Buying a new PTZ camera to work with my older DVR?

[Capt Chaos 0]

I have recently been trying to perform maintenance on my 7 year old CCTV analogue system! Its run via co ax for video, cat 5 for rs485 and a seperate 2 core quality power wire .

It was installed by a chap I wished I had never seen but I got that involved with his hapless installer ,I got a serious grounding in how it worked and set up!

So now I have one PTZ out of 3 that didnt come on any more and another that came on but went into self test mode and no RS485 movement!

Sorted the cat 5 cable connections to get the RS485 problem sorted and the one works ok now-the other had a dodgy power connection (damp and corrosion) thats sorted ,so thats working of sorts! Having assumed it was dead in the first place, I bought a 1080 p camera from China , to find my Alien EKO DVR wont run 1080p.

I then bought a Hikvision 720p analogue and found the default address is 0 and the Alien wont accept 0 as an address,so had to return it!

Any ideas where I can buy an older style ,pref manual dip switch ,or at least a default of 1 on a non manual dip ???      I know changing the DVR wopuld make most sense but honestly I dont need the extra mither involved with doing that!!

I think in the end thats what I will do ,then I can use the 1080p camera I still own (cost me £110.)but meantime I prefer!  Might just be easier !

Cheers for looking

[tomcctv 190]

Hi. Please don’t waste anymore money. 
finding a standard analog ptz will only be second hand and that will have issues 

 

your system q unit is 13 years old a standard analog 7fps 

 

the 720p and also your 1080p are HD analog but it is important that you also know it’s format ..... TVI or CVI or AHD

so you could spend £100s before you get it right

also the 720p and the 1080p do not need rs485 ....... can also send control over coax

 

your EKO is old and in the uk if you needed to hand footage to police they would not use it or even try .......... I would swap out your recorder first. 
If you buy a hybrid 5in1  all you need to do is unplug your old dvr and plug cables back in to new hybrid. Then your recorder is good for another 10 years plus it takes all camera formats up to 5mp

you then start swapping out your existing cameras as and when needed

hybrid dvrs are cheap and a lot easier to use than the Alien EKO  also 5mp HD cameras with audio are cheap from around £55 or without audio start from £35

 

i would look at bringing your system up to date and save money

[Capt Chaos 0]

Hi Tom ,

Thanks for the consise reply!!?      When you say  hybrid 5 in 1 would something like this fit the bill?   https://www.dtsdigitalcctv.co.uk/proddetail.asp?prod=DVR-8CH-A72-BP

 

Seems cheap ,maybe a better bet?https://www.dtsdigitalcctv.co.uk/proddetail.asp?prod=IQR1080D8

It should be capable of running the older cameras and the 1080p I still have !??  (I returned the 720 p one )

 

Would my older PTZ cameras be Standard/960H ??  Not sure I have the manuals handy at the minute but they were not cheap

 

 Thanks again

[tomcctv 190]

Hi. Your most expensive link is very limited and only does AHD so your 1080 won’t work on it

 

yes a good hybrid will run your existing cameras and upto 5mp all formats including ip cameras  so your 1080 as well

 

hoq many channels are you looking for

[Capt Chaos 0]

1 hour ago, tomcctv said:

Hi. Your most expensive link is very limited and only does AHD so your 1080 won’t work on it

 

yes a good hybrid will run your existing cameras and upto 5mp all formats including ip cameras  so your 1080 as well

 

hoq many channels are you looking for

I was thinking stay at 4 ,but what the point in that ,might as well have some extra capacity so an 8 ,unless theres a six

https://www.dtsdigitalcctv.co.uk/proddetail.asp?prod=DVR-8CH-A72-BP

This seems to fit the bill more???

I have found it at another site a bit cheaper than that , so around £100 with a 1 gb drive fitted .

https://digitalpromo.co.uk/blupont-8-channel-ahd-hd-dvr-digital-cctv-video-recorder-for-cctv-cameras-no-hdd.html  Not sure if they are both the same?

The hard drive in the Alien but might be worth changing out to the new one or would you buy a fresh one ?  £41 for a 1g Sata ?

Thinking about it , better to bugger it off complete ,otherwise it,ll be going to the tip in a few yrs

[tomcctv 190]

Hi. Both systems are old stock 

 

low mega pixel and h264 

 

h264 ..... say 8 cameras = 2 weeks storage

h265 .....same 8 cameras = over a month  on 1tb hard drive

also you can add your existing hard drive to a new unit so it’s not wasted 2 hard drives

 

your right 8 is better than 4  adding a front door camera with audio....... or if you have a holiday home or old relatives...., you can install a ip camera there and it will record on your recorder at home  

 

I will pm you a uk supplier .... take a look at you link specs and see the difference To the spec I have sent

notice it does all camera formats 

your old cameras will be 720tv line analog cameras now are 5mp high def

just replace over the years

[Capt Chaos 0]

Thanks Tom , very helpful and informative !!?

[dangrey46 0]

hi, 

I've just come across this feed gladly! I had seen an alien Eko on eBay and had considered it as it seemed that it would suit my needs for my new CCTV system.

I don't think I will be going with it anymore after reading this forum lol

 

Just to give you a rough idea of my situation and needs, any help is really appreciated. 

• require 7/8 cameras - so preferable would like to buy 16 channel system (to future proof)
• DVR - so far I think DVR suits me best due to cost and also the fact that I don't have very strong internet or consistent internet all the time. (i have heard that an NVR system when recording can generate quite a large pull on the internet.)
• one of my main requirements is to be able to view the cameras on my iPhone. 
• I would like to be able to have one or two high-quality cameras (whatever that may be classed as) on the front of my house in the porch. They need to be able to see someone's face reasonably well. 
• I'm planning on installing some small led floodlights on the front and back of the house if this benefits the cameras at all or changed anything. 

 

The original thought from a few evening's research was to go with an alien DVR system (family friends have this system software so I partially understand how to use it and also liked the quality of the cameras when viewed through the iPhone app.)

I would like 1 camera around the porch area, 2 cameras on the fancier of the house pointing up/down the road, 1 camera somewhere between the front gate and back garden of the side alleyway, 1 camera around the back door area. and then also one covering the patio and then a final camera pointing down towards the bottom of the garden. 

I originally planned on using rg59 shotgun cable, then purchasing the connections (i have a background in the electrical industry) and terminating the rg59 where i need to into cameras / dvr system and also purchasing a 12v lockable metal power distribution box to power the cameras. 

I have several old laptops/computers that I planned on using the hard drives from for external storage for recording the CCTV.

I'm hoping I'm able to have CCTV footage stored for around 21-28 days or longer if possible without spending too much. 

 

any help I really really appreciated. thank you, dan