The DVR is in fact set to DHCP... as I recall seeing that box checked in the menu.

I do have the DNS server info...  just dont know what to do with it in the DVR.

The only hardware I currently have is the Verizon supplied modem/router... which I can access via 192.168.1.1

I did manage to get into the DVR by typing 192.168.1.37 in my address bar...  (my desktop PC is 192.168.1.36) I can only assume the DVR randomly chose this address when I refreshed the network.

The main issue now is trying to get remote access via the www....

OK.  Here's what you need to do.

Give your DVR a static IP address... something like what you have now (192.168.1.37) would be fine.  Set the gateway at 192.168.1.1, and DNS to whatever your ISP gave you.  

Go into your router's management page, and forward port 80 to that IP address... and that should do ya.

Then go to "whatsmyip.com" and get your external IP address (or just look on the sheet your ISP gave you).

Having probs with photobucket...  not sure if this is gonna work...

Edit to add...  IM sent with "sensitive" info.

This is what I currently see on the DVR screen...

Make sure you enter the correct DNS entries... and what does "network restart" mean?

ETA:  IM received.  Use that first DNS entry they gave you as your DNS server.

ETA2:  turn DHCP off

ETA3:  Does your router port-forwarding config look like this?  I included my suggested setting on the bottom of the picture (except the last field... try it both ways):

See above

Yes, it looks exactly like that...

Encountered an interesting effect one night while monitoring a friend's system.  The camera feed was doing all sorts of wonky stuff... I wondered if the camera was cutting out.

Turned out not to be the camera... but it took bringing some NVGs to figure it out... watch:





I've used a bunch of those illuminators, and that's the first one that's acted that way (it's not their common power supply, since there were other infrared sources running steadily).

G-M, looks like a capacitor is failing in the current regulator of the illuminator's PS. Or could be a simple bad connex.

Since you like to take things apart, why not have a look inside and and post a pix of the internals for some online diagnosis.  

BTW, did you ever upgrade your terminal crimper or are you still using that prehistoric one?

Heh... I'm still rolling old-skool.

Man, I've been crimping a lot of terminals the past week cleaning up the power systems, IP remote power controls, etc, for the IP cams and solar and adding the capability to turn them on and off remotely to save power due to cloudy wx, [and -this is cool, installed a microprocessor board I programmed to restart the Xantrex inverters automatically when the Outback charge controllers spike and shut them down due to an overvoltage transient]. Remote, like way in the mtns and sort of difficult to reach due to snow.

Wish I could give you access to all the PTZ cams inside and outside and let you play w/ them.

I couldn't in any way get a neat job with the old style crimpers and I used them for years until I overcame my cheapness and bought my first real crimpers. After that, well... one is none...

Expy wins again!  Capacitor on the power board had a broken (+) lead.  It may be that the capacitor was being used to smooth out the voltage, and its loss resulted in the irregular strobing effect seen on the linked video.  This should be an easy fix.


Here it is with the dome removed:







Two screws later and the LED driver board is revealed:







Here's a close-up of that board.  The lettering on the board is: S-IRKZ-PT-01  Constant Current  High Power LED driver







The voltage supplied to the LED array seems to vary inversely with the amount of light applied to that photocell; it's not a binary off-on affair.  Here it is in full light... no voltage applied







Here it is with the photocell largely covered by my thumb:







Here it is in full dark, with the only illumination being from the camera flash (which knocked the voltage down to roughly 5V for a second):







The top lead to that large TOPCON capacitor was broken... good call, EXPY

G-M, that cap may be a ah, what's it called, A-J will know, one that is designed to operate at higher audio frequencies and transients in power switching supply applications.

Post a detailed pix of it so you replace it with the correct item if it should 'break' again.

Most any switching PS will have one to scrounge. Like from an old laptop wallwart PS.

I already pulled it.

It's a 63v 100 microfarad cap.  I can probably pick one up at the Shack for $1.50 (yes... I know they're pennies to make, but it saves me the time and hassle of desoldering one from an old board).

Price is of no consequence, the ESR of the cap is. R-S doesn't stock caps for this application, even tho the capacitance and voltage rating may be similar or the same.

If you have issues, just IM me....

You just had to make me break out the Nikon and the macro lens...

Looks like a pretty run-of-the-mill capacitor to me.







