jagbuilt

One of my cameras started displaying this image tonight. It is a Swann 960H 4 channel DVR system. It has been working fine all winter. The OSD menu will not work either on this camera. Anyone ever seen this, or have any clue what this might be? (Here is a link to a bigger image if you need it): https://www.flickr.com/photos/109492218@N06/16583491746/ Thanks for your reply, Sincerely, All Confused...

Thanks. Sounds like a plan. I appreciate your time...

No... They just showed up. wierd. Now, the OSD menu wont work on the camera to let me adjust anything. I was going to reset it to factory, but, nothing happens when I press the joystick at the camera... I brought it in and tried it on every other channel after it warmed up all night, and it is the same on all 4 channels... Thanks for getting back...

My Swann cheapy home system is installed, but the video is bad in my opinion, I have replaced the Spaghetti string cables that ship with the unit with rg59 solid copper core, 95% copper braid security rated cable, and 18/2 twisted pair power wire... All 4 runs are under 70 feet, look at the night vision on cam3, it is by far the worst of the 4, but all ir's are pretty bad... There is no WDR settings in the OSD on these cameras, very basic OSD actually... Any and all tips feedback would be greatly appreciated! Thanks much guys... YouTube link to the video I made of the sample recordings... http://youtu.be/lJUI8zBfDa0

Masking. Yes It allows 4 masks per camera I believe. I will try that tonight... I'll post an image of what it looks like tomorrow. Thanks for the tip. Also, just in case anyone was wondering. I use the f-connectors to BNC adapters just because I happen to have a bag of Belden Snap & Seal f-connectors on hand, and BNC adapters are only a buck each)... I may put Snap & Seal compression BNC's on later, but they are like $5.00 or more each plus shipping. I love the quality of them, and have the compression tool for them already, but $50.00 to put BNC's on 4 cables is like a last resort thing... There are cheaper BNC's, but by the time I buy the compression tool, ...

Excellent responses guys. I thank you. I had my suspicions that this was going to be about as good as it gets. I did contact Swann, They wanted me plug the DVR power supply into the cameras, and the switching power supply into the DVR, which i did not do. I didn't find that to be a good starting point for troubleshooting. (They are plugged in the way they are suppose to be, and I was a little apprehensive about it). It does serve it's purpose in the day time for sure. At night time, the driveway camera doesn't pick up motion, it just records constantly, and you can see a "dark fuzzy figure" instead of a person or animal. So, I will leave this be for now, and look at a different system in the spring...

Thanks for the quick reply! See how grainy cam 3 was at night? The motion detection records constantly at night, even if I turn the sensitivity all the up. Also, if you look at the other cams in full screen, there are "ghost, or echos on the edges on objects, like the bbq grill, orange bucket, mail box post etc... Look at the detail @ 25 ft. (My van on the driveway cam and cam1, and the lack of detail in the yard @ only a few feet away), leaves, etc... Neighbors driveway is blown out at certain times on the day, image is blurry at the sidewalk and beyond. I don't know how evident it is from your monitor, but the color shifting on the leaves, and so on.... P.S. All the led's are on and nice and bright. To me, the backyard camera looks out of focus. but I do wear glasses, so... Now, it does serve it's purpose as far as close range video of my property, but I could never recommend this system to someone looking for an economical system with 4 cameras... Is this about as good as it gets with this low end system? When they advertise, Man, they show crystal clear video, so I am wondering if it seems that I may have some termination issues, or power issues, etc...

Hi. I am installing a lower end system at a restaurant, (unfortunately, the budget they are giving me is under a thousand for everything, so it looks like maybe Swann or q-see or something along those lines). Sooo, I am looking for the best option for an overhead camera, for 10 foot ceilings, that will give me a clear view of who's hands are in the register, and one that is clear enough to identify the money they are handling. (Sadly, the owner is loosing about $3000.00 annually to the old slide of the hand, but doesn't want to spend the big bucks for security) This will be used on an eight channel 960H DVR. I am thinking a dome PTZ that is around $150 give or take, but open to a better way... Thanks in advance... jag.

I see what you mean. for the overhead cash camera, I don't want a super wide angle lens, and it only needs to have a short focal length, and I can achieve that with a good vairi-focal, (whether it is analog or HD) correct? Thanks again. jag.

I started to mention that.... If I go HD (which I hope and pray he will spring for) I have spools of cat6 as well (I do network installation too). PoE is really great. I like the quality looking video of the hikvision 2732. By the way, concerning these spools of Belden RG6 and RG6 quad shield that I bought, I will eventually use them for this and that. (6 new shrink wrapped spools in all for 25 bucks a piece, 3 black and 3 white), It won't hurt anything to use those on short runs with 960H dvr's will it? I know it is a bit of an overkill, but for the money, I couldn't pass it up. For my own home system, I used the regular black rg6, and my video is about 80% improved over the thin shoe strings that came with the Swann 4200 kit. (It was an inexpensive kit. I am trying to get the "DVD quality they advertise, but that is a discussion for another topic, lol) Thanks for the reply's. I can't even tell you how much it means to get advice from the pro's... jag.

I like this idea. I will look at vari focal cameras for this set up for sure. Add cameras as he can afford it is good too, he is a cash and carry kind of guy. Cables: I got a deal recently on 1000 foot spools of Beldon rg6 and rg6 quad. I bought them at $25.00 per spool from a supplier that is going out of business. This cable was a really nice upgrade for my own lower end home system. I plan on using a central power supply box with 18/2 wire for power. The spaghetti string cables that come with these "kits" are just useless in my humble opinion. The shortest run will be about 60 ft. and the longest will be just over 100 ft. Thanks for the advice. jag

Are you talking about from a computer at work or something similar? Or from a smart phone? I am not sure what they told you about you're ip, I am assuming you know your DVR's ip address, or at least the ip address of the location where the dvr is. (It is not you're local ip which is something like 168.192.0.1) Again, I don't know if you know this info, so I am just getting you started here... if you go to http://www.whatismyip.com/ from the network the dvr is on, write that number down. That will be the ip you need. Then, if you are behind a firewall, or have more than one device, such as a pc or two on that network, your DVR will have an ip address that the router gives it. You can find that by logging into the router web page, and looking for connected devices, but that will only give you the local ip for the DVR... It would simplify things to install Swanns dvr software on the remote system if possible, then it would be a snap to view... Connecting directly to a remote ip from a browser is complicated if that ip is behind a firewall. You have to set that up in the router, giving you're remote pc specific permission to access it... I hope this helps get you in the right direction... Let me know. jag

Hi. My nickname is Jagbuilt, I am veteran, and a 50 year old technician of many flavors, (from audio engineering to network installation, motherboard soldering, web design, and even freelance photo journalism at a local newspaper her in Michigan... I love to build, create, brainstorm, repair and restore things, shoot and edit video's and photos, and just about anything else that allows me to exercise my mind creatively. I do network installations, (residential and commercial) and am just starting to get deeper into security and access systems installations. I am self taught in just about everything I have ever done, and have learned much through researching forums such as this. I have met some great minds, and made some really good friends and contacts along the way. I am always here to help anyone that I can, and I never hesitate to ask when I am having trouble with something... Look forward to meeting you all. jag...