New RCA HSDB2A 3MP Doorbell IP Camera
- Thread starter fleece
- Start date
Marty McFly
Getting the hang of it
Hmm, trying to find it online, only seeing Digital Chimes...I am fishing here but just wanted to see if i catch something by looking at the Chime.
So I have a dumb question, did you reset your Doorbell recently? Are you aware EZVIZ took away the option to pick your Chime type (Mechanical/Digital) during a Doorbell install with one of their recent updates to their EZVIZ App. Wonder if this may be your issues, I went back on some of your messages and you mention it was working in December. You may want to try another App, I would try Hik-Connect first. If this turns out to be your problem, I am sorry, us older members are so use to pointing people to their transformers first since it usually fixes most issues, especially for those with 16v 10va trans. Also forgive me if I already asked but your chime outside on the Doorbell works, correct, just your Mechanical Chime stopped working. Sorry, kinda in the middle of a big project myself, little distracted...
⦁ Apps Available:
iO/S: Hik-Connect, RCA Security, EZVIZ, LaView One, Guarding Vision
Android: Hik-Connect, RCA Security, EZVIZ, LaView ONE, Guarding Vision
That may be an old chime, here is heath-kit list of current wired chimes:
www.heath-zenith.com
Categories - Doorbells - HeathZenith
Marty McFly
Getting the hang of it
OMG! The chime works through the HIK-Connect app! Unreal! But please don't apologize David. Your support in this thread is nothing short of incredible. You really take the time to try and help people. Thank you for everything you do. I can't believe after all of this, it was the EZVIZ app causing the problem! I do have one question about the HIK-Connect app. I can't find an option to turn off the OUTSIDE doorbell sound coming from the DB1. I like just the indoor chime to sound. Surprisingly enough, the EZVIZ does have that option. Are their other apps that work with this doorbell as well? Thanks again David! Good luck with your big project - I hope it goes well.
Dang it, I should of thought of that first. Well I can say you are better off with the newer transformer. The 16v 10va trans. are builders grade.
Glad you are back working. Yes the EZVIZ App and DB is the only one that has the option to disable the outside chime. You may want to go back to the EZVIZ App and see if you can turn it back off and hopefully the indoor Chime still works...It is really hit/miss with the different brand DBs, Firmwares and Apps we all have.
Yeah that is what I found, they all look Digital. They even have the different Chime sounds on their site...That may be an old chime, here is heath-kit list of current wired chimes:
Categories - Doorbells - HeathZenith
I am sure one day Mechanical Chimes will go away. Kinda like Bell Telephones
@Marty McFly
And if switching back alone doesn't work you can try to install both apps and just block notifications from within android for just the Ezviz app that way you don't get duplicate notifs
Marty McFly
Getting the hang of it
I feel like a bit of a fool now!! I didn't even think to go back in to the EZVIZ app and turn off the outdoor chime from there! Did that and now things are working perfectly again. I am happy to have the the newer transformer installed as well. David, thank you so much for all of your time and effort. I would like to buy you a cup of coffee. Do you have a paypal account?
Good deal. No payment needed, believe me a lot of my messages were full of my questions as I needed help. Just been trying to pay it forward.
Mainly try to keep notes and keep the Doorbell 101 updated. What is amazing is I got my DB last year back in July, kinda figured I would of installed it and been done with it but So many things keep happening here, I still have excitement over this DB.
Have to say this is one of the best Forums I have ever been on, everyone here is very nice and helpful. I have met some extraordinary people here who I consider experts.
Marty McFly
Getting the hang of it
Well thank you again! I will certainly be doing my best to keep an eye on this forum and pay it forward when I can. I hope and yours stay safe and healthy.
Just a quickie doorbell motion announcement via Home Assistant
Go to configuration ==> automations
1 - create an automation - here called "doorbell motion - Dot1" * have a dot connected to the whole house audio (Russound).
2 - Trigger Type ==> MQTT
3 - Topic ==> onvif2mqtt/Doorbell/motion
4 - Payload ==> ON
5 - action type ==> call service
6 - service ==> notify.alexa_media
7 - service data ==>
data:
type: announce
message: Someone is by the front door.
target:
- media_player.echo_dot_1
- install onvif2MQTT from here: hxxps:/github.com/dmitrif/onvif2mqtt
- must have Home Assistant installed
- must have Alexa Media Player installed from the HA Community store - read here about Alexa Media Player ==> hxxps:/github.com/custom-components/alexa_media_player
Go to configuration ==> automations
1 - create an automation - here called "doorbell motion - Dot1" * have a dot connected to the whole house audio (Russound).
2 - Trigger Type ==> MQTT
3 - Topic ==> onvif2mqtt/Doorbell/motion
4 - Payload ==> ON
5 - action type ==> call service
6 - service ==> notify.alexa_media
7 - service data ==>
data:
type: announce
message: Someone is by the front door.
target:
- media_player.echo_dot_1
TechBill
Known around here
- Nov 1, 2014
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DB1 is sending motion event via ONVIF?
