Sweet! LTS is releasing an ONVIF compatible doorbell with SD card slot and 940nm IR

[Openlog]

I have the U-Bell DB1 with 171225. The unit I received always show the "storage status" as "No Memory Card" in the Hik-Connect and Uniden One apps. However, I can playback timeline videos but the individual alert playback buttons are gray with no function. Uniden support had me full format the SD card on my computer and "restore all" the U-Bell via the web GUI but no go. I even replaced the 8Gig card that came with the device with a Samsung 32Gig without improvement. Uniden is willing to fix it under warranty seeming convinced it is a problem with the SD slot. It's funny though that the unit is writing files to the card (verified on my computer) and I can playback the timeline even though their is "No Memory Card" according to the Hik-Connect and Uniden One apps on my iPhone. The IVMS-4500 app allows me to playback alarm videos.
I was wondering if anyone else experienced these phenomenon. I'm tempted to load Nelly's 180726 firmware to try to fix this but afraid it might void my warranty. The turn around time for the Uniden "fix" might be a month.

I also have this issue with my U-Bell, both on Hikvision, Nelly, and Uniden's own firmware. I also thought that the SD card slot was broken, but video is stored on it without any issues (funny thing, my doorbell actually came with a short clip of it being assembled in the factory! The worker must have hit the button on accident, you can see him applying the information sticker to the front).

I'm thinking it has something to do with the software on the phone..

 

[TimTech]

Uniden One & Hik-Connect apps are suddenly working fine. I did nothing. I can playback alerts/notifications and my SD card has a status of “normal” and allows initialization. I suspect Uniden support fixed something since they have my access passwords. So far, Uniden support has been pretty good. I’m waiting for a reply to our email string.


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[aesterling]

I have a laview but have been reluctant to install. how has it been for you? Were you able to update?

I'm running V1.4.62 build 180515 on my LaView without any trouble. The upgrade was straight forward, although I always "Export Device Parameters" before firmware upgrades just to be safe.

 

[aesterling]

Thanks. I have been reluctant due to feedback. When it was suggested by IPCT member I purchased it haphazardly and then saw all the issues. Having some good feedback gives more more confidence. Do you have same issue at night with how it looks and glare?

Thanks

I'm generally happy with it. I ended up moving one of my mesh wifi routers closer to the doorbell to get a stable signal. I also had a little glare at night (mostly reflecting off the bricks around my door) but followed the instructions inthis postto unscrew the device's cover and clean the inside of the dome and front of the lens. It was super easy. Also, since I have a front door light that's always on at night, I decided to just unplug the IR emitters completely. Here's the before and after photo. I use it with Blue Iris and it's super stable, but before that, I used the LaView app and Hikvision app.

 

[TL1096r]

Great info. I might tackle it this weekend and remove the ir censors. No need for them. But you are not able to remove IR censors through apps?
And what is the post to clean the dome from glare.
The 24/7 recording/viewing on BI sounds like a good benefit too.

 

[aesterling]

Great info. I might tackle it this weekend and remove the ir censors. No need for them. But you are not able to remove IR censors through apps?
And what is the post to clean the dome from glare.
The 24/7 recording/viewing on BI sounds like a good benefit too.

Nope, you cannot disable the IR through software. The manufacturer even commented and said it's a hardware limitation that won't be addressed in future software updates, unfortunately.

As for cleaning the dome, I just took the device apart and used a microfiber cloth to wipe the inside of the plastic dome, then used a can of compressed air to blow out any remaining dust before reassembling.

 

[TL1096r]

Nope, you cannot disable the IR through software. The manufacturer even commented and said it's a hardware limitation that won't be addressed in future software updates, unfortunately.

As for cleaning the dome, I just took the device apart and used a microfiber cloth to wipe the inside of the plastic dome, then used a can of compressed air to blow out any remaining dust before reassembling.

Thanks. It will be a weekend project maybe. Do you have a good DIY that shows step by step how to set it up. You have to go through their app to set it up but after that is all set you can set it up on BI? I seen a video where he was able to place the doorbell on BI but I have lost it.

 

[aesterling]

Thanks. It will be a weekend project maybe. Do you have a good DIY that shows step by step how to set it up. You have to go through their app to set it up but after that is all set you can set it up on BI? I seen a video where he was able to place the doorbell on BI but I have lost it.

I first set it up using the LaView app to connect it to my network and set a password, etc. Then I set up a DHCP IP reservation on my router so the IP address doesn't change. (I don't think the doorbell allows you to set a static IP, so that's why I did it that way.) Then I added it to Blue Iris using these settings:

 

[Openlog]

Uniden One & Hik-Connect apps are suddenly working fine. I did nothing. I can playback alerts/notifications and my SD card has a status of “normal” and allows initialization. I suspect Uniden support fixed something since they have my access passwords. So far, Uniden support has been pretty good. I’m waiting for a reply to our email string.


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Interesting.. mine has fixed itself as well, without any changes. I haven’t updated my apps or my doorbell at all, and I can confirm it was not working a few days ago. A bit scary?

Now time to try and figure out why my recorder keeps dropping the RTSP stream.. any ideas?

 

[TimTech]

Interesting.. mine has fixed itself as well, without any changes. I haven’t updated my apps or my doorbell at all, and I can confirm it was not working a few days ago. A bit scary?

Now time to try and figure out why my recorder keeps dropping the RTSP stream.. any ideas?

