The e-mail notification configuration steps are:

1. Configure the E-Mail Notification Profile
2. Enable the Event Control E-Mail action

E-Mail Notification Profile

To configure e-mail notifications:

• Log into the camera as admin.
• Click the Admin Menu button on the left sidebar.
• Click E-Mail Profiles in the Logos and Image Profiles section of the Admin Overview window.

The E-Mail Profiles dialog window is displayed:

Mobotix D24M: E-Mail Profiles

Five factory-default E-Mail Profiles are available for use “as is” or customization, which are:

1. AlarmMail
2. NotifyMail
3. MailWithMxPEGClip
4. MailWithStoryImage
5. MailWithSystemStatus

It’s instructive to study each profile for examples of different parameters and variables. The online help (click the yellow question mark icon in the top right title bar) is a good resource in addition to the Camera Software Manual.

For this example, the AlarmMail profile is configured with my e-mail account settings. Referring to the figure above, enter your values for the following:

• Addressing: <e-mail address to receive the notifications>
• E-Mail Message: I added “Intrusion Alert!” to the Mobotix variables
• E-Mail Attachment: Image from image profile and VGA (640×480)
• Server Settings: <enter your ISP e-mail account parameters>
• Click Set then Close to save your changes.

Notice the e-mail password is displayed in clear text, so be mindful if several persons have admin access to camera. You might create a new e-mail account to receive the camera notifications (e.g. LobbyCamera@comcast.net) and then forward the e-mail from that account to whoever needs the camera notifications to protect the end-user e-mail passwords.

I found the VGA Image profile to be a good compromised between e-mail image attachment size and clarity. You can always access the camera directly at a later time to download the full size image or video clip if needed.

Event Control: E-Mail Action

To enable the AlarmMail notification upon Video Motion event triggers:

• Click the Setup Menu button on the left sidebar.
• Click Messaging in the Setup Overview window.

Mobotix D24M: Setup Menu - Event Control - Messaging

Do the following in the Messaging dialog:

• Message Profile: Enable
• Select VM – Video Motion
• E-Mail Action (EM): AlarmMail
• Click Set and Close to save the changes.

Mobotix D24M: Setup Menu - Messaging - Email Action

Test the e-mail event by walking through the video motion window to trigger a video motion event. You should receive an e-mail with the event image.

You can also test the e-mail account settings by:

• Admin Menu → (Network Setup) Test Current Network Configuration → (Image Transfer) E-Mail Profile ‘AlarmMail’ → Transfer

Time Tables

The e-mail event notifications can be selectively enabled during certain hours, such as only when the business is closed and nothing should be going on, to minimize false positives by using Time Tables. Notice the (no time table) in the General Settings section of the figure above.

Time Tables are used to control camera arming and notifications. You can customize the Time Tables to fit your schedule, for example Opening Hours, Closing Hours, Holidays, etc.

To use a time table:

1) Configure the Time Table Profile, then 2) Associate that Time Table with the Message Profile

Log in to the camera as admin and do the following:

• Click Admin Menu
• Click Time Tables

Mobotix D24M: Admin Menu - Time Tables

Edit the Time Table profile to suit match your camera arming schedule. Experiment and remember you can always click the Factory reset button to start fresh. Also see Chapter 7.8.6 Time Tables in the Camera Software Manual Part 2.

Mobotix D24M: Time Tables

When you’re satisfied with the Time Table configuration, click Set and Close to save.

Suppose I only wanted e-mail event notifications when the business is closed and no should be in the store – if there is it’s likely to be a burglar.

After you’ve customized the Closing_Times profile to match the store closing hours, assign the Closing_Times profile to the e-mail messaging profile:

• Setup Menu → Messaging
• Select Closing_Times instead of (no time table) in the General Settings section
• Set then Close to save your changes.

The camera will now only send e-mail notices when video motion events are detected during closing hours and you’ll know that something’s going on!

