I have played with IP Cams for a number of years now, but one area defeats me:
Digital inputs.
(I've also played with microprocessors, particularly the Arduino. I DO know some of the basics!)
"Digital input"... by this I mean the place you attach two wires, and, if y ou get all the settings right, the camera takes a picture and sends it in a n email, or to an FTP server, etc, when the right thing happens on the wire s. I've even made that work with a Wansview NCB541W!
But I have spent HOURS failing to make it happen with a Compro IP60, and (s o far) quite a while failing with a TP-Link TL-SC4171G... both upgraded to current firmware.
All I have tried so far is to get either to deign to notice a switch closur e... If I get that to work, I'll dare to think that eventually I can replac e the switch with the gate and collector of a transistor, but I'll get fanc y after I can do "simple".
So! Is it too much to hope that a simple "doorbell" type switch (momentary) should be enough to make the camera see the "input"? Are there "gotchas" s omeone can bring to my craving attention?
Has anyone managed to get either of those cameras to "see" an input? (The I P60 has a page in its interface which seems to offer switch status informat ion, and yes, I realize that the page would need to be refreshed to see a c hanged state on the input.)
I've searched and searched for the specs of the TP-Link's I/O connector blo ck... four terminals, presumably two for the input and two for the digital output the device claims to support... but which pin which role? To make an swering easier, if anyone knows the answer, let's agree to call the termina ls "1" to "4", with "1" being the one farthest from the edge of the device which is near the connector block. (Edge that is near, that is.) IOTW: 1 to 4 left to right, as you look at them from the POV that is most obvious.
=== Thanks if you can help!
Yes, I know that there are many devils in the details of the settings insid e the camera. I was mainly looking for two things:
1) An assurance that SOMEONE HAS got either (or both!) camera to respond to a digital input, and 2) Discussion of my optimistic assumption that a mere doorbell switch shoul d be enough...=== Sam
(Please respond via newsgroup, not email)