ando

Does your software pull the files from the FTP server or to use have to search thought folders? I think the stream-to-FTP option is mostly for people who for some reason do not want to use NVR. Possible reasons: 1. cost saving. you can run linux based FTP and save money from windows license. also, save NVR license money. 2. no need for live monitoring at all, and video material playback is only needed when events occur. For that, even ArchivePlayer (one of the free utilities in ACTi) is enough to do the job. 3. bandwidth saving. If camera is connected to NVR, it streams constantly, regardless of NVR recording is on or off. If the video-to-ftp is triggered by an event, then all other time, the whole bandwidth will be idle and can serve other purposes. 4. stream to FTP as a backup solution when the main recording system fails. (event handler should detect the failure) - however, not implemented in next firmware release. If you ask, is it possible with ACTi NVR to access the videos on FTP, then yes if the computer running NVR server itself is also FTP server (with professional version of windows you can achieve both). But what would be the benefit? Perhaps to combine point 2 and 3 above, and use NVR's ActivePlayer to do the analysis and processing of existing videos.

DITTO Especially when it is negative digits during a snow storm with a few feet of snow and ice under my ladder GRRRRRRRRR For that reason, ACTi does not officially encourage using PoE for very cold environment. Because we don't want you to climb the poles in the snow storm. However, this discussion is very useful - we learn more about the camera and prepare proposals for camera enhancement.

Good idea. I will make this proposal in our PD.

With the new firmware (3.11.xx) that will be released this month, ACTi cameras can directly send e-mails to any recipent you define. You can even define the content of an e-mail - either it is a plain text, or with snapshots of motion triggered event, or with a small video clip in attachment (5 seconds or so). Furthermore, it can directly stream video to FTP server whenever an event occurs. It means, even if you don't have NVR at all, you will have video evidence stored in FTP server, which can be helpful for police investigation of a criminal act in the camera site.

Please give my warm greetings to Dave. I have not met him personally yet because he is in US branch while I am in Taipei. The whole US team is very strong - every sales team member is very good at technical details and solutions.

We are writing those manuals and support packages. In official documents, there cannot be risks taken. The reason why PoE support is not listed for fan/heater mode is the concern that for PoE class 3 rated Switches do not always produce 15.4W. Some of them perform as low as 7W in reality, regardless of spec. Since ACM-7411 requires actual 13.2W to work (among which heaters 3W and 9W), the margin is too small to risk with announcing PoE support. Last couple of days I have spent quite much time talking to the engineers who actually built that camera, to get some insights. I asked them if it was possible to disable the 3W primary heater, and only let the 9W heater work, which would then be safe enough for PoE, but they said unfortunately there is no way to disable it without rebuilding the camera. All I can recommend is - try with a industrial PoE switch if you have one in hand. If it works even below -10C, then you have found your solution. If not, use an adapter instead.

I totally agree with this approach - the motion detection should work perfectly in both day and night conditions. Basically, the definition of ideal motion detection is to have maximum possible sensitivity while not producing false alarms. A good camera should meet this ideal criteria in both day and night time without needing to do any manual changes in the meantime. ACTi has seriously studied this and as a result, already this month there will be a release of new firmware 3.11.xx which contains Event Handler system. The event handler can get a trigger from a day/night switch based on lighting conditions (or even time scheduled trigger if you like), and it can send a URL command to itself, to adjust motion detection sensitivity. As a result, you will have a camera that has an idea motion detection system running automatically in day and night mode. Customers can download and install the new firmware for free, as soon as it is available in the website.

Hello guys! It is an interesting thread. I noticed different opinions about ACM-4200. Every opinion and idea can help make progress. ACTi is learning a lot from customers' thoughts and proposals. Speaking of adding a night support for ACM-42xx series, can you suggest some applications where you need such feature? So far, the customers choose box, dome or bullet cameras for indoor night monitoring. Is there a need for cube camera with night support? Maybe the main idea is to have a low budget indoor night camera regardless of design?

I never heard that there are any issues with motion detection. I would be happy to know more about it. In ACM-7411 you can set different motion detection regions on the screen, different sensitivity and trigger levels. Furthermore, in next firmware release (easy for customers to upgrade) there will be a powerful event handler - no other camera manufacturer has it yet. Among hundreds of event types and triggers, you can activate and deactivate motion detection system based on either light sensitivity (day/night), schedule, DI trigger, etc. If there are any difficulties with making the motion detection system work perfectly, I will be around to help you. I assure you, you will love ACM-7411. It is one of the best-selling outdoor cameras. Besides, there will also be TCM-7411 with H.264 supported coming soon. Something to wait for.

Here it is:

I made a snapshot of 7411 together with its adapter for you, but too bad the forum won't allow me to upload nor use img tags.

Hello! I found this topic too late. Now the discussion has drifted a bit. Is there anything I can help you with ACM-4200 settings?

I also suggest to look at the camera specs and PoE specs. Make sure which PoE class is supported by camera and which class by switch. Some PoE switches are notorious for the poor power output - for example you only get 7W instead of 15W. And if you happen to have a camera that uses lets say 9W on PoE for onboard component (maybe heater), then it will have problems.

Hmm. To be honest, there have not been many tests made with ACM-7411 with PoE support under extreme temeratures. Theoretically, if the PoE switch really provides 15W per channel as it promises, then it should be doable. The reason why PoE is not written in ACTi camera spec for 13.2W consumption is the fear that most switches in the market do not provide promised 15W even though their specs claim to be able to do so. So, if you happen to have a switch in hand that can support 15W per port, please test with it first. Put the camera into freezer (-18C) while testing. The second issue is the external temperature. As long as the outside temperature is not too cold (lets say not colder than -10C inside camera), then only a 3W heating system will run in camera. Should the temperature get colder than that, it will automatically run another 9W heater, so the total consuption of those heaters are already 12W. Altogether overall consumption 13.2W. If the temperature does not get that cold, then nothing to worry at all - almost any PoE switch can do the job then. So, to sum up, PoE should be ok for temperatures above -10C, or, with switches that actually provide 15W as promised. I am somewhat concerned about it, because I spoke to one engineer who had bad experience even with some industrial switches which eventually provided less power than in specs.

Yes, you can use the power adapters that are included to the camera package, or use an appropriate PoE switch - either of the two ways will do the job to keep camera, blower and heater running. The only problem is when you use a low-quality PoE switch, which claims supporting 15W per port, but actually does not. So, if you are going to go for the PoE solution, look for industrial switches. As for using the adapter that comes with camera package - it is always a very reliable solution, however, it is often too troublesome to do the cabling job - in addition to cat5 cable you would also have to pull power cables from the nearest power supply to the camera. With cat5 cable the PoE should work fine within 100 from switch, it uses 4 wires out of 8 to transmit electricity (wires 4+,5+,7-,. So, to use the power adapter for each camera + pull the power cables, or use PoE Switch instead - the choice is yours. It will work either way! The only ACTi cameras that do not have power adapter in the camera package are mini domes ACM-37xx and ACM-36xx - for those cameras you can buy a PoE injector if you are not going to use PoE switch.

The simplest way to solve both cabling and power issues is to use the suitable PoE supported Switches, providing 15W per channel. To ensure 15W per channel, I recommend use industrial switches, for example Korenix, Moxa, Cisco, Hp. For economic choice, consider D-Link and other consumer switches, but maybe not so reliable for your purpose.