How would you tell the difference?

Don't know unless the 'M' has significance...

Here's a bit on ESR I plagerized...

"ESR (Equivalent Series Resistance) is an important parameter of any capacitor.
It represents the effective resistance resulting from the combination of
wiring, internal connections, plates, and electrolyte (in an electrolytic
capacitor). The ESR affects the performance of tuned circuits (high ESR
reduces the Q factor) and may result in totally incorrect or unstable
operation of devices like switchmode power supplies and deflection circuits
in TVs and monitors. As would be expected, electrolytic capacitors tend to
have a high ESR compared to other types - even when new. However, due to
the electrochemical nature of an electrolytic capacitor, the ESR may indeed
change - and not for the better - with time."

http://cgi.ebay.com/10-pcs-Topcon-63V-220uf-Axial-Capacitors-New-40-105C-/130220974355?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1e51c66113

I'm leaning w/ you to try the R-S caps and see what happens. Probably won't hurt anything.

I've tried to research this... If you need to buy some...

http://search.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?Detail&name=493-1936-ND

I may grab some off of Ebay... seems like an easy enough part to replace.  We'll see how long the new capacitors hold up.

Here's the picture with that IR source replaced... much steadier.

Hey Gray,

What is your experience with the fans on the ACTi cameras?  My TCM7411 has been sitting on my floor plugged up PoE for about 12 hours, then I kept hearing a strange noise every couple of minutes that lasted ~ 20 seconds.  Appears the fan keeps cycling on and off.  House is about 70 degrees.

I didin't see anything in the firmware regarding temperature.  Not sure if this is normal or not.

Thanks.

All of mine do that too... it's apparently normal behavior for the camera.

Thanks, just wanted to make sure.

BTW, have you ever written any books?  I thought I remember someone GrayMan, or something, that wrote Pax Americana.  I read through chapter 84, or 86, can't remember.  Thought it wasn't finished.  Anyway, just sounded familar.

Nope... that's not mine.  I am published in my professional discipline, but it's completely unrelated to security cameras, or politics.

I understand you get what you pay for -BUT-
http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11595854&search=q-see&Mo=10&cm_re=1_en-_-Top_Left_Nav-_-Top_search&lang=en-US&Nr=P_CatalogName:BC&Sp=S&N=5000043&whse=BC&Dx=mode+matchallpartial&Ntk=Text_Search&Dr=P_CatalogName:BC&Ne=4000000&D=q-see&Ntt=q-see&No=8&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Nty=1&topnav=&s=1

For a basic home video system how would something like this work?

(stolen from another thread in home security forum)

Definitely a budget-range system.  If you look closely at the specs, it says it records at 120FPS... but the resolution of recording is only 352x240... a VERY small picture.  That's deceptive, because the "display" resolution is D1 (704x480)... so when you look at the display and catch something happening, you think you're going to have this great video of it.  BUT... when you go to rewind the recording, you find that what you recorded is MUCH lower-res; maybe not even usable.

Lots of budget-range DVRs do this... they advertise a higher FPS, you see a decent picture/frame-rate on your monitor, and think that's what's being recorded... but it's not.  That DVR will record in D1, but only at 7.5 FPS per channel.  That's plenty... but it won't be smooth, full-motion video.  

Unless you set the recording resolution higher, you may find that the one time you really need the video as evidence, it ends up being a disappointment.

Just FYI.

TheGrayMan

I hate to brother you and I hope you don't get tired of answering all these questions.  I sent you a IM, but was wondering if this computer I bought off eBay will work as a DVR  ebay computer

Now if I understand correctly from reading your post off page 13 I just need to pull the hard drive, install the bigger hard drive, install XP pro and then install the drivers.  One of my questions is will it matter that the computer I bought as XP home edition on it instead of XP pro?  I hope not as I did not see it had XP home until I won the auction.  Thanks I'm sure I will have more questions as I attempt to set up my camera system.

HD03King

Any suggestions for a decent setup for less than 1k?

Leave the hard drive in it.  You will want the database for the cameras on a different hard drive.  There should be room for a second hard drive.  But check it when it comes in to be sure. You can get a 2TB SATA cheap.  That will give you plenty of room.

HD03Kin:  I didn't get your IM... sorry about that.

