Don Stephens

I can't speak for the quality of their pre-made cables, but the only response from people that I've seen is negative when compared to a similar system using RG59 instead. I think it was just part of Q-See's way of marketing it to people who wanted to avoid replacing or using more expensive cabling. The pre-made cable works but it only works to serve up an inferior image quality.

All types of BNC connectors work just fine as long as there's nothing wrong with the connector itself. If you have a particular connector that works for you already, just stick with it. Baluns are more hit or miss unless you already have a reliable supplier. I would personally avoid using network cable (Cat5e or Cat6) altogether; you might find yourself in a situation where you're swapping it out almost immediately. Solid copper RG59/U (20AWG) works just fine with no degradation whatsoever up to 1500 feet for sure. Dahua actually recommends something even higher quality similar to RG6, but I don't think it's necessary.

It's not a Dahua face plate that I'm familiar with. It's still possible that the board is made by Dahua. You'd need to post screen shots of the GUI and find the firmware version.

On Dahua DVRs, cameras will automatically open up through the browser if your on WAN instead LAN. You won't even have the option to turn them off. Personally, I hate it. I don't know if that helps or not, or if that's also the case with Hikvision.

I guess what I meant to ask was, "What are the general hardware requirements for the PC?"

I thought the whole idea of this was to take your DVR off the network. How is a hacker going to have access to it if it's not accessible? Also, why do you have ANY ports open at this point. You're obviously not going to be needing them open since you're taking your DVR off the network. Just undo any port forwarding. Hypothetically speaking, and if this hacker has super powers at this point, you can't alter video through the DVR...but you can certainly format the drive in some cases and delete any existing video altogether.

Can you determine whether or not the IR board is turning off during the day?

I'm curious to hear peoples preferences who have a lot of experience with both manufacturers. I know where the majority seems to fall with cameras, so I'm really just interested in hearing about video recorders. Everyone leans one way or the other; I just want to know what everyone's reasons are. I couldn't really find anything geared towards this topic, but if there's already a thread, just point me that way.

Just because your ports display as open when you scan them doesn't mean they're usable. Service providers can block ports by default. Try talking to your service provider to determine if that's the case. Additionally, you need to try using other ports. As I already said, those ports are blocked by 90% of ISPs. It doesn't matter if you think you've port forwarded correctly or if they say open. If your ISP is blocking them, you're done until they unblock them.

Unless your intention is to stock these types of items, I highly recommend not purchasing from China. My list of reasons could go on forever.

Maybe not necessary but very recommended.

Change the network settings so they no longer match your Gateway. If it's not configured for you network, there should be no way to access it outside of standing in front of it.

Has anyone looked into a PC based system as an option for recording? Is there any way to record these things at the 4K resolution at this point?

^^^This... or change port 9000 to something less obvious or don't forward the port

Agreed. All of it. I'm sorry I don't have any suggestions for you as far as Canadian suppliers are concerned. You may want to post a new thread regarding this.

Not possible to my knowledge.

Where are you located?

Does anyone actually have a real world application where they need these right now? I'd like to know the scenario if anyone has one.

EDIT: I just saw the second part of what you said. Never mind the question.

Whether to go with HDSDI or HDCVI has been made abundantly clear, but here you go again; DO NOT GO WITH HDSDI. PERIOD. Analog and HDCVI can use the same cable as long as you have solid copper RG59 (not copper clad). If you use anything else, there's a very high probability that you're going to neuter your HDCVI camera's image quality. There is no such thing as backwards compatibility in CCTV. This isn't like being able to play a DVD on a Bluray player. Nothing like that exists for security cameras; hence the recommendations for Hybrids/Tribrids.

If you're talking about trying to "bridge" the DVRs together to make them act as one unit, the answer is no. The only way to even come close to mimicking that is software, and even that is limited to just live viewing.

Take a screenshot.

Can you post a screen shot of your recording schedule?

These would solve your distance problem: http://www.veracityglobal.com/products/ethernet-and-poe-devices/outreach-max.aspx