Don Stephens

Before your proceed any further in burning your bridges, do you an actual question someone can answer for you? If you're just looking for a guide (which generally don't exist in the capacity I'm sure you want), why haven't you contacted the people you purchased it from for help? Additionally, unless you're able to properly identify your DVR with a model number, picture, seller, screen shot, or anything at all really...I don't know how much help you can possibly expect to get.

I mean exceeding the maximum recommended transmission distance for standard definition analog cameras. With high def analog, I've seen consistently good results with copper clad up to 240-250 feet before starting to see any video degradation. To be honest though, solid copper is the much safer bet and much like Cat6 is to Cat5e, if you find the right people to buy from, the cost difference is negligible.

The only thing I would add to this is that for the extra money you'll spend on an NVR with built in PoE ports, you can get a significantly higher quality PoE switch for the money. The cheaper PoE switches that are built into NVRs are more prone to burning out. Assuming your warranty still covers you for that, your out your whole system while your NVR is being repaired. For a 16 camera system, I prefer multiple 8 port PoE switches. Like bfaridnia said though, most of it comes down to personal preference and what measures you want to take for future proofing.

Most of the books out there are very outdated. There's not much hope these days of finding an informative hard copy of something related to CCTV. I think you're better off trying to find online publishers, blogs, review sites, additional forums, etc...

Solid copper RG59 was never required in the past unless you were needing to exceed the recommended distances by manufacturers. This makes it a little more uncommon to find online since it's just recently begun to be sought after. Since it was never required in the past, distributors saw no need to market it when it's just a more expensive version of it's perfectly functional copper clad alternative. The good news is that if you can find someone selling copper clad RG59, their almost certainly guaranteed to have solid copper RG59 available to them. The easiest method of obtaining it is to just call the supplier and order over the phone. Arguably you can use the proper type of RG6 cable as an alternative and that might be easier to find, but that's not Siamese cable, not required, and occasionally not recommended.

Before you run out and buy anything, you may want to obtain a list of compatible hard drives first...

Dahua definitely has at least a few options for IP cameras with microphones, you are correct. HDCVI PTZ cameras are the exception to what I said; I forgot about those. You can use your everyday CCTV mics and integrate them very easily with the PTZ cameras. They posses an additional component that the rest of the cameras do not.

I'm not sure what you mean by FDR. Cat5e/Cat6 cable is obviously used with IP cameras, and can also be used with SD analog cameras without issue. I would highly recommend against using Cat5e/Cat6 for anything that's considered HD analog. I've said it a million times on here already, Cat5e/Cat6 will work with these systems but at a reduced video quality. How bad? It depends entirely on the length of the cable run. Solid copper coax has to be used to guarantee the best results.

AHD and 960H are absolutely two different things, hence why they looked so obviously different to you. If I'm not mistaken, AHD is only available in 720p right now, but the difference between 960H and 720p is like night and day.

If you want to keep your old cameras in addition to getting new HD cameras, you're going to need a Tribrid DVR or Hybrid DVR. They exist for any and all combinations of video signal you're looking at. They are noticeably more expensive than standard DVRs or NVRs but they're nice.

I haven't really ever experienced anything like this unless the information is being entered into SmartPSS incorrectly. I guess firmware might be an issue and it's worth looking into. Have you also tried a version of PSS instead of SmartPSS?

HDCVI cameras with integrated microphones don't exist, nor do any any external microphones exist that can be integrated directly with an HDCVI camera. Additional cable has to be run for audio in this case, but a power splitter can be used to share power from the camera to the mic. The amount of splicing, connectors, soldering, and time that it takes to make audio possible over coax is not worth it until they start producing something easier for use with HDCVI.

Gmail is pretty much the only thing working reliably these days for me as well.

If it's a Seagate, I have no problem believing that. Factory defects are certainly a possibility in other brands too; the issue is no unheard of.

1. The only information you're going to find about AHD right now is what comes from Nextchip, and that isn't much. 2. AHD, HDCVI, and HDTVI are all really the same type of tech; as you said, they're just developed and manufactured by different people. They are all analog signal types and I'm going to leave it at that. Realistically, there is so much contradicting information going around right now that it's impossible to really know what's what unless you've tested the products yourself. 3. You shouldn't choose HDCVI over IP unless IP isn't in the budget. Otherwise, take your pick from your list as to why people do it: existing cable, knowledge base, bad information, etc... Chinese manufacturers couldn't care less about giving you an in-depth answer. You should feel privileged if they even acknowledge you without having to buy anything from them. I don't know what it might be that you're looking for in a spec sheet, but most of them contain everything you'd need or should be interested in. If you're looking for any additional details about a specific component they have listed, you're going to have to do the leg work yourself.

Have you tried using version 1.10.1 instead? It could just be the latest version that's causing the problem.

You're limiting yourself to an IP camera system right now, unless you want to run microphones separately from the cameras. If that doesn't bother you, then AHD, HDCVI, or HDTVI can also be an option. I think you're probably going to have a hard time meeting your budget with an IP camera system without ending up with substandard cameras. The HD over coax option might make life easier on your wallet (AHD, HDCVI, HDTVI). Personally, I wouldn't be considering anything in the HDSDI category, but I'm sure someone disagrees with me on that.

You certainly can if you know how, but it's been my experience that it's ultimately just a band-aid fix and the HDD will need to eventually be replaced anyway. I guess it depends on how much time you want to spend on a hard drive.

It sounds like your hard drive has a bad sector. You're better off replacing the drive if formatting it through the DVR didn't work. Check the warranty status with the manufacturer before you go out and buy a new one.

Solid Copper RG59/U Most of what you're able to find online and purchase is going to be copper clad instead of solid copper so be careful if you order it. I'm not really sure why Lorex is including "8x 60ft extension cable." I have no idea what that's supposed to be for unless they're mislabeling the baluns you're going to need for that Cat5e cable to work. The baluns aren't mentioned anywhere on that page from what I can see.

Looks like a basic standard definition DVR to me. I don't know what all that garbage about 1200TVL is about though...

It's sold with "Ethernet cable" but makes no mention of this being an IP camera system and the DVR is clearly not for IP cameras. That would lead me to believe it's either HDCVI or HDTVI; either way, that Cat5e cable is the cheap way out for pre-packaged systems like this. That cable is going to give you an inferior image quality over what that tech is actually supposed to use; solid copper coax. This is completely typical for both Lorex and Q-See. I wouldn't waste your time with standard definition systems anymore. Your best option is probably your last choice as long as those cameras aren't complete garbage; Costco exceeds at giving extremely vague spec sheets. You'd want to replace the cable it comes with though.

I found this video that shows how to enable to multi-preview feature: http://goo.gl/MYDUwa Hopefully that helps.

As long as you're committed to learning something new, I don't see any problem with IP as long as the project permits it.

Regardless of how you accomplish it, the general consensus is for you to use some fashion of the substream; whether that be viewing your cameras in the substream instead of main, or using that Multicast/MultiPreview feature.