Don Stephens

What kind of coax do you currently have run? Is it plug-and-play type cabling, or is it RG59 cable? Plug-and-play can be hit or miss with HDCVI and I've only seen the higher quality stuff work up to 50 feet. The RG59 (spool) type will get you out to 300 feet if it's CCA (copper clad aluminum) without any problems, but solid copper can get you the whole 1600 feet that they talk about with CVI. Using Cat5e or Cat6 is a terrible idea. We're just about ready to start wrapping up a massive cable test for HDCVI and HDTVI that we started a month ago. To make a long story short, all of this BS that you find out there that says either is compatible with Cat5e or Cat6 is absolute garbage. The only way you're going to get the image at the quality it's supposed to be at is with good coax. Network cable will give you an image, but only at an inferior quality. Don't throw your money away.

You're jumping to conclusions a little fast. You said that you'd witness events live and then try to play them back only to find out that there's nothing there. Can you actually verify that your cameras were set to record at those times? You may have set up your scheduling correctly, but have you also made sure that your time stamp is correct in addition to that? For some reason, everyone always forgets that until the first time they use the playback feature. For someone to log in to your system and delete specific segments of video isn't even possible as far as I know with a system like yours. If you want to remove recorded video, it's either all or nothing. This is only done by formatting the hard drive which, in some cases, also can't be done remotely like you're describing. If you completely throw those things aside, there's still more. Someone would have to know your network IP address first, which they can't get unless you told them, or they were able to log in to your network which means they would have to have been provided with your Wifi credentials unless you don't password protect your network. After that, they need to know the IP address of your DVR. They'd also need your log in credentials for your DVR (username & password). Unless you're using the default username and password for your DVR and your network devices, it's very unlikely that they'd be able to get any of this information on their own. Now, if you've disconnected your DVR from your network altogether, then the only way to access any of it is if you're standing right there in front of it. No one can possibly log in to your DVR through another device that it has absolutely zero connection with. It's infinitely more possible that the installation was botched and you're not recording the way you think you are. Your second problem is probably going to require you to post an image that we can look at to be certain. To make a guess at this time, I'd say that it's very likely that cameras Infrared (IR) board isn't turning off during daylight hours like it's supposed to. That would produce what might appear as a "blank" image during those times. Depending on the angle of the camera and also what it's directed at, you can also be getting glare from the sun itself right into the lens; similar effect but usually not as drastic as what you're describing. Your theory of a laser means that someone has programmed a laser to turn on and off at those exact times. That also means that you have someone who only feels like maliciously messing with you during 0745 and 1600...which seems unlikely. If it is a problem with the IR board not turning off during the day, you can easily confirm that by walking out and looking at the camera. If your LEDs are on instead of off, you've solved the case.

Your second quote is for an HDSDI system. HDSDI is painfully hit or miss. It's either going to make your first quote look laughable, or it's barely going to function. You may want to try and find some public opinion on how well that SDI equipment works. Any reason for them not quoting you an IP system? It's the same, if not better, equipment in comparison to SDI and you also don't have to worry about whether or not its going to work.

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I honestly think direct mail is a thing of the past. The problem is getting it into the hands of the right person; I would say there's about a 90% chance of it just getting tossed by whoever opens the mail. We used to do this years ago until we started being contacted by the same companies we were sending them to asking us why we hadn't contacted them. Advertising through Google is great...but only if you know what you're doing. If you don't know what you're doing with Pay Per Click (PPC) you're going to lose a boat load of money in a big hurry. You need to know your market before you even get into that so you know what days, times, and locations to be running those ads in. Advertising in local publications works well for us but I think it's very area dependent. Newspapers, for instance, aren't always limited to running ads in the normal paper. A lot of them will have special sections that go out on occasion. For instance, our local paper delivers a specific elitist magazine with the paper once a year to the wealthiest 10% of the area. We've been contacted by a good deal of business owners and decision makers as a result. There are a good deal of niche areas you can directly tap into and contact depending on your area as well. For example, anyone breeding animals, sleep study offices/centers, etc... A little imagination with alternative uses for security cameras can open up a whole list of new customers.

Try disconnecting the hard drive. DVRs can do some pretty weird things when the hard drive goes bad.

Have you tried other ports to confirm whether or not it's the port causing the problem (preferably with just one sensor)?

Yes, but you need the proper lens. Don't just run out and buy anything.

I think what he's describing is people accessing the streaming live feed through a somewhat private domain, not necessarily directly accessing a recorder. If I'm hearing you right, you don't require any software for it. However, you will require some knowledge on the subject that I am definitely not qualified to give you. I have seen several threads throughout this forum related to the subject though. On a side note, I rarely see satisfied customers who go this route. Your results are usually much less than what you're expecting. I also don't even want to think about what happens if you actually have 200 simultaneous users and haven't accounted for that amount of usage.

