Michael Garrett
Young grasshopper
I have many non PTZ Dahua camera. I recently purchased the Dahua PTZ5AK-25X from Andy. Is this camera rugged enough to be left on constant patrol 24/7?
PTZ Patrol
- Thread starter Michael Garrett
- Start date
Most here wouldn't recommend it.
Although they can do that, but you really don't want to do that as the PTZs are only rated for so many "cycles" and folks that have used patrol have had the system become inoperable as a PTZ after a couple years. Someone here recently had their PTZ on patrol changing presets every 7 seconds and got the warning after around 440 days.
Plus, if it is cycling it can be avoided and miss the action.
You are much better off using fixed cams as spotter cams to point the PTZ to where the action is and then let the autotracking take over from there.
Using Spotter Cameras to direct a PTZ where to look in an NVR or Blue Iris and setting a spotter cam as a priority in Blue Iris
Although they can do that, but you really don't want to do that as the PTZs are only rated for so many "cycles" and folks that have used patrol have had the system become inoperable as a PTZ after a couple years. Someone here recently had their PTZ on patrol changing presets every 7 seconds and got the warning after around 440 days.
Plus, if it is cycling it can be avoided and miss the action.
You are much better off using fixed cams as spotter cams to point the PTZ to where the action is and then let the autotracking take over from there.
Using Spotter Cameras to direct a PTZ where to look in an NVR or Blue Iris and setting a spotter cam as a priority in Blue Iris
Michael Garrett
Young grasshopper
Thank you so much for this information. This exactly what I was looking for!
The Automation Guy
Known around here
A PTZ patrol moves the camera much more than people think. It's simply math obviously, but the numbers are much larger than most people realize. A 7 second patrol moves the camera over 12,300 times a DAY. That's 4.5 million movements a year.
It's easy to understand why this can be problematic for the long term reliability of the camera!
It's easy to understand why this can be problematic for the long term reliability of the camera!
Michael Garrett
Young grasshopper
Thank you so much for the link. This was extremely helpful! I set my wide-angle camera and one of my boobies as spotter cameras. Works fantastic. One more question. I currently have my Idle motion set to scan very slowly from side to side. It takes almost 2 minutes to go 180 degrees. Do you think this too would have ill effects on the camera over time similar to patrolling?
bigredfish
Known around here
It wouldnt auto track anything while its doing a scan would it?
No it would not, so it is really useless to have it on a slow scan as everything would be a blur anyway. Much better to have an overview cam that sees that whole area.
Michael Garrett
Young grasshopper
Yes. Correct. It doesn't auto-track when put into scan which I didn't realize. That's dumb. So I'm going to take your advice and just use two spotter cams.
Is there a way for me to adjust the hold time with a spotter cam? Once the spotter cam spots an object my PTZ camera holds this position so if another object enters my other spotter camera's trigger zone the PTZ doesn't initiate any movement until it finishes with the first camera's trigger.
Is there a way for me to adjust the hold time with a spotter cam? Once the spotter cam spots an object my PTZ camera holds this position so if another object enters my other spotter camera's trigger zone the PTZ doesn't initiate any movement until it finishes with the first camera's trigger.
It can only track on presets that have defined AI parameters. Otherwise during a PAN, it would have to be constantly running AI and would exceed the processor capacity of a sub $1,000 PTZ. I am sure there are $10k+ PTZs that have that LOL.
Yes for not having the spotter camera trigger while it is actively tracking, but no in setting an idle time during tracking if the object stops for a moment.
To prevent the spotter cam from initiating another pre-set if the PTZ is actively in tracking, you can go into the PTZ tab in the Camera setttings and go to the preset that you want to have priority and check the "cancel alerts when the camera is focused on specific PTZ presets" box and then if it is tracking on that preset then another spotter cam will not override it.
Yes for not having the spotter camera trigger while it is actively tracking, but no in setting an idle time during tracking if the object stops for a moment.
To prevent the spotter cam from initiating another pre-set if the PTZ is actively in tracking, you can go into the PTZ tab in the Camera setttings and go to the preset that you want to have priority and check the "cancel alerts when the camera is focused on specific PTZ presets" box and then if it is tracking on that preset then another spotter cam will not override it.
Michael Garrett
Young grasshopper
Thank you. This makes sense.