Best posts made by pdownes2001_384636162646205

I'm plagued with false alerts from flying insects and rain.
Would it not be possible to tweak the software/firmware so that users could define a Minimum Length of Motion?

A flying insect presents an event that lasts less than a second. Raindrops even less. If users had the option to set their cameras so that they ignore such short-lived motion events, false alerts could be much reduced.

Living in a city, seeing wildlife in action is a rare treat.
Video captured on my RLC-1210A using Reolink's Pet Detection feature.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9baTCAJBoQ

We really appreciate your feedback.
Please allow me to explain briefly how the camera detection works: the camera detects the motion based on the image changes (the background) in each frame. So when the object reaches a certain degree the camera will be triggered.
In order to reduce false alarms, it's advised to combine the methods of setting up the proper sensitivity and defining proper motion detection areas on Reolink Client software.
Intensive motion like rain/snowflakes, insects attracted by IR lights, may also cause frequent alarms which may not have a good solution to it.

Cynthia
Thank you for your input.
I have many years experience as a user of security cameras. I was also an engineer for 42 years so I understand the reluctance to accept that someone else might have a solution for a problem.

I would be very grateful if you at least forwarded the proposal to introduce a 'Length of Motion' feature.

In my experience, it was the single most effective solution for reducing false alerts caused by rain and insects.

It actually works very well and it is not hard to implement.




image_2021-05-13_102133.png

Setting up the camera using my iPhone was reasonably simple. The only slight difficulty was getting the camera to read the QR code on my phone but I managed to do it eventually. That was more likely to have been caused by my old, shaking hands than anything else. (I'm 67!)

The next difficulty was wi-fi configuration. Several attempts and resets later, I suspected that the camera was being confused by my universal wi-fi repeater (TP-Link TL-WA901ND). I turned the repeater off and the link to my router was made successfully. Perhaps users should be advised to disable any repeaters during the setup process.

I am very familiar with Reolink's user-friendly interface and it presented no difficulty.

I was pleasantly surprised to see a new (to me) option; separate detection zones for Person, Vehicle and Others. 

That is an excellent and very practical function however, if the PTZ function had a user-defined 'Home Position' to which it returns on command, the detection zones would be more easily maintained.

Regarding the hardware, the camera is solid. Its high quality construction is hard to criticise however, the power switch cover has no lanyard and can easily be lost if dropped. That is my only criticism of the hardware.

I have not deployed the camera outdoors in a real-world surveillance position yet. I will be doing that in as many situations as I can invent, so please watch this space.

@pdownes2001_384636162646205

Thank you Cynthia.
I hope they find a way to make it happen. It will be a game-changer for us and a great marketing ploy for yourselves.

False alerts are probably the most complained about things for all brands of security cameras. You could steal a march on the rest with this one.

Some local wildlife doing their morning exercises. That squirrel loves chasing blackbirds.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DgzFXH6DR4

Watch these two tiny mice carefully and ... wait for it.

(RLC-1210A)

I really like this camera. So far, it has performed very well.
To be honest, it wouldn't have been my camera of choice but I am very pleased that I was given the chance to try it. Knowing what I know now, I would happily recommend it to anyone considering a purchase.

Here is a recent capture. One of our local squirrels has had a litter of kits and here are two of them chasing each other around the garden this morning. Cuteness overload.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwCjrLwTL-w

@reolink-fiona

I am pleased to say that the new smart "Pet Detected" function works perfectly.

Despite heavy rain and a howling Atlantic storm, I received no false alerts. However, as soon as a rat came into view, I was alerted. The rat was dealt with appropriately.

Your tech team have succeeded. Please pass my thanks and congratulations on to them.

@reolink-fiona

Can you spot it?
This is its first deployment and I expect its captures will only be of a very mundane nature. You never know though.


And this is its field of view. Like I said. Boring stuff.
You never know though.
Such a shame that this camera does not support FTP. If it is stolen, the SD card will be gone with it.
It's just as well I have another camera covering the area which DOES send its files to my NAS drive via FTP.

@reolink-fiona

It just happened again. This is very strange. On this occasion, I performed a hard reset by switching the camera off at its power source then switching it back on. There were no more false alerts.

All settings are the same as before:
Smart Motion (PET beta) 90
Vehicles 0
Persons 0
Motion 1

@reolink-fiona

I'll be using this injector adapter. It's ready and waiting, CAT5e cabled to my router.

The camera has performed well so far but being strapped to a tree in the front garden was a bit too boring. Nothing of any significance happened.
Onto another location where I can test its performance and also connect the solar panel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25y93bfp-Js

A quick look at the Client app for Windows shows its status...


And its field of view ...



This should be a more taxing examination. The camera is more open to the English weather and is on a west-facing wall where it will encounter the best that the Atlantic can throw at it.

I wish it luck.

@faasio82_480971996033257
I'm currently testing the Argus PT 4MP black version.
It is battery driven and uses wi-fi for data transfer.

The white cable in the image below is a micro-USB charging cable connected to a Reolink solar panel.

I am very impressed by its performance so far. It has smart AI detection for persons and vehicles as well as PIR detection. I have a thread about it here:
https://community.reolink.com/topic/3268/argus-pt-4mp-black-version-first-impressions

And here it is in all its glory. (I mounted it on black-painted timber rather than put holes in my plastic soffit board.)

I think it's very handsome and, so far, it performs as good as it looks.

@mdunning_323765759099098

I found a quick fix for this.
If you've got a Covid lateral flow test kit, they include a small plastic test tube.
The tube is just the right size to push firmly onto the reset button and protect it from the weather.

A very useful feature of the Argus is the way it allows you to adjust the brightness of shaded areas. Many Reolink cameras have this feature and I think it is not praised enough. It can make a big difference.

Look at these two images. They show the difference between auto shadow brightness and manually adjusted.

Hats off to your tech guys & girls.

Hi again Cynthia.

I have just noticed that a new feature in the latest iPhone client app is described as,
"Add tolerance settings to set up how long a detection object is allowed to stay in detection area."



This sounds very much like the Minimum Length of Motion feature that we have been talking about.

However, the new feature is only available for some devices.

Please can it be made available for other devices such as the RLC-520 and RLC-410-5MP via a firmware update?





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@reolink-fiona
Push alerts are working ok now. (UK)
Thanks.

Maybe a global email to clients next time the tech team need to suspend the push service would be good practice.