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[ricquelle]

Hi all,

I have the following equipment:

3 XCam 2 (2 color, 1 B&W) Set on House Codes A1-A3
3 Eagle Eyes Motions Sensors one for each camera
PC Transceiver (CM19A?)
Transceiver (TM751)

Camera A1 and A2 and all associated devices are working great.  I installed Camera A3 this weekend.  I installed it on the alley side of a detached garage that is about 75 feet away from the house.  I also have a Eagle Eye set to this code and a Socket Rocket lamp inside the house.  The A3 camera is working great with very minor interfence because the power line run down the alley.  I believe the motion sensor is working because when you cross it's path the camera switches to the alley view and the inside light associated with A3 comes on.

What it is not doing is sending a signal to record to my PC when it detects motion.  Any advice...

[Brian H]

Do the A1 and A2 cameras trigger a recording? If so the A3 Motion Sensor maybe reaching the TM751 to trigger the camera change but not to the CM19A to tell the PC a signal was received.

What software are you using to record on the PC?

Have you had any cameras do strange things at dusk and dawn? Motion sensors have a Dusk Dawn feature. At Dusk an On signal is sent to the next highest unit code and an Off at dawn. So the A1 motion sensor may send an A2 On at dusk and change cameras. At dawn it may turn off cameras.

[ricquelle]

Yes A1 and A2 trigger a recording like they are suppose to.  I have both Vanguard and ActiveHome Pro with iWatchOut.  I use the Vanguard mostly for the recording capability because I was having problems with the ActiveHome Pro.  As far as the Dusk/Dawn feature, they have not been doing anything weird that I have noticed.

Thank you for the quick reply

[ricquelle]

Also, I might note that cameras A1 and A2 are located within 20 feet of the PC Transceiver and TM751.

[troll334]

Brian's absolutely correct on the dusk/dawn feature of the motion sensors.
I'd consider disabling the dusk/dawn feature of those sensors using the black electrical tape method
detailed in another thread on this forum. If you don't, motion sensor A1 will send an A2 On command when
it senses dusk. It will also send A2 Off when it senses dawn, which will turn CAM A2's power supply off if
it was active; this will yield a momentary gap in your video until another cam comes on.
Also consider the cam A3's distance from the video receiver. That's quite a spread for an RF signal at 2.4GHz to
travel with good quality. Furthermore, when cam A3 is triggered (A3 On), that powerline command MUST BE SEEN by the
other two camera's power supplies in order for them to 'turn off'. If they miss that command, you will have two
cameras transmitting at the same time yielding fuzzy/scratch video.

[ricquelle]

Does the motion sensor send a signal straight to the PC Transceiver to start recording or does it send a signal to the TM751 which sends the signal to the PC Transceiver to start recording? 

This is what is tripping my up.  The TM751 has to be receiving the signal since it switches to the A3 camera and turns the Socket Rocket set at A3 on, right?  But somehow the signal is not getting to my PC to start recording when motion is detected.

[ricquelle]

Also, I can record video from this camera if I activate it from the PC itself.

[troll334]

The CM19 will send and receive RF signals. The motion sensors send RF. The TM751 hears RF and translates those
commands to the powerline.
The cameras transmit video signals (on a different part of the RF spectrum than the motion sensors, CM19, and TM751
work on ). The camera's power supplies act only on powerline commands.
The socket rocket will act on powerline signals only. So if you
have it set to A3, the S.R. will turn on either when the A3 motion sensor is tripped, OR as indicated previously, when
the A2 motion sensor 'sees' dusk and sends it's A3 On signal. I recommend you bring ALL equipment in close proximity
and run thorough tests for functionality and reliability. Once you've determined that everything is working as expected,
then move the A3 equipment out while rechecking reliability. In any case, the TM751 is critical in your installation
as it will be 'hearing' the RF commands from motion sensors and the CM19 and putting those commands on the
powerline to control the camera power supplies and the socket rocket.

