[CCTV Camera] airCam

[pete_c]

I wrote to Dan this morning. 
 
I am having some issues posting / attaching pictures.  About 90% of the time it goes to the "Captcha" thing whichever of the two methods I utilize.  
 
I can though upload pics to my personal on the forum picture storage and then link to it with no issues.  (as using outside photo sites).

 

[pete_c]

I "bricked" my Aircam yesterday trying to do another firmware upgrade to it.  The reset switch though is working as far as I can tell.
 
I moved the camera to a simple one cable from the PC to the camera connection on the workbench yesterday.
 
I saw the camera in the diagnostics program.  Updated it and never saw it again.  The LED lights are blinking as if it were still on the network though. 
 
This was the oldest of the two and not sure really what happened.  I have updated webcam Aircam #1 and it is doing fine.  It is now difficult to get to as its mounted under an eave under the second floor roof.  I was planning on doing the same with the second Aircam mounting it on the back of the house under the eave under the second floor roof.  I utilize a streaming live view (lags a bit) with my cell phone to adjust it.  Its more difficult to put the ladder up than it is to mount the cameras though.
 
Requested an RMA today. (date of post - June 2, 2013). 
 
RMA was acknowledged on June 3, 2013 (next day Monday).

 

[BraveSirRobbin]

I was having some problems uploading pics also and I noticed if I reset the web page and used the non flash uploads, all would then work well (after the captcha entry).

 

[pete_c]

Yesterday updated beta firmware version to  v1.2-beta6.17849.130531.0356.
 
I did notice that the time is off one hour using the internal time NTP server this morning.
 
Not sure; but it looks like the date on the OSD is the startup date.
 
I also noticed that while its nice to have a wide angle view with the 2.5mm lens; noticing more today that its not an evenly (across entire FOV) sharp view.
 

 

[Mario23]

I had noticed that too with the lens.
I lost a lot of detail...
 
I've got all my cams packed up right now and the house is already stripped to the frame.
Thinking about some HD domes for the house when its done.
I did notice before we moved out that Blue Iris was really getting laggy with 4 HD cams and 3 SD.
I figured at some point I was going to have to update the computer...

 

[pete_c]

Good news Mario.  Let me know when you want / need the patch panels; as I found them.  They are labled "Just Data Level 5".  They are Cat5e; so do not know whether they will work for you.
 
Yeah; pushing my ZM box now with "only" 4 Gb of Ram and running Ubuntu 32 bit.  There is only 4 HD (dual streams) running of 16 streams on it and average CPU utilization is around 95-100% now.  Still the montage views work well. 
 
Probably here just moving to using Ubuntu 64bit with 8 Gb of RAM.  Still will be pushing it though with HD streaming.
 
Yeah; Dome HD IP cams are now too at the $100 price point and now even cheaper are the full HD 1080 IP cams. (you have to look for them though).
 
On the lens not sure if its a lens issue or a CMOS issue relating to the distortion.  Its hard to tell in fact because the Aircam's / CMOS are manufactured for the 4mm lens included.  What is nice is that the lens is easy to change being mounted kind of exterior to the camera board.  The "other" mfg lens / camera boards are different with a set screw holding the lens in place and a manual UV mechanical auto shutter (not IR as previously stated) mounted between the lens and the CMOS.  VERY easy to break this piece by adjusting a different lens to the very thin glass (?) shutter breaking it.  I did find an included with a fish eye 1.2mm lens HD IP camera dome.  Reasonable in price.

 

[Mario23]

I will. Was contemplating 5e or 6 depending on the price. .. getting a quote soon hopefully.

 

[pete_c]

Relating to the Dome cameras stuff decided (and it was suggested to me) to go a DIY route. 
 
I have "experimented" over the years with various outdoor domes in IP66-67 cases and have a few of these today not really being utilized and many in boxes.  Noticed some are larger than others and mostly all use the same mechanisms / hardware to mount the camera boards inside. 
 
