Activity Zones

[mwilson118]

My battery won't last as long as I would like due to the traffic in front of my house; so I got the solar panel. Fixed! as long as it's not below freezing during the day. Now I want to use the activity zone feature to limit the videos but can't because of the hard line power restriction. Wish this was optional because I am curious to know if my battery would still last longer than it was without the solar panel if I were allowed to run it now with a single activity zone activated. Despite what the manuals state, during the deep January freeze, I hooked up the solar panel, did not run of course, battery went down to 55% and now it is fully charged only a few days into above freezing temps...seems the solar panel is working beyond my expectations of sustaining the current charge.

[VancouverBC]

Rather than using zones, can you tilt your camera downwards so it not seeing traffic going by? That would depend on the mounting height of the camera and how far from the camera is the area you want to monitor motion. I have a solar panel but haven't hooked it up yet. My understanding is the panel can keep the battery topped up but doesnt' provide anywhere near the current as AC power to be constantly processing of images to "detect motion" by detecting a change in pixel colours. 

[mwilson118]

i've tried just about every angle possible (end up with mostly wall in the picture), we have very short driveways, plus I might need to see the street even if I don't want the motion on the street or sidewalk to trigger the video.

my solar panel has worked awesome. I read the same thing but installed it when temps rarely got above freezing. a few days after having day temps above freezing my camera went from 55% charged to 100% charged while taking the same amount of videos and I only get a limited window of sunlight where I have to mount it; though I do have it lined up directly in the sun's path and plan to shift the angle at least a few times each year....

[VancouverBC]

Good to know about the solar panel. I'm also struggling with placing the camera at the front of the house, it's all a trade-off with no ideal location or view. I currently have the camera mounted in a tree disguised as some kind of pheromone trap or an aparatus someone will think has to do with the fruit tree. Photo here Camera disguised in tree with a decoy.  In the tree, the image gets blown out when the porch light is activated by motion and the camera is too far from the porch to get a good image of anyone's face. Still not ideal. Mounted near the front door I only get images of the top of people's heads as they come up the steps. Mounted lower at the door, I'll be looking up their noses when they get up on the porch. Too much info. 

[steve_t]

Good feedback. I also find the solar panel works remarkably well. On rainy or overcast days when there's no direct sunlight and it's not even bright outside, I'll see the little charging icon. I just wish they made a smaller, less conspicuous version. It obviously would not be as good/fast at charging but maybe it doesn't have to be??

[brh]

@mwilson118

Just a suggestion here. Having had my home burglarized a couple of years ago, I felt that it was most important for me to be able to see the whole front of the house instead of more of the yard. The reason being is that the burglars had to have spent several minutes chiseling away at my door frame. The same would have been the case if they tried to pick the locks or climb in through a window. That would have given me ample time to record what was going on. 

I mounted the camera at about a 90 degree angle to my front door under the eave of my house. I also made some custom plastic mounts out of plastic electrical junction boxes. The purpose was no make it time consuming for them to take down the camera and not be able to knock it down with a big stick.

To get the correct angle for the camera I used some cheap window shims , screwed them to the eave wit 4 long screws and then mounted my enclosure with another 4 long screws.

To see a picture of the enclosures go the the idea exchange and the pictures are on the first page under Plastic Mounts.

Brian

[brh]

@VancouverBC

How did you get the wifi range to be able mount the camera in the tree? Love the idea you have.

Brian

[VancouverBC]

@brh

Distance wise, the tree is about 12 m (~ 38 ft ??) from the base station, I'm getting 3 full bars signal strength. As it worked out, the tree is outside of the room where the base station is located. 

With your camera mounted under the eaves do you get clear images of people's faces as they approach the door? I'm in Vancouver BC, in summer people wear hats for the sun, in winter people wear hats for the rain. Hoodies are the other uniform around here. 

[brh]

@VancouverBC

Yes, if i zoom in on them while viewing the videos on my smartphone. Of course, it is a side view of their face unless they turn and face the camera  But once inside I have several cameras that will get a clear view of their faces. Besides burglars, I got tired of the UPS, FEDEX etc drivers just dropping the packages off without knocking on the door or ringing the doorbell. I even caught a US Postal Service delivery person throwing my package to my front porch. 

I am also integrated with Smartthings so that I even have a sensor near the mailbox to notify me when the mailman delivers my mail and I also record him on camera. I also use the temperature reporting of the sensors to notify me if the temperature rises too high in a room and start the closest camera to start recording. I also do the same thing with water leak sensors. I have motion sensors in my attic in case squirrels or mice get inside and sensors in my crawl space to notify me if the temperature gets too cold and I need to start the fawcets dripping.

Brian

[VancouverBC]

@brh

I like your idea of incorporating temperature sensors. My system is manual. When we are away for a few days or longer I prop a digital indoor/outdoor thermometer in view of the camera. Before leaving I set the furnace at 16deg C and I can view the temperature in the house to make sure the furnace is working. 

Another precaution we learned from someone who works in home disaster restoration is to turn off the home main water supply if going away for a few days or more. This restoration company has repaired major damage from leaks than ran for days or weeks while occupants were away, could be something as simple as a ruputured water line to the ice machine water on a fridge. 

[brh]

@VancouverBC

I do have a professional Security system with 24/7 monitoring, battery backup and cellular service so that if someone cuts off my internet service I am still covered. But their camera offerings are very limited and expensive. Besides, they also require internet service for their videos so I would still be in the same mess. I have ordered a couple of cheap cameras to do nothing but record to a micro SD card. If they are stolen I am not out a lot of money, if not I will have some evidence even if my internet cable is cut.

But as part of home security, fire and water damage are biggies. That is why I want video just in case I need to call authorities or a neighbor to go check in on my home.

If I get false alarms if one system reports them and the other one doesn't then there is no need to panic as long as I can see what is going on.

Anyway, I may have gone overboard - the wife thinks so - LOL

Brian

[VancouverBC]

I don't think your setup is overboard. There is value in being able to check on the house if you get a call from the alarm company. You can quickly assess if it's a false alarm or not. My setup is similar for video inside and outside the house and having the ability to listen to audio inside the house is worthwhile. It's reassuring when away on a trip to be able to check in that the house is fine. That can be a selling point to your wife. 

[Paul_FCCL]

mwilson118 wrote:

.........Now I want to use the activity zone feature to limit the videos but.....

Good luck with that, not the answer for outdoor cam location. Stick with PIR motion detection.