Which CCTV systems will interchange with a Dahua system?

QuattroZ said:
Well guys, against all the odds, I have finally received a full refund, and the oppo is coming to take it away Friday afternoon. I don't know whether he'll take the cabling and wireless bridge or not - I'm not bothered.
I am thinking about digging a slot for the garage cables rather than having another wireless link.
Murphy's law dictates that the gang of thieves which started the cctv thing off will strike again before I can install another system. Another couple of PIR lights will have to do for now.
I am currently investigating the Empire Tech website, but I would appreciate some assistance on using my AMD Ryzen 5 Win10 computer with suitable software to connect to the cameras.
All contributions gratefully received.:)
Click to expand...

Wow that is great. Hopefully they keep the cabling there.

Blue Iris would be the go to choice for software to connect the cameras.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JDreaming
Gimmons said:
Generally speaking, a dual network interface card (NIC) for the computer and a power over ethernet (POE) network switch should be your nexy purchases.
The dual NIC lets you keep the cameras on their own subnet so they can’t see the internet and get hacked or phone home.
The POE switch powers the camera and lets them talk to the computer.
Click to expand...
Thanks Gimmons . I will investigate.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JDreaming
wittaj said:
Wow that is great. Hopefully they keep the cabling there.

Blue Iris would be the go to choice for software to connect the cameras.
Click to expand...
I'm not sure about the cabling. Within the space of 30mins I received two emails one saying he definitely will not be refunding the full amount, and the next one saying he was going to refund it ,and he would send his oppo to remove the kit. I checked my bank online, and he had paid it in full. In a previous email that day I said I wasn't bothered if they took the cabling or left it. It would be more cost effective for him if he left it in and cut his losses. I think the guy has some problems which are clouding his judgement....
re the next step, where will I find a block diagram for using the computer to drive the cameras?
 
QuattroZ said:
Thanks Gimmons . I will investigate.
Click to expand...
This stuff is all cheap. Buy used poe+ network switches on ebay or local ads made by good companies rather than new off-brand stuff. Businesses and governments upgrade all the time to bigger, faster switches with features you don’t need.

An eight or ten port switch with gigabit upload speeds will keep you in business for a long time, and you’ll find it for £20 or less, probably. We’ve had some conversations here about what models we like. You can get sucked in very quickly to learning about their complexities, but you should have no trouble using one in factory default mode.

People often say to stick with Intel for the dual nics. I have a couple of Broadcoms that have given no trouble, but Intels are reputed to play nicely with just about any computer. These are also dirt cheap on ebay.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JDreaming and bigredfish
Fanless is also a plus when it comes to switches, especially if it’s going to be in occupied space. Larger, “server” switches, especially if they output poe, are often made to live in server rooms, and the fans scream. Smaller “edge” switches are made to live in offices where they can’t make a lot of noise.
 
Gimmons said:
Fanless is also a plus when it comes to switches, especially if it’s going to be in occupied space. Larger, “server” switches, especially if they output poe, are often made to live in server rooms, and the fans scream. Smaller “edge” switches are made to live in offices where they can’t make a lot of noise.
Click to expand...
Thanks for that. You're bang-on re fan noise - the Dahua nvr made a hell of a din. I am currently in the process of updating my computer from Win10 H22 to Win11.:banghead: and then I can concentrate on using it for the cameras.
 
QuattroZ said:
I'm not sure about the cabling. Within the space of 30mins I received two emails one saying he definitely will not be refunding the full amount, and the next one saying he was going to refund it ,and he would send his oppo to remove the kit. I checked my bank online, and he had paid it in full. In a previous email that day I said I wasn't bothered if they took the cabling or left it. It would be more cost effective for him if he left it in and cut his losses. I think the guy has some problems which are clouding his judgement....
re the next step, where will I find a block diagram for using the computer to drive the cameras?
Click to expand...
They didn't leave the cabling. They didn't quite rip it out, but they cut it where they couldn't be bothered to remove the clips nailed to the woodwork!! Having examined the cabling in the garage I could have done a better job myself. Any way it's all gone and I can now embark on new journey along the alternative methods route.
 
QuattroZ said:
They didn't leave the cabling. They didn't quite rip it out, but they cut it where they couldn't be bothered to remove the clips nailed to the woodwork!! Having examined the cabling in the garage I could have done a better job myself. Any way it's all gone and I can now embark on new journey along the alternative methods route.
Click to expand...