That said the newer IPHD cams are using similiar video boards with just connections to the IP boards making a plug n play setup for a nice HD IP dome. 
 
That and with the legacy analog pigtail I am leaving the legacy connection in place and streaming from both analog and digital video. 
 
This is a DIY board ...so might as well. 

 

[Mario23]

I think you mentioned previously moving your cams to a separate network.
I was considering trying this if the HD cams cause too much of a traffic issue.
I'm just not sure if the network would necessarily suffer and at what point.

 

[tmbrown97]

I would suggest a web search for te various camera bandwidth calculators. You should be able to estimate the bandwidth consumed by each camera and look for bottlenecks (ie with 6mbps per camera, at 16 cameras the 100mb uplink will be taxed).

Cameras aren't as hard on networks as people think... If they were taking 50mbps per camera you'd have plenty of other problems!

 

[pete_c]

Unrelated but maybe found the issue with using the 2.5mm lens blurryness.  Folks on the Ubiquiti website have mentioned that it might be the spring in place which is offsetting the lens some.
 
I have another Aircam that I am playing with relating to the changing of the lens et al.  
 
Its a PITA to get my one Aircam as its mounted up under the eave of my second story home. 
 
I might though run another cat5 nearby and mount a Grandstream based IP HD camera (looking at one 1080 HD IP cam that has zoom built into the OS now - which would be a neat thing to have).
 
I have not at this time moved the Aircam IP cameras to a different network.  I am considering this though as I am streaming IP HD and SD plus now analog SD from the newer Grandstream IP HD cameras (works fine).  Traffic starts to add up per camera, on the DVR out now. 
 
That said "found" another tool built into the OS of the Ubiquiti AP which tests the speeds of connected devices on the network to the AP. 
 
I never really paid much attention.  What an easy tool to utilize and I commend Ubiquiti for the inclusion of this tool in their AP's.
 
I looked at just the speeds of connectivity of various devices on my network and I did see an issue with devices that connect via USB to network interfaces and compared them to devices connected via the built in NIC and via the wireless AP.  Huge differences in speeds.
 
Attached is the throughput shown on the Aircam OS streaming and currently capped at: 4096 Kbit/s, 10 fps, 60 Hz
 
Currently running with Aircam beta FW v1.2-beta6.17849.130531.0356 (same as before)
 
This is literally nothing compared to streaming 1080HD stuff at 30FPS with say a bitrate of 8K.  (80 ? still checking).
 
It'll be nice when they are at Gb connectivity.

 

[drvnbysound]

I'm curious if any of you using the airCams have tried the airVision software? Thoughts?

 

[pete_c]

I haven't here but am totally impressed with the included diagnostics software running on the Aircam. 

 

[wuench]

I use Airvision on a windows server (VM).  I tried ZoneMinder (http://zoneminder.com)  but it was so difficult to get running, I gave up.  Airvision was a snap and it has a nice interface (flash based).  I have had it disconnect a few times but the latest version seems to recover.  I still haven't gotten the motion detection configured to my satisfaction, I get a lot of falses from shadows, lightning, etc.  Also the motion detection takes several minutes to email me.  Lastly I wish there was a better way to tap into the camera feeds, I haven't found a good way to integrate it with CQC and would like it to both signal CQC when something occurs and be able to view the cameras from a web widget.  I have not been successful at either.  
 
I only have one aircam for now, anxiously awaiting the new version....

 

[pete_c]

I'm going to put a second POE connection next to where one Aircam is mounted for anothe IP HD camera.  That said I am also going to put another two under an eave POE connections on the opposite side of the house for the second Aircam/HD IP camera. 
 
I am looking to use the same 3.6mm lens in the two per side IP cameras. 
 
I will hopefully be able to do this before it gets cold.  Its easy to run catxx cable to the attic/eaves.
 
Once that is done and I have two Aircams running with 2.8 mm lenses then will put Airvision software on a box/VM to play with the two Aircams.