Review: EZVIZ DB1C

kklee

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Hello all, I was considering getting either the DB1 or one of its clones. What exactly is the advantage of the DB1C? I know about the AI person detect and that doesn't even matter to me. I will be using with Blue Iris. As for motion detection I'd rather have it detect too much than not enough. Thanks!
Here's what i've discovered changing from the RCA version of the DB1 to DB1C (using BI):
  • DB1C has wider field of view, the main reason why I switched, see top of this thread for examples
  • DB1C doesn't have an IR dome for people to mistakenly press instead of the door bell button, never happened to mine, but many others have reported broken IR dome cover due to this problem
  • DB1C sits more flush to the surface, which in my case, causes an IR reflection from my screen door frame, I plan on adding a shim to space it out farther

The DB1C AI human detection is far from perfect, but seems to be on par with Sentry AI for false alerts once you get it dialed in (minimum detection zone and sensitivity).
 

SuperDave

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Here's what i've discovered changing from the RCA version of the DB1 to DB1C (using BI):
  • DB1C has wider field of view, the main reason why I switched, see top of this thread for examples
  • DB1C doesn't have an IR dome for people to mistakenly press instead of the door bell button, never happened to mine, but many others have reported broken IR dome cover due to this problem
  • DB1C sits more flush to the surface, which in my case, causes an IR reflection from my screen door frame, I plan on adding a shim to space it out farther

The DB1C AI human detection is far from perfect, but seems to be on par with Sentry AI for false alerts once you get it dialed in (minimum detection zone and sensitivity).
Thanks! Of course after I posted I did find a lot of info. The IR won't be an issue for me, I have a light right at the door which stays on at night. The wider field of view won't really help me, my door is recessed into an alcove that my Vera version of the DB1 covers easily. I did notice the vertical FOV is slightly less, I guess not enough to seem to be an issue though. It's too bad they didn't make the new version identical as far as the mounting plate goes.
 

mangler

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Well after a few runs of troubleshooting, my doorbell definitely has an issue. With a 10VA transformer it would reboot with IR lights on after 9 minutes, and repeat. Upgraded to 30VA 16V transformer. Now it does not reboot with IR lights on, but it draws too much power, so it overwhelms the power kit and makes a loud buzz when the IR lights are on. No buzz with IR lights off.

One thing is I have another doorbell (standard lit button) connected on the same transformer as the DB1C. I am wondering if anyone is running a similar setup without issues. i can't imagine it would be an issue, as someone on here is running 2 DB1Cs off of a 30VA transformer, but I thought I'd ask anyway.
 

TimTech

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When you push the standard lit button doorbell, you are essentially shorting the circuit with all of the voltage drop occurring across the chime. If you have the camera doorbell in parallel with the lit doorbell, it will reboot whenever the lit doorbell is pressed because it will see zero volts while the lit button is pressed.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

andreq

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Well after a few runs of troubleshooting, my doorbell definitely has an issue. With a 10VA transformer it would reboot with IR lights on after 9 minutes, and repeat. Upgraded to 30VA 16V transformer. Now it does not reboot with IR lights on, but it draws too much power, so it overwhelms the power kit and makes a loud buzz when the IR lights are on. No buzz with IR lights off.

One thing is I have another doorbell (standard lit button) connected on the same transformer as the DB1C. I am wondering if anyone is running a similar setup without issues. i can't imagine it would be an issue, as someone on here is running 2 DB1Cs off of a 30VA transformer, but I thought I'd ask anyway.
My 2 doorbells are on 2 "separate" chimes. They're fed from the same 16v transformer, but they trigger on a different loops using 2 power kits.

here's the wiring (took it from Ring doorbell website)
1612981337399.png
 

mangler

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When you push the standard lit button doorbell, you are essentially shorting the circuit with all of the voltage drop occurring across the chime. If you have the camera doorbell in parallel with the lit doorbell, it will reboot whenever the lit doorbell is pressed because it will see zero volts while the lit button is pressed.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Yes I figure it will reboot when someone presses the "dumb" bell button. I was wondering if the "light" in the door bell button may be contributing to the extra current draw, and overwhelming the power kit, causing the buzz. Seems far fetched since some are using 2 DB1C on the same circuit, but I thought I would ask.
 

andycots

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Anybody have trouble if power goes to the doorbell, although it does reboot and connect back onto my network and BI can see it, the Ezviz app shows it as offline.

