Hi. Brand new here and a novice to home security. A buddy of mine gave me a Digital Watchdog DW-VA1P16 16 channel box and 10 cameras for free. I want to hook them home at my house and setup a home security system. Is this unit any good and how do I know what else I need? I have the cameras and the box. No camera cables or connectors. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. Pics of the unit attached.
PLEASE HELP
- Thread starter 3too10
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sebastiantombs
Known around here
I am not at all familiar with Digital Watchdog products. There may very well be members here that are. From your photos this is a CVI, composite video information, versus an IP, internet protocol, system. The give away is the BNC connectors for the cameras on the video recorder unit. The first thing you can do is let us know what cameras you have, the model number specifically. I believe you can download manuals for both the cameras and recorder from that site.
You can also go to the Digital Watchdog website and look up the model numbers yourself, but that may not be helpful if you're not familiar with video surveillance systems.
Honestly I wouldn’t waste time running the old-tech cables to use those cameras. Eventually you are going to have to do it all over again replacing them with Ethernet for IP cameras when you want to upgrade.
I have boxes of old BNC cameras and a few DVRs for them but they are just not worth the time installing. No where near the quality a decent IP camera gets you.
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I have boxes of old BNC cameras and a few DVRs for them but they are just not worth the time installing. No where near the quality a decent IP camera gets you.
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mat200
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from B&H:
Digital Watchdog DW-VA1P16 specs ..
Digital Watchdog VMAX A1 Plus 16-Channel 5MP Analog HD DVR
Key Features
SD Analog, HD-TVI & AHD Compatible
Record from and Manage up to 16 Cameras
Up to 2560 x 1944 Recording Resolution
2TB HDD Preinstalled Expandable to 20TB
H.264 Video Compression
4 Audio Inputs & 1 Audio Output
10 Simultaneous Users
HDMI, VGA & Spot Video Outputs
RS-485 for Keyboard/PTZ Control
iOS and Android Apps for Mobile Use
Digital Watchdog DW-VA1P16 Overview
Stream and record up to 16 video channels with the VMAX A1 Plus 16-Channel 5MP Analog HD DVR with 2TB HDD from Digital Watchdog. Supporting AHD and HD-TVI signals up to 5MP and CVBS signals up to 960H, this recorder offers a seamless upgrade to HD resolution using standard coax cabling. The VMAX A1 Plus can record 5MP video at up to 10 fps per channel or 1080p video at up to 30 fps per channel. Up-the-coax (UTC) remote configuration is available with all compatible cameras.
The DVR supports up to 20TB of HDD storage and comes with a 2TB HDD preinstalled. H.264 compression is used to keep file sizes manageable while maintaining recording and playback quality. The recorder's interface includes ports for two-way audio communication and an RS-485 serial port for keyboard & PTZ control, as well as HDMI & VGA connections for video output. The HDMI connection can output up to 4K UHD resolution video.
ref:
www.bhphotovideo.com
Digital Watchdog DW-VA1P16 specs ..
Digital Watchdog VMAX A1 Plus 16-Channel 5MP Analog HD DVR
Key Features
SD Analog, HD-TVI & AHD Compatible
Record from and Manage up to 16 Cameras
Up to 2560 x 1944 Recording Resolution
2TB HDD Preinstalled Expandable to 20TB
H.264 Video Compression
4 Audio Inputs & 1 Audio Output
10 Simultaneous Users
HDMI, VGA & Spot Video Outputs
RS-485 for Keyboard/PTZ Control
iOS and Android Apps for Mobile Use
Digital Watchdog DW-VA1P16 Overview
Stream and record up to 16 video channels with the VMAX A1 Plus 16-Channel 5MP Analog HD DVR with 2TB HDD from Digital Watchdog. Supporting AHD and HD-TVI signals up to 5MP and CVBS signals up to 960H, this recorder offers a seamless upgrade to HD resolution using standard coax cabling. The VMAX A1 Plus can record 5MP video at up to 10 fps per channel or 1080p video at up to 30 fps per channel. Up-the-coax (UTC) remote configuration is available with all compatible cameras.
