Oldjoe

Hi, I have just replaced a vista VVRD-540 dome camera with a panasonic WV-CW484 but though the image is generally brighter it is producing poor identification images. One important point is that a sodium lamp sits just below & behind the camera (6" to side & 6" below). Now this wasn't a problem with the old camera, but now seems to be one of the issues. Here are a couple of night time pictures to show what I mean. http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a229/Wealdhere/panasonic484.jpg http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a229/Wealdhere/vistavvrd-540.jpg The panasonic is the superior camera but at the moment I am considering switching back. Any advice would be gratefully received. Thank you in advance.

Hi Kawboy12R - Thanks for the response. During daylight the image is good at close range so I'm happy with the focus. After a bit more thought I think the answer is in my question - that is the intensity of the light that is causing the problem, giving refelection to a more sensitive camera. It is not possible to resite the light so the solution I've come up with is to add additional lighting (as this is a sensitive area at the edge of the property) and allow the camera to remain in colour mode. This should do the trick. Until I get around to installing the new light I think colour mode with the single lamp will be satisfactory. The other good news is that the 'bad guys' from the old camera views have now been detained.

check out this thread http://www.cctvforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=7369&highlight=disc+change

Hi, I have been following this thread as I own a vista VC10te2-CDR which is basically a rebadged GE unit (or is it vise versa?). Anyway, maybe someday I might need to change the HDD or similar. Recently I have managed to upgrade a DM4 from 80GB to 300GB with latest firmware, basically following the advise from the experts on here. Maybe that technique used on the DM would work here. Check the sticky section for DM4 hard disc change & see if the ideas there can work for you. Now this might be a totally different situation & I am not a cctv pro, so feel free to pass on this advise. If you are stuck with no way forward then maybe its worth a try. It involves opening up the DVR, disconnecting the hard drives cables, connecting to your PC via usb. See what is on the drives, save a copy of the firmware to your PC drive (except video files). In my case I had a brand new drive & had to format to FAT32, but I suppose you would just need to delete files. Then download the required firmware, unzip & copy to the primary drive. Remove PC cables, reconnect & boot up. WARNING - this is not a recommended method for GE DVR's, only a personal suggestion for more research along these lines to be used only as a last & final resort once all other avenues have been followed.

John, You seem to be still struggling to resolve the problem. If you think the problem lies with registering the account, the steps are straightforward. 1 Go to the dyndns website 2. Click add on the home page for free dynamic dns 3. I'd suggest the host name extension 'dvrdns(dot)org' 4. Enter a unique host name 5. Service type - Host with IP address 6. Click add to cart 7. Enter, user name, password, email address, security code. & tick to accept t&c. 8. create account. 9. reply to email within 48hrs. You will probably say I did exactly that, but there it is just in case.

John, On my router these are the instructions I followed. To set up for DDNS: If you have registered with a DDNS service provider, select the Use A Dynamic DNS Service check box. Select the name of your dynamic DNS Service Provider. Type the Host Name that your dynamic DNS service provider gave you. The DDNS service provider may call this the domain name. Type the User Name for your DDNS account. Type the Password (or key) for your DDNS account. Click Apply to have the DDNS service used. If you check your router logs it will report DDNS updates. eg.Sun, 2009-10-18 16:20:03 - Update OK: good Your DVR requires a fixed IP address, which you can set up in your router for the dvr. Hope that helps.

Hi John, I'm not familiar with your DVR, but I've recently set up remote viewing. You will need to enable DDNS on your router. Not all have this facility. Mine is a netgear which is fairly straight forward. You will then need to use port forwarding to get through your firewall. If you search this forum you will find excellent advise from the pro's to guide you.

I agree with hardwired, the panasonic range takes some beating. I have a WV-CW484F keeping watch over my car. Very suitable for mounting under the eaves. It does require a few lux to get the best out of it. I find that nearby street lighting is adequate for my purposes, but with a little extra lighting it is extremely good for the price.

Hi everyone. You have a good forum here! I really joined to say thank you to a dvr thread which helped me a great deal, but I can see there is much more to learn by sticking around.

This thread with the associated links is worth its weight in gold. With limited previous knowledge I have successfully upgraded a DM D4 80GB to 300GB for my personal use. I have still to try out a few of the techniques mentioned, like finding a lost IP, but intend to have a go asap. So thank you to all contributors. One difficulty I had was using the FTP to transfer the software to the new drive. In the end I just did what several others had done & copied the files while the new drive was attached to the PC. At first this failed & the D4 just remained held in bootloader. Then it occurred to me that the new drive was basically new & didn't have a means to unzip the files, so I loaded the unzipped files, returned the drive to the D4, turned it on & it came to life. A fantastic feeling after many hours of trying to get it to boot up.