:doorbell: Video doorbells are neither doors, nor bells, nor really all that useful. Discuss

                    

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You rage baiter…

The VDB is arguably the most useful camera device.

The VDB market is valued at $2.2Billion last year and is expected to be worth $7.0Billion by 2037. A 12.3% CAGR is one of the fastest-growing smart home device segments globally. The statistics alone are strong evidence against the claim. The market has spoken out against your rage bait allegations. :slight_smile:

Yes, you can position other cameras in different ways, but a VDB allows for someone to initiate a VoIP call (way better audio clarity IMO), and is designed to control and monitor the main point of entry, capture faces (which other cameras generally don’t do as clearly from their positioning), specifically useful for package detection.

Sure it could be possible to do a lot of the same things with another smart camera…I used one as if it was a Video doorbell for years too, but once I got a VDB, I noticed a pretty significant difference for my use cases.

Also, VDB’s are generally widely acceptable in convention now, while some crazy neighbors will have fits about normal smart cameras being used. A lot of HOAs will even ban all smart cameras besides VDB’s (PSA: never live in an HOA controlled by local bored neighbors).

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For me personally I don’t feel I need a VDB. I have setup that works well for me. I have a regular doorbell which rarely gets rung because solicitors will knock on my door. I guess to have plausible deniability that they did not see my No Soliciting sign attached to my doorbell.

I have a Cam v3 aimed at my porch if I want to view it.

I am not against technology as I just bought a cool deadbolt for my front door. I wanted a deadbolt with a keypad and No smart capability.

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“The Holy Roman Empire was neither holy nor Roman nor an empire. Discuss.” —Mike Myers as Linda Richman in “Coffee Talk” on Saturday Night Live, apparently paraphrasing Voltaire

That was my first thought. I looked but didn’t find a relevant video link.

I’ve mentioned numerous times in the Forum that I really like Video Doorbell v2. Prior to seeing that one launch, I’d looked off and on at different models from Wyze and others but wasn’t finding the combination of features I wanted. That one had what I’d been seeking, and then it also led me to learn more about my home’s wiring (I feel like I’ve gotten really good with troubleshooting that one) and to dive into 3D printing, so in addition to being a useful product it’s been a source for educating me about some things that I might not have learned otherwise.

That’s probably an unintended—some might say dubious—benefit, and I realize that not everyone would have that perspective, but I might be kind of a weird guy. :zany_face:

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I don’t know they just seem so obvious to me. If HOA’s like 'em how good could they be? :wink:

Seriously though, I’m sometimes shallow but always curious. I hoped to learn something here and I already have.

Thanks fellows!

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Touché, my friend, touché…I don’t have a great counter-argument to such insight. :joy:

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:astonished_face::wink:

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I for one have no issues with weird guys as I think I fall into that category myself :rofl:

However, I have a need for a doorbell at my side entrance were none ever existed and I can’t deploy my workaround that I have for my front door due to many walls in between. Still looking…

That’s probably why I like you, despite your spurious accusations. :grin:

Is that a camera Wi-Fi issue or something else?

Oh, those are not accusations, those are facts :rofl:

No, that’s the existing doorbell technology that I already have in place at my front door. Needs an outlet that is not behind more than two walls. I know they are not using WiFi, haven’t figured out what they are using yet. There are no batteries involved. I think they are using powerline frequencies, not sure how though.

The button that’s screwed or taped to the front door has no power source. The chime gets plugged into an outlet close by. You press the button and the chime chimes.

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More lies. I expected better. :wink:

It looks like 315 MHz, though if you look at the internal photos there’s a module on the printed circuit board that’s labeled “26.250 / MHZ-H”. (I am not an electronics guy.)

That’s because your finger is the power source.[1] HeathZenith calls it a “PIEZO DOOR CHIME”, so that implies that the mechanical stress you’re inducing into the doorbell button is converted into electrical energy. What I see in the internal photos makes me wonder if pressing the button moves a permanent magnet inside the coil of copper wires and if that’s what produces an electrical current to power the printed circuit board. Either way, I think pressing the button provides enough electrical energy to the PCB to broadcast a brief, weak radio signal, and I imagine the chime device that you plug into an outlet in your home is a receiver that’s just constantly “listening” at that 315 MHz frequency for the signal in order to trigger the chime sound that it makes.

It’s pretty clever. I like it.


  1. This makes me wonder about @Antonius’s :raccoon: gang (which I recently learned is called a “gaze”) and their digits as power sources. :thinking: ↩︎

I like it too, comparing the old doorbell that I had to replace batteries constantly. I am not an electrician either and I thought that it works through induction, but your explanation makes more sense. :person_shrugging:

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