Camera Installation

To properly set up the NVR 1012 surveillance system one must first set up and properly configure the IP cameras before you can move to setting up the NVR 101.


Setting up the IP cameras can be considered easy or even very easy depending on how you plan on connecting them. Wired or wireless is the first thing you must decide since this will dictate whether or not you will need the external antenna. Even if you plan on using this in a wire-based configuration it is always a good idea to install the antenna, that way if you do change your mind you don’t have to spend hours looking for “missing” antennas.

Installing the antenna is easy as screwing in a light bulb. One simply lines up the threads on the back of the camera with the threads on the antenna and tightens until it is firmly in place.


When this is accomplished you must screw the base adapter onto the back of the camera and then screw the adaptor unto the base plate. Since the adaptor is a ball and socket affair, numerous positions are possible and once you find the perfect angle, it is simply a matter of tightening down the big wing nut to secure the camera in place. If you plan on mounting the camera on a wall, three screws are included that screw through the base. All in all the physical installation of the camera is quite user friendly and straightforward.

To complete the installation all you have to do is plug the camera in. It will automatically try and locate your wireless network or communicate via the wired Ethernet port. In the factory default settings they will try to negotiate 192.168.0.30 but will readily accept DHCP commands. All in all they play nice with a variety of routers and our D-Link and Linksys routers had no troubles working with them.


When this is finished (which should be darn near instantaneous) you are going to have to install the IPFinder program which is located on the Camera’s Installation CD. This program searches for the IP cameras on the subnet and allows you to link to them for complete configuration.


When you hit the “Link” button in IPFinder what it does is open MS Internet Explorer and loads the required activeX based page for the given camera. When asked, simply type in admin/admin for the username and password then select Setup and then Smart Wizard. Just as the name implies, the wizard goes through the configuration process step by step and is very easy to use. When you have completed the setup wizard, the IP camera will reboot and use these new settings. When this is done your camera should be readily accessible from IPFinder or even just by typing its IP Address in the address bar of IE. For use with the NVR 101 one should hard set an IP address in both the camera and your router to ensure that you don’t have to redo the NVR 101 setup every week.


Out of the box, the IP Camera's colors are too saturated with a heavy tendency to make blues into purples. It will take a bit of time and patience to set up the camera to your liking; and yes that is cages we use for feeding and yes that is a queen size mattress in the right hand side (what can I say I don’t like food squabbles and my dogs like their comfort when in the “dog day room”). For those of you who don't know, AkG helps run a high-end dog breeder. Ed.

Under the setup section you can not only tell the camera its network setting but how it will process the images, brightness / contrast settings and even if you want to flip the picture vertically or horizontally. All in all the setup of the IP Camera is very easy and straightforward. For an IP camera that is marketed as a “value oriented” IP camera it does come with a host of features and the only shortcoming is with its IQ or Image Quality. We could do our best to describe these shortcomings in greater detail then we have but the manufacturer of the camera has a “live demo” that shows said image quality and nothing beats seeing it for yourself. Click here to load the real time demo (http://fitivision.dyndns.tv/), when asked, the user name and password is “user” without the quotation.