Thanks for reading,

Bob Jackson

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Mobotix provides the free MxEasy and MxControlCenter for camera setup, configuration and video management. These are purpose-built applications are feature rich, user-friendly and highly recommended. However, I like the universal availability of the web browser and this tutorial explains how to view full motion video in Microsoft Internet Explorer.

Mobotix ActiveX Control

The Mobotix ActiveX control must be installed for full motion video playback in Microsoft Internet Explorer – sorry ActiveX isn’t supported in Mozilla FireFox (which happens to be my favorite web browser).

Please see this tutorial for the Mobotix ActiveX control download and installation.

Mobotix Event Player Web Browser Interface

Log into the camera web interface and click the Event Player icon:

Mobotix D24M: Web Browser Event Player

The web browser display changes to the Event Player interface.

Mobotix Event Player

The Mobotix Event Player is shown in the screen image below. To playback a single event:

• Click the One Event Story button playback mode.
• Click the Event List button.

The Event List window is display as shown on the right. The Continuous Recording mode creates an event each minute to better manage the video clips. I’ve enabled Video Motion detection events which are indicated by the red VM flags in the event list.

The Event List window highlights event in yellow that is currently displayed in the web browser window. Here I’ve clicked on Sequence #8507 which causes the first image in the video clip to be displayed in the browser. Next I clicked the Play VCR control button which causes the video clip to be downloaded to the web browser from the camera. Notice the “Loading Sequence… (8295kB)” progress message in the main window. The video clip begins playing when the download is complete.

Mobotix D24M - Event Player and Event List

You could choose the With Event Story option instead of One Event Story for the playback mode. The difference between the two is the With Event Story will playback the continuous recording events in sequence, rolling from one video clip to the next, where the One Event Story will download and play a single 1 minute event record. If you want to replay the same event again, or jump around the Event List to different events with Video Motion triggers, One Event Story the best choice.

Mobotix D24M - Event Buttons

This screen grab from the video playback captures the furniture delivery truck as it rolled by, triggering the video motion event detection window as indicated by the red outline:

Mobotix D24M: Event Player - Video Motion Event 8507

MxPEG Video Clip Download

Follow these steps to download the MxPEG video clip:

• Note the Date and Time (HH:MM:SS) of the event or video clip you want to download.
• Click either the “Event Download” diskette icon in the toolbar or the “Download Images” link at the bottom of the Event List window. This opens the Download Window dialog (see below).
• In the New Selection entry at the bottom of the dialog, enter the From: and To: fields.
• Click the Set Range button.
• The Current Selection is updated to display the video sequence range (date/time and sequence #’s).
• Select MxPEG Stream in the Download as: choice box.

Mobotix D24M: Event Player - MxPEG Video Download

• Click the Local Computer button to save the video clip to the your computer.
• File Download dialog presents the .mxg file.
• Click the Save

Mobotix D24M: Event Player - Download mxg Video File

The MxPEG video file can be quite large (several MB’s). Realize that if you’re remotely accessing the camera over a cable modem or DSL internet link, getting the .mxg file is an “upload” operation for the camera. The cable modem or DSL upstream speed (or bandwidth) is typically not that fast so it can take awhile to transfer the .mxg file:

Camera → .mxg upload (slower DSL upstream) → Internet → .mxg download (faster DSL downstream) → Computer

On the other hand, if your computer and the camera are on the same 100mpbs LAN network, the upload/download speeds are symmetrical and the .mxg file transfer goes quickly.

MxPEG Playback in Windows Media Player

The Mobotix MxPEG DirectShow Codec must be installed to play the .mxg files in Windows Media Player. After that, just open the .mxg file with Windows Media Player and you’re in business. Here’s the MxPEG video playing in Windows Media Player.

Mobotix D24M: MxPEG Playback (.mxg) - Windows Media Player

If you download the free MxControlCenter then you can do basic video editing on the MxPEG (.mxg) video files.

