New RCA HSDB2A 3MP Doorbell IP Camera

[davidew98]

I just last week switched from Ring Dorbell Version 1 (the old one) to EZVIZ DB1. I have a mechanical chime and did use the Power Kit that comes in the box and chime sounds clean.

FYI, before you pulled of the Ring, if the chime sounded weird the transformer might be bad.

• My suggestion is start by making sure your Power Kit is wired correct
• If you want both bells make sure chime is wired to FRONT contact
• Try tapping a 9volt battery to the chime posts to see if chime sounds both bells, if not the chime might be bad. You have to try both ways positive and negative on the TRANS post, one way might ring one bell only. (Touch rings first bell, Release rings second bell)
• Try disconnecting the DB1 at the door and touching the wires together to see if the chime sounds both bells, if not the transformer might be bad (Touch rings first bell, Release rings second bell)

When my Ring started taking a dump it started ringing the chime, app, and alexa at random times during the day so much that it ended up burning up the transformer to the point where the chime stopped ringing, the app and alexa worked until the battery in the ring died. So you having chime issues sounds like the Ring could have messed something up. Hard to tell. It might even be the fact that the Transformer or Chime are just so old they were ready to go.

Here kept the old chime in place which matched the voltage of the old transformer. Thinking it was 10 VAC. I upped the transformer for the video doorbell.

So when you press the doorbell button today the doorbell chime does sound funny a bit. Kind of a gong and clunk.

That said also have two circuits in place to connect the doorbell button to the alarm panel. These circuits are 12VDC powered. One is a current sensor doorbell circuit board which is an Elk 930. The other is a debounce board; Elk 960. The only connectivity from the doorbell voltage is for current sensing which is passive.

Had the Ring doorbell in place for a couple of months here and had no issues at all with the connectivity, chime and old transformer. The design of the Ring is totally different than that of the Hikvision doorbell.

 

[alexdelprete]

After reading the thread to better understand the experiences people have had with electronic chimes, I now believe you pretty much HAVE to use the power kit with both a mechanical or electronic/digital chime. I'm tweaking my earlier theory about the chime kit. I now agree with @TechBill that the primary purpose of the chime kit is to keep as much voltage applied to the video doorbell as possible when the circuit is in standby/quiescent mode, regardless of the type of chime used. The fact that a chime kit also reduces the buzzing or chatter from a mechanical chime is a secondary benefit. Those interested in hearing more can read on. Others can skip the long read that follows.

Anyway, that's my thinking.

I confirmed several times in the thread that in my experience (DB1, no existing chime, electronic chime configured in the app, SAGE zigbee sensor to alert my Hubitat that rings my Aeotec Siren6 and announces through my Echo devices) without the power-kit installed the SAGE wouldn't intercept the push of the button. I thought the power-it was a sort of intelligent volt-regulator, and it's working fine. I also installed the fuse on the + of the transformer since I don't have a chime. Everything working perfectly now.

 

[David L]

I got my EZVIZ DB1 last week. It's installed and working great with the EZVIZ iOS app and 3 hour cloud storage. I started by updating the firmware in app to the latest US firmware 191211 and have RTSP worked perfectly with Image Encryption ON and using UN: admin & PW: ALL CAPS (Verification Code). I have my Alexa synced to EZVIZ skill and the DB1 comes up as a device but I have no Alexa Shows or Fire TVs so that'll have to wait. My old Ring dorbell I'm upgrading from used to at least make my Alexa say "someone's at the front door" when someone pushed the button and I was hoping the EZVIZ skill would do the same.

The biggest problem I'm having is sprinkled here as well as a response to a question on the EZVIZ website about the DB1 the EZVIZ employee said this doorbell supports 256 GB MicroSD cards with the latest firmware. I have tried both the latest US firmware and the latest EU firmware 200220 and neither will successfully initialize my new in box SanDisk MAX Endurance 256 GB MicroSD card. I started by pulling it out of box, plugging it in my computer, making sure it's empty and showed up good. I then plugged it in the camera and went into the EZVIZ iOS app and tried initializing it and it failed. I also tried the EZVIZ PC Studio and same thing, I also tried the iVMS software and it failed. I pulled the SD card back out of the camera and put it back in my computer and the card is now partitioned into 2 partitions with the first 128GB being FSAT32 and the second 128GB being RAW (aka unformatted) Since these cards come out of the box as exFAT I thought the initalization process probably just got jacked up somewhere so I tried formatting it as 1 partition to FSAT32 and tried in the camera again and still initialization failed.

