DaveM

Ah ha. It looks like I had it a little wrong. Thanks for the info.

I have my PC weather station feeding into my CATV for the house. I bought one of the $9.00 ATI PCI cards with a TV out from Ebay. The picture is no where near as clear as the composite out from a DVR, but it does work. If you just want to see if someone is around the cameras it should work for you. As was said, the TV out doesn't turn on unless the cable is connected at boot. You will need to turn on dual display for the PC, and open up the window you want to view then drag it over to your second display. Works pretty cool. It is cheap and easy, you just need an extra PCI slot. I had to set the display to 600 x 800 for the TV out to work right. It also lets you use the main display while the TV display is unchanged.

In order for the DVR to update the WAN IP, it has to know what it is. Normal DHCP from a Linksys will give you your internal IP, netmask, default gateway and DNS servers. Your right, that if the DVR has some way to determine the WAN IP then I can see how it could do it, otherwise I don't see how, at least not on the boxes I've seen. I'm wondering if the router could have been set to do the DDNS update at the other sites and it just seemed that the DVR was doing it? Or maybe one of the PC's has that client on it. I am looking forward to hearing what your solution turns out to be.

My understanding of Dynamic DNS is that a DNS name hosting company will update the IP address that is assigned by your ISP and associate it to your domain name as needed. This is usually when the IP changes, or if you request it to be done. The way this should work is your router requests an IP address from your provider via DHCP. When the lease expires, or when the router is rebooted you might get a new IP address. The router will notice the change, and notify your DDNS provider that it has changed. The DDNS provider passes this information along to the rest of the internet. The problem with using your DVR to set this is that the DVR gets its IP address from the router, not the cable/DSL modem. If you have the DVR connected directly up to your providers modem then there won't be an issue, but that is not usually the case anymore. So if your external IP gets changed nothing changes on your internal 192.168.x.x LAN so the DVR doesn't do an update. Even if it did, it would try and update the IP to the 192.168.x.x IP assigned by your DHCP or the one you programmed into it. DDNS providers know that a 192.168.x.x IP is a non-routable address and most will just ignore that change. Bottom line is you should use the router. I don't see why a "smart" box couldn't go to an outside site to find its real outside IP address, then send that info along. I have not seen one yet, and you would need someone to provide that service. You can go to a site like https://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2 to see what your IP is set as (there are lots of other sites that will give that back to you also).

If you are connecting to your router from the outside, you need to configure port forwarding in the router to go to your DVR. You should also turn off remote management for the router.

Duplicate IP is where I would start as well. Make sure you have assigned an IP that is not in your DHCP scope, or it could be getting assigned at random times to some other equipment. You can do a Ping -t to run ping continuously and see how intermittent the connection is. Control-C will abort it. You can also do an ARP -a. It will show you the MAC address assigned to the IP that your PC has in it's Arp table. When it stops working run it again to see if another MAC address taken it's place.

I ended up disconnecting the IR LED's and putting up an external IR illuminator placed about 3' away from the camera. That did the trick.

Some data switches now support 100mb/gigabit but won't work with 10mb. If this DVR only has a 10mb port then you could have a problem. You can work around this issue by running the DVR into an older hub/switch with 10/100 and then feeding it into your network. The cross-over cable is a pretty good idea as you should see right off the bat if the PC recognizes a valid lan connection.

If it needs a driver, then I don't see how it would work. I personally use a mouse extender. It is a set of USB to RJ-45 connectors that you put on the ends of a CAT5 lan cable. I am running mine about 45 feet, the package says it is good for 300 feet. I picked mine up on Ebay.

I googled KY-05072 and found one for sale for $29.95. Unless you are looking for a project, it might be better just to buy the proper replacement supply.

You sound like you know what you are doing. I've never used that product, but some basic troubleshooting is universal. 1. Put the DVR and your PC onto it's own switch off the customers LAN, or use a crossover cable. 2. Manually set your PC to 192.168.0.2 (turn of dhcp). 3. Make sure the the ports light up. I had a unit that only ran 10mb and my switch only support 100/1gb and nothing would work until I switched it out. 4. Make sure you can ping the IP address. If you can ping it, then you have the right IP. You might be able to run a port scanner on it to see if it has been set for an odd port.

