unreliable motion

The Public's Radio Engineer

Hi folks, I searched a bit but didn't see anything in the forums on this topic (forgive me if I missed it) and the help FAQ's don't really answer this. I have an Argus PT solar-battery wifi camera. It cannot record continuously (boo!) so it only records on motion detection. Problem is, it stinks at detecting motion! Both at night and by day. I have my PIR enabled and Sensitivity at 95 (I tried higher but got many false positives). There are no privacy zones. And no minimum/maximum size settings for detection either. What am I doing wrong here? The camera is pretty new; purchased two months ago from B&H Photo Video. Build No is 22061301, Hardware Ver is BIPC_523MIX32M35SD94MP, Config Ver 3.0.0.0, Firmware Ver 3.0.0.1045_22061301. (I tried to "upgrade manually" and it says this is the most current version available)

Below is a screencap. The yellow zone it detects motion maybe 25-30% of the time, and usually it takes so long to start recording that the object/person has already moved out-of-view. That yellow zone is perhaps 50ft out? The camera is mounted on a pole 14ft up to ensure a wide field-of-view but also because it's the only place where I can reliably get direct sunlight on the solar panel in winter. The red zone is where I'd like it to reach, that's more like 75-100ft. The little "nub" of red is a concrete bridge over a creek. There's multiple solar-powered LED floodlights that clearly illuminate people walking past; but the camera doesn't record them. You'd think the appearance/disappearance of the lights themselves would trigger the motion detector, but they don't. Also, while it's 200ft away, I have a huge infrared floodlight aimed towards this location - you can see it in the shadows cast on the ground. So even if the Argus-PT's I.R. lights were off? Things would still be illuminated at night.

Any suggestions on what I could be doing differently? Other than "move the camera", of course - I can't do that. Partly because there's no spot to really mount it that's closer to the red zone. But even if I installed a new pole there? It would still be in a very tree-shaded area, which is no good for a solar-charged camera like the Argus-PT.

If the Argus could be set to record continuously, that alone would likely solve the problem. Even if I didn't get warnings as often, I could still go back and review the footage manually. But Reolink, for some reason, does not allow this. I don't know why; my camera has never reported anything but 100% battery. Clearly it's got battery power to spare. And I've got a 400GB SD Card in there; plenty of room to record at least a few days' worth of medium-quality video. Can we get a firmware that allows constant recording?

Reolink Fiona

hi, there. Sorry to tell you that the battery-power camera cannot support continuous recording, because that will drain the battery quickly. For continuous recording, you may consider WiFi-wired cameras such as Trackmix WiFi.

But Argus PT 2K supports to set up Privacy Mask. How to set: https://support.reolink.com/hc/en-us/articles/360003493454--How-to-Set-up-Privacy-Mask-for-Reolink-Cameras

Minimum/Maximum Object Size is also supported on Argus PT 2K. How to set: https://support.reolink.com/hc/en-us/articles/13294134776985-How-to-Set-up-Object-Size-for-Battery-powered-Cameras

Reolink Fiona

Argus PT 2K supports PIR detection/human detection/vehicle detection(if it is the latest version).

Its PIR Detecting Distance is up to 10m (33ft) and PIR Detecting Angle is 100° horizontal. It is a bit beyond its detection range if that yellow zone is 50ft out.

user_675760310702119

To do this, consider that most chains take up large, continuous areas of the board -- sections, not randomly snaking lines. Instead of making specific chains, make specific areas