How to Maximize Battery Life on MaxRanger4K™ Camera
Like any other battery-operated wireless camera, your MaxRanger camera can suffer from unusual battery drain if not set up properly. There are several things you can do to further optimise and extend its battery life.
Explore the options below to minimise downtime and unnecessary manual charging of your camera.
Place Your Camera Where It Gets the Most Sun
As the MaxRanger is primarily powered by its built-in solar panel, positioning the camera properly is crucial. Ideally, the solar panel on the camera should receive at least four hours of good sunlight each day to keep the battery level high. Tip: Read more here on how to optimally position your MaxRanger camera or solar panel add-on if used.
If you are receiving an average of 20 or more motion triggers a day, you probably need to explore some of the available options to tweak and further optimise your camera. Please note that the more your camera is active, the more power it consumes, thereby shortening its operating hours. Properly setting the Detection area, PIR Mode, Sensitivity, and Sleep Duration can dramatically extend the operating hours of your MaxRanger camera, especially when it's not receiving enough sunlight during the day.
Battery-Saving Setup: Follow These Simple Steps
Step 1: Re-position camera to avoid unnecessary detections
Step 2: Set the Detection area to exclude 'unwanted' objects
Step 3: Adjust the PIR Mode, Sensitivity, and Sleep Duration
Optional: Add a Solar Panel accessory
Re-position camera to avoid unnecessary detections
Place cameras so they are facing areas where people must walk through to approach your home regardless of where they are headed. A good idea is to place a camera overlooking your front door to capture an image of anyone approaching it. If possible, avoid a tree, shrub, or foliage that is blown by the wind and angle the camera so wind-blown objects are out of the camera’s view. If this is not possible, set the 'Detection area' to exclude unwanted objects.
Set the Detection area to exclude 'unwanted' objects
In locations where unwanted objects cannot be avoided, such as trees, shrubs, foliage, and even heavy human or vehicle traffic, setting the recommended detection area can make a massive difference. Excluding these objects from within the camera view will help avoid false detection and constant camera wake-ups, saving battery power.
To setup the Detection area on your MaxRanger camera, login to the console and navigate to Setup > Alarm > Detection tab and select Area 'Setup'.
- To remove the default motion detection area, move the mouse to the top left-hand corner (as shown on the above), then click and drag to the bottom right-hand corner.
- To create a new motion detection area, press and hold the left mouse button to select the cell or square that you want to start at, then click and drag to select the area that you want
to create. Release the mouse to finish. - Multiple areas can be created. Each cell or square can be enabled to detect motion. The same action also applies to delete an area that has been created.
- In the example provided, a motion detection area has been created for the front yard but excludes objects such as trees as well as cars and pedestrians adjacent to the front yard of the house. Anyone who walks along the path via the front entrance and approaches the front door will be detected.
- Movement outside of the motion detection areas will not be detected, so will not trigger recordings or event notifications.
- Right-click the mouse to exit.
- Click “Apply” to save changes made.
You can also watch this YouTube video tutorial for more information.
Adjust the PIR Mode, Sensitivity, and Sleep Duration
To adjust this setting, login to the console and navigate to Setup > Alarm > Detection tab.
Mode: By default, your MaxRanger Hub set to 'PIR and Person/Vehicle' and will record motion only if one more human-sized objects have been detected by the camera and the camera’s built-in PIR sensor. This provides more accurate motion detection by reducing false triggers due to wind, leaves falling, and rain. Adjusting the AI Sensitivity can further enhance this setting based in your environment. Setting the Mode to 'PIR and Motion' is not recommended as it captures more unnecessary motions and will consume battery power at a higher rate.
PIR Sensitivity: This option allows you to change the PIR sensitivity level. The higher the number, the more sensitive the PIR will be.
To test the effectiveness of the PIR sensitivity, keep the Detection setup window open and walk towards the farthest distance at which you want your camera to detect. You will hear a beep-beep sound if the sensitivity level is still effective. Gradually lower the setting until the beep-beep noise stops, and then increase the setting again for the final setting to be used.
Sleep Duration: Use this to specify how long the camera stays inactive before entering power-saving mode. This feature helps conserve energy and prolong the camera’s battery by reducing continuous operation when not needed, such as during low-traffic hours or when the area is typically inactive.
AI Sensitivity: This option allows you to change how sensitive the Power Hub’s ability to detect human-sized objects is at a certain distance.
For AI Sensitivity and PIR Sensitivity, the default setting will suit most scenarios, but some experimentation may be required to get the optimal setting on where the camera is mounted.
Add a Solar Panel accessory
If, after tweaking your system with the above steps, it still falls short and you require additional power to trickle charge your camera, we recommend an effective solar panel add-on. This solar panel will keep your MaxRanger camera charged and allow you to position the camera at any angle you require without being hindered by the built-in charging capability, as the additional solar panel can independently charge the camera. Simply position the panel to capture the most sunlight during the day. Click this link to view the available solar panel options and the required micro-USB to USB C accessory pack.