I have the older 760 with IDE drives, and I have used the email option successfully. It attaches jpeg images to the email. I have firmware version 2.0.3.0. You can have either FTP, Email or both turned on. Using Video Server E (you locations will be different for VideoViewer) set your system settings/alarm (trigger for VV). Set Alarm trigger enabled, alarm method as email/FTP, and the number of pics and the alarm duration. In your network settings make sure you have a valid default gateway. In your mail settings set up the email server IP address and a return email address. I am using my providers POP3 account and it does not require a password to send, but I must be in their IP address range for it to work. Also put in the email accounts you want show as the "from" address, as well as the ones you want to send it to. For FTP you will need to setup your server settings as well. Test your setting using a command window while on the same lan segment as your DVR from a PC. Here is some help in testing email settings: Troubleshooting Sending Email Messages Corrective Actions: 1. Verify you have the following information before you proceed: * IP address or DNS name of the customer's SMTP Server * One or more email addresses to which you can send test mails * An email address to use as the sender (this must be a valid email address defined in the customer's SMTP Server. Make sure you have access to this mailbox, since errors will be reported by mail to this address) 2. Click Start, and select Run. 3. Type cmd and click OK. The Command Prompt window appears. 4. Type telnet and press Enter. 5. Type SET LOCAL_ECHO and press Enter. 6. Verify you can establish TCP/IP communication with the customer's SMTP Server on port 25. Type OPEN 25 and press Enter. For example, type OPEN 172.17.2.14 25. A "Connecting to" message appears, followed by this window: If this window does not appear, verify you can ping the SMTP Server. 7. To initiate communication with the server, type HELO and press Enter. The server should reply with "Hello". 8. Type HELP and press Enter to view a list of supported commands. 9. Enter the following sequence of commands to tell the server to send an email message. a. MAIL FROM: b. RCPT TO: c. DATA d. To: to.address e. Subject: enter text to describe the message f. . g. . h. . i. . The SMTP Server will respond that the message was queued for delivery. Any errors delivering the message will be sent to the "from" address. 10. Type QUIT to terminate the connection to the SMTP Server. 11. Type QUIT again to exit Telnet.

When I started this thread I had no idea it would go on this far. I would like to let everyone know that ICRealtime has contacted me, and it looks like my service issues will be resolved. It is clear from past and current posts that ICRealtime has a good relationship with their dealers, and that many are very loyal. My particular unit had some issues, but in general I really like their product. All of the employees I actually spoke with were courteous and seemed like good people. I don’t think many would disagree that my situation could have been handled better. I am pretty sure that ICRealtime will do so in the future. In my work, we would call this “lessons learnedâ€

Still for sale, but not very popular. It is on their website as well as dealer sites. Their new units are better. Very true, unit is 2 1/2 years old. Although if it was bought today it would come with a 3 year warranty. According the their website and the sales people I personally talked with they do, but I gather they would much prefer the dealer handle it. Nope, I had an RMA number and returned the proper forms with the unit. I have a problem with having another dealer who did not make any money off the sale become responsible for the issues. That just doesn't seem right to me. Any dealer that would is going above and beyond and would earn my respect and future business.

This question has been answered a couple of time in the forum already. The answer is to use diodes. It is not quite as straight forward as it might seem if you have never dealt with RS-422/485 before so I have put it into a schematic. Hope it helps someone out. I used 1A rectifier diodes you can get at Radio Shack and they are working great at 2400 baud. You might need to go to signal diodes like the 1N914 if you run at higher speeds. I don't see any reason this couldn't be expanded to 3 or more devices as well.

Very good point. Matt is the owner of the company, and has posted his full name on this forum in the past. But you are right, and I will delete the last name. The techs are anonymous, and after all, they did send the video back to me. The video supports what I have stated. I was surprised to see my full name, but I am not terribly worried about that. I have been a professional in the telecommunications industry for 30 years and I stand by what I posted. I integrate multiple vendors’ products and try to treat our $10,000 customers as well as I do our million dollar customers. I attempted to do a fair post with pros and cons stating facts and timelines. I am not afraid to have my name associated with anything I’ve said. Nuff said.