Can someone on this forum who has a 256 GB card working in ANY of these cameras:

• tell me which brand and version firmware your running
• pull the card out of the camera and plug it in the computer and bring up Windows Disk Manager and tell me how it's partitioned (1 or 2) and formatted (FAT32, exFAT, RAW, or something else)

You will be fine with your 128 partition unless you plan to record 24/7 to your card. I have had my 128 for 10 months now, only had one issue where I had to initialize the card but not because it got full, it was an App version glitch.

I seem to remember someone here with a 256 card, you may want to search the thread for 256.

Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk

 

[davidew98]

You will be fine with your 128 partition unless you plan to record 24/7 to your card. I have had my 128 for 10 months now, only had one issue where I had to initialize the card but not because it got full, it was an App version glitch.

I seem to remember someone here with a 256 card, you may want to search the thread for 256.

Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk

That's the problem, even though 1 of 2 partitions are formatted FAT32 and the second is RAW the camera still says it's not initialized. The only thing I haven't tried is to make the second partition FAT32 also all the apps show it as a 256GB card which is good. yes there is talks on this thread about 256GB working as welkl as EZVIZ people talking about it on their site. That's why I'm asking here who has a 256GB working and what firmware. I'll search the thread to see who brings it up and try to PM them.

And yes I know 128GB is fine, I was going to get a 128GB until I realized people said the 256GB worked. Thought I get one and forget about it.

 

[pete_c]

FYI, before you pulled of the Ring, if the chime sounded weird the transformer might be bad.

Here had no issues with the RIng Doorbell and the transformer / chime and ringing of the doorbell.

I removed the Ring cuz I did not want to depend on the cloud for it's use. I am not tethered here to my cell phones. IE: they are in OFF mode when I am home.

IE: have 5 accounts and do keep one sim live in the house for the combo cellular modem which is a back up to the ISP connection / phone connnections.

 

[NOAMattD]

General question: are there any potential drawbacks to recording on high quality 24/7? Right now I do so on the low-res stream and switch to high-res for motion, but a sufficiently quick action will miss the part where a person is walking up.

 

[davidew98]

General question: are there any potential drawbacks to recording on high quality 24/7? Right now I do so on the low-res stream and switch to high-res for motion, but a sufficiently quick action will miss the part where a person is walking up.

I say it depends on where it's being recorded. if it's recording on a SD Card in the cam then it would have to just be a high quality card. if it's recording on a NVR then as long as the network can hold up I don't see a problem.

Once I iron out all my glitches and get everything working I'm switching to high quality and 30 FPS

 

[David L]

General question: are there any potential drawbacks to recording on high quality 24/7? Right now I do so on the low-res stream and switch to high-res for motion, but a sufficiently quick action will miss the part where a person is walking up.

I have been recording 24/7 through Blue Iris at 30FPS for about 8 months now, zero problems. Your storage will depend on FPS and Res. settings. At High Res./30 FPS it is about 20gigs a day. Those settings are getting ready to change since I plan on adding more cameras soon on the BI box.

Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk

 

[alexdelprete]

General question: are there any potential drawbacks to recording on high quality 24/7? Right now I do so on the low-res stream and switch to high-res for motion, but a sufficiently quick action will miss the part where a person is walking up.

I use max quality recording 24/7 on my Synology NAS, no issues.

You can fine-tune recording buffer via batch config, go to EVENT->SCHEDULE-ADVANCED SETTINGS. You will find pre-record and post-record timings that will go into the recorded data. The defaults are fine for me, but you can modify them to fit your needs.

 

[NOAMattD]

Thanks guys. I was thinking more in terms of extra heat generated or processing power being used that might limit the number of simultaneous streams. I know the 101 says about 3 streams is the limit but wasn't sure if it mattered whether or not it's max res vs. lower.

 

[Pliable Pixels]

Okay, @David L @pete_c

I've done step 1:
1. Installed 30VA 16V transformer
2. Connected 1 wire of doorbell wire set to one nut of transformer
3. Connected 1 wire of first floor chime wire set to other nut of transformer
3. Nutted remaining wire of doorbell set and chime wire set together

At transformer end, I get 17V
At chime wire end, I get 5-6V (wires not connected to chime yet, power kit not connected yet)
At doorbell wire end I get 10V (doorbell not yet connected)

Does this look right?

 

[davidew98]

Okay, @David L @pete_c

I've done step 1:
1. Installed 30VA 16V transformer
2. Connected 1 wire of doorbell wire set to one nut of transformer
3. Connected 1 wire of first floor chime wire set to other nut of transformer
3. Nutted remaining wire of doorbell set and chime wire set together

At transformer end, I get 17V
At chime wire end, I get 5-6V (wires not connected to chime yet, power kit not connected yet)
At doorbell wire end I get 10V (doorbell not yet connected)

Does this look right?

