topic Re: Pro 3 camera issue in Arlo Pro 3

Pro 3 camera issue

grandpawmoses — Tue, 14 Apr 2020 23:51:28 GMT

I have an Ultra system with 6 Ultra, 2 Pro 3, and 2 Pro 2 cameras.

Only have an issue with the Pro 3 cameras. Both trigger for movement constantly, like 60 times a day with no apparent movement in the recorded videos. I have lowered the sensitivity on these (5% at a time) to 15% and they still false trigger.

Any suggestions?

Both Pro 3's have firmware: 1.060.10.12_358_e212922

Ultra base firmware: 1.16.1.1_475_71659aa

Re: Pro 3 camera issue

jguerdat — Wed, 15 Apr 2020 13:46:10 GMT

You are changing sensitivity in your modes and rules, right?

Post a video link for one of these so we can see.

Re: Pro 3 camera issue

grandpawmoses — Wed, 15 Apr 2020 15:38:08 GMT

Yes, this is one of this mornings videos at 20% sensitivity. They are about 3 minutes apart and only on the Pro 3 cameras. It started on both Pro 3 cameras at once. All the other Ultras and Pro 2's are fine at 85% sensitivity.

Re: Pro 3 camera issue

StephenB — Wed, 15 Apr 2020 18:48:34 GMT

Did you try swapping around the cameras, to see whether the issue is related to the scene or the camera?

I think the trees are going to trigger a lot of motion recordings, especially when back-lit (as they are here).

If you have a paid subscription, then Activity zones might help, though even there you are likely to get motion recordings then the ground is lit due to the moving shadows.

Turning off "all other motion' will certainly control the notification rate, but not the recordings.

Re: Pro 3 camera issue

K80Shooter — Wed, 15 Apr 2020 18:57:04 GMT

Notice the shadows moving from the trees? Mine are doing the same thing and I'm 90% sure that it's the shadows. I also have played around with the sensitivity to no avail. Are you by any chance running these off of ac power? Mine picks up a lot more when running on ac. Also the activity zones on my pro 3's have no affect on what's picked up.

Re: Pro 3 camera issue

dcfox1 — Wed, 15 Apr 2020 19:18:06 GMT

I was receiving alerts from trees in breezy weather. I adjusted activity zone and corrected a lot of it. Also i noticed in the video a white thing moving into the screen on the left side below ur picture at 10 seconds. not sure what it was. saw it later in your video. mabey its just the recording.

Re: Pro 3 camera issue

StephenB — Wed, 15 Apr 2020 20:05:43 GMT

@dcfox1 wrote:

Also i noticed in the video a white thing moving into the screen on the left side below ur picture at 10 seconds. not sure what it was.

I think that's a leaf (sunlit).

@grandpawmoses: Are you wanting to monitor that area for wildlife? Or are you interested in monitoring for security?

If this is about security, you might do better to aim the cameras towards the house instead (mounting them on the fence, or perhaps on the tree.

Re: Pro 3 camera issue

K80Shooter — Wed, 15 Apr 2020 20:50:10 GMT

I'm betting he's wanting to see the deer that's coming to that salt block he has out there but also as a security camera.

Re: Pro 3 camera issue

grandpawmoses — Wed, 15 Apr 2020 21:12:34 GMT

Thanks for the replies.

I am retired and have a hobby of watching the wildlife, with a special interest in Whitetail deer, hence the salt block. I don't hunt them.

I have 10 cameras total. Only two are Pro 3's. All others (Ultras and Pro 2's) are working as they should at 80% sensitivity.

Both Pro 3's have this issue. I get about 80~100 recordings from these two in about a 24 hour period (with them set at 20% sensitivity).

Here's one from last night for your pleasure:

Re: Pro 3 camera issue

grandpawmoses — Wed, 15 Apr 2020 21:16:44 GMT

To just say it's interesting would be an understatement. Here's one more:

Re: Pro 3 camera issue

dcfox1 — Wed, 15 Apr 2020 21:35:59 GMT

I have one for the same thing. Try the activity zones on the pro3 cams to eliminate the part of trees which u would't see animals or people. pretty much the top quarter or so. It cut my alerts down in a breeze or wind a lot but not perfect. Your set up is a lot like my on one of my cam toward the woods.

Re: Pro 3 camera issue

K80Shooter — Wed, 15 Apr 2020 21:39:31 GMT

@grandpawmoses

Are you running these on ac power or battery?

@dcfox1

I see you also have the pro 3 correct?

My activity zones are worthless and so is the sensitivity settings. Mine are running on ac power though. I'm waiting on Arlo to post back as I have saw many posts where the activity zones not working. Are you running on battery power?

I'm wondering if that's what's causing my problems.

Re: Pro 3 camera issue

grandpawmoses — Wed, 15 Apr 2020 21:47:01 GMT

They are on AC power.

Re: Pro 3 camera issue

dcfox1 — Wed, 15 Apr 2020 22:05:57 GMT

k80 i am on battery on pro 3 and it seems to be working much better or one heck of a coincidence since then its been really windy the past week after setting them up had very few trees blowing outside the active zones as before . I did hear conflicting reports that it has to be on ac but dont know. i read cvr has to be not activity.

Re: Pro 3 camera issue

K80Shooter — Wed, 15 Apr 2020 22:17:10 GMT

@grandpawmoses

I thought you might be on ac power when you said the sensitivity was turned way down with no affect. I'll also wager that if you set up a activity zone that the pro 3 will record outside of it also. Mine is doing the same thing and I'm very unhappy about these issues.

@dcfox1

I've also saw conflicting reports. I am not subscribed to cvr only the basic stuff.

I do like how the detection range is boosted while on ac power but the activity zones really need to work. At night I'll get every car that goes up or down our road and they are a good 130 ft away and way out of the activity zone. Night, dusk and dawn is when mine picks up the vehicles. During daylight hours it does not.

Re: Pro 3 camera issue

dcfox1 — Wed, 15 Apr 2020 22:23:40 GMT

If u could't use activity zones on battery i would think it would't allow anyone to set it up as it can tell if its on ac But who knows

Re: Pro 3 camera issue

StephenB — Thu, 16 Apr 2020 11:44:46 GMT

@dcfox1 wrote:

If u could't use activity zones on battery i would think it would't allow anyone to set it up as it can tell if its on ac But who knows

The same configuration is used for both cloud activity zones and local activity zones. You can always set it up (even if you have no subscription and run on battery power). But you will see a warning that activity zones are disabled if you are on battery with no subscription.

@grandpawmoses : I think you should simply disable smart notifications for "all other motion" and "vehicles". You'll still get the recordings in the library. But you can easily set the filter to "animal" to eliminate the clutter. This would require a subscription for at least the two cameras though.

You might also try swapping the cameras around, and see if the pro3s generate fewer unwanted recordings in another spot.

Thx for sharing the videos!

Re: Pro 3 camera issue

grandpawmoses — Thu, 16 Apr 2020 12:21:50 GMT

Thanks for the ideas.

I do have a subscription for the ten cameras.

I don't mind the notifications but I hate to look through that many videos to see if there are anythings there.

Here's a little more information about my camera location swapping.

The Ultra's wouldn't perform there at that distance from the base. My best guess is that it has to do with the 4k vs 2k resolution signal requirements.

The Pro 2's do work there without issue. I added the Pro 3's there mainly for the better night vision. The Pro 3's worked perfectly there for a while.

Here's my theory. The sensitivity is always at about zero regardless of the sensitivity setting.

??????

Re: Pro 3 camera issue

K80Shooter — Thu, 16 Apr 2020 13:14:51 GMT

@grandpawmoses

You stated that they worked fine to start with. When they worked were you running on battery power by any chance? Did your problems start when you added ac power? Or maybe after the last app update?

Try this and I'll almost guarantee your problems will go away. Just run on battery power only for a couple of days and see how it works.

I really think there is a problem with the app/software causing these problem as it seems that it's only when running on ac power.

I'll bow out after this post, hope they work out for you.

Re: Pro 3 camera issue

StephenB — Thu, 16 Apr 2020 13:13:44 GMT

@grandpawmoses wrote:
Here's my theory. The sensitivity is always at about zero regardless of the sensitivity setting.

I think you are finding that the sensitivity is always too high (not too low). The cameras do react somewhat differently to motion.

Another thought is that you could try disconnecting the power, and see if that makes any difference.

@grandpawmoses wrote:

I don't mind the notifications but I hate to look through that many videos to see if there are anythings there.

That's why I suggested using the filter when you access the library.