GCoco

The HDD could be not supported/compatible with the DVR. Open the DVR and look for any identifying information on their circuit board and search the Internet. You may get lucky.

I can't speak to the SCW cameras. I do know Lorex is a subsidiary of Flir the thermal imaging company. Co-worker purchased a Lorex package from Sam's due to low price. The NVR sold in that package will only work with the high end Lorex cameras. So he quickly realized he got bambozzled.

I had a problem with a 7716 recognizing one of four 2132 turrets. Had to upgrade to the latest firmware which was 3.4.4 for that NVR. All cameras were recognized. If you have a Chinese NVR upgrading firmware is not an option.

I stand corrected. A 1.3mp bullet Hik from a US distributor is about $115. An equivalent analog Hik is around $56. I did not realized how much analog cameras dropped in price over the last few years. When I converted from analog to digital, the analogs were actually more than the digitals, although I was buying 1000TVL and most IR I could find in order to get a good video. Where I work there about 20 of us with camera systems and everyone that went analog wished they had gone digital once they see the comparison in video quality.

I was talking Hiks. The IPs are actually cheaper than the analogs

https://www.anixter.com/content/dam/Anixter/Guide/7H0011X0_W&C_Tech_Handbook_Sec_07.pdf See section 7.5 on the above link. Conductors used in overhead lines use a steel core for mechanical strength and not the conductors themselves. I have enjoyed this discussion, the purpose of which was to dispel the misconception stated in this thread that AC travels further than DC in wire. The toss is correct in his ascertain that for the purposes of this thread at 60Hz there is no difference. But only this thread. Look at section 7.10 for a given conductor the AC/DC resistance ratio at 400 and 800 Hz. You will see a large increase in resistance at these frequencies. So the statement a skin effect isn't a factor until you get to 500MHz is not factual. I stand by my previous statement that as the frequency or conductor size increases, so does the AC resistance. At 60Hz using small conductors AC = DC.

+1. You will quickly regret not going with Ip cameras, since they have much better resolution and in most instances cheaper than an analog for the same application

BTW I am a licensed professional electrical engineer with more than 34 years in the electric utility industry as a transmission and substation engineer.

For small conductors at low frequency (60Hz) you are correct. The higher the frequency the greater impact the skin effect has on the resistance regardless of the conductor size. As the conductor size increases, even at 60Hz, the skin effect has a larger and larger impact on the resistance. Skin effect is a very important consideration in the transmission and distribution of electricity due to the large diameter of the conductors. Skin effect is not important on small conductors since the skin effect is essentially non-existant due to the fact that the skin depth reaches to the center of the small diameter conductor, therefore AC = DC resistance.

https://www.123securityproducts.com/downloads/dl/file/id/10952/ds_7600_series_spec_sheet.pdf 4 in and 1 out

BTW 40 feet seems like a pretty short distance unless you are using an extremely small conductor. 18AWg wire has a resistance of 8 ohms/1000 feet. So a 50 foot run will have only (50+50)/1000 x 8 or 0.8 ohms resistance. For a 12VDC system, for every 12W of load, the voltage will drop 0.8V. Hikvision 2232 with IR on will draw 9W, and the camera is guaranteed to operate at 10.8V. So using an 18AWG conductor the camera will operate at a distance of 100 feet. Actually it is lkely more since power supplies typically put out more than 12V and a typical home AC voltage is at least 123V.

For small conductors the AC and DC resistance are the same. On large conductors the AC resistance is higher due to the skin effect which does not allow correct to flow in the center of the conductor. That is why power lines use multi conductor wire so as to increase the surface area. DC current can flow through the entire conductor so for a same size large conductor you will have less resistance with DC than AC. I am not discussing AC impedance (capacitance and inductance) since this does not become an issue over short distances. For household AC and low voltage DC applications the DC resistance can be used to calculate voltage drop and the voltage drop will be identical whether you are using AC or DC for a given voltage.

Look at the Hikvision 7608. Quick loop around shows you can get true English model without HDD for $350. They can handle (2) 4TB drives

Your FOV is too wide/tall. You need enough pixels to read the numbers/letters. If I remember correctly you need the letters to be at least 15 pixels tall to read. There are plenty of FOV calculators out there. Since LP numbers/letters are 2.5" tall (here in Louisiana) then you need approximately 75 pixels per vertical foot. A 2MP camera has 1920W x 1080H so your FOV can be no more than about 15 feet at the license plate location (1080/75). Obviously the greater the camera is from the car, the larger the lens needed. For example a 2MP camera with 1/3 inch sensor and 60 feet from the car would need a lens with a minimum focal length of 20mm. Also, make sure your IR will provide enough illumination without vehicle lights on or any other lights, that way someone trying to "sneak" in without lights, you can still read the LP. I actually had to set my shutter/exposure to 1/1000 and the camera is dedicated to LP reading in that I have another camera covering the broader area but it cannot get the resolution needed to read the LP.

The video will tend to be darker.