E-Mail Notifications for video motion events are explained in the next installment of this project.

Take care,

Bob Jackson

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If you missed the prior installment of this project, click here.

Video Recording Requirements

My recording requirements are:

• Continuous Recording on a 24x7x365 basis at 4 frames per second (fps).
  This conserves camera memory while capturing images before- and after a video motion event. It also provides a time-lapse video history in case something of interest occurred outside a video motion window.
• Maximum frame rate video recording when triggered by a video motion event – best for viewing full details of what was going on.

This concept is illustrated in the Mobotix Software Camera Manual – Part 2, Chapter 8.2.5 on page 214. Also see Chapter 4.4.3 “Recording Modes”, on page 34 for an overview of the four recording modes.

The video will be saved automatically to the microSDHC flash memory card if you followed my flash memory tutorial. When the flash memory card is full, the circular buffer algorithm will overwrite the oldest images with the newest images for a running video history. I found that a 16GB flash memory would hold about 1-1/2 days of video at QXGA 2048×1536 resolution with these settings.

Continuous Recording – Quick Control Menu

The simplest method to begin continuous recording is the Quick Control menu in the web browser live image view. To begin continuous recording:

• Click the Image Settings drop-down menu and select the Recording option.
• Click the Image Parameters menu and choose either 1 fps, 4 fps or Maximum Frame Rate.

Mobotix D24M: Quick Control - Continuous Recording

The Image Parameters Quick Control will now show “Recording On“, REC and the red status ball are displayed.

Mobotix D24M: Quick Control - Continuous Recording Active

You must save the new configuration to the camera’s flash memory if you want the camera to begin recording after a reboot or power-on restart:

• Click Manage Settings in the Quick Control menu (center drop-down menu).
• Click Store Complete Configuration.

Video Motion Windows

Video motion windows are areas of the live image that the camera will monitor for pixel changes to trigger a “video motion event”. The video motion event can do several things, such as switching to full frame recording and/or send you an e-mail with the video image. Video motion windows are denoted by a dotted white rectangle and a window ID number (1, 2, 3…); the window frame momentarily turns red when motion is detected.

See Chapter 7.6.2 Video Motion Detection on pages 159 and 160 of the Mobotix Software Camera Manual – Part 2 for instructions on defining video motion detection windows. The best advice I can give is experiment with the Shift-Click → Click mouse sequence to draw the yellow video motion windows and Add Rectangle button to see how it works. A few minutes of practice will have to doing it like a pro!

Mobotix D24M - Setup Menu - Event Settings - Video Motion Window

You can add, modify or delete video motion windows at any time, so don’t worry about messing up.

Video Motion Event Recording

To configure video motion event recording in addition to continuous recording (reference Chapter 8.2.5 on page 214), do the following:

• Click the Setup Menu button on the left button bar.
• Click Event Settings

The Recording dialog is displayed as shown below. In this window select the values indicated by the red arrows:

• Arming: Enable
• Recording (REC): Continuous Recording
• Start Recording: VM – Video Motion
  Note you must have at least one video motion window for this event to be available.
• Choose your desired frames per second (fps) and recording length, e.g. Max fps and 10 s.
• Stop Recording: None (i.e. the event isn’t canceled by another event)
• Click Set and Close to save the new camera configuration.

Mobotix D24M: Continuous Recording with Video Motion Events

The camera will now:

• Record continuously at 4 frames per second (fps)
• When a video motion event is triggered, record at the maximum frame rate for 10 seconds
• Return to continuous recording at 4 fps

The Event Player with the Mobotix ActiveX control in Internet Explorer (IE8) is shown in the photo below. I’ve defined a small video motion detection window (small windows are more sensitive than large ones) along with two Exposure Exclusion (see Chapter 5.7.9 on page 129) windows to block out the street lamp and garage flood light at night. The minivan has triggered the video motion event as indicated by the red window outline.

