Night Owl
CCTV DVR & Security Cameras System Review
A consumer's opinion of the Night Owl
8BL-81TB CCTV DVR and night vision security cameras system with install guide.
Night Owl 8BL-81TB |
8 Channel CCTV System |
Package Contents |
A friend
purchased this Night Owl CCTV security system at Brandsmart for
about $500 and asked me to help with the installation at a small
shopping plaza. Included in the package is an 8 channel DVR (digital video recorder), 8 color bullet cameras with IR night vision, 60ft BNC wires for each camera, a USB mouse, a remote control, power adapters, various cables (audio, video, ethernet), a driver CD, security stickers, mounting hardware, a manual and a quick set up guide. The Night Owl 8 Channel DVR features a pre-installed 1 TB (~1,000 MB) hard drive, H.264 video compression, IE 8 and Android / iPhone / Blackberry smartphone remote internet viewing capability and also audio inputs / outputs The included weatherproof CCTV cameras have 1/4" color CMOS sensors, 400 TV lines of resolution, 24 IR LEDs, and 6.0mm lenses with a 42 degree field of view. Two of the cameras feature microphones to deliver audio to the DVR. |
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What's In The Box |
DVR Connections |
Camera Specifications |
After unpacking
everything in the box, I decided to test out the system by setting it up in
my living room.
I ran a long Ethernet cable from our AT&T Uverse 2Wire fiber optic modem / router to the DVR, plugged in the mouse, and connected a few of the cameras including one equipped with an audio microphone. |
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DVR Specifications |
704x480 Resolution |
Customer Support Info |
The initial setup
was very easy and I had the DVR online in a matter of minutes.
All I had to do was visit the administration page for our At&t 2Wire modem / router to open up a few ports. Since this was just a temporary setup I placed the Night Owl DVR's IP address in to the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) of the router which opens up all inbound and outbound ports. |
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DVR & Camera Boxes |
Night Owl Warning Stickers |
Install CD - Remote Batteries |
In order to view
the CCTV
cameras from an outside network, I had to take advantage of the
free Night Owl DynDNS (Dynamic DNS) service.
I signed up for a subdomain at NightOwlDVR.com and entered it into the DVR's internet setup DDNS menu. At the shopping plaza, they had a static IP address from Comcast internet for the DVR, which was just as simple to enter into the DVR and then begin viewing the cameras on our computers or smartphones. |
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Remote, Wires, Mouse |
Front of DVR Controls |
Rear DVR - Inputs / Outputs |
If you have trouble
viewing the CCTV cameras on your Night Owl DVR via Internet Explorer 8,
follow these steps. Choose "Tools" from the top menu. (If you don't see the top menu "File" "Edit" View" etc - then hit the "Alt" key.) Select "Internet Options". Choose the "Security" tab at the top. Choose "Trusted Sites". Slide the security level slider down to "Low". Then click on the "Sites" button, uncheck "Require server verification", type the DVR IP address or subdomain into the top window and hit "Add". Close that window. Click on the "Custom Level" button, scroll down to the ActiveX controls options. Change "Download unsigned ActiveX controls" to the "Prompt" option. These steps may also work for Internet Explorer 7 and the new IE 9. |
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60 Feet BNC Wires |
RCA Adapters, Power Splitter |
Camera Mounting Screws |
I also set up the
DVR to allow viewing from smartphones by entering a user name and password
on the mobile viewing menu page. We tested the mobile camera viewing
functionality with both an iPhone and an
Android smartphone.
Both mobile operating systems needed to have the "ASee" app installed. Once you load up the ASee application, all you have to enter is the IP address or subdomain of the DVR, the mobile viewing port (E.G. 18004) and the username / password. Unfortunately, I was not able to test the mobile viewing of this Night Owl DVR with a RIM Blackberry smartphone. |
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Night Owl CCTV Camera |
24 Infrared LEDs Night Vision |
Sun Shade, Mounting Bracket |
Another cool
feature of this CCTV system is that two of the cameras are "audio enabled"
with built in microphones that deliver sound which is recorded on the DVR
and also allows you to listen in remotely while viewing the cameras on your
computer.
We chose to run just one long RCA extension cable in order to have a single CCTV camera in the front of the shopping plaza equipped with sound. As far as I know, the sound feature doesn't work on a smartphone. |
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Camera With Audio Out |
Setting Up DVR |
Test Camera Connected |
The only downside
to this CCTV security system package is the CCTV cameras themselves.
The "work" just fine but they are lower quality cameras than the ones I've used for other installations in the past. Here are the specifications of a Night Owl "bullet" CCTV camera: 1/4" CMOS image sensor, 400 TV Lines of Resolution, and a 6.0mm lens with a 42 degree field of view. I would have preferred vandal proof "dome" style cameras with larger 1/3" CCD sensors, at least 420 TV lines of resolution, and a wide angle 3.0mm lens with a larger field of view. But I can't complain too much considering the entire package cost just $500 for a great DVR computer, eight CCTV cables and eight cameras. You could easily spend $500 on what CCTV installation experts would refer to as a "good" DVR or $1,000s on a top of the line DVR. Then you'd still have to spend another $50 to $75 for each camera! |
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Dynamic DNS Service |
Entering DDNS Info |
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Overall we were
very pleased with the Night Owl DVR and the 8BL-81TB package is definitely
an excellent value. But now we realize we should have spent another $200 to $300 for a system with slightly better cameras. We already have plans to eventually replace most of the Night Owl cameras with the weatherproof dome cameras commonly found on eBay for about $40 to $50 that have 1/3" Sony CCD sensors, 420 or 480 TV lines of resolution, and a wider field of view 3.0mm lens. To see screen captures of the live cameras as viewed in Internet Explorer 8, scroll down to the last two images on this page. |
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Email Alert Setup |
Network Setup |
Mobile Phone Viewing Setup |
I captured a sample
video clip from the Night Owl DVR while viewing in IE8 using the Capture Wiz
software. To view the video clip, click on the blue link below. To download
the video to your hard drive, right click on the link and choose "Save
Target As" or "Save Link As". (Please note, the CaptureWiz software compressed the video clip so the image quality while viewing the cameras live in IE8 is slightly better, but not by much.) |
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Restarting Night Owl DVR |
Internet Explorer 8 Login |
Samsung Android Smartphone |
Setting Up ASee App |
Night Owl DVR On IE8 |
View Cameras On Android |
Running Long BNC Cables |
Hooking Up RCA Cable |
Electrical Tape - Connection |
Night Owl Camera Mounted |
Camera Screen Capture |
Night Time Screen Cap |
For more, check out
my other related reviews or guides by clicking on the following links:
EverFocus DVR & Sony Cameras CCTV Security System Review & Install Guide,
CoolPodz CCTV DVR & Dome Cameras Review,
Cheap eBay Made In China CCTV Security System Review. |
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