To put a second hard drive in that box requires that you remove the CDROM and put the drive in its place (there is no other room in that box).  This works fine, BTW...  I install off an external CDROM drive all the time.  However, realize that you're going to either require rails to put that second hard drive in, or preferably use something like this:




That said, I've installed OS and camera software on the same drive (1.5TB), and it worked fine with a lightweight install (no AV, no other services, etc)

Here are some more views of one of those drive caddies.  It's basically a large, passive heat sink.  I keep these around my test bench for additional hard-drive cooling... and they also work in those ThinkCentre computers:

TheGrayMan

Thanks for the reply.  I was thinking of building my own DVR like you detailed on page 13 of this topic.  I already have a new WD 1TB SATA drive that I got on sale during Black Friday.  So I was going to pull the hard drive from the computer when I get it and then put the new 1 TB drive in the computer.  This computer will only be used as a DVR for my camera system.  

How will the fact that the computer currently has XP home instead of XP pro make a difference?  I think I know the answer that I'm out of luck and will need to get a copy of XP home to do the re-install, but hope I'm wrong.

Thanks,

HD03King

Should make zero difference.

I'm not a huge camera guy, in fact, far from.



Recently picked up a "MOLE" camera.



640x480 @ 30fps

Night Vision mode (auto)

Built in DVR via SD Card (Remotely accessible)

Pan/Tilt

Support for iPhone/Android web browsers (320x240 resolution for mobile devices)

Built in microphone

connections for remote microphone and speaker





Lots of neat things on it.... I'm really digging the motion sensor  & DVR right now.  Have found out the cats are getting into the baby's crib when we're not home (Baby is not home yet, so we have time to resolve this issue).

Leave a dog in the crib

The stuff you catch your pets doing is sometimes pretty funny... my system is how I figured out that my dog could open doors in the house.

My wife and I were blaming each other for leaving doors open... turned out, the dog was opening them herself.

I've been playing around with a new gadget... one o' these:

More specifically, the NVR Mini 2040 model.







Comes with a power supply, a tiny bag of screws, a software disc, and a nondescript black box:







It's not very big...








In fact, not much bigger than the drives that it will contain:








The back is pretty plain... power jack, USB port, and a network port.  It should be obvious that this little jobbie is strictly a network video recorder... there are no ports to plug in analog cams.








Looking closely at the front, you'll note a small "push" prompt in the lower right-hand corner of the faceplate (circled here in red):








Opening it reveals the guts:  two orange drive trays:








They slide right out... simple orange plastic.








Looking inside the now-empty unit reveals the drive connectors... this is a SATA-only device.








The caddy screws right onto a standard hard drive... two screws on each side:








A close-up of the screws (bad image... sorry) reveals a key detail:  they're tiny, and countersunk.  DO NOT LOSE THE SCREWS TO THIS DEVICE.  I tried a couple of different random drive-caddy screws I had laying around... and with regular screws, the caddy will not slide into the device.  You must use the included countersunk screws, or the caddy will not have enough side clearance to be inserted.








Slide it in until the front of the caddy is flush with the door opening:







To be continued... I'll cover the internal software and configuration tomorrow.

Continued from previous.

We're going to hook up a camera and check out the internal software.  We'll use an extra Acti-1231 megapixel camera I just happened to have laying around.







First thing to do is adjust the network settings.  This device can simply be plugged into your network, and it will get an IP address by DHCP.  The software CD contains a setup program that will detect the unit, and running the "setup" software will allow you to adjust the network settings, RAID level, and so forth.  Once you have the ip address, simply connect with a browser... you'll get this (default login/pass is admin/admin)







The network settings can be adjusted further on this page, including DNS servers:








Adding a camera is pretty easy.  You select from the navigation frame on the left-hand side of the screen, and enter the camera's information (Acti cams use admin/123456 as the default login/pass).








You can use this screen to verify that you have it set up correctly:








Or just click on "Live View" along the top of the screen (a bit out-of-focus, but you can see Job-Related-Stuff on that laptop)








Camera recording status is here:








And you can view/adjust the RAID settings here:










Before you can record, you must format your RAID volumes, which goes pretty fast (this one is striped... you'll probably want two mirrored drives, in case of failure):








Discussion:

In hardware terms, the unit itself is very small, and fairly straightforward.  Setup is also quick and easy.  You can use large SATA drives for maximum storage, and a mirrored RAID should protect your video in the event of a drive failure.  The unit only pulls about 40 watts of power or so... which makes it fairly thrifty, and unlikely to heat up your wiring closet or server room.  