Mobotix D24M: Setup Menu - Event Settings - Video Motion Recording

Exposure Exclusion Windows

The Exposure Exclusion windows (see above image) to factor out the glare from the street light and garage flood light are defined by the Shift-Click → Click mouse sequence to draw a yellow rectangle on the live image, followed by clicking the Add Rectangle button. This transfers the coordinates of the yellow rectangle to the box. I’ve added the two comment lines # – to label the purpose of each window.

Mobotix D24M - Setup Menu - Exposure Settings

The exposure exclusion window really makes a difference for improved viewing after dark:

Mobotix D24M - Nighttime Image

In the next installment of the series, I explain how to use the Mobotix Event Player and download video clips.

Hope this helps,

Bob Jackson

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If you want playback recorded MxPEG video and audio streams in a web browser, you’ll need to install the Mobotix ActiveX control for Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE). Alternatively, you could use the free MxEasy or MxControlCenter fat client applications to playback video, but I like the universal availability of a web browser.

Mobotix ActiveX Control

Download and install the Mobotix ActiveX control the Mobotix Support web site here. Remember, ActiveX is only supported by Microsoft Internet Explorer.

While you’re at it, also install the Mobotix MxPEG DirectShow Codec to play downloaded video/audio in Windows Media Player.

ActiveX Camera Configuration

Log into the camera as ‘admin’, then:

• Click Admin Menu → Language and Start Page
• Select ActiveX Operating Mode.
• Click Set and Close.

Mobotix D24M: Admin Menu - Language & Start Page - ActiveX

Start Internet Explorer and log into the camera web page. Notice that ActiveX is the default browser mode as displayed in the Quick Menu bar at the top of the live image.

Mobotix D24M: Setup Menu - Color Settings - Gray World Exposure

For outdoor scenery, I found that the Mobotix “Gray World” White Balance option gives the best results such that the clouds and blue sky can be seen. Otherwise the sky tends to be overexposed and appears washed out to all white. To access the Color Setting menu,

• Click Setup Menu → Color Settings
• Choose the Gray World White Balance option.
• Click Set and Close.

In the next installment of this project, I explain how to configure Mobotix continuous recording with video motion events.

Thanks for reading,

Bob Jackson

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This tutorial explains how to configure the Linksys WRT54G router and Mobotix D24M network camera for Internet access in both secure (SSL/https) and non-secure modes (http). This configuration enables secure web browser access to the camera from anywhere in the world while protecting against eavesdropping and password sniffing.

The network configuration with the key IP addresses, TCP/UDP ports, camera URLs and Dynamic DNS (DDNS) host name is given in this diagram:

Mobotix D24M: Internet Access Network Diagram

Refer to the above network diagram to better follow these configuration steps. You should pencil-in your specific network values (if different) to configure your Mobotix camera.

Port Forwarding

Port forwarding is how the Linksys router associates the camera’s IP address with requests from the Internet. For example, suppose the Linksys router’s public IP address is 98.210.90.247 and you have Port Forwarding configured to map port 5001 to camera’s LAN private IP at 192.168.2.251. The web browser Internet request will be handled as follows:

1. Internet user enters http://98.210.90.247:5001 in the web browser.
   The Internet user must already know the home network is at 92.210.2.251 and the camera is at port 5001.
2. The Linksys router receives the Internet URL and sees port 5001 is requested.
3. The Linksys router looks in the Port Forwarding table and finds that port 5001 is mapped to the camera’s private LAN IP address at 192.168.2.251.
4. The Linksys router rewrites (NATs) the IP address in the URL and forwards the URL to the camera as so:
   Internet User: http://98.210.90.247:5001 → Linksys: http://192.168.2.251:5001 → Mobotix Camera

Dynamic DNS (DDNS)

The challenge is knowing the public IP address of the Linksys router on the home network. A business class user may be given a static IP address that doesn’t change. You can then bookmark the URL for next time.

