Zmodo 8-Channel H.264 960H DVR Security System

says right in you link you provided that “Zmodo explained to Forbes that it hasn’t sold cameras using Roy Sharp’s firmware since 2011” which is the firmware that can be hacked. (The way I understand the article at least)

FPS is low when in HD mode. Not a problem if you are using this for general surveillance. I want one to watch wildlife. Also there are two issues to resolve. One does it record in HD and two, can all channels record in HD and high frame rate at the same time. Often units like this can only display high res and frame rated but records at the lowest.

I have a KGuard that is using a desktop 500gb drive. It’s been running pretty much nonstop for 18months with no issues. However, if one wanted to make sure, find a refurb’d NAS or Enterprise drive. A 4tb NAS red drive is 150.00 from the mothership (non-refurb) and a purple is 156.00. Personally, I rather go with a NAS drive is I’m going to be doing a lot of streaming videos off the drive via my phone. The overall performance of a NAS or Mission Critical drive (way more costly) is better then the purple hands down.

I had a heck of a time getting setup to view my KGuard system. I have the unit in the garage, networked into a POWER LINE router and I’ve never been able to access it past the head unit. IP’s are right, I can pink it but the addon to the browser(s) never load. Etc. So, it’s working, recording etc but if I need to pull video off it, I have a monitor hooked up to it and I have to go to the unit to do so.

Does the required hard drive install inside the DVR or does it need an external USB drive?

The newer DVRs don’t require IE to view on the web. You should be able to view the live video on a mac from any web browser at user.meshare.com.

This system works with an internal 3.5" SATA hard drive that is made to work with surveillance equipment. Western Digital Purple drives are best. External USB drives will not work with this system.

This does not come with a hard dive. You will need to purchase and install one to record. Make sure the HDD is made to work in a surveillance system, like the Western Digital Purple drive.

The splitter cable is pretty short, maybe 6 inches. But it connects to the 58ft siamese power and video cable.

The description is a bit ambiguous. Just to be sure, if you buy the system with eight cameras you get eight 60’ cables?

Sorry to be so dense in my first post.

Thank you so much i will need to to new to find longer cables not very tech savvy. I am trying. In you all opine is this a good set to start out with. Until I get the hang of it.

I have a couple of 960h cameras on my 8 camera HD/SD everything setup I eBay’d.
they are not HD but they are wide angle and much better resolution then the original 700tvl cameras I had leftover from my last system, plus at least mine have excellent night vision out to 100 feet.
The frame rate is very low but like said you maybe don’t need super smooth video playback just to see who’s in your yard.
The setup I have now does 8 SD or HD analog cameras with the power and BNC connections, plus 2 IP cameras.
IP cameras tend to be much more spendy but also take normal network cables for hookup, or many can do wifi as well and the frame rates tend to be better. My plan is to add some true HD cameras soon, maybe IP ones if I can find a good enough deal.
The price is great but the frame rate is slow, so depends on what you expect and if you can live without true HD quality video. I also recommend the WD purple drives. I bought a 1tb one for 45 as a new looking refurb and it runs super cool and quiet 24/7. Brand new ones are 60 bucks.

Just looked and this setup uses the normal BNC plus power cameras like I have now, not IP like I originally said, not sure if it even has the option to run them from the specs and pictures.

Will my old cameras from a previous woot work with this? The web interface for the old DVR requires me to disable security features in IE to view my cameras on the network rather than the tiny TV int he basement I have next to the DVR. A newer DVR with an easier-to-use app is appealing to me.

I don’t think the camera to DVR connection is wireless. That would be something they would tout if it were.

You would need to bring it in, or it just would not function properly?

Pass on this then. I bought (admittedly a different manufacturer, but same resolution, in a pan-tilt/zoom form) a 960H camera, and quite frankly… it sucks for wildife watching.

It might be somewhat alright for watching a couple o’ crooks cart your big-screen telly out the back door… but for wildlife? No. I am majorly disappointed (especially as just my camera alone was three times the price of this kit).

Sorry. Get one of them 1080 things.

Most of the walwarts that power these things put out 12volts dc, and split it between the dvr and cameras. I’d suspect this unit would run on 12vdc.

The mounts however, will not hold up to highway speeds. Road grime, etc, …not a good call at all. Stationary would work, but if stationary I imagine power isn’t an issue.

[quote postid=“6658735”
user=“fcorl46”]
Bad.
First, you’ll need 110V to run the DVR.
Second, cameras are plastic. I doubt they will last driving down the road hitting bumps.
Third, camera connections aren’t weather tight. A little bit of road salt will kill them quick.

Get a system made for the road like this…
http://www.awti.com/collections/3rd-eye-mobilevision?page=1
[/quote]

You’ll want either a much higher end CMOS camera (3MP ip camera for instance). Or a CCD chip camera. Colors on these lower end cmos cameras tend to be less than true, even more so in outdoor light.

Ipurchased one in the past and it did not have a hard drive. got one from Amazon for less than $70

Thank you

can this system be wi-fi set up/