How ensure that Camera Notification are well received?

Surveillance Center gives you the ability to collectively manage an array of IP cameras. Through its Web-based interface you can monitor live view feeds from all your cameras and play back previously recorded video.

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blopper
Posts: 7
youtube meble na wymiar Warszawa
Joined: Fri Oct 28, 2016 11:53 pm

How ensure that Camera Notification are well received?

Post by blopper »

Hi all

I got a nice piece of AS6204T loaded with 3 HD for hosting data, and a 4th HD dedicated to video surveillance.
My NAS is connected to my LAN.
A HiK Vision 2CD2042WD camera is also connected to my LAN. A Netgear GS108PE-300EUS switch in the heart of my LAN.
So far nothing very specific I guess.

Setting the scene
Before mounting the camera on the outside wall of my house, I wanted to check all was OK and configure it. My purpose is to record when motion is detected in my garden.
I connected the NAS to the network. Installed ADM and Surveillance Center on my NAS.
Connected the camera with PoE through the switch.
Activated the camera with SADPTool from HIKVision.
Launched Surveillance Center and configured it to record when motion is detected, plus email notifications. My camera is not (yet) directly supported by Asustor so I used ONVIF.

After some hours, it did work. Great. I was happy until the very same day, while at my office, I received several alerts by emails. When I cam back home, I understood by watching the records that those were false alarms.

I wanted to limit those false alarms, and decided to upgrade the firmware. My camera was indeed delivered with firmware version 5.3.3. and version 5.3.6 was meant to "Optimize the image quality". At the same time, I updated ADM to its last version.
And as a result, I go no more recording and no more email alert (but of course no more false alarms :mrgreen: )
I tried to fix this and found a more recent firmware, being 5.4.0. No change. Then 5.4.1 (unofficial). Still no change. That was the time when I discovered I can no more downgrade to lower version that 5.4.0.
Well, since Surveillance Center is unable to do the work, I wanted to use native HIKVision capabilities for recording under motion detection, and for sending emails.

Guess what? A bug prevents HIKVision cameras to record on big disks, and another issue with google prevents HIKVision to send emails through gmail.

Dammed. Am I done?
I tried to solve the HIKVision issue with big disks. It nows only sees 250 Gb, and passes the test to connect to the NAS. I still have an error message when using iVMS-4200 Client: "please configure the related Storage Server". iVMS-4200 shows me the Storage Schedule page when I follow its directions to fix this. Record & Capture schedule have been activated and show a full day / all week period. Maybe I messed up with all those schedules.
Dead end.
I also tried to solve the HIKVision issue with sending emails. Followed guidance found on http://www.forum.use-ip.co.uk/threads/s ... ilure.775/
Not much success.

While doing this, I detected that iVMS-4200 Client installed on my windows computer DOES receive motion detection alerts from my camera. Well, why does this program get those triggers, while Surveillance Center on my NAS seems not?

Thus my questions (quite long introduction, indeed).
- Is there any direct way to confirm that Surveillance Center does receive notifications from my camera?
- is there any direct way to confirm that Surveillance Center is capable of sending emails (like a manual test)?

Should anyone got a magic trick for reverting my firmware to 5.3.3, I would also be happy to benefit from this :mrgreen:

If I can make no progress with all this, I would be happy to get advices from the community on any other camera (external, PoE) in the range of 100 euros I could buy and that would make it without such difficulties.

Thanks and cheers

Bruno
MikeG.6.5
Posts: 917
Joined: Fri May 15, 2015 1:56 am

Re: How ensure that Camera Notification are well received?

Post by MikeG.6.5 »

First question I have is, what are you hoping to capture on the camera? Rabbits, deer, people in your garden? Any of these could be seen at any time. It just depends on when they feel comfortable to go into it. (People are going to wait until you aren't home, likely.)
I was happy until the very same day, while at my office, I received several alerts by emails. When I cam back home, I understood by watching the records that those were false alarms.
I would say that the camera is telling the NAS that there was an event. And the NAS is sending out an email on each event. Remember that these events could be something like a bird flying through the picture, a fly landing on the lens, etc. A change in cloud cover. (dark and light shifting in the scene) Even a windy day blowing grass/leaves around could trigger an event. Everything is working as you had hoped it would.

Most motion detecting systems use a sort of algorithm that compares the states of various pixels in the scene, so if a few adjacent ones are suddenly different, the system starts to record.

Based on what you have posted about your "issue" it would seem everything is working exactly as it's supposed to when the NAS is recording the camera's events.
blopper
Posts: 7
Joined: Fri Oct 28, 2016 11:53 pm

Re: How ensure that Camera Notification are well received?

Post by blopper »

MikeG.6.5 wrote: Based on what you have posted about your "issue" it would seem everything is working exactly as it's supposed to when the NAS is recording the camera's events.
Mike

Appreciate your answer and its fantastic value added compared with my question.
For sure, when recording is triggered, it is triggered.
But maybe my English is not appropriate.
It DID work. It does not work anymore since I upgraded the firmware.
So my questions aims at having it work again.

Cheers.
blopper
Posts: 7
Joined: Fri Oct 28, 2016 11:53 pm

Re: How ensure that Camera Notification are well received?

Post by blopper »

Should anyone be interested by my progresses.

- is there any direct way to confirm that Surveillance Center is capable of sending emails (like a manual test)?
Yes, there is a test function in Surveillance Center.
I used it, and discovered Surveillance Center could no more send emails. A dummy mistake, since I activated the 2 steps verification process with Gmail, and needed to change the password for Surveillance Center.
Done, test now OK.

- Is there any direct way to confirm that Surveillance Center does receive notifications from my camera?
I changed my settings in and pretended my camera is a DS-2CD2942F instead of a DS-2CD2042WD.
With the same 42 at the end of the model name, I get a 4M camera. And it works.
I can stream the video, record it, play it back. And more especially, Surveillance Center is waken up by camera trigger message and able to record and send emails upon motion detection!

Conclusion : Mr. ASUSTOR, PLEASE ADD MY CAMERA IN YOUR COMPATIBILITY LIST AND SUPPORT IT !
MikeG.6.5
Posts: 917
Joined: Fri May 15, 2015 1:56 am

Re: How ensure that Camera Notification are well received?

Post by MikeG.6.5 »

Glad you got this all working.

As far as Asustor supporting your camera, you do realize that there are literally hundreds of thousands of cameras out there, right? :) I think they have a pretty large selection of cameras they support now. And they do add more quite often. The problem with adding yours in to the support list is they need a sample, or someone like you to give detailed steps that need to be taken to make it work. So if you make a ticket on the support site with a list of exactly all of the steps required to make it go, they may add it in to the list. For that matter, put that info in here. And I mean exact steps, with screen caps if you can.

In any case I'm glad it's now working as intended.
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