Discussion
Looking for a way to keep my CCTV setup operational.
I have 6 cameras. 2 hard wired and 4 wireless. The wireless ones allow switching from their Rx box.
These are all old school analog cameras with RCA connectors. Not modern IP ones. I know the quality sucks by comparison. But they are perfect for my use. I have them and they are all located in places I want them.
I have had the setup for years and ran them via a Swann DVR USB 4 ch device onto a computer. And used the Swann Guardian software to view and record.
The trouble is the DVR USB only supports up to Win 7 (badly and with hacking). But worse only in 32-bit.
My last old laptop has expired and I faffed about all evening trying to get it to work on Win 10 or Win 7 x64. But to no avail. (It amazed me how much faff it was to get Win 7. Lots of dead links on Microsoft’s site. Including the USB creation tool. Ended up burning a DVD with a very old ISO I found on a backup drive).
Google doesn’t seem to return anything much as a modern way of utilising these cameras. I was wondering if there was a stand alone box anyone knows of that would work?
I have 6 cameras. 2 hard wired and 4 wireless. The wireless ones allow switching from their Rx box.
These are all old school analog cameras with RCA connectors. Not modern IP ones. I know the quality sucks by comparison. But they are perfect for my use. I have them and they are all located in places I want them.
I have had the setup for years and ran them via a Swann DVR USB 4 ch device onto a computer. And used the Swann Guardian software to view and record.
The trouble is the DVR USB only supports up to Win 7 (badly and with hacking). But worse only in 32-bit.
My last old laptop has expired and I faffed about all evening trying to get it to work on Win 10 or Win 7 x64. But to no avail. (It amazed me how much faff it was to get Win 7. Lots of dead links on Microsoft’s site. Including the USB creation tool. Ended up burning a DVD with a very old ISO I found on a backup drive).
Google doesn’t seem to return anything much as a modern way of utilising these cameras. I was wondering if there was a stand alone box anyone knows of that would work?
OldGermanHeaps said:
hikvision turbo hd recorder will take any format of old analog cameras, and when your cameras fail you can get 8mp 4k uhd cameras that can reuse all your existing wiring.
Thanks. Seems a lot of choice. Any specific one you’d recommend or a link to one?Also just to check. The video is coming in on a connector like this from each camera. Will these plug in ok? Wasn’t sure when looking at pictures of the back of some of these units.
yep rca to bnc adaptors.
models, depends on what quality of cameras you might want to replace with later
4 megapixel 7208hqhi-k1
5 megapixel 12fps/ 8megapixel 8fps 7208huhi-k1
8 megapixel 12fps 7208 hthi-k1
I normally fit 8 megapixel, unless they want cameras with the inbuilt pir, or colorvu cameras then 5 megapixel.
Colorvu stay colour no matter how dayk it gets, but the white light off the camera can be intrusive and they can get a bit grainy compared to normal IR cameras that go monochrome at night.
models, depends on what quality of cameras you might want to replace with later
4 megapixel 7208hqhi-k1
5 megapixel 12fps/ 8megapixel 8fps 7208huhi-k1
8 megapixel 12fps 7208 hthi-k1
I normally fit 8 megapixel, unless they want cameras with the inbuilt pir, or colorvu cameras then 5 megapixel.
Colorvu stay colour no matter how dayk it gets, but the white light off the camera can be intrusive and they can get a bit grainy compared to normal IR cameras that go monochrome at night.
What he says, fit a new Hikvision, I tend to just go with the base 4MP DVRs, plenty enough resolution for general CCTV. As you've found out they make a myriad of different units, not sure why as many of them overlap with features and specs, I suppose confusion helps with pricing, difficult to compare costs.
Same with their cameras, so many different options, many with very similar spec.
Same with their cameras, so many different options, many with very similar spec.
Wow, thanks for the super help.
It does seem that the CCTV market and certain makes seem to make it deliberately confusing. To this end, I contacted a vendor and they recommended this unit:
https://www.cctvtek.co.uk/_shop/4-channel-dvrs/hik...
DS-7204HQHI-K1
However I can on their site they offer this unit for about 60% of the price. What would I be giving up by going cheaper? I've looked at the specs, but it really isn't all that clear and I'm not sure what I'm looking for.
https://www.cctvtek.co.uk/_shop/4-channel-dvrs/hil...
DVR-104G-F1
It does seem that the CCTV market and certain makes seem to make it deliberately confusing. To this end, I contacted a vendor and they recommended this unit:
https://www.cctvtek.co.uk/_shop/4-channel-dvrs/hik...
DS-7204HQHI-K1
However I can on their site they offer this unit for about 60% of the price. What would I be giving up by going cheaper? I've looked at the specs, but it really isn't all that clear and I'm not sure what I'm looking for.
https://www.cctvtek.co.uk/_shop/4-channel-dvrs/hil...
DVR-104G-F1
megaphone said:
I thought you had 6 cameras? Those you linked to are 4 channel.
I do 
I have 2 hard wired cameras and 4 wi-fi ones. Each wi-fi camera has it's own receiver box, that then has a video out. However each wi-fi box can switch between four 2.4Ghz channels automatically. So I run 4 wi-fi cameras from two receiver box's, so only need 4 ch DVR. However I might upgrade to an 8 ch to allow a bit more expansion with some new cameras.
Sorry to Hijack, I've got a Swann DVR and 4 cameras (3 of them Swann, one generic amazon). its worked fine for years (albeit it blurry as hell) but not the swann DDNS no longer works so cant access it from my mobile (Swann app) which is annoying.
Can I throw a cheap Hikvision DVR on it instead and any links to a decent one? want to be able to access from my phone.
Swann DVR DDNS only has Swann listed so can even add another DDNS provider to the box, suppose I could run a different DDNS on laptop to update it.
Can I throw a cheap Hikvision DVR on it instead and any links to a decent one? want to be able to access from my phone.
Swann DVR DDNS only has Swann listed so can even add another DDNS provider to the box, suppose I could run a different DDNS on laptop to update it.
An idea for the OP/anyone in a problem area considering CCTV. Years ago my road could have featured in "Neighbours from hell". I stuck a camera up and we had a few complaints, but I noticed that some of those causing problems were taking steps to avoid the visible camera. So I constructed a dummy camera, complete with a flashing LED and put it up to be visible. I then hid the genuine camera. Worked a treat with a lot of faces on the hidden camera as they concentrated on the dummy.
AJB88 said:
Sorry to Hijack, I've got a Swann DVR and 4 cameras (3 of them Swann, one generic amazon). its worked fine for years (albeit it blurry as hell) but not the swann DDNS no longer works so cant access it from my mobile (Swann app) which is annoying.
Can I throw a cheap Hikvision DVR on it instead and any links to a decent one? want to be able to access from my phone.
Swann DVR DDNS only has Swann listed so can even add another DDNS provider to the box, suppose I could run a different DDNS on laptop to update it.
you can do the ddns from your router, but tbh now cloud is better and swann dvrs are a network security nightmareCan I throw a cheap Hikvision DVR on it instead and any links to a decent one? want to be able to access from my phone.
Swann DVR DDNS only has Swann listed so can even add another DDNS provider to the box, suppose I could run a different DDNS on laptop to update it.
hik models losted above
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