The DVR supports up to 20TB of HDD storage and comes with a 2TB HDD preinstalled. H.264 compression is used to keep file sizes manageable while maintaining recording and playback quality. The recorder's interface includes ports for two-way audio communication and an RS-485 serial port for keyboard & PTZ control, as well as HDMI & VGA connections for video output. The HDMI connection can output up to 4K UHD resolution video.
ref:
Digital Watchdog VMAX A1 Plus 16-Channel 5MP Analog HD DVR with 2TB HDD
Buy Digital Watchdog VMAX A1 Plus 16-Channel 5MP Analog HD DVR with 2TB HDD featuring SD Analog, HD-TVI & AHD Compatible, Record from and Manage up to 16 Cameras, Up to 2560 x 1944 Recording Resolution, 2TB HDD Preinstalled Expandable to 20TB, H.264 Video Compression, 4 Audio Inputs & 1 Audio...
www.bhphotovideo.com
mat200
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Hi 3too10
A lot imho depends on the cameras.
In general used security cameras are like used computers, you really need to know what you need and if that new to you ( used ) computer will meet your need.
At this time, the question now is your budget - and who will run the cabling.
If you are ok with running the cabling yourself and it is an easy job then, you can try out the kit and see if it works for you.
( buy one siamese cable and test the cameras and DVR to see how well they work for you.)
for many of us, we like better quality cameras and IP PoE cameras, and thus if we have to run new cables will prefer cat6 cables instead of coax
Last edited:
Great info. Thank you!
I am not at all familiar with Digital Watchdog products. There may very well be members here that are. From your photos this is a CVI, composite video information, versus an IP, internet protocol, system. The give away is the BNC connectors for the cameras on the video recorder unit. The first thing you can do is let us know what cameras you have, the model number specifically. I believe you can download manuals for both the cameras and recorder from that site.
You can also go to the Digital Watchdog website and look up the model numbers yourself, but that may not be helpful if you're not familiar with video surveillance systems.
If all cameras and the NVR are free.....a win!
Consider this a basic starter package to home security cameras.
Something is better than nothing.
I'd install it if had nothing else.
But if you there comes a time to take camera security more seriously, yes...IP cameras are the way to go but then you are talking $500+ instead of free.
Griswalduk
Known around here
If your gong to take the time and expense of running in coax cables you might as well run a cat 6 cable among side them. It will let you use the system you've been given now and provide a way to upgrade in future. Cat 6 cable is cheap btw.
Griswald
Griswald
Mark_M
Getting comfortable
Free is free; although I do agree about not installing old tech.
I presume it still works, could setup some cameras around the backyard in a birdhouse and trees to watch wildlife.
In 2017 I got given an old analogue Swann system.
I made clip on brackets so the cameras attached the house and the cables went through a window.
I vowed not to install analogue, so I didn't.
Now that I got IP I took the time to do a neat job of installing.
The analogue cameras are currently in a box.
However I do have a Bosch analogue encoder that works on my NVR, so I'm tempted to get an analogue Bosch auto dome running again. No reason for security, but for a bit of fun to watch wildlife outside.
You could use Blue Iris to get the video stream from the DVR.
Blue Iris would be your main system taking IP cameras and these cameras for general use.
I presume it still works, could setup some cameras around the backyard in a birdhouse and trees to watch wildlife.
In 2017 I got given an old analogue Swann system.
I made clip on brackets so the cameras attached the house and the cables went through a window.
I vowed not to install analogue, so I didn't.
Now that I got IP I took the time to do a neat job of installing.
The analogue cameras are currently in a box.
However I do have a Bosch analogue encoder that works on my NVR, so I'm tempted to get an analogue Bosch auto dome running again. No reason for security, but for a bit of fun to watch wildlife outside.
You could use Blue Iris to get the video stream from the DVR.
Blue Iris would be your main system taking IP cameras and these cameras for general use.
Mark_M
Getting comfortable
It crossed my mind for the same, but you are drilling holes for the mounts of these cameras and will need to drill them again for new cameras.
True. But if it’s all you’ve got they are better than nothing. I’d rather re-drill some holes than re-run cable again. I started out with a coax system and it was a pain to replace with Cat6. The ends of the BNC cable snag on EVERYTHING so you can’t exactly use it to pull the new Cat6 in its place. I abandoned several runs I couldn’t get to in the attic.
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