+1

No-IP will send you an email every 30 days to renew the free service. That does involve following a link to their site. The renewal process takes about 6 seconds... The alternative is to just pay them the $20 a year ($1.67/mo). This is just me, but this is so cheap that it's not even worth my time to go out and try to find someone who does it for free and as reliably as No-IP. We've been using No-IP and referring people to them for years. I don't recall a single complaint other than people complaining about how they forgot to renew because they were trying to cheap out as hard as I've ever seen. They used to not even enforce the 30 day renewal policy but they've been systematically going through and correcting that since the last time I talked with them (maybe 6 months ago).

That's the first 8 port PoE injector I've ever seen, so thanks for that. Have you used this or one like it before?

No one seems to want to mention compatibility. Your DVR, regardless of who it might be from, is going to have a compatibility list that you need to select a hard drive from. Using an incompatible drive, whether it be brand/model/capacity based, can cause a whole mess of unpredictable issues. That being said, I'll never use another Seagate drive again no matter what they work with after watching them fail 30% of the time through 2013 and 2014. Since we've started using the WD Purple drives (about 4 month ago) we haven't had a problem yet.

The one around $50 was probably a mini NVR. There's another thread on this forum that discusses those in length if you want to look at them. By the sounds of it, they do NOT come with clear instructions and a little bit of troubleshooting almost always seems necessary. I don't really know what to tell you on the "clear instructions" front. Most of this stuff doesn't come with a user manual as people have come to expect them. Since the majority of it is professional level equipment, it's assumed that you should already know your way around it. The good news is that the availability of free information regarding Hikvision products is endless. You can find "how to" articles and videos absolutely everywhere. Without specifically calling any one company out, Hikvision products can be found for sale in a tons of places online. Just Google it.

Sorry, I read that wrong about your existing cable. You'd need/want to replace that if you're going to commit to IP cameras. Your other option is HD over coax (AHD, HDCVI, HDSDI, HDTVI). Most people are going to agree that IP cameras are the best route to take; occasionally someone says HDSDI. You should really only consider the HD over coax alternatives if you just can't be bothered to swap your cable out. That Swann system is rebranded Hikvision, so as far as I'm concerned you're good there. I can tell you that the equipment is solid but I don't know about how fair the price is; I'm sure someone else can chime in here.

You need Cat5e or Cat6; your existing Cat6 cable is fine. It can be run up to 328 feet. I can't tell if the statement you made was actually a question but...Cat5e and Cat6 can be used for both video and power but only if your cameras are PoE. If they're not, power will have to be run via DC cable or over the network cable using PoE adapters.

The Hikvision DS-2CD3032-I is probably the most popular camera on here. I think you'd have a hard time finding someone who isn't going to suggest it. If you want to use a standalone NVR with those cameras, then use a Hikvision NVR. Matching the brands/manufacturers will just make life easier. No, Lorex is not often recommended here (if ever). You're better off steering clear of it at this point. Getting cameras that are power over Ethernet (PoE) is the obvious choice to make. IP cameras use network cable (Cat5e/Cat6), not Siamese/analog cable. Siamese cable can be used with IP cameras but only with extra pieces and there's no point; just use network cable. My only personal experience with Security Camera Warehouse is being sent some emails from people regarding them. The content of those emails was not positive. Their products aren't overpriced, that's just what the price looks like from an actual eCommerce store instead of sites like Amazon or Aliexpress. Keep looking at Hikvision.

The model DVR you're looking at a standard definition analog DVR. You can use any SD analog camera with it as long as the cameras don't have proprietary connections (most don't).

You're likely not getting enough power to the cameras to power the IR board. You can check using a volt meter.

You need to forward the port.

How many cameras are you trying to view at the same time? Also 1mbps is a very slow speed for anything higher than CIF resolution to even view one camera.

Do you know of specific manufacturers that are committed to carrying HDSDI forward? Most of what I've seen is people trying to get rid of it like the plague. Assuming HDSDI is everything it promises to be, are there still going to be reliable people manufacturing HDSDI products?

Mmmmh good point. I would have said if you are going to be viewing at all; but I just tried it now, and I can see video on Dahua without RTSP port forwarded. So I guess it sends video over TCP or UDP port. (with Hikvision and current firmwares I am sure that you don't get any video at all if RTSP port is not forwarded; I assumed it would be the same with Dahua) Yah, I was asking because I don't open the RTSP for anyone unless they intend to use it and I've never had any issues doing it that way. I also haven't opened the UDP port for anyone in the last year and a half with no issues as well. Dahua's only seem to care about HTTP and TCP ports unless you're doing something a bit more technical like actually utilizing the RTSP.

There's no pun in "refer to the bullet points"... You just quoted me the exact features you're looking for. It's not even hidden. Sorry ?? Like I said, this is my first ever CCTV purchase experience, so may be Im expecting more help rather than pun filled answers please. Is this not the exact feature and capabilities you're referring to?

Are you talking about needing to forward if if you're going to be using the RTSP stream or if you're going to be viewing at all?