Yes.
Note here using : NDB313-W V5.2.4 build 19025
Yes.
Note here using : NDB313-W V5.2.4 build 19025
TechBill
Known around here
- Nov 1, 2014
- 1,826
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David L - Thanks for the images of the power kit and the link back to the oscilloscope measurements.
OK, so the power kit has some electronics to it. It's not just a simple resistor as I had suspected. The board images aren't high enough resolution to zoom in and read part numbers, but I can envision what the circuit may be designed to do based on the images and the oscilloscope measurements.
The power kit IS wired in parallel with the chime. That's the connection made by the provided wiring harness. The diagrams show the parallel connection. The HikVision quick start guide and installation video also show that. The combination of the chime & power kit is then wired in SERIES with the power transformer and the doorbell button. But the power kit is in parallel with the chime.
As background, the quiescent chime noise and buzzing common to many video doorbells is caused by the fact that video doorbells, unlike the original mechanical buttons, continue to draw current that passes through the chime even when the doorbell is inactive. As that current changes (as doorbell processor loading changes due to motion processing, as network communication changes, as IR LEDs turn on/off, as the doorbell audio starts playback, etc.), that current changes, the magnetic field in the chime solenoid coil changes, and the chime solenoid piston moves in and out. Maybe only slightly, but enough to make noise in some chimes. In my original experimenting with our NSC-DB1 doorbell, I could actually see the solenoid core moving in and out in sync with the audio speak from the video doorbell, much like the cone in a loudspeaker does when it is driven by audio.
The "classic" way of silencing the noise/buzzing from the mechanical chimes in a video doorbell setup is to connect a power resistor across the terminals on the mechanical chime. This bypasses some of the current from flowing through the chime solenoid coil, which in turn helps to silence it. The bad side of this, however, is that when the doorbell is active the resistor is still bypassing current from the solenoid coil, meaning the chime likely won't strike as hard. It might even chime with one tone when it used to chime with two. Experimenting with different resistor values might be necessary to, for a particular transformer and chime, come to an acceptable trade-off between quiescent state noise and chime strike strength.
And now the power kit...
The image of the power kit shows a number of components marked with a "100". These are sizable surface mount 10-ohm resistor chips. They're likely wired in some parallel/serial fashion to form a fairly high power resistor, likely similar to the 5-watt or 10-watt resistors that are often included with other video doorbell kits and used to shunt across the chime solenoid coil.
Now let's talk about the oscilloscope measurements. The post isn't specific on how the measurements were being made, and there are some flaws in the conclusions made. In particular, for the case where the doorbell is inactive, the author misses the point on the oscilloscope graph where he states that "every half period is chopped away" and the waveform is spikey-looking. He missed the fact that the voltage across the power kit is really small (3V peak-to-peak) compared what it is across the doorbell button (40V peak-to-peak).
Here's my theory - the power kit acts as a "smart" resistor. When the doorbell isn't active, there isn't much current flowing in the circuit. I believe the power kit senses that condition and applies a low-resistance load across the chime to shunt or bypass current away from the chime to help silence it. It can't just short out the chime since the power kit needs to derive some of it's own power to work with - hence the low voltage waveform observed by the oscilloscope when the doorbell was inactive. Further, the waveform is "spikey" in this case since the only time current is flowing through the circuit is on voltage peaks where the video doorbell is recharging it's power supply filtering capacitors. Anyone who's built a linear, full-wave rectified power supply is familiar with this kind of current profile. Seeing it here in the oscilloscope graphs as a spikey voltage across the power kit is no surprise.
When the doorbell button is pressed, the current in the circuit goes up significantly. My theory is that the power kit in turn senses that and disables the shunt resistor across the chime. Removing the shunt maximizes how much power can be applied to the chime coil, help the chime drive as loud as can.
If I'm right, I think it's actually a fairly novel idea, and the power kit would go a long ways towards removing the problem of a video doorbell having to work with who-knows-what for a transformer and who-knows-what for a mechanical chime.
OK, so the power kit has some electronics to it. It's not just a simple resistor as I had suspected. The board images aren't high enough resolution to zoom in and read part numbers, but I can envision what the circuit may be designed to do based on the images and the oscilloscope measurements.
The power kit IS wired in parallel with the chime. That's the connection made by the provided wiring harness. The diagrams show the parallel connection. The HikVision quick start guide and installation video also show that. The combination of the chime & power kit is then wired in SERIES with the power transformer and the doorbell button. But the power kit is in parallel with the chime.
As background, the quiescent chime noise and buzzing common to many video doorbells is caused by the fact that video doorbells, unlike the original mechanical buttons, continue to draw current that passes through the chime even when the doorbell is inactive. As that current changes (as doorbell processor loading changes due to motion processing, as network communication changes, as IR LEDs turn on/off, as the doorbell audio starts playback, etc.), that current changes, the magnetic field in the chime solenoid coil changes, and the chime solenoid piston moves in and out. Maybe only slightly, but enough to make noise in some chimes. In my original experimenting with our NSC-DB1 doorbell, I could actually see the solenoid core moving in and out in sync with the audio speak from the video doorbell, much like the cone in a loudspeaker does when it is driven by audio.