If you’re a residential- or small business DSL / cable modem subscriber, your Internet Service Provider (ISP) most likely assigns a dynamic IP address that changes fairly often – my DSL provider changes my IP address at least daily. Keeping up with the constantly changing IP address can be challenge, hence Dynamic DNS services that automate this process.

DynDNS.com

I use DynDNS.com – surf over to their web site and sign up for free to get your own DDNS domain name for your home network.

Once you’ve got your DynDNS account, log into the Linksys router admin page and do the following:

• Click Setup → DDNS
• Select your DDNS Service, e.g. DynDNS.org
• Enter your User Name, Password and Host Name.
• Click Save Settings.

The router will verify DDNS is working properly and update the Status with “DDNS is updated successfully”. In this example screen, Internet requests to myhost.homedns.org will be directed to your home network IP address at 98.13.18.85.

Linksys WRT54G: DDNS Configuration

Configure Port Forwarding

The camera’s static LAN IP address was assigned during the Quick Installation process. You’ll also need to decide which ports will be forwarded to the camera. You’ll want to choose an unused port for non-secure http access and in this example I reuse the standard https port 443. The port only has to be “unused” on your network.

Here I’ve mapped port 5001 for http and port 443 for https camera access. I could just as easily have mapped port 5002 for https instead of port 443 if I had other secure access devices on my network to avoid conflicts. Just be sure to update your version of the network diagram shown at the beginning of this article with your actual values to organize your work.

To configure port forwarding, log in to the router as “admin” and:

• Go to Applications & Gaming → Port Range Forward
• Enter the Application Name, Start/End Port, IP Address and check Enable.
• Click Save Settings.

If you’ve been following this project series, the http / 5001 was already created during the Quick Installation process and you only need to enter the https / 443 information.

Linksys WRT54G: Applications Gaming - Port Forwarding

Close and exit the Linksys router configuration web browser session.

Mobotix D24M Web Browser Configuration

Secure internet access is disabled by default on the Mobotix D24M camera. To enable it and configure the ports,

• Log in as ‘admin’ to the Mobotix camera.
• Click Admin Menu → Web Browser.

Mobotix D24M: Admin Menu - Network Setup - Web Browser

Enter the following in the Web Server dialog:

• 5001 (or your own value) for the web server port and verify Enable HTTP is checked. See the green box in the screen grab below.
• Under HTTPS Settings (see the red box):
  - Check Enable HTTPS
  - Leave the SSL/TLS port for HTTPS blank for the default port 443 or type in 443 if you like to be extra clear. If you choose to use something other than port 443, say for instance, port 5002, then enter it here.
• Click Set and Close.

Mobotix D24M: Admin Menu - Network Setup - Web Browser - Ports

The network configuration summary and reboot dialog is displayed. Be absolutely certain to print or write down the Web Server and Ethernet settings!

• Click the Reboot Now button.

Mobotix D24M: Admin Menu - Web Browser - HTTPS and Port Change

The camera is accessible via the following URLs as illustrated in the network diagram:

Mobotix D24M: Internet Access Network Diagram

Notice that you must always specify port 5001 in the URL when accessing the camera in non-secure mode, for example:

• LAN access: http://192.168.2.251:5001
• Internet access: http://myhost.homedns.org:5001

Likewise, if you decided to use something other than default https port 443 for secure access, say port 5002, the URLs would be:

• LAN access: https://192.168.2.251:5002
• Internet access: https://myhost.homedns.org:5002

Secure https Access Test

Open a new web browser session and enter https://192.168.2.251 (or your URL if different) to test secure web access to the Mobotix camera. Also test Internet access, e.g. https://myhost.homedns.org.

The web browser will issue a certificate warning error – this is normal for a private security certificate. IE8 will continue to nag you about the certificate error, where FireFox will save the certificate and stop complaining.

Click Continue to this website.

Mobotix D24M: https Website Security Certificate Warning

IE8 paints the address bar red because of the untrusted private security certificate. This is normal for IE8.

