR) can supposedly be configured to apply up to four masks. The owner's manual states the following: "A Privacy Mask can be used if you want to obscure part of your image. You can define up to four areas per channel to mask. Click and drag to select the area you want to select or de-select. Remember: Anything obscured by a privacy mask won’t be shown in Live View and will not be recorded". With that said, would I presume correctly that the end result (other than having created a mask) is that there would be less data being written to the HDD for any camera containing at least one mask? Some of my viewable areas are of no interest to me at all, and it would be nice to be able to do a bit more recording - yet stuffing less data to the HDD. Related to masks, if there were an undesirable light source in view - even including the IR from an opposing facing IP cam, could I essentially remove the "glare" by simply masking an area around the source - which I have no need to look at anyways?? Any thoughts and/or actual experience with this? Thank you, Jim

Thank you. What I have in a current setup are two cams under the eaves of my home - facing in opposite direction. One looks at the back gate, the other looks out the driveway towards the street. I've adjusted the cams such that they are less directly facing each other - and that helped significantly. Jim

Thx. It would be a significant improvement, and the two hrs of sun "wash" happen to be at a time when other neighbors are often around & I wouldn't be too worried about "trouble" around my property. Perhaps it'll put a bit of stress on the cam, but if it just closes down the aperture I'm okay w that.

I have a potential location for a cam that could provide a hugely superior vantage point of the front of my house and portion of the driveway than any other reasonable location. The drawback is that it is primarily West facing, and would catch a fair amount of late afternoon sun. Personally, I'm not too concerned for the potential compromise of image for that period, because for the other 22 hours of the day it would be an excellent vantage point. I still have cams at the entrances to my house, so it's not that I'm completely in the blind during those couple of hours. If you had this choice to make, would you do it? Many thx, Jim