It runs embedded Linux, which is a nice feature.  Linux is very reliable, particularly in embedded applications, and it suffers from almost no virus problems, at least compared to windows machines.  Embedded Linux also tends to be extremely lightweight and stripped-down, leaving few extra services to be attacked/hacked, and further enhancing reliability.

The addition of RAID is also excellent foresight, since drives that are constantly being written-to are going to be prone to failure at a higher rate than regular hard drives (Seagate makes an SV-series of hard drives that are specifically designed for DVRs and similar security applications, and I highly recommend them).  The external USB port also opens up the possibility of using external drives to further increase your storage.

The internal software is easy, and mirrors what Nuuo has done with their other software.  Unfortunately, full functionality of the web client can only be achieved using Internet Explorer... a MAJOR strike.  

Now... let's stress this unit a bit and see what it can REALLY do...

I've attached a few extra cameras....  in addition to the Acti-1231M, we have a Panasonic megapixel NF-302 dome and a couple of Mobotix megapixel dual-domes::











Here is the camera status page with the Acti in 1.3MP mode, and the other three cameras in VGA (640x480).  Note the higher frame-rates in the VGA cameras, and the fact that the Acti seems to be sucking up the lion's share of the camera's bandwidth (advertised at about 20 Mb/s maximum for all streams).  The Acti is taking up as much pipe as the other three cameras combined.







Now let's get everyone running at 1.3MP (with the exception of the Pano... it wouldn't take a 1.3MP MJPEG stream from that camera... only 640x480.  It may need to be switched to MPEG4, but I didn't take the time to chase down whatever this bug might be).  Note the differences in the bandwidth the cameras are consuming... the Acti is sucking up 6.4Mb/s of pipe for 4.8fps at 1.3MP, while the Mobotix cameras are sucking up half that, for the identical resolution, and with a greater frame-rate.  The discrepancy is likely due to the fact that the Mobotix cameras are using their own proprietary compression format (MxPEG), and tend to be thriftier on bandwidth in almost all cases.  This is something to take into account if you're planning on putting a bunch of cameras on a marginal network; the Actis tend to suck up more pipe.







Now let's push it a little harder.  Here we have the Acti at 1.3MP, the Pano at 640x480, and the Mobotix cameras both at 3MP.  Note that the bandwidth taken up by the Mobotix cameras hasn't increased that much... it's simply cut down on the frame-rate to compensate.








Despite the advertised 20Mb/s of bandwidth (probably a bus limit on the machine, rather than a physical limitation of the network, since the Nuuo unit comes with gigabit ethernet), you only end up getting about 15-16Mb/s of usable camera pipe.  It's close, but not quite 20Mb/s... and the answer may be below.  When running the web client, it provides a bandwidth measurement below the video window... and that takes about 5Mb/s, and may account for where that other 5Mb/s went.








This is a nifty little unit... and an alternative to a PC-built NVR.  I'm still partial to the latter, but this Nuuo box provides RAID, remote access, megapixel capability, and all the usual motion-detection/email/etc options you'd expect.   It's completely fire-and-forget... with the recognition that if something does go haywire with the unit itself, you'll probably have to send it back to the manufacturer to get it repaired.  On the upside, the part most likely to die (the drives) is easily user-accessible, and repairable.  It also supports a BUNCH of different camera manufacturers and models... and an extensive list is located on Nuuo's website (it's a 60-page PDF... LOTS of cameras are supported by this unit).

With a 1.5TB RAID, it looks like you could expect about 8-9 days of continuous recording with this unit... and that would obviously be much longer if you used motion-sensitive recording.

The unit can be purchased (sans drives) online for about the $600-900 range.

I took th e Nuuo training course awhile back, i liked the NVRs ability to duplicate the same camera on the display. You can tighten up on a portion of one camera and reproduce it as if it was another camera. The NVR is a nifty unit with one MAJOR FLAW,  it was built with a button that allows you to default the entire unit.

I saw that little button on the back... that's potentially a problem.

I like the Nuuo systems, and have installed a few.

