[P1]

Originally Posted by M_Six

Amcrest 4k PoE cam. I already have one tied into Synology's Surveillance Station. The camera and the software work great together. My Synology NAS came with two licenses for Surveillance Station, so this will be the second. I may spring for more licenses in the future as this cam and that software beat the snot out of HomeKit Secure Video (HKSV) or Amcrest's own NVR software.

Is that just a rebadged Hikvision camera?

[M_Six]

Originally Posted by P1

Is that just a rebadged Hikvision camera?

As far as I know, Amcrest makes their own. But I'm no expert. I saw a YouTube where a cyber guy explained the idiocy of the NDAA and SEA the way they were written. They ban U.S. gov't entities from using cameras produced by Hikvision or Duhua. But those companies sell their equipment to dozens of other companies to be rebranded, so you could be buying from Company A and still have a banned Hikvision camera. He lists the Hikvision OEM rebrands at 3:11 in this video. I don't see Amcrest listed.

[M_Six]

Originally Posted by vreihen16

May you never wind up being subpoenaed to be interviewed by the DA, testify before a Grand Jury, and again in the subsequent criminal trial!

The Synology probably can't handle more than 2-3 cameras because of disk/network throughput from my own experience. The one thing that Amcrest's stuff has going for it is that it uses superior H.265 compression when saving to an Amcrest NVR, whereas it falls back to the more-bloated H.264 when talking to other company's devices. It can store way more parallel channels of video in less disk space and using less total bandwidth. Even though the UI sucks the chrome off of a trailer hitch ball and doesn't integrate into HomeKit, the Amcrest NVR does a great job at capturing video for when the police come knocking.....

I'm pretty sure I set my Surveillance Station app to record at H.265. I'll see how well it does with a second camera before I invest in additional licenses. I can see there are advantages to having an Amcrest OEM NVR, especially with built-in PoE ports so you can have the cams all on a separate subnet. But that software is awful compared to Synology's.

[P1]

Originally Posted by M_Six

As far as I know, Amcrest makes their own. But I'm no expert. I saw a YouTube where a cyber guy explained the idiocy of the NDAA and SEA the way they were written. They ban U.S. gov't entities from using cameras produced by Hikvision or Duhua. But those companies sell their equipment to dozens of other companies to be rebranded, so you could be buying from Company A and still have a banned Hikvision camera. He lists the Hikvision OEM rebrands at 3:11 in this video. I don't see Amcrest listed.

All my cameras are Hikvision hardware, but all 100% running reflashed firmware by a US-based company. And yes, it showed up at 3:11.

[M_Six]

Originally Posted by P1

All my cameras are Hikvision hardware, but all 100% running reflashed firmware by a US-based company. And yes, it showed up at 3:11.

Yeah, Amcrest is Dahua, not Hikvision. Still a banned camera for U.S. gov't. Where did you get the firmware to reflash them?

[vreihen16]

Originally Posted by M_Six

I can see there are advantages to having an Amcrest OEM NVR, especially with built-in PoE ports so you can have the cams all on a separate subnet.

The problem with doing that is that the NVR does not route for the cameras, so you cannot talk directly to them or use any of their built-in features like email alerts and programmed image uploads when plugged into the NVR's PoE ports.....

[M_Six]

Originally Posted by vreihen16

The problem with doing that is that the NVR does not route for the cameras, so you cannot talk directly to them or use any of their built-in features like email alerts and programmed image uploads when plugged into the NVR's PoE ports.....

Right. It's essentially an air-gapped system, so you'd need a monitor on the NVR or some fancy routing setup. Or does the NVR not act like a switch where you can set up routing through it? I suppose you could put the entire NVR system on its own vlan.

[vreihen16]

Originally Posted by M_Six

Right. It's essentially an air-gapped system, so you'd need a monitor on the NVR or some fancy routing setup. Or does the NVR not act like a switch where you can set up routing through it? I suppose you could put the entire NVR system on its own vlan.

The NVR doesn't switch or route for anything plugged into it PoE ports. The NVR's data port behaves normally for accessing it through network clients.

I have our NVR hooked up to the big screen TV via an HDMI input, but only really use it when I'm watching TV and hear something unusual outside. Amcrest's NVR's all only support USB mice for their sole input, and don't include the HID code to operate a USB keyboard.

The MacOS SmartPSS app does an OK job for looking at videos and stuff, although it seems to be written in Java and has more than its share of buggy quirks. My DW uses the Amcrest iOS app on her phone to check in on OCD psycho dog when I'm not home, and I have never heard her complain about problems using it other than latency when re-pointing a camera using PTZ.....

[bosstones]

Originally Posted by P1

All my cameras are Hikvision hardware, but all 100% running reflashed firmware by a US-based company. And yes, it showed up at 3:11.

Did you buy the cameras already re-flashed or do it yourself? I tried a quick search for custom FW but only found people DIY'ing and posting questions on forums.

[jmg]

FML my 40 year old HVAC system took a dump a few days ago, right before one of the worst heat waves in Socal I can remember. It's easily 95 degrees in my house.

First purchase was a new furnace, blower, coils and condenser/heat pump. $14k.