Mobotix D24M: https Secure Web Access

I describe how to configure the ActiveX control in Microsoft Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) in the next installment of this project.

Take care,

Bob Jackson

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This tutorial explains how to upgrade the Mobotix D24M-SEC camera flash memory card. The camera has a factory installed 4GB microSDHC flash memory card that is easily replaced with up to a 32GB flash memory card.

Why upgrade the flash memory? Because the flash memory is where the camera images are stored for later playback or download. Images are written to the flash memory in a circular fashion (first in / last out), with the newest images overwriting the oldest images in a never ending cycle.

More memory means you can:

• Increase the on-board Digital Video Recorder (DVR) capacity.
• Record at faster frame rates (frames per second) for longer periods of time before over writing older images.
• Record longer at full QXGA 2048 x 1536 (or any lower) resolution before overwriting older images.
• Not worry so much about losing valuable video. For example, if you notice something was stolen or vandalized a day or two after the fact, the video images and event history would still be held in flash memory for examination. (There are other options to help here, such as transferring images to a FTP- or web server for long term storage.)

Mobotix D24M Flash Memory Upgrade Procedure

The microSDHC memory card is located on camera circuit board as indicated by the yellow square in the photo below.  MicroSD memory cards are really small, about the size of your finger nail.

When choosing a new microSDHC card for your camera upgrade, I recommend a “Class 6″ or better speed rating. MicroSD cards are available in several speed classes, which are:

• Class 2: 16 Mbit/s (2 MB/s)
• Class 4: 32 Mbit/s (4 MB/s)
• Class 6: 48 Mbit/s (6 MB/s)
• Class 10: 80 Mbit/s (10 MB/s)

A faster card means the camera CPU won’t be slowed down while waiting to write images to the flash memory. Faster speed ratings also mean more expensive. Don’t be fooled by buying a 16GB Class 2 card because it’s cheaper than the 16GB Class 6 item – read the fine print. I chose the Class 6 card as a compromise between cost and performance.

Replacing the flash card is easy:

• Power-off the camera.
• Press down on the exposed edge of memory card to release the locking spring mechanism.
• Pull the old card out – notice the card orientation.
• Insert the new card – it’s keyed and only goes in one way – and press down until it clicks and locks in place.

Mobotix D24M-SEC Network Camera - Flash Memory Card

Power-on the camera by connecting the Ethernet cable to a PoE switch port.

Formatting the New Flash Memory Card

The new memory card must be formatted by the Mobotix camera software before use. To reformat the newly installed microSDHC card:

• Log into the camera as “admin”.
• Click the Admin Menu button on the top left sidebar.
• Click Image Storage in the Admin dialog.
• Change the Storage Target option to None and reboot the camera.
• The camera can rebooted from the Admin Menu or power cycling the camera.

Mobotix D24M: Admin Menu - Image Storage - Select None to Format

After the camera reboots:

• Log in as “admin”
• Click the Admin Menu button.
• Click Image Storage.
• Select the SD Flash Card storage target option.
• Click the Format button to the right of the SD Flash Card check box.
• Choose Quick Format option and click OK.

Mobotix D24M: Admin Menu - Image Storage - SD Flash Card - Format

Take a break or stare out the window because I found the ‘Quick Format’ took 15 to 20 minutes on a 16GB Class 6 microSDHC memory card.

Mobotix D24M: SD Flash Card - Quick Format

The “Media Successfully Formatted” dialog will appear when the formatting process is finished.

Mobotix D24M: Admin Menu - Image Storage - SD Flash Card - Format

The new flash memory is ready for use.

In the next installment of this series, I explain how to configure the Linksys WRT54 router and Mobotix camera for Internet access.

Thanks,

Bob Jackson

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Quick Installation Wizard (continued)

Enter the IP address for your preferred DNS servers next. The DNS servers I use are:

• OpenDNS 208.67.222.222, 208.67.220.220 and
• Level 3 at 4.2.2.1

Mobotix D24M: Quick Install - DNS Servers

The camera network configuration is now finished.