They probably used CCA instead of pure copper!
 
  • Like
Reactions: JDreaming
Gimmons said:
Yes, BI does what the nvr did.
Rufus Rufus - Create bootable USB drives the easy way makes updating to w11 easy. No tpm, no microsoft account. Download Rufus and the iso, then disconnect from the internet while you update. Takes about 10 minutes.
Click to expand...
re BI will it display a camera's view on the PC monitor when the alarm is triggered or an intrusion occurs?
re w10 to w11 the problems I have had were due to backing up the system image . I' got the latest BIOS from ASUS, and updating that via the flash tool is easy, but if the computer goes belly upafterwards I'll need to restore using the recovery tool which i have on a flash drive. I could not get get the system image to save on either of my external drives due to lack of space. I 'm waiting for a Samsung 2Tb SSD ext drive to arrive before I go any further. I'll have a look at Rufus Rufus anyway.

Interestingly, I trawled the interneet looking ffor any British manufactured cameras, and found a ccompany called Genie Products. I called them and spoke to a sales wallah, who, after I told him what I wanted to do ie set it up myself, almost went ballistic. Customers are not supposed to know anything about their systems etc etc ......sounds familiar?
 
  • Like
Reactions: JDreaming, bigredfish and Gimmons
QuattroZ said:
re BI will it display a camera's view on the PC monitor when the alarm is triggered or an intrusion occurs?
re w10 to w11 the problems I have had were due to backing up the system image . I' got the latest BIOS from ASUS, and updating that via the flash tool is easy, but if the computer goes belly upafterwards I'll need to restore using the recovery tool which i have on a flash drive. I could not get get the system image to save on either of my external drives due to lack of space. I 'm waiting for a Samsung 2Tb SSD ext drive to arrive before I go any further. I'll have a look at Rufus Rufus anyway.

Interestingly, I trawled the interneet looking ffor any British manufactured cameras, and found a ccompany called Genie Products. I called them and spoke to a sales wallah, who, after I told him what I wanted to do ie set it up myself, almost went ballistic. Customers are not supposed to know anything about their systems etc etc ......sounds familiar?
Click to expand...
Yes, BI will not only show a triggered state, but you can set it up to fire an alert to your phone (or other device). There is an excellent browser interface that runs on your phone. So if someone comes up to your house, BI will fire an alert, your phone will ding via a third party app like Pushover, and using a vpn like Tailscale, you can see what’s happening in close to real time. It works well. Tailscale is free, Pushover is a one-time fee of $5usd on each device where it is installed.

Sounds like you are smart (smarter that I am, for sure) on the backup stuff. And yeah, the camera mfgrs don’t want to know you, the consumer. Dahua is the same. Their US office is useless. Empiretech Andy, who sells on this forum, is very responsive, however, and has contacts at Dahua. Think about buying through him and you’ll have some level of support, at least.

This is not an “everything in a box” solution. I used one of those when I first needed cameras, and it did ok while I educated myself and built something better. I don’t disparage that solution, which is all most people want, but if you don’t mind doing some work, as you clearly don’t, you can make something better.
 
Last edited:
Gimmons said:
Yes, BI will not only show a triggered state, but you can set it up to fire an alert to your phone (or other device). There is an excellent browser interface that runs on your phone. So if someone comes up to your house, BI will fire an alert, your phone will ding via a third party app like Pushover, and using a vpn like Tailscale, you can see what’s happening in close to real time. It works well. Tailscale is free, Pushover is a one-time fee of $5usd on each device where it is installed.

Sounds like you are smart (smarter that I am, for sure) on the backup stuff. And yeah, the camera mfgrs don’t want to know you, the consumer. Dahua is the same. Their US office is useless. Empiretech Andy, who sells on this forum, is very responsive, however, and has contacts at Dahua. Think about buying through him and you’ll have some level of support, at least.