You must install the included power kit, everything you have so far is wired correct, now follow the instructions in the box to add the power kit.

 

[pete_c]

Did you check every wire with everything disconnected and a VOM for any shorts?

 

[Pliable Pixels]

I checked both wires with everything disconnected, but did not do a continuity test as it looks like I have to put probes on either end of my wires, which is not possible in my case. I am hoping I don't have a continuity issue as if I did, I'd think my Dbell would have gone bad too.

I've now installed the wires, put in the power kit to the one chime I have connected. It's working so far, but that's not saying much. I'll monitor it for the next few days (hours/minutes/ )

 

[TechBill]

I checked both wires with everything disconnected, but did not do a continuity test as it looks like I have to put probes on either end of my wires, which is not possible in my case. I am hoping I don't have a continuity issue as if I did, I'd think my Dbell would have gone bad too.

I've now installed the wires, put in the power kit to the one chime I have connected. It's working so far, but that's not saying much. I'll monitor it for the next few days (hours/minutes/ )

Unhook the power and the chime that there is nothing hooked up on the wiring.

Put probe on each of the wire at the same end. If you get a continuity or a resistance reading with an ohmmeter then you have a short in your DB wiring somewhere. if you get no reading

Next just only hook up the transformer and set ohmmeter to V AC to see if you get the close voltage reading that your transformer is outputting on the other end of the wiring.

 

[Pliable Pixels]

I have a good feeling this time. I switched on my Basement TV, had someone press the bell a few times, and was streaming from the app and ZoneMinder at the same time. Chime went off (bought a compatible Nutone chime), app rang, doorbell did not blow. Of course, the real test is if this lasts the week.

 

[davidew98]

I have a good feeling this time. I switched on my Basement TV, had someone press the bell a few times, and was streaming from the app and ZoneMinder at the same time. Chime went off (bought a compatible Nutone chime), app rang, doorbell did not blow. Of course, the real test is if this lasts the week.

View attachment 59711

If you replaced the transformer and chime at the same time you should be good. if your concerned you can check for shorts

 

[Bulldog5]

Is anyone using the DB1 cam with Shinobi? I'm having issues where its causing the monitor to crash from ffmpeg not liking dropped frames from the wifi.

 

[WeCam'tTalkHere]

Hi all. Newbie here who lurked enough to get the Nelly's version and install it. To give back, here are a few comments/questions:

• Chime was decades-old Nutone. Xformer was same vintage 10V. To prevent problems, didn't even try to use it - step 1 was to replace with 16V, and no problems.
• Sorry if this is somewhere in the thread, I didn't see it: Don't try the doorbell to ring the chime until after you've configured the doorbell! Wasted a bunch of time chasing my tail, which in retrospect is kinda obvious since need to tell the doorbell what kind of chime it's going to ring...
• Have used the Hikvision Batch Config tool to set video parameters. Works fine, but always have to select it & Refresh.
• Used Guarding Vision. Works fine, after getting over normal how-does-this-work issues. Haven't seen a compelling reason to change to other software.
• Beep is LOUD! Mail[wo]man quickly figured out how to reach around and not trigger it.

• Problem #1: A couple of times the doorbell has lost some or all of its configuration. Not exactly sure why, but it could be related to ...
• Have added the Doorbell to my Dahua NVR for (video) motion detection, which works nicely as a 2nd capture. Have tried to access the config screen from the NVR->CAMERA page, but this fails - and may be what kills the config? Don't plan to try this again...
• Problem #2: Had to stop the NVR from updating camera times. NVR has this as a global option - not selectable by camera. With the Doorbell, it would deselect the NTP setting and give it the wrong time - 1 hour behind. I thought (and still think) the bad time is DST-related, but no combination of Doorbell settings kept NTP selected or the time right...
• Problem #3: IR strength: Reduced all but the streetside to 5' minimum so just opening the door & looking out doesn't trigger it. Then had to reduce the streetside distance to the 5' minimum - otherwise every big truck that goes by triggeres it.

• Question #1: Is there any way to have the NVR recognize the PIR from the Doorbell?!
• Question #2: Is the night color any good (with porch light off)? Or should for sure use IR?

Regards & thanks!

 

[alexdelprete]

Thanks guys. I was thinking more in terms of extra heat generated or processing power being used that might limit the number of simultaneous streams. I know the 101 says about 3 streams is the limit but wasn't sure if it mattered whether or not it's max res vs. lower.

I think the 101 is correct, but never done appropriate tests. For sure, my NAS is pulling a constant stream 24/7 in UHD, and while that's running, I can open live view on my smartphone and one amazon echo device. So that's 3 streams. But on my smartphone and the echo I never watch a stream more than a couple of minutes. Never done a stress test on this.