• Print the configuration summary screen.
• Click Store Configuration to save it to the camera’s flash memory.

Mobotix D24M: Quick Installation - Store Configuration

Click Reboot on the next screen:

Mobotix D24M: Quick Installation - Reboot

The Quick Installation wizard is finished!

Admin Login after Reboot

The camera will reboot within 1 minute. Access the camera by entering the new URL in your web browser:

• http://192.168.2.251  (remember, your URL may be 192.168.1.xxx)
• Enter the admin and the new password

Mobotix D24M: Admin Login after Reboot

Live Image and Initial Focusing

The camera will display the live image in the web browser, assuming you’ve removed the lens cap. You can also take a moment to turn the camera lens to adjust the focus. It seemed to me that I had to screw the lens about half the length of threaded barrel before the image came into focus

Final focusing is best performed after the camera is mounted on the ceiling.

Network Configuration Test

The Mobotix D24M camera has a diagnostic page to verify the current network configuration.

• Click Admin Menu on the top left button bar.
• Click Test Current Network Configuration in the Network Setup section.

Mobotix D24M: Admin Menu

The network test dialog will open (see image below). The Ethernet (LAN) test will run automatically and should an OK result. You should validate the:

• Default Route
• DNS Server
• Resolver

functions by clicking the Connect and Resolve buttons.

Don’t bother with the Image Transfer / FTP tests because those features aren’t yet configured.

Mobotix D24M: Admin Menu - Test Current Network Configuration

Time and Date – Network Time Protocol (NTP) Setup

The Mobotix D24M network camera should have an accurate clock synchronization source to time stamp images, especially when used for security applications. The most reliable and accurate way to regularly synch the camera clock is a Network Time Protocol (NTP) server. You can get a list of time servers from NTP.org or NIST Internet Time Service (ITS).

To set the NTP servers:

• Click Admin Menu
• Click Time and Date in the General Administration section

Enter the values for:

• Time Zone
• Time Servers – up to three NTP time servers
• Select NTP (RFC 1305) protocol
• Check Adjust Periodically
• Click Set then Close to save the camera configuration

Mobotix D24M: Admin Menu - NTP Time and Date

In the next installment of this series, the microSDHC flash memory card is upgraded to 16GB for longer on-board Digital Video Recorder (DVR) capacity.

Thanks for reading,

Bob Jackson

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Quick Installation Wizard (continued)

I strongly recommend selecting a new password for the admin user login. Choose a strong password having a mix of upper and lower case characters and digits. Be sure to write the new password down and keep it in a safe place.

Mobotix D24M-SEC - Admin Password

Static LAN IP Address Assignment

• Select manual Ethernet interface configuration and click next.

Mobotix D24M - Quick Install - Manually Configure Ethernet Interface

Choosing a Static LAN IP Address

A static IP address is required to access the camera from the internet (for port forwarding) or bookmark the camera URL in your web browser. For example, a bookmark named “Mobotix Camera” with the URL http://192.168.2.251.

The Mobotix camera has a DDNS agent, but I already have my Linksys router setup with a DDNS service and will use that, so I only have one DDNS host name to remember to get to my home network, e.g. BobsNetwork.dyndns.org. For more about DDNS services, visit www.DynDNS.org to get a free host account.

The camera’s static IP address will is assigned within the Linksys router subnet range. My Linksys router subnet is 192.168.2.xxx. Just use your subnet range in the following examples.

To select an available static IP address:

• Open a new web browser session! (Do not exit the Mobotix Quick Installation wizard.)
• Log into your Linksys router (http://192.168.1.1)
• Navigate to the Setup → Basic Setup page and scroll down to the Network Setup section:

Linksys WRT54G Router: Network Setup - DHCP

In the green box (above), I’ve changed my Router IP address to 192.168.2.1, where your Router IP is most likely the factory default 192.168.1.1. If so, that’s perfectly fine and leave it the way it is.