This is not an “everything in a box” solution. I used one of those when I first needed cameras, and it did ok while I educated myself and built something better. I don’t disparage that solution, which is all most people want, but if you don’t mind doing some work, as you clearly don’t, you can make something better.
Click to expand...
I never cease to be amazed by things electronic, having been mainly in aircraft and mechanical engineering. I have tried learning about electronics but it's too clever for me.
My wife asked a pertinent question - to which I think the answer is no - Will the cameras still record with the computer switched off? They should still have PoE , but as for recording, I think I'd need a drive with it's own power supply etc.
Meanwhile having failed to carry out a system restore backup with my brand new 2tb ssd, I will look at third party ssystems -- even the Microsoft expert commented the it would be better to use a tps - which says something about Microsoft!!!
 
QuattroZ said:
I never cease to be amazed by things electronic, having been mainly in aircraft and mechanical engineering. I have tried learning about electronics but it's too clever for me.
My wife asked a pertinent question - to which I think the answer is no - Will the cameras still record with the computer switched off? They should still have PoE , but as for recording, I think I'd need a drive with it's own power supply etc.
Meanwhile having failed to carry out a system restore backup with my brand new 2tb ssd, I will look at third party ssystems -- even the Microsoft expert commented the it would be better to use a tps - which says something about Microsoft!!!
Click to expand...
If you are using BI or any VMS on a computer then no they will not record. UNLESS you do as most of us here do and put an SD card in the cameras for when the VMS tanks.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JDreaming and Gimmons
wittaj said:
If you are using BI or any VMS on a computer then no they will not record. UNLESS you do as most of us here do and put an SD card in the cameras for when the VMS tanks.
Click to expand...
That's a good back-up anyway. My computer is virtually silent - unlike the Dahua nvr! I'd have to switch the screen off - It's a 32in Curved Samsung which must consume some power- it chucks out a lot of heat.
 
It’s amazing how low the specs for a BI computer are. Ten year old SFF computers cast off from businesses and governments are what most people use. No graphics card needed unless you want to run some ai functions.

To be fair, the nvr is also a switch, and the switch will put out heat, but you can get POE+ switches with no fans.

I normally leave the monitor off unless I’m adjusting settings. For keeping an eye on the live view, I have a few monitors around the house fed by old thin clients and an old mac mini running Lubuntu and a linux program called CCTV-Viewer.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JDreaming
Gimmons said:
It’s amazing how low the specs for a BI computer are. Ten year old SFF computers cast off from businesses and governments are what most people use. No graphics card needed unless you want to run some ai functions.

To be fair, the nvr is also a switch, and the switch will put out heat, but you can get POE+ switches with no fans.

I normally leave the monitor off unless I’m adjusting settings. For keeping an eye on the live view, I have a few monitors around the house fed by old thin clients and an old mac mini running Lubuntu and a linux program called CCTV-Viewer.
Click to expand...

Yeah. People here are running 30 cameras on 3rd and 4th gen computers. One member here bought a 4th gen at a County auction for $25.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JDreaming
wittaj said:
Yeah. People here are running 30 cameras on 3rd and 4th gen computers. One member here bought a 4th gen at a County auction for $25.
Click to expand...
I think that was me. Sometimes they’re less. Sometimes I go to pick stuff up and they offer me things for free if they haven’t sold in a few auctions. They need the space. I usually decline, because I need the space too.

Every once in a while they sell a high powered laser, and I think about mounting it on a ptz cam.
 
Gimmons said:
I think that was me. Sometimes they’re less. Sometimes I go to pick stuff up and they offer me things for free if they haven’t sold in a few auctions. They need the space. I usually decline, because I need the space too.

Every once in a while they sell a high powered laser, and I think about mounting it on a ptz cam.
Click to expand...
Your post prompted me to look in my garage , as I remembered I have a couple of ancient tower computers I built about 20 years ago the HDDs are in a box in the attic, an HP 8000 elite, which still has Win 7 on but no facility for a Dual NIC, another HP tower with XP on it and interestingly, a network card in a PCI slot - I doubt if that works when the cable is plugged into the mb socket - correct me if I am wrong about that.

My lack of recent posts is due to my preparing the computer I am using at the moment for Win11. The only way I can do it is by using a bootable flash drive created using media creator from the Microsoft site.
I discovered that if you haven't set the secure boot to UEFI, and the TPM.20 option in BIOS before you load Win10, then when it comes to the option to upgrade to W11, it won't work even if you change the BIOS settings.o_O

I will get one of the HPs going before I pull the ripcord on this one. Wish me luck:D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom