Why am I not getting recording in my Library?

[rhimbo]

Hi,

I have set up my camera to watch the sidewalk and driveway of my home as I've been having some vandalism.  There is some "constant" motion as one tree in my front yard is in camera view and the leaves are moving most of the day due to breeze or wind.  

When I go to the  "Mode" menu (logged in from web browser on my desktop) I see that the mode is "Motion is detected" is checked and "Record video" is checked.  

"Push notification" and "Send email alert" are unchecked.  

Under "Devices" menu I click on "Live View" for the camera and I can see motion (cars going by, leaves moving on the tree, etc.).  But under "Library" I see no recordings.  Why?  

Thanks...,

[jguerdat]

It may simply be that the motion is too small to be detected for your sensitivity setting.  Remember that you really don't want the moving leaves being the trigger, just important stuff.  You may want to reposition the camera to minimize things like trees and cars on the street.

Also, how do you know things should have been recorded? Are the running men for each camera in the Devices tab black or gray (gray means disarmed)? Have you tested motion detection and recording? 

[rhimbo]

Hi jguerdat,

Thanks for the reply.  Well, I know something should have been recorded because I've been testing by walking down my driveway and driving my car out of my driveway.  The driveway is "in front of" the tree with the moving leaves.  

One detail I should have said.  The Arlo 2 is pointing out the back of the rear window of my second car, which is parked on the curb. So it has a clear view of that tree, and the driveway in front of it is only about 20 feet away.  

I do not want the camera or base unit to capture all the "insignificant" movements such as trees and leaves moving.  However, I do want to capture the person who has been breaking branches off of my beautiful trees.  

Many thanks...

[jguerdat · Accepted solution]

Your problem is that you're trying to detect motion through glass, which blocks the IR needed for that detection. You'll need to move the camera outside of any glass for it to work.

[rhimbo]

Oh well, time to return this product.  

IR radiation does go through glass quite readily, even thick glass.  Only certain types of coatings could inhibit IR radiation penetration.  The reflectivity should be neglibible as there is no coating on the glass of my rear window.  

Moreover, at the very least the system should do continuous recording and then simply overwrite the oldest recording data (I signed up for the 7-day recording storage plan).  Obviously the camera is sensing some motion as the "Live" view shows motion.  

Very disappointing.  Guess I'll go with a more serious, professional NVR and IP cameras....

[steve_t]

I don't know of any PIR sensors that work through glass