arlo Ultra cameras

[LornaK]

My arlo ultra cameras did not pick up a firetruck parked right in front of my house at 6:20 am. I have two cameras facing that direction that were completely useless. Arlo support is no help.

[StephenB]

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@LornaK wrote:

My arlo ultra cameras did not pick up a firetruck parked right in front of my house at 6:20 am. I have two cameras facing that direction that were completely useless. Arlo support is no help.

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How far away were the cameras from the fire truck?

The motion detection range is spec'd at 25 feet.

• https://kb.arlo.com/000062617/How-far-away-can-Arlo-Cameras-and-Arlo-Video-Doorbells-detect-motion

Though they will sometimes detect large vehicles from further away, mine does not do that consistently.

[Edinburgh_lad1]

Distance doesn't seem to matter. My ultra as well as pro 2 regularly miss events or stop recording half way through, usually just recording up to 25 seconds. I've not had a video of more than that, say 2 min 10 s, or 1 min 35 sec. A stipulation that an object or person moves from left to right or vice versa, or that they avoid the top 25% of the recording area, is just ridiculous.

[StephenB]

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@Edinburgh_lad1 wrote:

Distance doesn't seem to matter.

To clarify this - the PIR sensors used to detect motion definitely have a limited range, and 20-25 feet is common for the size of the sensors on the camera.

If you are saying that your cameras often miss motion that is closer than the spec, then I agree that sometimes happens - and is a problem.  But the spec still does apply, so asking @LornaK how far away the objects are is certainly a relevant question.

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@Edinburgh_lad1 wrote:

A stipulation that an object or person moves from left to right or vice versa, or that they avoid the top 25% of the recording area, is just ridiculous.

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It might sound ridiculous, but the PIR sensors are more sensitive to motion across the field of view than they are to motion directly toward the camera.  This is fundamental to how the sensors work.  They have two slots (side by side) that detect the amount of IR entering each slot.  The sensor monitors the difference in the IR level across the two slots. The sensor goes off when that difference changes.  

And they are more sensitive to motion at the bottom of the field of view than the top.  I believe that is because of the location of the sensor(s) on the camera face (underneath the lens).

Arguably, more PIR sensors could be used to overcome these limitations, or perhaps larger sensors.  Though both of those approaches would require a larger camera.

How the sensor limitations relate to @LornaK's situation is hard to say, which is why I asked only about the distance.