topic Re: Motion Detection Perimeter in Arlo Pro 2

Motion Detection Perimeter

LotVideoSecurit — Fri, 09 Feb 2018 15:33:49 GMT

I recently installed 3 new Arlo Pro 2 cameras and I am new to this. Does anyone know how to adjust the motion detection perimeter within the viewing ranges? I don't want my front yard camera to detect the moving cars on the street. I only want it to detect when the cars and people entered the front yard perimeter. Thanks.

Re: Motion Detection Perimeter

brh — Fri, 09 Feb 2018 17:39:30 GMT

@LotVideoSecurit

With such a small front yard the only thing for now would be to mount it above the garage door pointing down. You would see the driveway but not all of the yard.

If you can find a way to connect the power adapter to AC power and have a way to keep the moisture away from the power outlet and camera you could use the Activity Zones that the Pro 2 cameras are capable of, but they won't work on either solely battery power or solar panel power.

Brian

Re: Motion Detection Perimeter

LotVideoSecurit — Fri, 09 Feb 2018 18:52:07 GMT

Yes, the front yard is not too big. It is roughly 80ft across. The camera is mounted under the eve of the roof, which is roughly the center of the front yard. The other half of the front yard doesn't have any camera. Why do I have to connect it to a power outlet to use Activity Zone? I don't want to drill the frame of the roof eve to get access to the power line inside the attic. It is too much work. This is the reason why I bought the wire-free camera in the first place. Since the camera is battery powered, is there any way to set Activity Zone without connecting it to the power outlet. Is there any software upgrade for this? Thanks.

Re: Motion Detection Perimeter

LotVideoSecurit — Fri, 09 Feb 2018 19:09:48 GMT

Oh, I forgot to mention that I don't want the camera to see just the driveway. I want it to keep an eye and an ear on one window, entry way and driveway which is the entire right side of the house. There are two more windows on the left of the house and the camera, and I planned to buy another camera for the right side of the front yard to cover the other two windows and the left side of the front yard....

Re: Motion Detection Perimeter

brh — Fri, 09 Feb 2018 19:34:09 GMT

@LotVideoSecurit

Unfortunately, I believe that the Activity Zones only work when the power adapter is plugged into an AC wall outlet. There would be too much battery drain otherwise. Consider changing the direction of the camera to see as little of the street as possible. From your picture, it seems that you may need two cameras to cover both the yard and the driveway without getting a video and notification every time a car passes by.

Brian

Re: Motion Detection Perimeter

LotVideoSecurit — Fri, 09 Feb 2018 21:46:52 GMT

Thanks. I hope that there is a firmware for owner with battery operated camera can use activity zone. I understand that it might drain a little more battery, but I doubt that it will consume anymore than without activity zone. With less motion zones, the camera will be less active which should use power....

Re: Motion Detection Perimeter

jguerdat — Fri, 09 Feb 2018 21:48:16 GMT

A bit of a PITA but consider rotating the camera 90 degrees. There's no setting to rotate the video automatically but you would at least be able to minimize the camera view. Otherwise, you may need an extra camera so that the two would be able to rotate down and view only a small section of yard/house/driveway. If you choose the latter method, you could also use netsed rules so that when one camera detects the other would record, like this:

Cam1 detects, Cam1 records

Cam1 detects, Cam2 records

Cam2 detects, Cam2 records

Cam2 detects, Cam1 records.

Re: Motion Detection Perimeter

steve_t — Fri, 09 Feb 2018 22:59:52 GMT

I would reconsider that mounting location

Re: Motion Detection Perimeter

LotVideoSecurit — Fri, 09 Feb 2018 23:46:29 GMT

I pointed the camera a little bit further downward and reduced the motion sensitivity to 40. I hope this do the trick. If I point it any further down, it will not cover the driveway. I am thinking of mounting the camera on the big tree at the left of the frontyard (which is not in the camera view now) and point the camera to window, entrance and driveway, but I am afraid that the camera might be too expose to the strong monsoon rain and wind. Can it withstand the strong Arizona monsoon rain, wind and heat?

