Hello!

Not sure if anyone can help...or understand my problem...but here goes!
I have a Nuvico EVL-400 DVR that has a set of pins for alarm inputs which I gather a sensor switch would be connected to (e.g. one side of the sensor to pin 1 and the other to ground). When an alarm is triggered based on motion detection, the DVR has a setting to specify the alarm input pins (1 through 4). How can I get the signal from the DVR to a computer interface so that I can detect whether the pin is high or low? Do I need to make a special cable to interface with the parallel port of my PC?
The reason for me doing this is so that I can get know when the alarm is triggered and write a program to send an email to indicate that the motion sensor generated an alarm.

it sounds like something easy to do. Sounds like something similar to how a joystick or USB input device would work. Not sure. Any help is appreciated.

thanks!