This is only my second; they seem quite functional... and the software is nice and stable.  

The Nuuo box seems like a nice, simple solution for somebody who wants the convenience and reliability of an embedded DVR product, but the performance and versatility of megapixel cameras.  It's a decent way to, in the words of one of ARFCOM's most famous aphorisms, "get both."

Put some D-T from your B-O-B over it.

TP-Link TL-SF1008P 8-port 10/100M Desktop PoE Switch can handle 53 watts vs. TRENDnet 8-Port 10/100Mbps PoE Switch (4x 10/100, 4x 10/100 PoE) supports 30 watts or 7.5 per port.  I can get the TP-Link one for around $5 cheaper than the Trendnet It would be nice to have the higher watts but besides higher watts is one better than the other one?  Or if it was someone who knew more than myself which one would you buy and why?

Thanks

HD03King

Your average PoE camera doesn't pull much current... mine are usually in the 2-5W range.  If they don't have integrated IR LEDs, they're probably not going to hit that 7.5W.  The highest current-consumption devices tend to be wireless access points and things like that... they can pull 15W.

ETA:  I don't have any experience with that TP-link model, but I've got multiple Trendnet PoE switches deployed, and they all work great.  No failures.

To further add to this thread (and on the suggestion of some of our other members), I'm currently trying out Zoneminder.  I have a friend who works professionally with Linux, and refuses to have anything microsoft-based in his home or business... so that leaves out all the windows-based stuff.

That basically leaves Exacqvision, and Zoneminder.

The former costs $150/channel... the latter is free.

That made Zoneminder a natural choice.

It's not going well... I've had to blow away two installs so far, and am working on my third

I'll let you know when I get it working... and I'll try to post some screenshots and links so that those interested can do it too.

grayman... can I get an off the top of your head recommendation for an 8 channel dvr that will support multiple logins from the internet, and have decent memory and recording resolution.    I want to spend about 800bucks.

also, can you please take a look at this cam.  its IP is 216.67.44.235.  login is grayman password is grayman.  This is a sample camera for a system I am trying to install for a friend.  what would you do to get more night vision.

sorry if the answer is in this thread somewhere, its just that 40 pages is intimidating.

if you happen to look at the cam, what you are looking at is a junkyard where kids are getting in at night.  there is a two story pile of steel about 100 yards away that you can almost see.  its completely dark there, and its in alaska which is pretty dark.  Its an ip cam obviously, with IR lights around the lens.

http://deals.woot.com/sellout


Uniden 7” All-Weather Wireless Video Surveillance System

Just two cameras, not alot.

I just built a 2U server system to run Zoneminder.

I started out with Ubuntu 10.04 LTS 32bit - and on 2nd thought maybe I should have used server but this first install is all just beta testing since the extra HDD's for a RAID 5 and its controller are not here as yet.

I kinda went off on my own as I wanted to use "Lighttpd" in place of "Apache"  but this may not work out this first time through thanks to how the Zoneminder package installer worked.

If I come up with a simple quick and dirty way to get this up I will post it.

Zoneminder has a rep of being the best open source Linux DVR for security use. - So far it has proven to be an unpolished crude set of code. I use several Linux systems and the Zoneminder package has been a let down so far.

Note: No need to go hardcore and compile your own install as most Distros have it available as a package.

I used "aptitude install" or "app-get install" to load the "Lighttpd", PHP5, MySQL, apps before starting the Zoneminder package install.

I was "sudo su" for all installs. The package installer also loaded "Apache" though I don't want to use Apache unless I must.

I ran out of time - I still have all the configuration to do.

Me too.  I tried my first install with a vanilla Ubuntu disto (8.10, upgraded to 10.10)... and did it manually.  Big mistake... I got into dependency hell while trying to compile it, and ended up starting over with a fresh install.  That one died after I used the synaptic package manager to add it... and after trying to do all the configuration by hand, borked my install and couldn't get it to boot (I'm a daaaaangerous man with root privileges )

So now I'm looking through all the online howtos to find the easiest distro+howto for ARFCOMers to use (not everybody is a *nix grey-beard).

First let me say:  Yikes... that was painful.  

Success on Zoneminder... after a few false starts.

I'll try to write up a non-linux-geek set of instructions to save the forum some time.