Review-SD4A425DB-HNY 1/2.8" CMOS 4MP 25x Starlight Auto-tracking MiniPTZ

[wittaj]

I wouldn't use the auto pan feature. It will wear the camera down. And it will always be looking the wrong way. Use spotter cameras to tell the PTZ where to look instead.

Here is how you setup autotracking:

 

[dasdasdas]

I wouldn't use the auto pan feature. It will wear the camera down. And it will always be looking the wrong way. Use spotter cameras to tell the PTZ where to look instead.

Here is how you setup autotracking:

I'm not getting that exactly: It auto tracks but after a second or so turns away. It's upside down for testing, maybe that's why.

Great design though. Can this also pan between N presets and do the smart detect on each waypoint?

FOC seems narrow at min zoom, what is it, like 70 degrees?

 

[wittaj]

Testing it in a small setting like inside a house will not work. The min focal length is higher than most cams so it needs to be outside or in a warehouse or large open space.

Like I said you do not want it to pan between presets. You will wear it out prematurely. It can only detect and track on predefined presets, so when it is panning from preset 1 to preset 2 it will not stop and track any movement between the two.

 

[Sparkey]

Before purchasing this cam I read nothing about it being POE and assumed it wasn't since most PTZ cams I've seen weren't. When I installed it I powered it via the wall wart that came with it and thought that was that. Both my switches are POE+ and I just checked them and found that the SD4A425DB-HNY is pulling 9.9 watts from the switch. I then went and unplugged the wall wart and the cam continued operating as normal so it is most definitely POE (+?)

So I guess it prefers switch power over wall wart power. O well, I now have another extension cord and wall wart to repurpose.

Next up is getting a handle on setting tripwires. I watched the video but it explained nothing, just drew them and moved on. I drew them several times and the cam kept telling me to draw the graphic. I finally got it to accept what i had drawn but I'm less than satisfied with how it's working.

 

[duplo]

Before purchasing this cam I read nothing about it being POE and assumed it wasn't since most PTZ cams I've seen weren't. When I installed it I powered it via the wall wart that came with it and thought that was that. Both my switches are POE+ and I just checked them and found that the SD4A425DB-HNY is pulling 9.9 watts from the switch. I then went and unplugged the wall wart and the cam continued operating as normal so it is most definitely POE (+?)

So I guess it prefers switch power over wall wart power. O well, I now have another extension cord and wall wart to repurpose.

Next up is getting a handle on setting tripwires. I watched the video but it explained nothing, just drew them and moved on. I drew them several times and the cam kept telling me to draw the graphic. I finally got it to accept what i had drawn but I'm less than satisfied with how it's working.

when P T Z and IR the camera is using around 19 watt, most non-poe+ switches shut down the port when drawing more than 15.4w

 

[looney2ns]

Before purchasing this cam I read nothing about it being POE and assumed it wasn't since most PTZ cams I've seen weren't. When I installed it I powered it via the wall wart that came with it and thought that was that. Both my switches are POE+ and I just checked them and found that the SD4A425DB-HNY is pulling 9.9 watts from the switch. I then went and unplugged the wall wart and the cam continued operating as normal so it is most definitely POE (+?)

So I guess it prefers switch power over wall wart power. O well, I now have another extension cord and wall wart to repurpose.

Next up is getting a handle on setting tripwires. I watched the video but it explained nothing, just drew them and moved on. I drew them several times and the cam kept telling me to draw the graphic. I finally got it to accept what i had drawn but I'm less than satisfied with how it's working.

It states it requires/can use POE+ in the specs of the camera.
Most all of Dahua's PTZ's can use POE.

 

[Sparkey]

Just read up on the switches. They're both POE+ so they can provide 32w per port and so state. I'm the world's worse for not RTFM.

Gotta add another . I have a second Dahua and it was the same way, both wall wart and POE+ to the camera.

 

[97JeepXJ]

Cell tower is approximately 12,800 ft, side of the building is around 3500, trees across the bottom at 1100, and the tree on the left side is at 360 feet away from the camera. This thing is impressive and the best part was finding it in the refurbished section

 

[dubber]

I'm seriously thinking of having a left and right mini ptz in front of my house and getting rid of my 4KTs lol

No more spotter cams and just 2 mini ptz lol

maybe keep 1 4KT as a color overview

 

[97JeepXJ]

Sounds like a great idea, except for getting rid of the 4KTs, don’t do that.
Between this on the back and a PTZ5A4M up front I can cover a large area, but it still takes some stationary cams to always have an overview plus call the ptz to an area if something gets too close.

 

[EMPIRETECANDY]

The Recessed Ceiling mount is ready to sell on amazon now, it can be a great item for installing the camera inside the ceiling, with a very small lens part expose.

https://www.amazon.com/EmpireTech-Suitable-Recessed-Brackets-PFB5310C/dp/B0CJBJY79K/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=PFB5310C&qid=1698205979&sr=8-1

 

[xtropodx]

Don't know if it's been mentioned, I've encountered an issue with PTZ auto tracking stopped working, became stuck & centred on a pole that's near it because I was on the other side. Had been working for weeks after setting up as per

Resetting it doesn't seem to have worked, so today I've gone back in to reapply the existing settings that are still there.
Funny enough though before it stopped working it seemed to zoom in & started track a bird

yes the sd4a425 seems have a annoying bug where it lose its calibration/setup where positions are. presets are shifted.
seems only to happen after one autotracking to certain position, then all coordinates are shifted.

i installed two of them, both have this problem.
after manual restart it continue working again with the "real" coordinates.

if you have continuous recording you may see it after the tracking

Seems it keeps doing it, maybe because it pans down to far? I don't recall it doing this initially.

 

[Sparkey]

I have yet to get mine working properly. I can't quite grasp the concept of setting up the tripwire but I'm working on it. I did notice that tracking stops working if you change the preset after setting it up.

 

[bigredfish]

I’ve changed my home preset many times without any problem. The camera actually has 5 presets in all. Two “home” presets, one for day and one for night (enabled by a time task that tells it to park in a slightly different spot after dark until dawn)

When you change a preset, it’s possible your IVS lines are no longer in the right spot to detect/activate as they remain constant on the camera even though your scene has changed. Typically you’ll need to redo your IVS lines if you move your preset.

 

[wittaj]

Same here, mine is working as expected.

 

[bigredfish]

Damn Sun!

Getting a little concerned with the temp.... I saw 156 degrees today. settled down to 120 after dark. . That can't be good for it...
I've moved its home preset from 3:30-5pm with a time task to look away from the sun...

 

[bigredfish]

- so much for turning it away from the sun....

 

[samplenhold]

^ are you sure that is correct? My dark brown LPR cam box in the garden is in direct sunlight all day here in Houston. I have a digital thermometer inside and the hottest it got during our 104F days this summer was 127F.

 

[wittaj]

^ are you sure that is correct? My dark brown LPR cam box in the garden is in direct sunlight all day here in Houston. I have a digital thermometer inside and the hottest it got during our 104F days this summer was 127F.

No idea if it is correct, but that is the internal camera thermometer reading. And a PTZ with all its moving parts would generate more heat than the Z12E.

Outside right now for me is 50F and this PTZ thermometer is showing 95F

 

[dubber]

Time to move to Canada @wittaj and @bigredfish , you won't have to worry about PTZ overheating