Posts made by Crimp On_62210811129

My guess is that the intention was to do what I did and push the entire wire bundle (RJ45, 12v, and reset button) through the hole I made in the wall and then seal the hole. Or... push the entire wire bundle through a hole into a weatherproof junction box. Leaving those three items exposed to the weather is a recipe for disaster. Maybe a blob of silicon over the ends would hold up (or not). I would not like the appearance of dangling wires.

Version 8.2.6 is here:
https://reolink.com/us/software-and-manual/

Yes, my experiment failed miserably. Setting the 'sensitivity' to the lowest possible setting still resulted in recording tree shadows moving across the yard as 'motion'. There is no guarantee that any animals will wander by overnight to become part of this test, but I will check tomorrow.

It seems a bit sad that after all these years of developing Artificial Intelligence that this is as far as we have come: cameras that cannot distinguish between scenes that are important and scenes that are not.

I am resigned now that I simply cannot have what I want.
The new "Vehicles and Persons" software works pretty well. No more recording tree shadows moving across the yard.
But, also, no recording small animals (cats, possums, squirrels, etc.) I cannot come up with a strategy that makes sense.
If the recording mode includes "Any Motion" then the sensitivity level has to be VERY LOW during daylight hours to avoid recording shadows or waving flags (no animals during the day), and can be high at night to catch the animals, but this means constantly changing the sensitivity by time of day.

I will try that next and just make an arbitrary decision: Look for animals from say 8pm to 5am.

Things to go into the "Suggestion Box"

With the new "Person and Vehicle" capability, would it be feasible to add another category for "animals"? I know other systems can recognize "packages" (which seems a bit redundant. how does a package "show up" without a person or vehicle being involved?)

Rather than set Sensitivity settings by time of day, would it be possible to set sensitivity by Daylight and Dark? The demarcation between color and B&W changes constantly, as does daytime and nighttime.

Rather than have only one Record option which can be "on" or"off" for each of the 168 hours of a week, could each hour have specific options. i.e a combination of "Any", "Person", and "Vehicle" for 2-3am on Wednesday, but a different combination for 3-4am?

Suppose I want to see which neighbor's cat is digging up my flower bed? If I set the sensitivity high (to catch small animals), I will also pick up ALL MOTION - even cloud shadows.

There appears to be a "learning curve" with regard to motion detection on this camera. The camera description says very clearly "vehicle and person" detection. The Windows Client offers sensitivity settings of Low, Medium, and High with pictures of a Car, a Person, and an Animal. (Remember: "animal" was not one of the special features of this camera.) It also offers the same sort of time periods that previous Reolink cameras have always provided, where the sensitivity can be set for different times of the day.

On the Record panel, recording can be "on" or "off" for individual hours of the day and days of the week. But there cannot be different choices for the 168 individual hours of the day. "Record" can be either "Any Motion", "Person", or "Vehicle".
I have now come to understand that "Any Motion" refers to the old Reolink process, which is based on sensitivity. I had set Record to "Any Motion" and was surprised today when the camera spent all afternoon recording tree shadows waving across the yard. (duh) That is "motion" the way Reolink cameras have always been sensitive to it.

What if I want to see animals (cats, possums, skunks, etc.) who pass through my yard but I do not want to see those irritating tree shadows? CAN'T BE DONE.

I can set the daytime sensitivity to the lowest possible and the nighttime sensitivity to very high. No tree shadows during the daylight hours and also NO ANIMALS. Animals at night. Back to the same old, same old problem: update the sensitivity every week as seasons change? yuck.

Will know more in a week as I experiment with settings.

Maybe this was obvious to everyone else, but it sure tripped me up.

Three years ago, I installed an RLC-410WS (WiFi) near my front door. (Pulling PoE cable was too difficult.) Had to remove one antenna because the mounting bracket will not let the camera move far enough to the side. Quickly learned that the camera infrared night lights draw insects which appear to be very bright and very large when they fly near the camera, creating hundreds of 'motion events'. The solution was to install an infrared 'illuminator' about 8 ft. away from the camera which lights up the space and draws the insects away from the camera. The RLC-410WS had no capability to disable the night lights, so I covered the LED's with black electrical tape. Not the most attractive solution, but it worked 'pretty good'.

Reolink finally released the RL-510WA, a 5MP WiFi camera with person, vehicle detection. (Will see how well that works. On 'flag days' the RLC-410WS sensed motion all day long. The new camera also has a switch to disable the night LEDs, so no more electrical tape.

