Wyze Outdoor Camera pet peeves...minor stuff but lets talk

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#1

Just a few quick issues. So far the cameras work ok. I have two of them connected to one base station. The range is pretty good. Battery life is ok, both have been running for 4 days. I recharged them today to set a baseline. They appeared to drop quickly the first day as I was setting up and testing them.

I finally started seeing events on the web app from these cameras, and was almost thinking having an SD card in the cameras blocked this? But no. I did opt to instead place the SD card in the basestation and set it to back up to the basestation. If the cameras are stolen then the SD card goes with it. LOL.

My pet peeves.

  1. Put a TAB on the cover for the charging port so we can grab it with our fingers instead of trying to open it with a knife or screw driver. I am going to glue a tab to mine.

  2. The Area of the Motion sensor is fixed in one orientation. If you mount the camera upside down and “Select Rotate 180 degrees” the image is correct but the motion sensing area is now on the top of the image instead of on the bottom. I plan on flipping my mount and putting it right side up as I have room to do so, but figured could not hurt to ask Wyze to add the flip 180 to the sensing zone as well.

  3. I also was surprised that you can’t play back video from the SD card on the camera (save battery life, I get that) but if you choose to Backup to Basestation, it would be nice to be able to play back the video from the base station. I’ll say if first here, its a (&)&()&() pain in the &(&)& to remove the SD card and plug into a computer AND join up the video’s to make a coherent video of an event which spans the blocks that the cameras records in. I had to do this for Yard Sign Thieves and that video led to their identification and they are being prosecuted .

  4. Wyze you should be the ones to sell a Solar Charger for this thing…don’t let some other company beat you to it! (love the mod’s people have done to achieve this :))

Mike

(I have ten of the Wyze Cameras and Two Outdoor models. The regular Wyze cams do fine outside in the little house enclosures, and am still waiting for software to view the cameras on my desktop EASILY on Mac OS. I have played with the Beta firmware for viewing with VLC but it does not work well and is a pain, one can ask…)

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#2

On the orientation, the PIR sensor is hardware so the physical orientation of the camera defines the PIR detection zone. If you want to mount the camera upside down simply pull it off the magnetic base and attach it to the top of the WCO; both top and bottom of the WCO are magnetic.

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#3

Most EXCELLENT! Adding a solar pane to it this week. 20 bucks on amazon.

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#4

Great! Let us know how it turns out!

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#5

I hope it works for you. Keep in mind with the power plug and on/off switch exposed to the elements, the weatherproofing can be compromised.

And not trying to be a “Debbie Downer”, but one of the testers tried to attach a solar panel and did not have any success. In fact, the battery drained faster. I do not know what he used or how it was set up. Hopefully, it will work better for you.

#6

Holy b@lls. I had no idea the top of the WCO was magnetic (I have mine mounted upside down). TIL.

THANK YOU.

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#7

Well that is an issue i guess, but I have the cam under the eaves of my shed, sheltered from the rain. I have not hooked up the charger yet, but plan to today. Also been putting off getting on ladder and flipping the camera right side up.

My other cams are out side and have been working for three years without an issue. Only one that I did not put a chip into before (tried last week) will not work with the chip as I suspect corrosion on the contacts. If I had placed a chip that would not have happened. LOL. Perhaps cams should come with plastic fake card installed to protect the contacts from corrosion???

Mike

#8

There was a Facebook post in the Core Community page about someone that seems to have had some success with a solar panel attached to their WCO. I think there were some details, but because that option is not of any real interest to me, I didn’t read through it too much.

Hope it helps and good luck.

#9

If I recall, that guy was using regular powered cam at his Mail Box, and did not want to run a power wire. LOL