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SpotCam HD cloud based WiFiHome Security Camera
The SpotCam HD is a cloud based WiFi security camera, which
isrelatively easy to install and then can be watched on a PC, Mac
or evenon mobile iOS or Android based Smartphones and Tablets. Our
SpotCamHD review will show if this is the right solution for you
and offers you astep-by-step SpotCam HD installation guide
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The SpotCam HD 720P IP Indoor Camera has atreview date a price
of approx. 179 Euro.
In addition a SpotCam HD Pro outdoor Wi-Fi cloud HD 720P camera
withIP65 water and dust proof for outdoor installation is offered
at a price ofabout 229 Euro. The SpotCam is also available as
Blaupunkt SpotCam inthe Blaupunkt security systems shop.
Here you can buy the SpotCam HD.
The delivery of the SpotCam HD
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The SpotCam HD is supplied in this package:
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A first look shows the well packed SpotCam HD cloud camera
accessories in the packaging.
That is contained in the delivery of the SpotCam HD
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Included in delivery is the SpotCam HD, power supply with 3
meter cable, quick start guide, mounting plate for wall mounting,
incl. screws and dowels.
SpotCam HD technical data
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The technical data
Manufacturer SpotCam
Name SpotCam HD
Dimensions Height of 150 mm, 48 mm diameter camera mounting,
foot 80 mm diameter
Weight 0.6 kg shipping weight incl. packaging and 0.255 kg
SpotCam HD weight.
Power supply 12V 1A with 230 Volt power adapter
Technical requirements
Computer for the installation, High-Speed WLAN. To view any of
below web
browser: Internet Explorer, Internet Explorer 7+, Firefox 3+,
Safari 3+,
Chrome and iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Android Phone, Android
tablet.
Miscellaneous
SpotCam HD 720P Indoor IP Camera, Up to 720P HD 1280720 at
30
frames/second, H.264 encoding, 110 degrees diagonal, Speaker
and
microphone, Night Vision over infrared light 12x IR LEDs, 0C
50C
Operating Temperature, designed for indoor use, WLAN security
camera
with 1-day cloud recording for free, Real-time alert,
2-way-Audio, Video
streaming and storage are protected and transmitted securely
with SSL
encryption.
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SpotCam HD security camera Layout, Design and Features
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Layout, Design and Features The SpotCam HD makes a good
impression and is clean finished. On the
front you can see the wide angle camera with IR LEDs, status
LEDs, and microphone.
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This is the back of the SpotCam HD.
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There is a switch for the installation as an Access Point (AP)
and as a client and the socket for the 12V power supply.
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A small speaker for the audio output is located on the top of
the camera body. You can not just transmit a sound, but also output
a sound over the camera.
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This is the bottom of the HD SpotCam with attached wall mount
bracket.
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The camera detaches easily from the wall mount our opinion
somewhat too easily.
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The SpotCam HD can be tilted for optimal alignment.
Overall, the SpotCam HD isproperly processed and canbe fitted
well, but still notlooks like a professionalcamera, as you can see
in thepicture left compared to aMOBOTIX camera.
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SpotCam HD Installation
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Installation
The SpotCam installation is relatively simple, but at this point
we do not connect the SpotCam HD to the socket.
First, you need a PC, Mac, notebook or a Smartphone with Wi-Fi
(b/g/n 2.4 GHz), which is connected to the Internet. There is an
app for iOS, Android and Windows available. In our example, we use
a laptop with Windows 7.
Then open the myspotcam.com Web page, where are a lot of public
webcams as well.
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Now click to the top right on Add Spotcam, where you will be
prompted to install Add_SpotCam.exe.
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Depending on the firewall you will be prompted to choose the
desired network profile.
Now, we start with the setup.
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First, we apply an account by we registering on SpotCam.
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Type in an user name, password and mail address, and click on
Create account.
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Now you confirm the verification mail
you immediately receive after registration and log in with your
user data at SpotCam.
Now we connect the SpotCam HD with the power cord and wait until
the LED on the front lights up orange, the rear switch must be in
AP position. Now we confirm with next.
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Then click on the Wi-Fi icon in the system tray and connect to
the SpotCam HD.
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If it doesnt work, but fails with the error message No
connection to the network you must first deactivate the own Wi-Fi
connection.
Now try again to connect with the SpotCam HD.
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Continue when the Wi-Fi is connected.
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Now we get a message that we should select the network profile,
in our case home network.
Now we connect the SpotCam over Wi-Fi and select the Wi-Fi
network (the router, not the SpotCam) in the following window, to
connect the SpotCam HD in the future with the Internet. In our
case, the Wi-Fi SSID is Gastzugang (guest access).
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Of course, the Wi-Fi access password is required, too.
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Now we set the SpotCam HD selector switch to client
connect again to the Internet via Wi-Fi and confirm with
next.
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If all went well, we should now see our first webcam picture in
the SpotCam window
at least if the firewall allows incoming connections and the
router is configured, that the SpotCam HD is able to connect to all
required ports, otherwise it gives this error.
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But now !
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Thats it, the SpotCam HD is set up and can be watched
online.
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By the way, you will be notified once a SpotCam HD firmware
update is available.
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Of course, we have tried that and uploaded the current firmware
to the SpotCam HD, which easily went through.
SpotCam HD Operation
Operation
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The SpotCam portal offers above all many options, a continuous
recording option, where 1 day in the cloud is free and a fee for
more than 1 day is required. The time lapse is an especially
interesting video mode, offering you the last 24 hours video
recording in fast motion.
Zoom and volume settings, as well as a pause button are also
contained in the basic view.
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Of course there also lots of settings such as e.g. Disabling the
LED display, 180 rotation for overhead installation, SD mode for
low bandwidth
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Night vision switching and audio recording.
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And alarm functions with automatic mail by motion or noise.
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By the way, a motion mask is included, like on professional
cameras.
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And a desired time schedule is available.
Up to the public release of the video stream of the SpotCam
HD
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, creating and editing a movie, snapshot function and transfer
of speech to the camera is possible.
However the snapshot does not work properly in the test and
showed onlythe first recorded image despite updating the Web page
(even after refresh)and responds very slowly. But the download
contains the updated image.The downloaded picture has a SpotCam
watermark. Also the file nameunfortunately changes not as time, but
only consists of the serial number ofthe SpotCam HD.
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If you click on a function not established, you will receive an
error message.
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These functions can be ordered then partly free and partly for a
monthly fee.
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BTW. this is a picture in the night vision mode.
The image quality was quite positive, but despite faster
connection to the Web, there was a
delay from 3-7 seconds in our test when viewing the SpotCam HD
cam video stream. We also
miss a possibility to set the sharpness, brightness, volume of
the webcam speaker and more,
what we would expect from a surveillance camera.
The power consumption of the SpotCam HD in our test was
depending on the operating mode in
the overall average 5.4 Watts and this is positive for a WiFi
camera.
SpotCam HD Result and general impression
Result and general impression
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The cloud based SpotCam HD WiFi security camerainstallation was
relatively easy and can be watched afterthe login procedure even on
mobile devices.
The SpotCam HD offers many features such as the free 24hours
video recording in a cloud and the time lapsefunction. In total we
are missing more flexibility, forexample regarding to the direct
access to the SpotCam HDin a local network without Internet.
Because currently theSpotCam HD can be called only over the
Internet. Safety-critical users are discouraged from buying it
exactly at thispoint. But who can live with this point and is
giving theprovider the necessary trust, is getting with this
SpotCamHD an easy to use camera for home or office. Before usingand
installing a surveillance camera in the outdoor area youshould
inform of the respective legal provisions.