inforlonghaul

I know there's smart cameras that have built in tracking software for counting people entering and exiting but I see they're quite expensive. I'm hoping to maybe find an alternative option and I wanted to see if anybody knows if there's any simple software that could be installed on a computer that could do the same thing by using the IP address/login info of the camera and use that to count people entering and exiting. Thanks for any info!

I've got a 32 channel Hikvision NVR with the built in 16 port POE, and we currently have 30 cameras on it now. We installed it in August. The ongoing problem we've been having is the NVR randomly shutting down and performing an 'Abnormal Shutdown'. I've been going back and forth with tech support for 2 weeks now troubleshooting, performing checks on the HDDs, changing NVR settings, reducing the camera resolution to 720p to even defaulting the unit and the issue is still not resolved. It doesn't do it every time, but when it does do the Abnormal Shutdown, it occurs with I'm bouncing between the different cameras or using playback. But like I said, it doesn't do it all the time, just randomly. Maybe every other day or so. Curious if anybody has experienced this before and/or have suggestions.

This is a curiosity killed the cat kind of question, and kind of a stupid newbie question. Electricity makes me nervous so I always play it safe and unplug the power supply box before adding a new camera to the supply. But is it necessary to turn off the power before using a screw driver to tighten/loosen the screws or is it just a matter of making sure to not touch both the positive and negative screws at the same time? I'd like to not get electrocuted, so I figured it be best to ask before I decided to be stupid and feel the zap from a 24VAC power supply. I ask that question to ask this next one. Even if it is hypothetically safe to leave the power on, what to do you do when you need to add a camera? Leave it on, or turn it off? Thanks in advance for any tips and advice.

A little back ground here. I'm a security officer at a University and I've been going around here lately trying to fix some of our cameras that need focusing adjustments, replacing, etc. as the contractor that the University has been using is a PITA and a bunch of buffoons. The camera (Camera 16) in question is on the first floor of a three story college dormitory and pointed at some vending machines. Obviously you can imagine just what all is going on up in the ceiling -- wifi, florescent lighting, the works. Keep this in mind though: there are 3 other cameras within no more a 20ft radius of this camera that have no problems. The kicker is we haven't always had issues with this particular camera. I'm not sure when it went down, but it's been long enough that the contractor replaced the camera, and not only was the camera not the problem, I tested the old camera and it works fine, too. The system is an Everfocus ECOR264-16x1 DVR and the original camera is an Everfocus ED610. The replacement camera is a Northern* camera. Both are analog cameras and the cabling is Cat5. The wiring is ran up to the second floor and in a closet. On the DVR end, the cable also had a video modulator of some sort plugged in which I assume is for interference (correct me if I'm wrong). Anyway, here goes my issue. When I plugged the Everfocus camera back into Channel 16, the video feed showed up. But the feed cut in half, it will scroll up, it's fuzzy, has awful lines running through it and bounces up and down at times. I'll also get a duplication of channels in the feed, too. So instead of it showing Camera 16, sometimes camera 5, 3, 15, and others will randomly pop up and it will cycle through that non-stop. When I plug the video modulator in, instead of getting the awful video feed, I get just a solid black screen with some fuzzy pinkish lines. With the replacement Northern* camera, I get the black picture with the fuzzy lines running through the feed. It acts like its getting a signal, but not a picture. Regardless of whether or not a plug the video modulator back in, the screen stays black. The only thing I haven't done is get into the ceiling tile to make sure there isn't any thing close to the cable causing interference and I haven't gotten into the box where the Cat5 and the adapters are plugged in to make sure the connections are all still good and snug. But does anybody have basic troubleshooting suggestions? What I have access to do is very limited, so replacing cable, redoing the ethernet plugs and that kind of stuff is a no go -- but any ideas would be a big help. If I don't get it resolved tonight, I'll try to upload a brief video clip of it showing what it's doing. On a side note: On the power box, will I get electrocuted if I try to tighten a screw with the power still on or should I just keep unplugging the box?

I've given up on figuring out the problem. I replaced the RJ45 plugs, on both ends, and I tried two different cameras with two different video baluns and continued to get the same ugly video feed. The video balun on the DVR end is also good because I unplugged Camera 15 from its balun and plugged it into the Channel 16 balun, and it works like a charm. The only other thing I can come up with is the cable is bad. But for the life of me, I can't imagine a 3 year old Cat5 cable up in a ceiling tile going bad. Interference I could understand, but that's unlikely, too. I checked and there are 3 other Cat5 camera cables running right along side it that have no problems.