Q™
IPCT Contributor
Time for a party when that happens. Donner Party.
Need help picking out Equipment for remote Location- Needs to boot back up easily
- Thread starter CaliGirl
- Start date
bob2701
Getting comfortable
You are going to get some great shots with that camera, well done.
CaliGirl
Getting comfortable
How do you assign a channel to a particular camera? I have googled this and entered each camera interface but it won't let me change the number. They are plugged in, in order, on the back of the nvr as 1-4.
The problem is: the PTZ is channel 1 and the other 3 are 6,7,8. SO they are spread out across the channels and a pain to skip the empty ones. I'm looking for a pattern as to why Dahua does this. They aren't listed in order of ip address or ports??
In this video it is a result of what order you add the cameras. But ours isn't working this way. It automatically populates the cameras on the second line. You can't add them manually, they load automatically when it senses a camera connected:
Also, we tried to shove the pigtail of a camera into the housing to main it look cleaner. The camera worked for a bit, but now no image. You can log in but the image is black. SO either the camera died or we messed it up by bending the pigtail a little too much.
The problem is: the PTZ is channel 1 and the other 3 are 6,7,8. SO they are spread out across the channels and a pain to skip the empty ones. I'm looking for a pattern as to why Dahua does this. They aren't listed in order of ip address or ports??
In this video it is a result of what order you add the cameras. But ours isn't working this way. It automatically populates the cameras on the second line. You can't add them manually, they load automatically when it senses a camera connected:
Also, we tried to shove the pigtail of a camera into the housing to main it look cleaner. The camera worked for a bit, but now no image. You can log in but the image is black. SO either the camera died or we messed it up by bending the pigtail a little too much.
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nayr
IPCT Contributor
its the order you add them to the NVR.. remove all the cameras, add them one at a time and make sure when you add them they are sequential in ID..
you cant change the numbers AFTER they been added..
you cant change the numbers AFTER they been added..
CaliGirl
Getting comfortable
Ok. Totally makes sense. Except, how do I keep the NVR from automatically adding them after I delete them. They keep coming back without me selecting them one by one??
nayr
IPCT Contributor
well thats interesting.. mine dont do that, but I dont have built in PoE.. hrmm.. mine will detect them in the top section, and I add them one by one to the lower section in the order I want them in.
are the passwords on the cameras all set to default?
are the passwords on the cameras all set to default?
CaliGirl
Getting comfortable
Yes, it is weird. Yes they are still set to default until I'm done setting it up. I guess I will try change one of the camera's passwords and see if that prevents auto population.
nayr
IPCT Contributor
you might connect to the cameras and change the passwords on em, I would think tha'd stop them from auto adopting because you'd have to give the password..
I had all my cameras setup and locked down before I got my NVR so my experience might be a lil different.
I had all my cameras setup and locked down before I got my NVR so my experience might be a lil different.
CaliGirl
Getting comfortable
This was great thinking. Unfortunately they still auto populate except they don't turn green because they are waiting for you to enter the correct password to connect.
Dahua wiki says that NVR auto adds all cameras connected to POE ports. You think they would at least be in order of 1-7 not 1 and 6,7,8? hmmm....
If I add just one camera to the POE port and nothing else, it loads as channel 7. There is no rhyme or reason to it.
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nayr
IPCT Contributor
Might browse through the docs and see if you can find any guidance, http://dahuawiki.com/NVR
CaliGirl
Getting comfortable
I read the entire wiki today. It is not very detailed and has a lot of gaps and old interfaces. They talk about a smart ad feature but you can turn that on and off on the nvr's but this one has no selection for it. There is something driving the cameras to repeatedly pick certain channels when you use the POE ports. Because if you plug them in one by one, they always pick the same channel. So there must be a solution, but I'm stuck figuring it out. I'll see if there is a Dahua expert that I can get on the phone one day. Would be nice if they had a decent manual for the exact model that talks about these important details.
The Open VPN settings didn't handle the change in locations for whatever reason. So re-configuring open vpn for the Asus router. So glad I tested all of this at home and know how to do some of it now. I would have never been able to do all of this on the spot.
The Dahua got a paint job today. Blends in a lot better now.
