Maybe set up the Piston where the camera is ready to start recording.
Also, remember that a motion event is recorded After the video starts then finishes, then uploaded into the clouds, then sent back as a notification. The longer the video, the longer the lag for motion notification.
I have it on standby for 1 sec video 10 sec retrigger, then change the video length to 10 secs, after a 3 sec wait, then set the video length again to 30 seconds after a 7 sec wait.
This way I get a notification of motion within a couple of seconds of the event.
All 3 of my XT mounts looked like this. It did not have any issues holding them, so maybe they had to do this because if all tabs were there it would be too difficult to swivel?
Thanks! What would I piston thatâs ready to start recording look like in this case? I havenât done much in terms of linking and executing other pistons from within a piston.
My system remains in âArmedâ mode. This way, the only thing I need to set is âTurn Onâ in CoRE.
Basic Piston in Expert Mode
If motion is inactive
When True
Using Camera
Wait 5 minutes
Set Video Length to 1 sec
Set Retrigger to 10 sec
Turn Off
Cancel on Piston State Change
Only if Alarm is Disarmed
Or
If Door Bell Rings
When True
Using Camera
Turn On
Wait 3 sec
Set Video Length to 10 sec
Wait 7 sec
Set Video Length to 30 sec
Only if Alarm is Disarmed
Iâm Coming in late here, so you may have already found a solution, but I thought Iâd mention a couple of options.
Itâs definitely possible to place a Camera indoors and record activity outdoors, but there are usually four factors involved.
PIR motion sensors cannot detect through glass. Some cameras use PIR (passive infrared) for their motion detection, some use other technologies, Some use a mix. If everything else works great but motion isnât detected, keep reading.
glare from the glass causes the picture to distort. The usual fix for this is to put the camera lens right against the glass, although you may be able to find a âsweet spotâ that is even farther back than you originally intended. Itâs just a matter of finding the right distance and angle so that light isnât bouncing back into the lens. Unfortunately, what works at one time of day may not work at another. This is why the best approach is usually to put the lens right against the window. Also most people find that the room in which the camera is in has to be dark or they just donât get good results. This is something youâll just have to experiment with.
glare from the cameraâs own ânight visionâ infrared emitters. Since infrared wonât pass through the glass, The IR emitter will generally cause horrible glare when pointed out the window, itâs just that the human wonât see it. So youâll need a camera which allows you to turn off "night vision."
obstacles which the human brain ignores but the camera wonât. These are typically mesh screens. Our brains just filter these out as ânoiseâ but the camera sees them and you typically lose details from anything beyond the screen. The only solution to this is to remove the screen, at least in the section that the camera will shoot through.
Now back to that motion detection issue. The usual solution for mains power cameras is to turn off the cameraâs own motion sensor altogether and set the camera to record continuously and then to use filtering software to cause it to not save/report the images you donât really want.
If you have a nestcam, you can use nest aware for this. For any other kind of camera, you can use Camio or a similar app. Most of these cost $10 per month per camera.
The problem when trying to do this with blink or any other battery operated camera is that it will kill the batteries very quickly. But since youâre positioning the camera indoors where itâs probably easier to change batteries, this might be worth it to you to get the results you want.
Youâre also going to need something to turn outdoor lights on so the camera does have enough light to record. Those donât have to be networked, though. They could just be regular nonnetworked motion detector yard lights.
If you put all this together and you want a simple off-the-shelf solution youâll probably have the most success with a nestcam combined with the nest aware feature. But you will be paying an extra $10 a month per camera for the nest aware service.
It might be possible to do with the blink cameras if you can turn off their night vision feature. But you will definitely have to have the camera pressed right against the window to reduce incoming glare. And if you donât want to run the camera continuously, youâll need something else to trigger recording, you canât rely on the blinkâs own motion detection in this set up. Plus you have to have lights come on outdoors, which may not meet your requirements. The least expensive way would probably be to have nonnetworked motion sensitive lights and then a networked lux sensor that would be triggered by the light coming on and would in turn trigger the camera to start recording. That solves the false alarm problem caused by most networked motion sensors used outdoors.
Does it matter which server I connect to? I was asked by Blink support to sign-in to the Europe server (iâm in the UK), as apparently my account was previously registered on the US server.
But now when I use the Rboy app it sees the cameras as offline. Smartthings âthingsâ list shows all 3 cameras from the previous account I had, but currently I only have 2 in the Blink app registered for the new Europe connection.
I did use the same email sign-in on US and Europe.
RBoy
(www.rboyapps.com - Making SmartThings Easy!)
1948
That may be the issue, the blink server tells ST which server to connect to based on your account profile. Sounds like everything may not be completely in sync. If youâre manually connecting to the UK server but profile is showing US server then the Blink Camera Manager app will use the US server.
Mine was slipping down as well, until I found that the hinge could be tightened with a screwdriver. Never noticed it originally, has not slipped since.
Just installed a two camera system. The only issue is the second camera doesnât show up in the system menu so I am unable to create a schedule. I have created a light smart app to respond to motion abdvturn on a light between 11 pm and 6 am, but blink notifies me all day when it detects motion. Any thougHTS?
Does anybody else have a problem with Blink Camera Manager not recognizing their e-mail and password? The same e-mail and password work fine in the official Blink app on the same phone. Note that this is a first time setup.
I have the latest versions of both the device handler (05.04.01) and the smart app (05.08.00).
I tried changing the password in the official app.
Iâve tried many times over the course of about an hour.
The smart app has OAuth enabled.
RBoy
(www.rboyapps.com - Making SmartThings Easy!)
1954
Yes folks have been having issues with the server on and off for a day. It
should be back to normal by now
this not because it presented me with new information, but just because it is a great example of 