Of course, it takes a few days to get the parts and install, so in the meantime I got one of these portable AC puppies for my home office because my head started to hurt from the heat and zoom calls were becoming awkward with my shirt off:

[M_Six]

Originally Posted by jmg

Of course, it takes a few days to get the parts and install, so in the meantime I got one of these portable AC puppies for my home office because my head started to hurt from the heat and zoom calls were becoming awkward with my shirt off:

Been waffling between getting one of these for the garage or going with a mini-split. I need the cooling more than the heating, so a mini-split is a bit of overkill. But the costs aren't that far apart. And the mini-split doesn't take up floor space.

[Esteban]

Originally Posted by jmg

FML my 40 year old HVAC system took a dump a few days ago, right before one of the worst heat waves in Socal I can remember. It's easily 95 degrees in my house.

First purchase was a new furnace, blower, coils and condenser/heat pump. $14k.

[img]https://www.americanstandardair.com/...at-pump-md.png[/img]

Of course, it takes a few days to get the parts and install, so in the meantime I got one of these portable AC puppies for my home office because my head started to hurt from the heat and zoom calls were becoming awkward with my shirt off:

[img]https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/...AC_SL1000_.jpg[/img]

40 years, huh. That's a long run. I expect to replace mine this coming spring. Just the condenser and blower, though.

Only 15 years old but it runs all year set at 70F so it might see an early death, lol. Couldn't stand to be stuck in 100+ temp with no A/C.

[RedX4MC]

Purchased a BMW 50th Anniversary Carbon Fiber Emblem Roundel from bimmerplug.com after seeing an M5 at Detailer's Domain with one. It goes over the top with a piece of double-stick tape.

[P1]

Originally Posted by bosstones

Did you buy the cameras already re-flashed or do it yourself? I tried a quick search for custom FW but only found people DIY'ing and posting questions on forums.

Bought them already reflashed.

[M_Six]

According to that cam comparison guy, Amcrest is a U.S. firm that sources Dahua cameras. Not sure if that means Amcrest reflashes them or not. But I'm using Synology Surveillance Station, so totally different software for viewing. Once I have my cams set up, I may set up a firewall rule to keep them from sending anything out of the network IP range.

[jmg]

Originally Posted by M_Six

Been waffling between getting one of these for the garage or going with a mini-split. I need the cooling more than the heating, so a mini-split is a bit of overkill. But the costs aren't that far apart. And the mini-split doesn't take up floor space.

I would do the mini-split which I imagine are quieter since the condenser is outside. I'm thinking of getting one too, so I don't have to run the central air when no one else is home.

[jmg]

Originally Posted by Esteban

40 years, huh. That's a long run. I expect to replace mine this coming spring. Just the condenser and blower, though.

Only 15 years old but it runs all year set at 70F so it might see an early death, lol. Couldn't stand to be stuck in 100+ temp with no A/C.

Yup, furnace was all rusted out. I guess they are supposed to be swapped every 20 years, so it had a long life! The coils were nasty and disgusting. I was still using R22, the old refrigerant, so recharging the system would have been expensive. I also went with an electric heat pump and ditched the gas furnace. Less risk of carbon monoxide, longer lasting furnace.

[M_Six]

Yikes. My HVAC contractor just quote a mini-split for the garage at $5500. Even if I could find someone to do it for half that, it's still way more than a floor unit. Looks like I need to shop for a floor unit. Luckily we're just about out of the major summer heat, so I have until next year to find and install one.

[Awsm66]

Originally Posted by M_Six

Yikes. My HVAC contractor just quote a mini-split for the garage at $5500. Even if I could find someone to do it for half that, it's still way more than a floor unit. Looks like I need to shop for a floor unit. Luckily we're just about out of the major summer heat, so I have until next year to find and install one.

If you are decent at DIY you can buy a DIY minisplit from mrcool or some others. They are really easy to install. I installed one in my office space I built into my garage/shop and they are really easy to do.

[M_Six]

Just dipping my toes into the DIY arena. I'm nowhere near confident enough to try that yet. I can still screw up a free lunch given the chance.

[jmg]

Originally Posted by M_Six

Yikes. My HVAC contractor just quote a mini-split for the garage at $5500. Even if I could find someone to do it for half that, it's still way more than a floor unit. Looks like I need to shop for a floor unit. Luckily we're just about out of the major summer heat, so I have until next year to find and install one.

Cost depends on how big your garage is, and if it's insulated. I have a 3 car, so a mini-split would have to be huge to start with, and it's not insulated, so it would have to be even bigger. I think you are looking at minimum $2k just for something adequate for 600sq-ft. $8k for 1200 sq-ft. Install is probably in the $1-2k range. I don't think it's cost effective for a 3 car garage. Better of insulating it and then getting the duct to the central AC work done, so long as your condenser can handle the extra square footage. If not, what I sometimes do is walk around and shut vents to unoccupied rooms.

[Esteban]

Originally Posted by jmg

...If not, what I sometimes do is walk around and shut vents to unoccupied rooms.

I do that. We have a fourth bedroom that we use as storage so I keep that vent closed and the rest of the house gets a little more.