[ricquelle]

When I tested all the equipment in the house, it was working correctly including triggering recording.  I can get about 3/4 the way out to the desired location and still pick up recording; however past that the recording feature stops.  Forgive mebut I am not quite clear on what you are saying...If the TM751 is still picking up the signal (which it is reliably as evidenced by the switch to that camera and turning on light A3)shouldn't it be transmitting that signal to the CM19 to start the recording (whether or not the CM19 is directly getting the signal?  I don't believe it is a dawn/dusk issue because I am not having any of the issues you mentioned above with the signal transmissions.

[Brian H]

No the CM19A has no way to see the power line signals from the TM751. It is strictly an RF sender and receiver.
If the motion sensors RF gets to the TM751 and not to the CM19A. The PC will have no clue a signal was sent. Though the cameras may switch. With the TM751s power line signals.

You mentioned AHP in a previous post. Did it come with a CM15A Interface or the CM19A with TM751 Interface?

[ricquelle]

Is there an easy way to enhance the CM19 so it's range will reach further, it sounds like I am dealing with the issue that the signal from the A3 motion sensor is not reaching the CM19.  I read in another thread about attaching a coat hanger to the motion sensor as a passive antenna, would this work?  Or do you have any other ideas?  If I cannot locate the motion sensor where it is, it defeats the purpose of monitoring the alley, by moving it in to where the recording feature works, it would no longer be detecting motion in the alley.

I do not have the CM15A, only the CM19 and TM751...would the reception improve with the CM15A?  If so, would the CM15A replace both the CM19 and TM751 or just the CM19?

[troll334]

You might try monkeying around with the position of the A3 motion sensor; perhaps get it closer to the CM19's
location and rotate it. I do not know if the motion sensor's antenna has directional properties but suspect it
does to some small degree. I have not attempted to extend (or externalize) a motion sensor's antenna; that's a
possibility. Extending the CM19's antenna might just do the trick along with the aforementioned experiments.
Brian's eluding to the CM15 unit. That might be another consideration. Although his reception might not be much
better than the CM19, he will 'hear' powerline commands and act on 'em accordingly. It brings a whole new level
of home automation. If you had one of those online, the TM751's RF to powerline conversion would put A3's
commands on the powerline for the CM15 to hear...then you'd have a better and more reliable environment.

[ricquelle]

So I would still need the TM751 even with a CM15, right?  The CM15 would only replace the CM19?  This is my third camera and it is still confusing to me...

[Brian H]

The CM15A can send and receive RF signals like the CM19A and send and receive X10 power line signals.
In theory it could replace both the TM751A and CM19A.

The CM15A is not known for long distance RF reception and that is why we have so many CM15A antenna modification threads. So it could work worse if you used it for RF receiving.

I also don't know if Vanguard works with the CM15A. Other users maybe able to chime in with their results.

[ricquelle]

Still brainstorming on this issue, did not have any luck with the passive antenna.  If ActiveHome Pro is recognizing that the light is on and the camera is on, couldn't I design a macro to accomplish what I am after?  I do not have Smart Macros, but couldn't I put together one that went something like below (not very good at designing macros-correct my steps if wrong)

Select Camera A3
Start Recording Snapshots (or Video)
Delay 1:00
Stop Recording Snapshots (or Video)
Turn Camera A3 Off


I tried it last night by just hitting the macro button and it seems to accomplish what I was looking for (however I wasn't taking the effect on the other cameras into consideration).  The one problem I have been having with ActiveHome Pro and why I was using Vanguard for recording is I could never get it to Trigger any macro on its own.  It would always work if I hit the macro button, but the camera/motion sensor on would never trigger the macro (not matter what the macro was, simple or more complex).  I have the "Issue On Instead of 100% Brightness checked like some people suggested but still won't trigger a macro.  That is why I quite using Active Home Pro for Camera purposes.

Thanks for your continued help.