I tried to remotely view my RTSP stream using VLC through a VPN connection to my Ubiquiti router. It worked but would freeze once in a while and I would have to pause/play to get it restarted. I even got sound. I haven’t trouble shot it yet to determine if the freezing was due to my connection or the doorbell itself. The consensus is to have an upgraded 16V 20-30VA transformer and your WiFi signal very close to the doorbell. My ASUS ac68U AP is about 20 feet away with only the front door blocking the signal. Sooner or later I’d like to stream 24/7 to a NVR, NAS, or Blue Iris.


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[Openlog]

I tried to remotely view my RTSP stream using VLC through a VPN connection to my Ubiquiti router. It worked but would freeze once in a while and I would have to pause/play to get it restarted. I even got sound. I haven’t trouble shot it yet to determine if the freezing was due to my connection or the doorbell itself. The consensus is to have an upgraded 16V 20-30VA transformer and your WiFi signal very close to the doorbell. My ASUS ac68U AP is about 20 feet away with only the front door blocking the signal. Sooner or later I’d like to stream 24/7 to a NVR, NAS, or Blue Iris.


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Hi TimTech,

Thanks for the info - The interesting thing is that I have absolutely no issues with VLC and can watch the stream for hours with no drops - however, my NVR doesn't like the stream at all - Onvif and RTSP both drop the connection and reconnect every 5-10 minutes. The NVR log files indicate that packets are being received out of sequence. I've gotten in touch with the company who manufactures the NVR (a local company here in the US who does all development here!) and they're working on finding out why this happens.

My research found that this doorbell camera doesn't send some vital metadata information which is needed for some software, and that causes the issue. VLC is usually forgiving with that kind of stuff.

Also, nice find on extracting the software and finding those audio files! I'll try editing those and recompiling them with hiktools and sending it over to my bell to see if I can get rid of the subscriber is busy audio when you decline a call. If it works out, I might write a guide on that

 

[concord]

Hi TimTech,

...The NVR log files indicate that packets are being received out of sequence. I've gotten in touch with the company who manufactures the NVR (a local company here in the US who does all development here!) and they're working on finding out why this happens.

My research found that this doorbell camera doesn't send some vital metadata information which is needed for some software, and that causes the issue. VLC is usually forgiving with that kind of stuff....

I was originally using BlueCherryDvr (Linux-based) when I got the doorbell cam and I couldn't get it added to the software, asked BC tech support to look at it, but they never got around to it, so I switched to Blue Iris. Maybe whatever you find may be causing the issue with BC too. The developers for BC recently open sourced their software.

 

[tofu]

Any word on how to disable the built-in chime?

 

[Openlog]

Any word on how to disable the built-in chime?

If I’m able to edit the audio file to be silent, successfully compile the firmware, and then the camera accepts it, then we’ll be going somewhere I will try a little later today.

I wonder what the size limit is for audio files? And if it needs to be a specific bitrate and size - this is an embedded device so storage space is probably limited, but it would be interesting to see if custom audio files could be added.

 

[tofu]

If I’m able to edit the audio file to be silent, successfully compile the firmware, and then the camera accepts it, then we’ll be going somewhere I will try a little later today.

I wonder what the size limit is for audio files? And if it needs to be a specific bitrate and size - this is an embedded device so storage space is probably limited, but it would be interesting to see if custom audio files could be added.

That would be awesome. Not sure why there isn't just a software toggle in the app. I'm using the laview variant.

 

[TimTech]

If I’m able to edit the audio file to be silent, successfully compile the firmware, and then the camera accepts it, then we’ll be going somewhere I will try a little later today.

I wonder what the size limit is for audio files? And if it needs to be a specific bitrate and size - this is an embedded device so storage space is probably limited, but it would be interesting to see if custom audio files could be added.

Be careful not to brick the device. Good luck!

 

[TL1096r]

If I’m able to edit the audio file to be silent, successfully compile the firmware, and then the camera accepts it, then we’ll be going somewhere I will try a little later today.

I wonder what the size limit is for audio files? And if it needs to be a specific bitrate and size - this is an embedded device so storage space is probably limited, but it would be interesting to see if custom audio files could be added.

Thanks for looking into it.

That would be awesome. Not sure why there isn't just a software toggle in the app. I'm using the laview variant.

Does LaView have a way to remove it?

Does all of these HIK cameras use the same hik software on computer/apps?

 

[tofu]

Thanks for looking into it.



Does LaView have a way to remove it?

Does all of these HIK cameras use the same hik software on computer/apps?

Can't turn off the sound. I actually wouldn't mind the sound if it were a subtle beep instead of a loud DING DONG that people can clearly hear across the street.

As far as hikvision software on their other devices, no idea... I just use blue iris

 

[Openlog]

Thanks for looking into it.



Does LaView have a way to remove it?

Does all of these HIK cameras use the same hik software on computer/apps?

The different firmwares honestly look exactly the same.. I can’t tell a difference between them (those of those that do have a web interface at least). The firmware works across each app fine, for example, LaView firmware seems to work fine with Uniden’s app.

I tried editing the audio files, but I might need to set up a Linux VM/machine in order to compress it properly. 7Zip can open the .tar.lzma archive fine, and compress the folder to a tar file, but can’t create the correct LZMA file that the doorbell would be able to use. More testing later to come!

 

[TimTech]

I tried editing the audio files, but I might need to set up a Linux VM/machine in order to compress it properly. 7Zip can open the .tar.lzma archive fine, and compress the folder to a tar file, but can’t create the correct LZMA file that the doorbell would be able to use. More testing later to come!

I’m rooting for you!




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