cctvjunkie

I've installed a Zmodo and had similar problems. I keep having to change my settings on my phone app between mobile and web to see the live feed. I've checked my networking and its set up correctly. I think its a defect with the Zmodo systems. I've tried rebooting and its fixes it temporarily, within 10 minutes no video feed. Then I would change the the settings on my phone and it works, then same thing again. I would try to get an RMA on the DVR but the one I have has been over a year already. This was for a four-channel DVR. I've installed the 8-channel DVRs and they have demonstrated longevity problems as well, (ex.-no output to monitor). My experience with this brand hasn't been good, therefore I would'nt recommend it to anyone.

Thank you all very much for the help and advise. I will consider the suggestions on my next install.

I wanted to avoid the 120vac route to avoid hiring an electrician to do that for me, and to have the same UPS backing up the DVR and the cameras (planning to plug DVR adapter and camera adapter to same UPS)

I failed to mention, no more than 30 ft of extention of the wall-wart adapter (5.5mm x 2.1mm), extention by means of an inline fuse + 16/2 cable with male pigtail of 5.5 mm x 2.1mm jack

Thanks very much for the input guys. I've read on some other forum post that normally one shouldn't run dc power more than 30 ft. With the 16/2 running 70 ft + the 4 saimese cables of another 60 ft each via 4-way splitter (and I think the gauge on the saimese cable is much smaller than 16...want to say its probably 22-24 gauge) is why I was thinking I would need 24vac. Correct me if I am wrong, but wouldn't that essentially be a total of 310 ft ? (70 ft + (60 ft x 4)) Each IR camera is rated 12vdc@260mA, and the wall-wart output is 12vdc with 1.25A. 260mA x 4 = 1040 mA, theoretically, wall-wart is sufficient, but, not sure how it would perform with all that wire in-between. Would I be pushing the limit with the wall-wart? Or could I go even further?

Hi, I'm sorta new to the CCTV world. Anyway, question I had was: Is it common to use 24Vac Plug-In wall adapter and a 12Vdc switched regulator at the camera end to power cameras? Would the cheap, ebay ones be okay? Bought a Lorex 8 channel with 12Vdc IRled camera system from Costco. For video, I was thinking passive baluns (4-in-1, for the first four cameras) via cat5 between the DVR and the camera, utilizing one pair for each camera. And for power, I was thinking a 30VA 24Vac plug-in type wall adapter from within the house then out via 16/2 power cable to a 24Vac-to-12Vdc switched regulator then a 4-in-1 splitter (5.5mm x 2.1mm), then from there, the pre-made saimese cables that came with the kit to each camera, or I could make my own runs again using cat5 and those screw-in type male/female 5.5mm x 2.1mm jacks/plugs and the BNC screw-down type baluns to connect the cat5 to each camera. I wanted a centralized location outside of the house using an enclosure box, with the power still coming from within the house. I feel this would avoid hiring an electrician to have to bring an ac outlet near the enclosure box. Would this be possible? Looking to run the 16/2 cable no more than 70ft. Thanks for all your suggestions/advice.