The "classic" way of silencing the noise/buzzing from the mechanical chimes in a video doorbell setup is to connect a power resistor across the terminals on the mechanical chime. This bypasses some of the current from flowing through the chime solenoid coil, which in turn helps to silence it. The bad side of this, however, is that when the doorbell is active the resistor is still bypassing current from the solenoid coil, meaning the chime likely won't strike as hard. It might even chime with one tone when it used to chime with two. Experimenting with different resistor values might be necessary to, for a particular transformer and chime, come to an acceptable trade-off between quiescent state noise and chime strike strength.
And now the power kit...
The image of the power kit shows a number of components marked with a "100". These are sizable surface mount 10-ohm resistor chips. They're likely wired in some parallel/serial fashion to form a fairly high power resistor, likely similar to the 5-watt or 10-watt resistors that are often included with other video doorbell kits and used to shunt across the chime solenoid coil.
Now let's talk about the oscilloscope measurements. The post isn't specific on how the measurements were being made, and there are some flaws in the conclusions made. In particular, for the case where the doorbell is inactive, the author misses the point on the oscilloscope graph where he states that "every half period is chopped away" and the waveform is spikey-looking. He missed the fact that the voltage across the power kit is really small (3V peak-to-peak) compared what it is across the doorbell button (40V peak-to-peak).
Here's my theory - the power kit acts as a "smart" resistor. When the doorbell isn't active, there isn't much current flowing in the circuit. I believe the power kit senses that condition and applies a low-resistance load across the chime to shunt or bypass current away from the chime to help silence it. It can't just short out the chime since the power kit needs to derive some of it's own power to work with - hence the low voltage waveform observed by the oscilloscope when the doorbell was inactive. Further, the waveform is "spikey" in this case since the only time current is flowing through the circuit is on voltage peaks where the video doorbell is recharging it's power supply filtering capacitors. Anyone who's built a linear, full-wave rectified power supply is familiar with this kind of current profile. Seeing it here in the oscilloscope graphs as a spikey voltage across the power kit is no surprise.
When the doorbell button is pressed, the current in the circuit goes up significantly. My theory is that the power kit in turn senses that and disables the shunt resistor across the chime. Removing the shunt maximizes how much power can be applied to the chime coil, help the chime drive as loud as can.
If I'm right, I think it's actually a fairly novel idea, and the power kit would go a long ways towards removing the problem of a video doorbell having to work with who-knows-what for a transformer and who-knows-what for a mechanical chime.
Last edited:
TechBill
Known around here
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By looking at the picture of circuit, it seems to me that the powerkit is a voltage regulator to allow continuing voltage to the DB1.
Without the powerkit, the path of voltage is either reduced or interrupted by the magnetic coil of the chime so the powerkit bypass the chime when it not in use to give the required amount of clean voltage to the DB1 as it need to continue its' camera and motion operation.
Without the powerkit, the path of voltage is either reduced or interrupted by the magnetic coil of the chime so the powerkit bypass the chime when it not in use to give the required amount of clean voltage to the DB1 as it need to continue its' camera and motion operation.
Gotta say, I think you guys are on to something. Thanks.
I do have a question, there have been several DB owners here who could not get their Digital/Electronic Chime to work without using the power kit, at least a half of dozen or so. Since there is no hum issue on a Digital Chime why is the power kit needed?
Just curious you guys take on that.
I do have a question, there have been several DB owners here who could not get their Digital/Electronic Chime to work without using the power kit, at least a half of dozen or so. Since there is no hum issue on a Digital Chime why is the power kit needed?
Just curious you guys take on that.
Finally had the chance to get this installed, the improvement over the Skybell the alarm company installed is unbelievable. Now I just need to figure out how to add the cam to my Synology. While setup I opted to connect to my guest network because I’m not keen on putting my main network password out there on some app. Also, I’m hoping there is a way to lower the external volume on the camera itself, it’s terribly loud but I do not see any way to adjust it in the Guarding Vision app.
TechBill
Known around here
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Digital chime most likely use a dry contact circuity which closes when it detect a voltage allowing the voltage travel to the chime circuity to active it. When the contact is open, there is no power going to the DB1. It still will need the powerkit to bypass the chime circuity completely to keep the DB1 powered on.
If the DB Cam manufacturer want to eliminate the powerkit or diode completely, then they need to add a third terminal on their DB which mean homeowner will have to run one more wire to the Doorbell location. The third terminal would send the voltage to the chime while the the first two terminal will keep the DB powered.
Same with today digital thermostats, there are no power going to the thermostats wiring since thermostats are a simple open and closed contact switch and now with digital thermostat it will either need the extra wire to power it or use batteries to keep it powered.