Light flashing but not in zone

[Tallj]

My pro5 is picking up movement out of its one zone but it's not sending a notification, just turning the light on. I.e it's smart enough to not send a notification but not smart enough not to turn  the light on.

This sounds like a software bug !?!?

Thanks

John.

[StephenB]

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@Tallj wrote:

My pro5 is picking up movement out of its one zone but it's not sending a notification, just turning the light on. I.e it's smart enough to not send a notification but not smart enough not to turn  the light on.

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Here's what happens when the camera is on battery:

• The camera detects motion, turns on the spotlight, and streams the video to the Arlo Cloud
• The Arlo Cloud then determines whether the motion is in-zone of not.
• If the motion is in-zone, the cloud sends the notifcation and saves the recording

So not a bug, just the way the camera works.

If you need to keep the spotlight off in this situation, all you can do is change the camera settings to use Nightvision (keeping the spotlight off when it detects motion after dark). You'll get IR recordings (rendered as black and white in the recording).

[Tallj]

Hi,

The problem is not the light - it's the battery which is draining (and has drained again last night).

I already have it on night vision (colour) Will the light off help the battery  that much that it stops draining? will b&w help versus colour?

thanks,

John.

[StephenB]

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@Tallj wrote:

The problem is not the light - it's the battery which is draining (and has drained again last night).

I already have it on night vision (colour) Will the light off help the battery  that much that it stops draining? will b&w help versus colour?

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Arlo doesn't give much info on the power use of the IR LEDs compared to the spotlight.  But you could try shifting to the normal night vision (turning color off), and see if that helps.

As you found, activity zones won't solve this problem.  Two other things you could try:

1. adjust the motion sensitivity.  Best to do this using the motion detection test.  Walk around in the activity zone, and find the lowest threshold that detects you reliably.  Then set the actual threshold slightly above this value.
2. reposition the camera so less of the unwanted areas are out of the field of view.

A solar panel (or getting AC power to the camera) is of course another option, though it often isn't practical. Getting the XL upgrade kit would give you more time between charges, which could reduce the nuisance.

• https://www.arlo.com/en-us/accessories/VMA5410-10000S.html
• https://www.arlo.com/en-us/accessories/VMA5600C-100NAS.html
• https://www.arlo.com/en-us/accessories/VMA5600-20000S.html

[Tallj]

I already have the solar panel - and, in this latet winter period, this camera has just died twice in a month. Clearly, I need something pretty damned different to happen or else this thing is a just a nice bit of plastic for the birds to sit on !

So far, I've turned the mics of both my cameras - because they can't tell wind from a voice - which is one thing the location really needed.

I've turned the light off entirely now - I liked the flashing light as a deterrent so that's another wasted bit of money/useless function.

I've turned the colour vision to b & w - another wasted feature/money.

And now I've got to practice walking around it to try to make it realise that me walking around my kitchen is not an intruder. I might as well get a bit of cardboard and stick it on it to block out the kitchen - how stylish and high-tech  !!

I am very unimpressed by this bit of kit - to say the least.

However - thanks for the input - if you are an arlo employee then please take note that I expect a damned refund and you really need to look at the features of this thing - if you're someone just trying to help then thanks 🙂

[StephenB]

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@Tallj wrote:

if you are an arlo employee

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I do not work for Arlo.

[Tallj]

Thanks for your help @StephenB .

For others coming to this...

I set the camera to power management-> best battery mode. And suddenly it started to hardly discharge at all. I set it to power management -> optimized and then slowly increased the functions back to what I actually wanted I.e light on, increased sensitivity.

Lo and behold I have trouble in discharging it at all now !! Wake Up in the morning and it's 100% charge !

God knows what affected it but worth a shot if you find yourself in the same position?

Good luck ( I hate that I have to say that about a bit of kit that should *just work* for the price !)

John.