Re: Motion Detection Perimeter

Paul_FCCL — Fri, 09 Feb 2018 23:35:27 GMT

wrote:
Thanks. I hope that there is a firmware for owner with battery operated camera can use activity zone. I understand that it might drain a little more battery, but I doubt that it will consume anymore than without activity zone. With less motion zones, the camera will be less active which should use power....

The additional battery drain (with pixel-based activity zones enabled) would actually be pretty significant, based on your activity volume, you may have to recharge the battery every few days.

Re: Motion Detection Perimeter

LotVideoSecurit — Fri, 09 Feb 2018 23:49:10 GMT

So, firmware update is not an option then...

Re: Motion Detection Perimeter

Paul_FCCL — Sat, 10 Feb 2018 00:02:53 GMT

wrote:
So, firmware update is not an option then...

I don’t believe so.......at least not for that feature. I don’t know whether there are any battery operated cams around that include pixel-based activity zones. All the ones I know of, have to be connected to a/c power.

Re: Motion Detection Perimeter

LotVideoSecurit — Sat, 10 Feb 2018 00:32:00 GMT

I am thinking of mounting the camera on the big tree at the left/front side of the front yard (which is not in the camera view now) and point the camera directly at the window, entrance and driveway, but I am afraid that the camera might be too exposed to the strong Arizona monsoon rain, wind and heat. Can the camera withstand the strong Arizona monsoon rain, wind and heat?

Re: Motion Detection Perimeter

LotVideoSecurit — Sat, 10 Feb 2018 00:56:25 GMT

If the camera can withstand the strong Arizona monsoon rain, wind and heat, I want to install it on the far left tree in the front yard...

The photo of the trees was several years ago. The trees are a lot bigger now...

Re: Motion Detection Perimeter

brh — Sat, 10 Feb 2018 01:19:23 GMT

@LotVideoSecurit

I made some very inexpensive yet very secure mounts out of plastic electrical junction boxes. Take a look here:

https://community.netgear.com/t5/ideas/ideaprintpage/blog-id/arlo-idea-exchange/article-id/8624

They might give you some ideas for mounting the camera to the tree.

Also, check if your wifi extends that far out. If not you may need to purchase a wifi extender and new base station to get the signal to reach that far. Or, you could purchase an Arlo Go, but I think that could get expensive in a hurry.

Brian

Re: Motion Detection Perimeter

LotVideoSecurit — Sat, 10 Feb 2018 01:53:48 GMT

Thanks. That is a good idea. Unfortunately, I live in a brand new community with very strict rules. I'll try to find a box that is not easily seen and recognized from the street...

Re: Motion Detection Perimeter

jguerdat — Sat, 10 Feb 2018 02:17:10 GMT

Based on my experience as well as what others have posted, heat, wind and rain isn't an issue. Mine still generally use the magnetic mounts with no issue and some are fully exposed to weather. The only issue I've had is moisture on the lens in rare occasions.

Re: Motion Detection Perimeter

LotVideoSecurit — Sat, 10 Feb 2018 14:49:07 GMT

I don't know how strong rain and wind where you at, but the summer monsoon rain and wind in Arizona are very strong. It knocked down several of my trees in the last couple years. The summer heat reached 120 degrees and hoovering around 115 degrees throughout summer. The latest positions adjustments and lowered the sensitivity seems to do the trick. It didn't record any car on the street....

Re: Motion Detection Perimeter

Scopeguy — Sat, 10 Feb 2018 16:16:22 GMT

The range of motion detection is only about 20-25 ft. So as long as your camera is further than that from the street, you should not detect the unwanted street traffic.

Re: Motion Detection Perimeter

LotVideoSecurit — Sat, 10 Feb 2018 19:30:05 GMT

This doesn't sound right, because where the cars were recorded on the street was at least 40ft away from the camera on the roof.. Adjusted the camera angles further in and down and lowered the sensitivity as suggested by others yesterday seems to work. It didn't record any car on the street last night. It only recorded my daughter's car when she drove in the driveway last night. The driveway is roughly 30ft away from the camera on the roof....