On/Off motion trigger by app for construction site won't update anywhere close to the time you change it
I was told you could change the motion trigger/send photos setting in the app which is what I wanted to do at the construction site to keep from getting tons of motion alerts while we were there working or from having to climb to make changes on the camera a min of 2x per day.
I wanted to get alerts/pics when we are NOT there working.
Spartan said best they could offer was setting up a schedule but this GoCam camera doesn't have individual days/work/weekend settings plus we are not there set times and I want the camera monitoring the entire times we are not there.
You indeed CAN change the settings in the app to say Motion trigger settings to off or No photos but it WILL NOT update until the next time it does a status update- even after you request a status update it just sits there with one in the queue.
My thought of turning it off in the app on the way to the site when we're on our way to work, then back on when we left won't work if it's hours before the change takes effect.
I get a cell trail cam is the best option when you don't have power or wifi but this one is really not suited to the entire reason I bought it for monitoring a construction site when we are not there and we don't have a "schedule" of when we will be.
Not sure it's worth keeping since it doesn't meet the reasons I bought it for esp when I consider the price, the monthly fees and having to change my data plan to unlimited which almost doubles the Verizon bill for 3 lines. Also just a Verizon pet peeve. There was the $35 set up fee but then the $5 per month ends up being $14 per month when they get done adding the extra taxes etc.
If someone knows a way to make it work for our use, I'd love to hear it. Climbing a ladder every day to turn it on and off or make it send a status report really isn't a viable option.
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Kim,
It sounds like you didn’t get the model that you really need. The GoLive does what you want that camera to do, but the GoCams and Ghosts only get requests when they check in, either for transmitting photos or for scheduled events.
Use scheduled events to make the camera check in at various times during the day. It’s easy to shut the sensitivity off in the morning when you get there because the camera will be motion triggered. It’s not as easy to turn it back on. However, if you leave the site about the same time every day, set scheduled events around that time so that the camera will check in shortly after you give the command.
If your schedule is pretty regular, use start-stop times during the week, then when you leave on Friday, turn start-stop off for the weekend. Turn it back on when you go back to the site Monday morning.
There are ways to work around this. They may not be quite as easy to do as they would be if you had gotten a GoLive, but it’s workable. I have dealt with this sort of thing at our camp for years. -
I guess I misunderstood. I thought you HAD to activate it with Verizon ($35), and had to add it to your plan and you could use email to get the photos. Then if you wanted premium text alerts/photos from Spartan that was an additional fee for the MB you chose.
I can always take it back off I guess and pay Spartan. If I do that, does it still use up the Verizon small data share plan data allotment? I didn't read that was an option to not set it up with Verizon and only use Spartan. Geez, I wish I would've spent more time on this forum before buying!
I set it up with 2 scheduled events per day a little after we usually get there then again a bit after we typically leave. I think before trying out the Start/Stop I see if going "no photo" in the morning before the scheduled event 1 then back to photos before scheduled even 2 will work. I still have to remember to change it 2x a day in the app but since our schedule varies with rain, other jobs, etc I think it will work better than a Mon-Saturday thing setting. If not, or if it's still too much data use, I'll try it next.
I really appreciate your help! -
If you are on Facebook, the Spartan Camera Community is a good group to join.
If you are changing settings, you are using premium. That's $3-4/month (depending on how many months you buy at a time) per camera and has nothing to do with data usage. It's a flat fee regardless of how many pics/videos you get, how many status reports you get, now many HD photos you request, how many devices the app is installed on, etc.
With Verizon cameras, you have the option of putting them on your Verizon phone plan or getting a plan through Spartan. Spartan plans don't have an activation fee, you can start and stop them whenever you want, and premium service is included.
It sounds like you are using premium, so I'm not sure whether you are using email at all. That's not usually the easiest way to get pics and you can't get videos.
For people who use GoLives (the live streaming cameras), run cameras all year, and have an unlimited Verizon phone plan already, adding the cameras to their Verizon plan is usually the way to go. However, taxes/fees/surcharges can make a big difference in cost. Some people pay just a few cents to a couple of dollars. Others (like me and apparently you) pay $5/month extra, give or take.
I have a 2GB Verizon plan. My old Verizon 3G camera went haywire recently so I no longer have a camera on my phone plan. If I were to get another Verizon camera, I'd probably just run it on a Spartan data plan.
I would set up a bunch of scheduled events. I would set scheduled events every hour through the afternoon and early evening so you have an option to get fairly quick response during all times you may be leaving the site. You'll never have to wait more than an hour.
If you got an unlimited phone plan, you have nothing to worry about. This camera won't use a lot of data just sending pics even if you use large thumbnails. With unlimited data, though, it doesn't matter how much the camera uses. -
We have the shared 2GB plan. Up until now, we had remaining data every month.
I paid the $35 and the $5 which became $10 to $14 after taxes to add the gocam (with Verizon sim). This is the first time I've involved Verizon and wish I had not. Spartan said I could buy a different Spartan SIM card if I choose to quit using Verizon Sim and data and buy from them. In addition to the Golive that you mentioned being a better fit (and dbl the price), I see some M labeled ones that sound like the sim card is more versatile.