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CaliGirl
Getting comfortable
Good point Ford. There are lots of squirrels too that might chew on the exposed wires, i didn't even bury them. I'll have to come back in the spring and add conduit and secure the wiring better. I'm going to leave the wire as is and cross my fingers
There is a beaver here that has been chewing on the dock pretty good. 1. I've been scratching my head on the channel layout and played with every menu available. Finally I reluctantly pressed the menu>system>default>camera button. I was afraid it might wipe out all the progress I have made customizing. But low and behold it lined up all the cameras sequentially. Now they are channel 1-4 thank goodness. Much easier to view.
2. The IMDSS (all lite, pro, easyip) apps crash every time I load the cameras on the IPhone. I was starting to think all 3 were going to be useless. But then I had the idea to significantly reduce the sub stream quality. I chose 10fps, 768kbs and CBR. And now the aps run well and never crash. I can even up the cameras to the main streams one by one and the quality is great and it is not crashing. There must be a point where the apps can not load the main window (4 cameras) at a certain bit rate without crashing. I'm so ecstatic that it is finally functioning properly the night before leave.
3. I'm super impressed with the TP LINK wifi Smart Plug. It has been so useful to power on and off the NVR and POE injector during install. There were many times that we decided to re-do the rj45 ends to add the weather proof connectors. It saved so much time to power down quickly from your iPhone at the top of a ladder to cut and change out the ethernet ends. We moved from home to here and it handled the ip change no problem. It has been working 2-3 weeks with no errors. It is one of the cheaper on the market too at $30.
4. I got the Dahua 4208 for $250 without a hard drive and it can't handle 4 streams displayed at once on the TV at the current setting. Is that a function of this particular box? The specs say (Up to 8ch @ 1080P (4ch @ H.265+4ch @ H.264) realtime live-view) I'd certainly opt for the highest bit rate recorder you can afford so that you can handle the better cameras and be able to handle upgrades down the road. So far choosing H.264 bc "definitely higher utilization of the CPU for x265- versus x264-encoded footage".
5. Don't try to force the camera pigtails into the Dahua Turrents. I'm thinking we damaged a camera down that. Although tight, it fit ok and looked 50 times better but the camera stopped displaying an image and we can connect to the computer of the camera, but no image
6. Listen to the guys on the forums here. Every bit of advice has been useful and the ONLY reason I picked out this particular equipment and got it running. And you will spend close to twice what you expect. Luckily the my siblings enjoyed the live feed I sent them and decided to chip in to finish the project. I'm setting them all up with IPhone apps so they can check on the view remotely.
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Q™
IPCT Contributor
Hey CaliGirl, what's that pod under the PTZ? I imagine it's function is to protect an adapter or a dongle? Did that unit come with the PTZ or did you order it separately?
Who did the paint job?...how was the paint job done?
Who did the paint job?...how was the paint job done?
CaliGirl
Getting comfortable
Hi Q2U, the green pod is a simple extension cord cover. It was the only thing they had at the small local hardware store. Hence why I have been so meticulous getting all the supplies prior to installing remotely. I was looking to add a small utility box, but the store didn't have any. The pod ended up working pretty well and looks to be almost water tight. I didn't want to leave the ugly alarm wires and pigtail hang without being covered and there is no room to push it back into the angled camera mount. Here is a similar pod that the store carried.
My brother painted most of it. We took a trash bag and stretched it around the camera and against the tree. Then again around the actual camera. Then used blue painters tape between the actual camera and the white part and another trash bag to ensure there would be no overspray on the dark camera plastic and lens. Then balled up tape to cover the screws. None of which is easy on the top of a 12ft ladder at a bad angle. Then we scuffed up the housing, cleaned it off, removed the serial number sticker and used a flat black spray paint. Nayr is correct in that we would have scratched the heck out of the paint job had we done it prior to the install. Maybe not if you had good height access to the camera for install, but certainly standing on the third to the last leg of a precarious ladder.
Hopefully you don't think the black looks stupid? I know it is going to run a bit hotter but Nayr said this camera is actively cooled. It certainly looks more stealthy and servers it purpose blending in better.
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Q™
IPCT Contributor
It looks very good to me kiddo.
nayr
IPCT Contributor
looks good, on your damaged camera does the plug look malformed or damaged in any way? you might be able to cut it off, crimp a normal connector onto the end and use a coupler..
CaliGirl
Getting comfortable
No, it doesn't look damaged. But, there is no image displayed other then black. But it still throws an ip address when connected. Very smart idea you had. I'll cut off the Rj45, add a coupler and see if that will salvage it. Worth a shot at least.
