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[BudWah]

HeyNow* * * I have been extremely lucky in that I have had Tuicemen look over my software setup for my AHP programming ...

As expected, with his help , we were able to take care of much of my problems... Until it came to the 'Flood Cameras'...

He had never used them, so wasn't sure how to recomend I continue...

For my setup, and by his recomendation... I put all my Cameras on House Code 'B', the Sensors that trigger them on House Code 'D', all of my appliances, and lamps on House Code 'F'...

All work correctly, aside from a remote signal glitch, that is of little concern at this point...

How do I set the 'Sensor' on the 'Flood Cam'

I can set the 'House Code', The 'Unit Code', and the 'Channel' of which the manual leaves virtually unexplained...

Please ... Can anyone... that has been successful with programing the 'Flood Cameras'... help with my dilemma

Thanks for the Concern... Budwah

[jawaid]

I have a few floodcams and I believe that the sensor and the camera share the same house and unit codes. If I am mistaken, somebody please correct me.

The house and the unit codes are the same as in other cameras and modules. The channel refers to the frequency at which the camera transmits the image. The channel code must be the same at which your video receiver is set at. Other wireless x10 cameras also have the channel which is hidden under the rubber plug located on the base of the camera and can be likewise set to either channels A through D. By default these are set to channel A.

Again, channel A-D refers to the frequency channel, not to be confused with the house code which range from A through P.

The sensor and the camera sharing the same house and unit codes is a pretty useful feature specially if you just want to automatically record the video on a VCR. However, if you are using multiple cameras, the sensor activating the camera transmission can cause some frustrations. I am using iWitness to trigger snapshots when motion occurs. In some cases, I taped the motion sensor front over on some floodcams because I do not want the camera cutting in. In other cases, I use a different channel to send the video signal to a different receiver. And in a couple of cases I use the macros to quickly shutt off the unit and turn on other modules.

The floodcams do have the camera mode which can be set to Auto or Manual. This described in the documentation which accompanies the camera. I tried it but could not get it to work separately from the sensor. I should try it again and see if it can work.

[Tuicemen]

Perhaps TakeTheActive will chime in with some suggestions as he has been using them (I understand for YEARS!)  although he is new to AHP!

[jawaid]

The posts from TakeTheActive   are always very informative and contain very useful information. I have learned a few things from his posts - specially about motion sensors. I too hope that he chimes in about the topic here.

[TakeTheActive]

Perhaps TakeTheActive will chime in with some suggestions as he has been using them (I understand for YEARS!) 

PR511 (Floods) - YES  ; VT38A (FloodCams) - NO  .

From all of my readings here, I would have to defer all expertise on that subject to jawaid.

[TakeTheActive]

The posts from TakeTheActive   are always very informative and contain very useful information. I have learned a few things from his posts - specially about motion sensors. I too hope that he chimes in about the topic here.

Thanks jawaid for the kind words (and probably some of those 'much appreciated ' 'Helpfuls' ), but I tried the Color Camera out once, YEARS AGO, and wasn't too pleased (field-of-view / minimum candlepower / herringbones). So much so that, in fact, I think that it was the *ONLY* X10 product that I ever returned. 

[jawaid]

You are welcome, TakeTheActive. After reading your posts I ordered the PR511 sensors. I am hoping that these will get me better range and sensitivity than the VT38A or the ActiveEye sensors.

[TakeTheActive]

...After reading your posts I ordered the PR511 sensors. I am hoping that these will get me better range and sensitivity than the VT38A or the ActiveEye sensors.

WHOA! STOP THE PRESSES! 

While, IMO, the PR511 and/or VT38A will OUT-PERFORM any MSxx (PLC vs RF, constant AC vs variable DC), just looking at the cases (and thinking X10 Engineering Design ECONOMY), I can't imagine the circuitry of the VT38A (regarding "better range and sensitivity " of the Motion Detector portion) as being much different from the PR511.  :- Reference

As Tuicemen pointed out, although I'm an "Old-Timer" at ActiveHome, I'm a freshly-printed "Newbie" at ActiveHome Pro (and *TOTALLY* out-of-the-picture when talking about cameras!). Will one of the AHP Add-ons replace the VT38A Camera Interface Functionality if you switch to a PR511? (i.e. Can a MSxx control a non-VT38A type of X10 camera via AHP?)

