ZoneMinder Forums

I am brand new to zoneminder and wifi cameras. I need to use Solar powered cameras because my install locations are high up in trees. I'm not running power to them. I purchased a pair of solar ptz cameras as a test case. I was able to connect them to the vendors proprietary phone app and get the IP. The app did not include much other information like what methods of data transport it supported. They did not support rtsp and I could not get them to connect to ZM so I returned the cameras.

1) Is there a generic app for initial setup for cameras to discover their IP that don't have an RJ45 socket and are wifi only? Or must I use a vendors initial connect app.

If I go to amazon and search solar PTZ cameras, there's not much on documentation to determine if a camera supports rtsp. I'd like to try another solar ptz camera but am having a difficult time finding one. Although this forum has "Hardware Queries" & "Hardware Compatibility List" sections, I don't see a section for "Solar ptz Cameras that work with ZM". So any pointers here would be much appreciated.

2) Are there known solar wifi ptz cameras that work with ZM?

thanks for any feedback - mike

The main thing for zm to work is a continuous stream. Most battery/solar cameras stop sending in the absence of motion.
Most likely, you need to get conventional cameras and add sufficient solar to run the camera and charge a battery to run it overnight.
If your camera supports ONVIF, it will almost certainly work with ZM.

Thank for the feedback.

Well, along the lines of a Miracle on 34th street and Macy's sending customers to Gimbles, do you know of any other opensource video surveillance systems that can run on motion detection that don't require rtsp? I realize zm is #1 so I started here. - mike

Note that ZM doesn't REQUIRE rtsp -- it's just that most cameras that provide an RTSP stream will be supported by ZM and the settings can be discovered easier if the camera supports ONVIF.

Discovering the cameras secrets may well involve using the original manufacturer's app, plus some packet-sniffing software running on the phone to snoop the connection. Once you've seen what URLs the app connects to you can steal them and use them in ZM, or VLC to check.

The main problem with solar powered cameras is that the power available from the tiddly cells, in a nice shady tree, is not enough to run the camera from dawn to dusk providing a constant stream -- in any protocol/format. So a lot of them go into low power state, not streaming, maybe not even having a WiFi link. Until the camera detects motion (maybe a PIR on board?) at which point it wakes up and starts recording/streaming.

mikb -
I saw you use the word torch.
Just for kicks, I tried google translate. It has no idea that a torch might be a flashlight to many of us...

dougmccrary wrote: ↑Thu Jan 25, 2024 12:48 am mikb -
I saw you use the word torch.
Just for kicks, I tried google translate. It has no idea that a torch might be a flashlight to many of us...

Sorry, I forgot the i18n disclaimer/inclusion

Yes, in the UK a torch is battery powered light -- not a flaming oil soaked bit of cloth on a stick for lighting up caves