Nobody contacted me before the unit was sent back, or gave me any price quotes for repair. I wish they had. After the unit was shipped back Matt told me that repairs can be from $100 to $1,0000. He also said replacing the main board was not something you do. I was open to all options. I still might be, please let me know the costs involved. Thanks

Wow, I guess I hit a nerve. I never asked for anything for free or under warranty. I asked for repair. And besides, nowhere in your warranty does it state that it is for the original purchaser only. Yes, I spoke with techs 3 times. 1st time was a lady who was very nice, but didn’t follow though on getting a firmware upgrade. 2nd time was a tech who was also very nice, and did do the firmware upgrade. 3rd time was Ron in Arizona, another very nice person who agreed that the unit should be looked at. Now if you count all the calls to John and yourself that went to voicemail and were never responded to, then that could be defined as “plentyâ€

Positive comments like yours are a big reason I decided to go with an ICR DVR. This DVR was bought from a dealer originally. Part of the problem is that the dealer is no longer in the CCTV business. I made this clear when I asked for service. How would you feel if your Sony 46" TV needed service and Sony refused to talk to you? I can handle being told the unit is out of warranty and it will cost big bucks to fix it, but ignoring me really ticks me off. I called Pelco once, they didn't require serial numbers, dealers name and receipts in order to talk to me. I have replaced the hard drive, the power supply, the fan, upgraded the firmware and reset to factory defaults. The problems are not caused by bad inputs or loose connections. I asked Matt for a worst case repair cost - a new main board and he told me they don't replace that. I would be happy to give ICR another shot at making this right, and the way I was treated was just plain wrong. ICR will need to make an exceptional effort to turn me into a happy customer at this point. I'm really impressed that you are willing to go to bat for me, I will send you a PM with my contact info. Thanks, Dave.

This type of microphone works well with the AVTech DVR's: http://www.2mcctv.com/product_info-AudioMicrophone-KTCKPA1.html It can pick up voice for about 15-20 feet, so if you were to install it, say, on a second floor eave not directly above were a person would be talking you should be able to hear vehicles, door slams and general noises as well as someone hollering outside without being able to make out private conversations. This is not a waterproof model, but they are cheap!

I had a 2.4ghz cordless phone that was messed up by our microwave oven, but only for about 15-20 feet. I assume you have tried all the channels? If you don't want to replace the cameras, and since they are good friends, your best bet may be to buy them a new oven that doesn't leak RF as badly. You could try it out yourself first.

Wireshark is a free sniffer and works pretty well. You can see IP/MAC addresses and what ports they use, as well as the data. Keep in mind that with data switches you won't be able to see other devices unless you use an old fashioned hub, or a smart switch that can be configured with a monitor port.

From the connections, it looks like this control box just sends the switch and button connections out to the camera directly. That is to say, there are no smarts in this box. The motors to move the camera are sent voltage directly. What really scares me, is the output to the control motors is 220VAC. This cannot be run via low voltage wiring, and it would blow out any current camera.

I was never able to get this working on a Motorola SLVR, I went to an ATT phone with Windows CE, and loaded Eagle Eyes on it. I had to set it up for port 80, and then open the web page first. This seemed to set up the connection. I then ran Eagle Eyes and was able to connect OK. I think the carrier was blocking non-standard ports or something. I had also set the router DMZ to point to the DVR. I was going to run a sniffer and find out if any other ports needed forwarding, but never got around to it. After a while I no longer had to open the web page first, I think it is part magic and part technology. Also, I sometimes had to run "disable proxy" followed by "restore proxy". That had something to do with my company VPN breaking things. This was for an AVtech761. The web access wouldn't work with anything except a PC running Windows and IE.

If you want to learn a lot about the AVTech product, read Scorpions posts. I have been following the forum for a little over a year, and finally joined it. He is a wealth of knowledge. In a recent post Scorpion mentioned the new VideoViewer. I have the older 761 that has the PATA drives. The newer version has the SATA drives. It sounds like the new versions being released won't work with Video_Server E. Load up the other one and give it a try. Dave