I have not paid Spartan for a premium plan but the settings are in the app. Choosing "no photo" then 'send a photo' for the trigger didn't work to update the change to sending photos. So today I set to send status update to trigger the setting change.
The camera hasn't left our home yet until I get it figured out if I can get start/stop the trigger.
I'm frustrated. I've had D-Link, Wyze, and Swann that use wifi and turning the notifications on and off is a cinch. I have trail cams that you have to physically be at to get photos off the SD card but they won't really work for the construction site because it won't notify us and they could be stolen since they are low enough I can get to them to get the pics or change batteries easily, We don't have power or wifi at the construction site so I knew a battery-powered cell camera was the only way to go.
We only need it to do this on/off thing for a 10 more months or so, so I don't really want to buy the GoLive. After we move in, I'll just keep this one on all the time with low sensitivity as a driveway alert camera.
I'm not sure what trumps what as far as "take a photo", "send status report", "start/stop times". I did lean "take a photo" as my trigger to make the setting change won't work when the last setting was set to no photo. I should've tried off on the motion trigger instead.
I appreciate your help and I'm pretty impressed you got this all figured out!
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Well, I take back easily changing the sim card. I just read on their site "SIM cards are not interchangeable. A Verizon GoCam can only use Verizon SIM cards" and that is what I bought.
Also, a litte concerned that set on normal it didn't alert me to hubby's truck pulling in 15' away from the camera. -
You can use the same SIM whether you get your data from Verizon or from Spartan. The only carrier that you need a different SIM for is AT&T and that’s only for GoCams because the Ghosts and GoLives don’t have user-accessible SIMs, plus AT&T has done away with their plan that cameras can use so that’s not even an option.
You can’t take a photo now with a GoCam. Requesting a status report really doesn’t do anything (other than if you use it as a scheduled event) because you get a status report every time the camera contacts the server (to send any kind of photo or for a scheduled event status report).
Setting sensitivity OFF will have the same effect as setting no photo as far as being able to turn it back on.
I’ve been a tester for Spartan since 2015. I’ve had to figure out some novel ways to make things work. I also write a lot of the Knowledge Base articles and documentation. -
What’s the time frame that you usually stop for the day? It’s not hard to turn the camera off when you get there in the morning regardless of time because the camera will be motion-triggering and you just update settings.
The trick is to set scheduled events (status reports are fine) on the hour, covering the times that construction normally stops. That way, when you get ready to leave, you can turn sensitivity back to normal and the camera will come back up at the next status report (no more than an hour away if you send the request immediately after the last status report came in).
My scheduled events are at midnight (status report), 3 AM (status report, this usually takes care of times changes but not always), 7 AM (because I wake about 6 and this gives me a chance to request videos, HD photos, etc., from overnight pics), 9 AM (always a photo), noon, 3 PM (always a photo), 6 PM, and 9 PM (always a photo). There are two scheduled events left, so those could be set for status reports at 4 PM and 5 PM. This is just an example of work stops between 3 and 6 most days. -
Well you sure know your stuff and helped me a lot. Verizon towers are the only ones with good signals around here.
I'll just sit down with some paper and set my phone to remind me to make the changes to the motion trigger before set times as asking for a photo to make the changes take effect.
We were getting there around 7am working till 5 ish. Then with this heat we changed to 6am and until we were exhausted. I forgot about time change (wish they'd do away with that!) We work between 4 and 6 days a week up there at least till we get it dried in.
I like the idea of a photo every day at a set time because when we're done with the house if I save one from each day I can make one cool timeline video.
I'm going to sit down and kinda copy what you did. I don't think our schedule is regular enough to use the start/stop feature. With wanting it on when we're not there, if we're not going that morning, I'll just not mess with it until we do that way it can just keep on triggering while we're not there.
Hopefully, I can keep the data use down enough to not go over our ancient small share plan we have. I kept the thumbnail small. If I see something I can always go retrieve the high one being overwritten on the SD card.
Thank you again. (oh and I saw your name answering some other post I read too)
If I can get it to work right, I'll buy a cable and lock even though I still plan to put it high enough to need a ladder to get to it. I can't really 'hide' it and it still get the 60 to 80' I'd like it to monitor.
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If you have the camera turned off while you are there, you probably won’t be in any danger of going over the data limit. The HD photos will be on the SD card and won’t be overwritten for a long time. I would use photo + video, though, because if something does happen, that video will probably show a lot more than the photo. You don’t use data for videos unless you request that they be transmitted.
All you need to do is to remember to request a settings update and turn sensitivity to normal when you leave the site (or afterwards, if you forget).
You may be better off getting your data from Spartan. The 3 month/1 G/$36 plan includes premium service and that’s 1/3 G (on average) per month, which is a good number of pics. Most of my cameras don’t come close to using that much data.
Here’s an article on settings that may help.
https://support.spartancamera.com/hc/en-us/articles/360040071594-GoCam-and-Ghost-settings-app-example-settings-and-explanation-
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