An update on outdoor camera

I look forward to seeing plans for solar panel support once the Outdoor Wyze is released.
My immediate interest in an outdoor WyzeCam is for monitoring the alley behind our attached (unheated) garage. I would like to supply continuous power and bypass battery altogether.
I currently have a WyzeCam mounted in a door window and will be curious to see how it fares as temperatures drop. Here in Louisville, KY it rarely dips below 20º but, since the garage is attached, there is some heat migration advantage.

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Why is it battery powered? is it just for times when there is a power outage? which is of no use because your router will be off anyway and most power outages these days are less than 10mins anyway.
most of us use a wyze cam in an 3rd party enclosure that protects it to some extent to weather, we use the micro usb cable for power and so far so good (needs to be a meter longer by the way for outside use).
Surely its just a matter of having a water tight camera with internal bridge fitted as standard?
I for one won’t want to continually remove the camera and replace batteries.

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Glad to hear you’re actually working on an outdoor cam. But why does it need to be battery powered? Why not USB powered like the current indoor cameras?

Did you not read the post just above yours?

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Thanks for the update, love my Wyze just setup my 2nd one.

What I really is a Doorbell Cam, if you guys come out with that you will own the market!

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I have now. Didn’t see it before I responded.

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What is the rationale for having a battery powered outside camera? Sure, I know it sounds simple to just stick up a camera without worrying about getting power to it, but there’s more to it. These cameras will be located in areas difficult to access, usually under the eaves of houses where a ladder will be required to reach the camera. Door sensors are pretty simple to reach, not so much a camera located in a high location. And, these cameras will be subject to extreme temperatures since they are located outside. Most batteries will see their life shortened considerably when exposed to high or low temperatures which means that the batteries will have to be replaced more often, and that means dragging out the ladder even more frequently. I would much rather deal with the one-time issue of providing power to the camera than dealing with the recurring issue of accessing the cameras to replace batteries. From your post it already appears that you are having to re-figure some of the features just due to the lower power available from batteries.
I’ve been waiting to purchase outside cameras until Wyze introduced theirs, but if I have to choose between battery or line power, I’ll probably have to go with the more dependable line power.

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There is a huge video doorbell market, Ring and Nest to name a few, The style I am interested is hard wired in the existing analogue wiring, no batteries needed. There are a few now but they are big bulky and ugly, plus they require monthly subscription fees which I dont want. I am confident if Wyze entered this market they would be very successful. Come on Wyze what do you say?

I’m thinking I would use these outdoor cameras away from the main house and point them towards the home. That might give me a better perspective when someone is trying to break-in.

I was considering mounting it on the top of our 6 ft high moss rock wall, our mango trees or even a tall dedicated 4" bamboo pole to provide a better vantage point for our 2 1/2 story home using a solar panel above the Wyze cam to recharge its batteries. Lots of unknowns yet: IR video effects from the house’s lighting, WiFi signal disruption from the adjacent properties, geckos, bugs, birds, humidity, hard water on the lens, and the impact from Hawaii’s intense sun.

I couldn’t do this cost effectively before using the v2 and Pan as it would require under grounding the power cables deep enough for protection and appearance.

But it sounds like fun!

Looking forward to it. Your cameras are excellent. The bulbs are an example of not getting it right so it’s best to wait until you get the bugs out.

They said it can be powered for charging the battery while on continues operation, so I supposed we’ll have the choice to power it up via mains or solar.

Having a battery back-up camera will be useful when you put your router on UPS too, that way if the power outage is intentional, you’ll still capture the incident if not all at least until the camera battery or the UPS runs out.

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Educational expense.

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I’m happy to hear that your using radiant heat instead of pixel comparison. I’ve had other cameras before that gave me tons of false positives even when I turned down the sensitivity. Keep working at it we will be here when you get it right. Don’t be like those other guys that put out something that isn’t read and have us as the beta testers.

I have been using mine under a covered carport and it works extremely well being no more than about 25 feet (straight line) from the wifi modem. I have it streaming to an ipod. Other than having to re clic on the wyze program once maybe twice a day I’m extremely happy with it.

Is there an option for usb power

Hello @fdnyfish and welcome to the community

It has been mentioned a lot that there will be a wired option

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Having an option for USB power would be good I but for many, my house is like this, there is no ac power near the doorbell (dont want to run some ugly powercable to it) So hard wired to existing doorbell wiring and battery power would be the best options.