[jawaid]

TakeTheActive, you are probably right about the design similarity between PR511 and VT38A. My thought was that PR511 provides sensitivity adjustment and VT38A does not. The sensitivity adjustment will hopefully help in getting the motion sensor perform better.

[TakeTheActive]

My thought was that PR511 provides sensitivity adjustment and VT38A does not. The sensitivity adjustment will hopefully help in getting the motion sensor perform better.

Which 'might' just mean that the VT38A is always running at MAX Sensitivity, while the PR511 allows you to REDUCE it.  :-

Out of the thousands and thousands of X10 Owners, you'd think someone along the line had already bought one of each and could chime in here with a comparison? 

[Tuicemen]

jawaid:   Does the sensor on the flood cams suffer from the unit+1 like the other sensors? This may help BudWah in his setup since he has TWO!
Since the cam and sensor share the came code, I assume you can set the OFF time and have to use that set time, You can't specify something else in AHP(macros unless it is less) BudWah is trying to add them into macros which is where most of his frustration is!

[jawaid]

Tuicemen, the VT38A does not use the address+1 unlike the MSxx sensors. It is pretty straight forward. The camera automatically is turned on when motion is detected in the 'auto' mode. In the 'manual' mode, the documentation says that the camera can be separately turned on/off by x10 commands but I have not been able to make it work reliably.

Budwah, can you explain how you are set up? How many wireless cameras are you using? Do you more than the 2 floodcams mentioned here? Are you using the motion detection from the floodcams to drive any appliances or any lights other than the built-in flood lamps?

[jawaid]

TakeTheActive, you are probably correct about the PR511 and floodcams. Based on the looks both are most likely of similar design. I notice significant variances in sensitivity and range of these cameras. I am waiting for the 2 PR511 units I ordered and I will compare the performance of the 2 units once I get them.

[hostilejava]

Did anything ever come of this?  I did some searching and it seems that everyone has simiilar problems with these camera's.  The lights/camera's don't get tripped or get "stuck" on.  I don't have a reciever for the camera so I can't test that out, however I did order two of them when they had a sale because they were cheaper then buying two of the PR511's.  I think at the time I paid $49 for both.  Anyway, mine performs similarly, I installed it over a year ago, and had just set timers up that turn it off throughout the day to make sure it didn't get stuck on all day long.  Theoretically the camera should come on whenever the motion sensor trips and the floodlight should come on with it after a certain darkness level based on the dark/light setting you select.  Then after a certain time period the camera and/or light should turn off based on the setting you select.  This is not the case.  Sometimes the lights trip during the day and just stay on or I'll walk by at night and nothing happens, I have to stand there or walk in and out of range several times to trip it.  Sometimes it just get's locked turned on or off and I have to turn the switch off to it for several minutes to get it to reset.  However it seems the best solution might be to cover the motion/light sensor with some tape, set the camera to manual and install an MS14a or MS16a near the VT38A and have that trigger it instead.  This should trick the VT38A into thinking it's always dark, wich means the lights and camera would come on whenever it's triggered but this seems like it might be the best way to get the camera to work reliably.  Does this make sense?  Perhaps I can cover the motion but not the light sensor to make just the camera trips during the day and not the floodlight?  Here is a picture of the controls for the VT38A so those of you that do not have it can get an idea of what I'm talking about.

[cardude]

I've had the same problem where the light never turns on at night, always stays on , or even turns on during the day. it's the same model as the one shown.  I've been using an eagle eye motion sensor as a back up for the one on the floodcam. However i believe this may also be the cause for the problem. I'm gonna try the tape idea. thanks for the idea. If there's another way can somebody please help.