poor_red_neck

My DVR arrives tomorrow, and i know the cameras that come with it are garbage. I'm on a tight budget, doing this a little at a time. I will use the cheap cameras for a month or so and then slowly purchase better ones. I've been browsing Amazon like crazy, and came across these. Seems to get excellent reviews. If the specifications are truly what it says they are, it's a darn good cam for the price. 700TVL, 1/3" sensor, IR cut. At under $20 with Amazon Prime shipping I'm quite tempted to try one, unless others have used it and say it's no better than what comes with the ZModo DVRs. http://www.amazon.com/ZOSI-Arrival-IR-LEDs-Security-Waterproof/dp/B00MXILRAE/ref=sr_1_1?s=photo&ie=UTF8&qid=1420569507&sr=1-1&keywords=700tvl+camera Has anyone tried it? Can't seem to find much example footage on youtube of any brand, and none from this brand but it seems to be relatively new.

Simply setting up a DDNS will not allow him to access from outside the local network unless the NVR and router support UPnP. Even then ive never had UPnP wirk reliably. Best option is to forward ports. All DDNS does is turn an IP address into a legible domain name, and update that DNS registry should your ip address change (hence the dynamic).

Very simple. You'll need to setup port fowarding on your router. You need to find the port number that your NVR uses for viewing on your phone (since it is working on your local setup, it's whatever port number is currently working). Google your Cisco routers' model number then port forwarding. For example if you have a RV110W then you would google "Cisco RV110W Port Forwarding Tutorial" Is it a residential grade router or a business/commercial router? Post the model number and I'll see what I can do to help. Just as a FYI, the screenshot you posted is what's called "Dynamic DNS" This is used so you don't have to remember what your IP address is, or if you IP address changes often. Most cable modems now use a semi static IP. It won't change unless you do a hard reset on your modem, or if they're doing alot of work in the area and bring down the neighborhood router. Still I have a static IP but use a dynamic DNS solution so I don't have to remember the IP address. If you want to learn more about dynamic dns just google it, there is PLENTY of information out there. Looks like your NVR supports it natively. This means the NVR will check what your external IP address is, and will update automatically. 99% of these services are free, you just need to use the service that your NVR supports. Mine supports no-ip.com and that's what I use.

It's nothing for a company to clone a MAC address... Maybe most won't go through the trouble... but it is of 0 confirmation that the MAC address has the correct vendor prefix.

This is a Zmodo ZMD-DD-SBN8 analog system. So I have 2 channels ran over a single CAT5 cable using Baluns on each side. Only about a 100ft run on the furthest camera, 60 on the other one. I have vertical "bars" of varying brightness that slowly go across each channel. Right to left on one channel, Left to right on the other. The bars disappear if I unplug one of the 2 channels' power. Unplugging other channels does not affect it. These are the cameras that come with the ZMD-DD-SBN8, as well as the power supply that came with it. I have tried other 12V power supplies, including a high quality 10A 12V power supply with very low noise. No change. It is currently night time and I just got done with the installation inside the house, so IR is on. I have yet to see if it does this during the day as well. My wiring is as follows on the CAT5 cable (CAT5e): Blue/Blue&White - Video for channel 2 Green/Green&White - Power for channel 2 Brown/Brown&White - Video for channel 3 Orange/Orange&White - Power for channel 3 I have tried adding a ferrite ring to one of the channels' power supply wires. Did not make a difference. I have a bag full of ferrite rings somewhere but can't find them, was going to add one to the other channel to see if that helps. It seems the negative of the power supply wires is tied into the ground of the video signal, as with my experimenting I noticed that if I unplugged one of the channels' power cable, and connected only the positive side it would still power the camera. I was considering using a separate power supply for just channel 3 but was worried about tying the grounds together like that if it would affect it. Any ideas?

I ran one cable for ease of installation. Didn't anticipate issues. I don't plan on upgrading for atleast 3 years. I'll battle that road when I get to it. These cameras draw less than 300ma, and there isn't that much voltage drop over the wire. Less than .4V at the load (camera) on the furthest camera, still good for 12.1V with the camera running in IR mode. You should see the wire that comes with the 60ft runs in the kit. It's got to be 32 gauge or maybe 30. If it works with the stock cables, CAT5 is plenty. I'm sure if you were running very long lengths that it would be a larger issue, but at only 100ft it's not an issue. Yes I know I'm using the included cables for two of the channels. They work fine, and I tried a short RG59 cable I had laying around and noticed no improvement in quality so why not use what was included. Prevents me from having to order additional cables.

How far away from the tennis court is the nearest "civilization" where you could hook up to broadband? Without a broadband connection there, I don't see how you could remotely view it. IF say the clubhouse is withing half a mile to maybe a mile, and is LINE OF SIGHT to somewhere with a broadband connection, you could use directional wifi. Even a home made "pringles can" antenna would work for a few thousand feet. Professional systems can have ranges of 2 to 5 miles LINE OF SIGHT (NO OBSTRUCTIONS, trees, buildings, elevation changes, etc) Basically you need to be able to see the antenna at both ends with a pair of binoculars. The hunting cameras you're referring to are motion activated still cameras. Some do take videos, but the batteries would not last that long with a video system without a very large lead acid battery. If you have a phone line there, is DSL a possibility?

Did some more research. Seems to be a ground loop issue. I dug around my parts bin and just started experimenting. Added a 47uf electrolytic capacitor in line with the negative side of the balun at the DVR on channel 3. Vertical lines are gone! There's still a little tiny bit on channel 2. Tried adding another capacitor on channel 2 but it resulted in a loss of signal so I'll live with it. I'm sure a smaller value ceramic cap would probably work better, but its what I have and it worked. Just thought I'd post this so if somebody else searches this issue they can try this. I used a small crimp that you'd typically use for telephone wire so I didn't have to do any soldering or anything. So far it's working great!

Mods if this is in the wrong area, I apologize, please move to appropriate forum. When viewing remotely on my phone, after about 5 to 10 seconds, the video becomes extremely "pixelated" and the video jumps back and forth one second, for about 5 seconds, then the next frame loads. I have tried changing the bitrate to all settings, from "Normal" to "Best" and the effect is the same. The youtube video I'm linking to for a demonstration is using IP Cam Viewer Pro. The ZViewer app is absolute garbage, and the cameras disconnect and attempt to reconnect every 20 seconds. Worthless. When the cameras do connect it still does the same thing, so I'm confident this is not an IP cam viewer issue. The DVR is on a 6 foot high quality patch cable, that I have confirmed is not the issue. Connected to a gigabit network (the DVR is only capable of 10/100). My phone is a LG G3, on 802.11N with plenty of signal strength. Here is the sample. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ikUyau84YA