ImAStreamer

I didn't want to spend any more money than I already have. With 4 cameras I'll eventually be installing it really adds up. If I have to purchase something, I'd just get BI and use the server I'd have to run it on for other stuff. So are you saying though that it didn't write to the Synology until you installed Surveillance station? Also are you saying that by setting the camera as a PSIA device, you lose some of the resolution of the camera (like you couldn't run the camera in 3MP mode)?

OK, I've read just about everything I can find here and on other sites, and I'm pretty much at my wits end, but I assume a lot of other people are as well. I'm curious if ANYONE has a Hikvision with v5.1 firmware saving successfully to a Synology NAS (even after the camera and/or NAS reboots)? I really don't want to have to dedicate a machine to BI (or invest in a dedicated NVR). The NFS service is running on the Synology. I created a shared folder with full rights on the Synology. In the Hikvision software I add the address, file path to the shared folder and select mounting type NFS. When I go to Storage Management, I always get the drive results as capacity=0, free space=0. This never works. I go back and select mounting type CIFS with username/password. When I go to Storage management, I see capacity=2746.22GB, free space=0, status=Uninitialized. I click format. It seems to work and gives a status of Normal after creating 16 datadir folders with 230 empty .mp4 files in them. I click save, but do NOT leave that page. I test the motion and it appears to update the hiv00000.mp4 file in the datadir0 folder with the actual recording. When I go to the Playback tab - it says that no files have been recorded, there is nothing to play even though a file has been recorded. As soon as I leave the Storage Management tab and return to it, the drive status returns to Uninitialized. No recordings ever get saved after that. The hiv00000.mp4 file that does not appear in the Playback tab can be played in VLC and FFMPEG can read it (although it looks as though the header may be off because it doesn't report a length and it doesn't scrub properly). I have 2 new Hikvisions and while the quality seems great, I can't believe they let this firmware out in the wild with such a critical problem. Can anyone help to get this to work without needing to go in with a hex editor and risk something that will end up turning them into expensive doorstops? Thanks!

Some people use flea and tick sprays that you would normally use for your pets to spray around the rain gauge to keep the spiders out. I've also read about people wrapping a flea and tick dog collar around the post that supports it. I planned to try it this spring. I guess I can try the same for the camera and see how it works. I guess that's even more reason to try to get some regular lighting out there instead of using the IR.

Thanks for the education. More fun I'll need to deal with. I have to go clean out the rain gauge in my weather station almost every month because the spiders crawl inside, spin a web and prevent the tipping mechanism from working. So given my bad luck with spiders already it seems the ability to shut down the IR at night will be even more important.

I disagree a bit with this statement. I find night mode without IR helps if you have other non-IR lighting but don't want to run internal IR because of bugs/spiders. If the other lighting is bright enough then sure daylight mode is good but I find night mode better on a couple of my cams with less than perfect lighting. Again since I'm still learning - what is the relation between IR and bugs/spiders?

I'd like the ability to control the IR at night. I'm not sure how much light I'm going to have available outside. Right now I have none, but I'm hoping to rectify that sometime in the future. Also I have a Synology NAS and I want to make sure I don't have any problems writing to it. I guess more than anything, since that is the most current version, I'd like to make sure I can run it without issues.

I'm looking to start getting some cameras for the outside of my house. I'm a novice but have read a lot here and other places and this will probably be the first of many questions. I think I have decided on the DS-2CD2732F-I, but I have some questions...mainly buying the Hikvision or the Swann. 1) Is the vari-focal something I am changing manually when I mount the camera, or is that controlled by the software once I mount it? I'm thinking of going that route because I think I might need 3 cameras to cover the entire front of the house, but I'm starting with one to see how the field of view is (I have no frame of reference - maybe one would be enough). 2) I realize this is the same camera as the Swann at Costco (without the sound which I don't care about). So I think this might not be a bad deal, but...I'd like to run the Hik 5.1 firmware and it seems to be a hit or miss proposition upgrading that on the Swann. So I guess the question is, does anyone know when the Swann may actually ship with the 5.1 firmware installed or when might Swann release their version of the firmware that is the equivalent to the Hik 5.1? I couldn't even figure out what the latest version of the Swann firmware is. 3) So then I'm thinking if I don't go that route, I'd get the USA Hik, but I can't find anyone who actually sells this. I'd probably consider paying the extra $ just in case the firmware bricks it and I don't have any trouble replacing it, but they seem hard if not impossible to locate. I don't know if I trust the 90 day warranty Chinese version. I'm a complete novice when it comes to these cameras so it's possible I'll screw something up. So basically - does anyone reputable sell this model? Thanks!