And does anyone fancy trying to put the DB1 Hikvision onvif firmware onto there DB1C for a laugh, keep wondering myself, onvif would be nice.

Andy
 
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mangler

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My 2 doorbells are on 2 "separate" chimes. They're fed from the same 16v transformer, but they trigger on a different loops using 2 power kits.

here's the wiring (took it from Ring doorbell website)
View attachment 82269
I'll have to check that. A bit confusing since I have a front and side doorbell (connected) and a rear doorbell (disconnected). I'll have to see if the side was placed on the rear circuit on the chime. I definitely have a single power kit though.
 

s1myr

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Hi. I'm changing from the DB1 to the DB1C but am struggling to add the DB1C into the top section of Batch Configuration. What is the format of the password or where do you find it. On the DB1 you used a format plus the verification code but the DB1C unit and manual don't seem to have a verification code on them. Thanks.
 

andycots

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Hi. I'm changing from the DB1 to the DB1C but am struggling to add the DB1C into the top section of Batch Configuration. What is the format of the password or where do you find it. On the DB1 you used a format plus the verification code but the DB1C unit and manual don't seem to have a verification code on them. Thanks.
You have to go into the EZVIZ app on the about page, device qr code and press the eyelash thing to show password.
 

andycots

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Should be in the user guide just like the DB1. QR code.
It's a bit different on DB1C the app seems to generate the QR code and you show it to the doorbell camera and sets up from there, at that point when you got QR on phone screen it also shows you the passcode/key.
 

andycots

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Does the DB1C have a snapshot/still image URL?
Not that i am aware off, there no Onvif yet, which would help a lot with things, keep sending them emails pestering for it, it does use IFTTT which through you could get BI to take snapshot, haven't gone into that side to deep yet.
 

bob2701

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It's a bit different on DB1C the app seems to generate the QR code and you show it to the doorbell camera and sets up from there, at that point when you got QR on phone screen it also shows you the passcode/key.
Not on my DB1C. QR code is right on the cover of the user guide. Also on the face of the camera just like the DB1.

UG DB1C.jpg
 
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wittaj

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Dang - guess I need to wait for a sale - can't find it under $99.

Question for those using this with Blue Iris - I would want to place this on the guest wifi to keep it off the main network, so they would essentially be two different IP address ranges. Are you able to get your BI Computer to see the stream that way or do they both need to be on the same IP address range?

And can you get Blue Iris to play a recorded audio clip to it?
 
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biggen

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Question for those using this with Blue Iris - I would want to place this on the guest wifi to keep it off the main network, so they would essentially be two different IP address ranges. Are you able to get your BI Computer to see the stream that way or do they both need to be on the same IP address range?
And can you get Blue Iris to play a recorded audio clip to it?
That question is dependent on your routing and how you setup your firewall. So, yes, it will work fine doing that so long as you allow those two subnets to communicate with one another.

I'm not sure on the audio in BI. I'll have to go check. I know it allows saving the audio to the SD card but I'm not sure if I ever checked to see if it was working with BI.
 

wittaj

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That question is dependent on your routing and how you setup your firewall. So, yes, it will work fine doing that so long as you allow those two subnets to communicate with one another.

I'm not sure on the audio in BI. I'll have to go check. I know it allows saving the audio to the SD card but I'm not sure if I ever checked to see if it was working with BI.
OK - I will have to check on that - I don't have a lot of IoTs so the few I have I just put on the guest wifi network. Not a perfect solution, but tackling VLANs and a switch to do that is still on my list of things to do.

My existing doorbell can play a message if I do not answer the door after 30 seconds, but it is proprietary and cannot get the video into BI, so I am looking to replace it, but really like that feature, so if I could get BI to play a message 30 seconds after the doorbell has been triggered (similar to how I have an audio clip for two-way cameras after 15 seconds), it would be the best of both worlds!
 
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