I don't know what they are thinking with these huge pigtails. They are really ugly. They should make them half as big and fit inside the mount to look better for installs,
I don't know what they are thinking with these huge pigtails. They are really ugly. They should make them half as big and fit inside the mount to look better for installs,
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nayr
IPCT Contributor
most of the time they are not in trees and wiring is done via conduit and junction boxes with ample room
but yeah, they gotta go somewhere and its a pain at times.
wiring colors wont be standard on the plug, so if you cut it off leave enough wire you can strip it and trace the colors.. the easiest way is to cut the plug off, strip the wires on it.. then use a multimeter in continuity mode to test what pin in the plug is what color coming out the back side.
if its not damaged inspect the harness carefully, you could of pinched the wire enough to break cause a break further up than the plug.
seems odd its on the network but w/a blank screen.. might bench test it, and reset it to defaults before resorting to cutting.
but yeah, they gotta go somewhere and its a pain at times.
wiring colors wont be standard on the plug, so if you cut it off leave enough wire you can strip it and trace the colors.. the easiest way is to cut the plug off, strip the wires on it.. then use a multimeter in continuity mode to test what pin in the plug is what color coming out the back side.
if its not damaged inspect the harness carefully, you could of pinched the wire enough to break cause a break further up than the plug.
seems odd its on the network but w/a blank screen.. might bench test it, and reset it to defaults before resorting to cutting.
CaliGirl
Getting comfortable
Ya, I can see why junction boxes are helpful. I might pick up a few when I get home. They don't have any around here at the hardware stores. I can also see how a mini pigtail that fits inside the camera mount would also be helpful and look clean.
I was just short of cutting off the pigtail and decided to reset the camera to default under settings. And boom it came alive again. So it was't the wiring. I had turned down the encoding quality to stream better and that killed it. Even though the mainstream was not touched. So thanks for the default suggestion.
In fact I have tried to make several encoding changes within smart pss and it has caused all sorts of trouble. They were always changes to reduce data but the NVR didn't like it and the image turned black or smart pss would get a stream time out error.
1. I highly recommend going with the default camera settings (video>default) within the camera web browser menu. Adjust any other values having to do with exposure or backlighting control. Then DO NOT TOUCH any camera settings from the remote apps or smart pss. This took me countless wasted hours to realize it was causing tons of issues. You can easily log into each camera's web browser by plugging your macbook into the back of the NVR and into an open camera port. That way the camera is powered through POE and you don't have to unplug wires over and over.
2. DO NOT EVEN TRY TO USE IDMSS LITE OR PLUS apps for the IPhone. They work and then they don't and then they crash constantly. They must have given up supporting them. The reviews are terrible and they don't work for me. There is a new app Easy4Ip that works significantly better. If the app is crashing (even the easyip) then you need to make sure your camera sub stream is back to the default. If you adjust it in anyway up or down or vbr vs. cbr the app can't handle loading the stream and it will crash the whole app. Which is a huge pain bc you could have one bad camera stream that takes down the entire app and you cant see the other 3 cameras.
I was just short of cutting off the pigtail and decided to reset the camera to default under settings. And boom it came alive again. So it was't the wiring. I had turned down the encoding quality to stream better and that killed it. Even though the mainstream was not touched. So thanks for the default suggestion.
In fact I have tried to make several encoding changes within smart pss and it has caused all sorts of trouble. They were always changes to reduce data but the NVR didn't like it and the image turned black or smart pss would get a stream time out error.
1. I highly recommend going with the default camera settings (video>default) within the camera web browser menu. Adjust any other values having to do with exposure or backlighting control. Then DO NOT TOUCH any camera settings from the remote apps or smart pss. This took me countless wasted hours to realize it was causing tons of issues. You can easily log into each camera's web browser by plugging your macbook into the back of the NVR and into an open camera port. That way the camera is powered through POE and you don't have to unplug wires over and over.
2. DO NOT EVEN TRY TO USE IDMSS LITE OR PLUS apps for the IPhone. They work and then they don't and then they crash constantly. They must have given up supporting them. The reviews are terrible and they don't work for me. There is a new app Easy4Ip that works significantly better. If the app is crashing (even the easyip) then you need to make sure your camera sub stream is back to the default. If you adjust it in anyway up or down or vbr vs. cbr the app can't handle loading the stream and it will crash the whole app. Which is a huge pain bc you could have one bad camera stream that takes down the entire app and you cant see the other 3 cameras.