No problem with dusting the lens, yet but I don't fill it with birdseed; I put it maybe a 1/4 capacity. I don't really want a lot of bird traffic at this feeder but just a little so that it looks normal, The camera will not focus closely enough to resolve more than a blur of any bird on the feeder.
Bird Feeder Hide
- Thread starter MrSurly
- Start date
I'm still having issues with this cam refusing to stay operational. It will record sporadically, less than a half hour and then black out for a long while. I've been way busy with higher-priority things and have made no real attempt to resolve this. I bought one of the cable tester kits as linked by others here and the cable passes the test for continuity, no faults indicated. This camera, when previously used both on the bench and mounted in another location, worked fine before. I need to test the PoE delivery at the birdhouse as well. I was previously chasing issues with multiple cams which turned out to be a dying PoE switch, since resolved. But for some undetermined reason, this cam is being difficult. For multiple reasons of priority, I haven't explored the issue, yet. I need to swap cams, first, as a most basic test, and follow on from there.
I wonder if heat is a problem. On a post in the hot Texas sun could cause all sorts of problems. I was going to hang mine and use an old wifi camera. Wifi is a bad choice for reliability, I know, but hanging under a tree doesn't leave much choice.
Thanks for the reply.
Not a heat issue AFAIK. It started doing this as soon as I put it in the feeder, at night, while prior to that it had run continuously both on the bench and while mounted on the house. I feel fairly certain it's cable-related.
looney2ns
IPCT Contributor
As you suggested, replace with another cam for testing. It's most likely a cable issue.
Either a faulty RJ45 crimp, or not made to 568B standard, or you used CCA cable not solid copper, cable has been damaged, or too sharp of bends in the cable.
Does this cable run continuously, uninterrupted from the cam to the switch?
If there is no real venting in the bird feeder, then it might just be a heat issue. My LPR cam box is big and I have placed vent holes top side and at the bottom. It still gets up to 115F here in the Houston area. I don't know how hot it would get if it was small and not vented.
I expect it to be the cable, though the tester didn't spot a problem with it. I have not tested it from the cam end to verify continuous PoE operation, yet. The cable is underground rated cable in conduit from the bird house to the house, up the siding behind trim (possible nail area) then through the attic, drop to the server closet and into the switch in a contiguous run. CC*A*? not even a chance!
I have replaced the RJ45 connectors a couple of times to be sure and the test widget likes 'em. I fully expect that there's nothing wrong with the camera unless has a power-draw issue that taxes the cable due to length (41m).
My best guess is that a trim nail got it.
When I do the continuity test with the widget plugged in, I get the display with
12345678
||||||||
12345678
when I test it with the cam plugged in, the continuity result is
when checking other cables with other cams attached, they look like this
minor difference but I don’t know the significance.
I don’t have another of this same cam model to compare.
I'm certain that the issue is not heat related if only because it started the sporadic operation immediately upon install and that was at night, in February. It has continued the on-off operation since then with no real differentiation night/day.
Flintstone61
Known around here
looks like you mighta hit the cable with a nail and stripped away some insulation. and connected the Blue pair and the green pair?
sebastiantombs
Known around here
This is a case where a TDR would solve the problem in under a minute. Too bad they're so expensive.
Flintstone61
Known around here
That's where I'll go next, once I take a moment to mess with it.
The tester says it's 41.6 meters and that matches what I know about the measurements of the house and the driveway/property. Adding it in my head I come up with 125' as a minimum distance, so it fits given the slack that I would have left in the attic.
I expect its a nail thing.
My first thing to do will be to test the PoE available at the camera and then a cam swap.
OR....
I could just pull the trim off of the corner and under the gable and see what's nailed.
The need to get out (and get ON) two different ladders dulls my enthusiasm quite a bit.
The tester says it's 41.6 meters and that matches what I know about the measurements of the house and the driveway/property. Adding it in my head I come up with 125' as a minimum distance, so it fits given the slack that I would have left in the attic.
I expect its a nail thing.
My first thing to do will be to test the PoE available at the camera and then a cam swap.
OR....
I could just pull the trim off of the corner and under the gable and see what's nailed.
The need to get out (and get ON) two different ladders dulls my enthusiasm quite a bit.
ya, doesn't sound like a cable length issue. I would think that distance should be easy.
funny enough: this cam is at the far N/E corner of the property. I have another cam on a utility pole at the far S/W corner of the property, also conduit etc.. and the tester sees that cam at exactly 41.6 meters as well. I feel fairly certain that the SW cam is further but I guess it's possible that it's the same. I find myself wondering if the tester maxes out at 41...
sebastiantombs
Known around here
I just re-read the thread, it might even be a camera problem. Maybe it's starting to fail. I'd swap out another camera as a first step to try to eliminate the camera as the problem. Maybe check the camera on a short cable and with the tester to see if you get different results.
If the cable is in conduit the full length underground it sounds unlikely that it's an underground problem.
If the cable is in conduit the full length underground it sounds unlikely that it's an underground problem.
IDK if these UG cables are foot-marked I'll try to remember to check.
I was just looking at a satellite image of the property and it's quite possible the two location cables ARE the same length.
Dashed lines are underground
Feeder cam: solid orange is up, then in attic then down into server closet
SW Polecam: solid green is in crawlspace then up into server closet
I was just looking at a satellite image of the property and it's quite possible the two location cables ARE the same length.
Dashed lines are underground
Feeder cam: solid orange is up, then in attic then down into server closet
SW Polecam: solid green is in crawlspace then up into server closet