What a difference in installation! The old Reolink RLC mount was horrible. Tiny set screws needing a tiny Allen wrench. SO cumbersome. The new mount is fantastic! Noticed only one (tiny) issue. In my haste, I did not pick up on the mounting screw holes being just a bit farther apart than on the RLC-410 series. Far enough that I had to get the drill out and make new starter holes. Thats "my bad", but I wonder why? Maybe it makes it easier to reach the screws?

Apologize if this has been discussed before....

I want to change the order that cameras appear on the left side of Windows client 8.2.6.
I can click on one and 'drag' it, but when I let go it goes back to where it was. Appears that 'dragging' is only for placing a camera in the viewing window.

Is there a method to change the order of cameras?

Thanks

Certainly frustrating. On the Windows Client 8.2.4, opening the Client causes all of my RLC cameras to connect, but the two old Argus (battery) cameras do NOT connect until I drag them into the viewing window. (see screen shot attached)

It is sort of humorous because after the warranty expired, I uncovered the USB test port inside the battery compartment and these Argus cameras are now 'powered' from a USB adapter. The Client thinks they are battery powered and keeps after me to conserve the battery. Oh, well.
reo-8.2.4.jpg

Even though Windows Client 8.2.0 could not find an update ("failed") version 8.2.4 is now on the Reolink web site.
This new version says "This is the latest version" (the correct result, as long as it it correct).
Noticed that the battery status now appears for battery cameras.

The product description page seems to indicate that it can (part way down the page - see attached).
https://reolink.com/us/product/e1-pro/

nvr.jpg

New Windows Client appeared today on the Download web page. v8.2.0
Would have been nice to have a Change Log or "What's New". (sigh)

The button to Export configurations shows, but does nothing.
The button to Browse for configurations to upload seems to work, but I cannot save a configuration to upload, so have no idea if that works or not.

The missing Playback icon for "Speed" (or "Pause") is not there (which is understandable).

Still does not remember the previous window size/placement. Opens in default size/place every time.

I discovered that my Windows Client, v8.1.28, behaves differently for RLC cameras and for my Argus (original battery powered) camera.
The RLC camera Playback has all buttons (see attached image).
The Argus camera Playback does not have the "Speed" button that the RLC cameras use to resume playback.
My 'guess' is that the Argus camera was not programmed for different speed playback, which caused the speed button to be left off.
Looks like a definite programming error.
playback.jpg

On Windows Client 8.1.28, it appears that the "Frame by Frame" icon performs the "Pause" function.
To resume playing, I clicked the icon to the right, selected a speed, and play resumed.

Creating users is a function of the camera, which can be accessed either from the Reolink "app", the Reolink Windows Client, or (for newer RLC cameras, from the camera web interface). Users can be admin or "view only".
Likewise, cameras can be set to send alerts to more than one email recipient.

UID's show in the Windows Client. Good idea to record them before swapping PC's.
The new Windows Client will scan the network looking for Reolink cameras.
Found all of mine, but I was not concerned because I have all the UID's saved in a text file.
(would not want to be climbing a ladder to physically reach cameras!)

I fear the engineering staff have "fed you a line." It is almost trivial to code a configuration file with the software version. When importing a configuration file, the first step would be to confirm that it was made on the current firmware. If not, reject the configuration file as incompatible.

There is no reason to remove the ability to save a configuration file and import it into the same camera on the the same software release.

One of the reasons I switched from the original RLC-410 to the newer RLC-410-5MP camera was IR LED management. The original camera had the LED's physically linked to the day/night mode. I had purchased separate IR illuminators to draw insects away from the camera and wound up painting over the LED's on the old cameras. With the new cameras, the controls are independent.
(Have no NVR, so I am not certain that my experience has much in common with yours.)

The RLC-820A has a viewing angle of 87 degrees horizontally. So it would have to rotate 46 degrees for the wall to be at the edge of the picture. I know that bullet cameras can do that, but am not confident that dome cameras can. You are smart to think this through before purchasing.

My RLC-410-5MP and RLC-520-5MP cameras show the schedule grid in the Windows Client 8.1.28
(see attached screenshot)
I do not have any cameras currently set up to sent email alerts. I realize the "slider" shows "on", but the email definition fields are all blank. (no server, user id, password, recipient, etc.)

email.jpg