Review - TOP-201 Super Mini 720P HD IP-Cam (The Cheapest IP Cam So Far !!)

MarcW

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I purchased five of these mini cameras now and was wondering what the difference was between the top-201 and the top-308? I have one top-201, two top-201-ir and my last purchase was for two top-308 cameras with an adjustable zoom lens.

The top 308 is noticably different in size (a few mm smaller), but other than that are there any differences between the circuit boards or maybe the sensor is different?

thanks in advance and my apologies if this has already been answered,

d
 

Quinn

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My camera is still bricked. I have found some flash read/write instructions using a serial connection and U-Boot, but the problem is I cannot find the flash layout of TOP-201. I need the addresses of mtd partitions to run "sf read" and "sf write" commands. I can get only their sizes like that:
# cat /proc/mtd
dev: size erasesize name
mtd0: 00040000 00010000 "boot"
mtd1: 00370000 00010000 "romfs"
mtd2: 00280000 00010000 "user"
mtd3: 00140000 00010000 "web"
mtd4: 00040000 00010000 "custom"
mtd5: 00050000 00010000 "mtd"

Could anyone please me out here?
 

MarcW

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I am trying to use some infra red lighting in order to get greater coverage in an area and noticed that the Top-201-ir picked up the suplimental lighting just fine, but the non-ir top-201 and top-308 simply did not see the ir light at all.

now obviously the top-201-ir has the light sensor, so when it gets dark it automatically uses the hardware switch to go into IR mode, but is there a software override so I can get the regular top 201 and top-308 models to switch to IR mode?

thank in advance,

Marc
 

dreadbit

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I can get this far but can't get it to break using Ctrl-C. Doesn't seem to be recognizing my keystrokes. I see no echo from any typing. Are there some specific keyboard or other settings that need to be used? Using putty as a terminal.
Maybe you have rts/cts flow control turned on in yours' terminal program? Switch it off!
 

Mike A.

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Maybe you have rts/cts flow control turned on in yours' terminal program? Switch it off!
Just needed to get the right connections. It would display with either one and ground ground connected but not accept input until I figured out the right terminals.
 

Phorce1

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I was looking at this thread a couple of years ago but wasn't really ready to set anything up back then. Now, it's 38 pages long with info about a bunch of different cameras all mixed in and bits about firmware flashing and other stuff in here as well.

If I just want one of these cameras with an IR-cut that will work with an external illuminator and that I can connect to my OWN network (with a system running MOTION software) without having to phone home to the manufacturer's special spy site. I would also prefer a WiFi enabled camera for ease of placement.

I can flash firmware if necessary. I can solder on a serial header but I'd rather not.

Thanks for any suggestions.
 

bmac6996

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Question:
Top-201-IR - With this model and in plain daylight, will this show video in the correct color?

Wondering if this is like the raspberry pi-cam-IR where it will work with an IR light and it regular daylight, everything has a purple tint.

Thanks in advance.
 

dreadbit

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If I just want one of these cameras with an IR-cut that will work with an external illuminator and that I can connect to my OWN network (with a system running MOTION software) without having to phone home to the manufacturer's special spy site. I would also prefer a WiFi enabled camera for ease of placement.
So what the problem? (except the IR-cut - never tried it with external illumination; I bet you need relay and external power source). Motion (after merge with Mr.Dave code when he became a maintainer) works nicely. Just tell it netcam_url rtsp://IP/rtsp stream url and you get it. I have 7 cameras running on Core2 with 4G RAM on Slackware and have [almost] no problem. But most of my cameras are ethernet connected, but it works with WiFi as well is the signal is good.
I can flash firmware if necessary. I can solder on a serial header but I'd rather not.
There is no need. AIFAK, there is still no alternative firmware without that chinese root login and this weird cloud stuff. And that's strange, because as I understand the SDK is published.
 

element

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I´ve bought a JSK-720P cam at banggood. No ir, no wifi, no zoomlens. firmware V5.00.R001.00023650.10010.248200.0C , build 2017.01.06.
Anyone an idea of http address for snapshot?
this doesn´t work
http://192.168.xxx.xx/webcapture.jpg?command=snap&channel=0
the rtsp stream works
rtsp://192.168.xxx.xx:554/user=admin&password=*****&channel=1&stream=1.sdp

Chipset 510A1
 
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eldrik

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Hi,
does someone ever hooked up a speaker to one of the hisilicon cameras and can recommend one?

Regards
Eldrik
 

ovisopa

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Hello guys,
I have this cam since 2014 - 2015 (TOP-201 vari zoom) .. running 24/7 in my workshop, I want now to grab a screenshot , is there any possibility to grab a screenshot or even a lower resolution image using a simple url that includes the user and password ?

System: V4.02.R12.00006510.10010.1407
Build Date 2014-10-23

I want to embed this screenshot in a dashboard I made, so as it's quite complicated to have an RTSP stream embedded in a web page, and also be cross platform compatible (iOS , Android, PC...) the snapshot option seems to me the best option, even if the framerate is quite low, it doesn't bothers me, the recorded quality by the NVR is good, this is just for review and quick accessing any camera.

Here is a video with my other camera embeeded in the dashboard, I want to do the same with my workshop camera


Thank you
 
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cybermaus

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ovisopa

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@cybermaus I tried the link you provided but it saves a jpg file, containing this text :

HTML:
<html><head><title>404 File Not Found</title></head>
<body>The requested URL was not found on this server</body></html>
 

boytroy88

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@cybermaus I tried the link you provided but it saves a jpg file, containing this text :

HTML:
<html><head><title>404 File Not Found</title></head>
<body>The requested URL was not found on this server</body></html>
Did you by chance change the password when you first set it up? I changed my ip and was able to access that url using the new ip.

As for me I have a slightly different problem. Might not even be a problem with the camera but with the NVR I'm using...I have the POE version of this and am trying to connect to a Q-See NVR (QC858) and can't. If I use an external POE injector and separate router I can see the camera but connecting directly to the NVR is a go no. Wondering if anyone have any idea how to get it to work with the NVR?

Thanks!
 

cybermaus

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@cybermaus I tried the link you provided but it saves a jpg file, containing this text :

HTML:
<html><head><title>404 File Not Found</title></head>
<body>The requested URL was not found on this server</body></html>
Well, it works for me, and many other people also report it as working.
Maybe your camera simply does not have it. but you could try adding a password, but I am not sure of the format. I would use one of these two:

http://192.168.xxx.xx/webcapture.jpg?user=admin&password=*****&command=snap&channel=1
http://user:pwd@192.168.xxx.xx/webcapture.jpg?command=snap&channel=1
 

ovisopa

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@boytroy88 When I set it up I did change the password, and also the IP , it's using a static IP, I also set the camera to reboot everyday as this has fixed the camera from freezing every few days.

@cybermaus Do you have a different firmware, do you recommand to update the firmware ? Do you have any link to download the firmware you guys are using ?

I tried again and didn't had any luck with any of those URL's :(

I also connected to it using telnet , but I never used telnet in the past, and don't know any commands, I'm used to SSH to connect to linux machines and devices. Using telnet I could login to the camera but I couldn't do anything from there, even typing help didn't report anything back, except an error -sh: help: not found.

Any more help is appreciated.

telnet session.jpg cnc_cam_info.jpg
 

cybermaus

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I am a bit busy now, so cannot spend too much time. But I want to warn you: there are many variant camera's, all with slightly different firmware, and if you burn the wrong one, you brick the camera. So as you are not too skilled (by your own estimates) do not burn firmware unless someone you trust told you they are absolutely sure it is the right one.
 
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