The important part is in the red box. Note the

• Starting IP Address = 192.168.2.100 and
• Maximum Number of DHCP Users = 50

Doing the math, this means the last DHCP address the router would assign to a network client (computers, iPhone, etc.) is 192.168.2.149. Therefore, you can select any IP address in the range

• 192.168.2.150 to
• 192.168.2.254

for the Mobotix camera. Remember, your Linksys router is likely using the default 192.168.1.xxx subnet so your available IP range is

• 192.168.1.150 to
• 192.168.1.254

Again, use the 192.168.1.xxx range if that’s the way your Linksys is setup in the following examples.

Now we’ll choose a static IP address for the Mobotix camera.

In the Linksys router menu, navigate to:

• Applications & Gaming → Port Range Forward

Linksys WRT54G: Applications and Gaming - Port Range Forward

In an empty row, enter the following parameters for the camera:

• Application: MXCam1
  Any name is fine, it’s just to remind you what this is for.
• Start / End Ports: 5001 to 5001.
  The requirement is the port number is unique in this table and it’s not being used by any services on your network. See this link for a list of port numbers. For instance, port 5001 is used by Slingbox, but I don’t own a Slingbox so there’s no port conflict.
• IP Address: 192.168.2.251
  I prefer to allocate IP addresses from the high end of the available address range. The IP address must be unique in this table and in the range 192.168.2.150 to 192.168.2.254. Remember, your range may be 192.168.1.150 to 192.168.1.254!

The port number is important so you can access the camera from the internet via the DDNS service, for example: http://BobsNetwork.dyndns.org:5001

Be sure to write down the IP address and Port Number for the camera.

Click Save Settings on the Linksys web page and close the browser.

Ethernet Interface IP Address Assignment

Switch back to Quick Installation wizard in the other web browser session.

• Enter the IP address that was chosen above, e.g. 192.168.2.251
• The subnet mask for a Linksys WRT54G is 255.255.255.0
• Click next.

Mobotix D24M: Quick Install - Static IP Address

The default gateway is the Linksys Router IP address as highlighted in the green box of the Linksys Network Setup → DHCP screen shown previously.

• Enter 192.168.2.1  (remember your Router IP may be the factory default 192.168.1.1)
• Click next.

Mobotix D24M: Quick Installation - Default Route

This project is continued in Part 3.

Take care,

Bob Jackson

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Also see my Mobotix D24M-SEC camera review for sample images and features.

Mobotix D24M IP Camera: Linksys WRT54G PoE Network Setup

See this D24M-SEC IP Camera review for sample images and features.

Baseline D24M Camera Configuration

These step-by-step instructions show you how to:

• Assign a static LAN IP address
• Run the Quick Install wizard
• Configure Port Forwarding
• Set default network gateway, DNS and NTP servers
• Upgrade and format the flash memory card
• Configure port forwarding, DDNS and secure internet access (SSL/https)
• Install the ActiveX control for full motion video playback in IE8
• Adjust the Exposure settings
• Enable Continuous Recording with Video Motion triggers for high speed event recording
• Video playback and download
• Setup e-mail actions for alert notifications with an event photo
• Customize the softbuttons

The initial camera configuration is easy to customize once you’ve got the basics.

Bench Configuration

The easiest way to setup the Mobotix D24M IP camera is to configure it before mounting on the ceiling or the wall where it’s difficult to reach. This is known as “bench configuration” because the camera is sitting on the desk or workbench. The camera saves its configuration in flash memory, so nothing is lost when you power down and mount it its final location.

DHCP IP Address

Begin by connecting the camera to a Power over Ethernet (PoE) switch port on the local network. My network Linksys WRT54G and NetGear FS108P network is illustrated in the diagram above.

Have a pen or small screwdriver ready, plug the Ethernet cable into PoE switch port to apply power, wait for both LEDs to light, then press the R (right) key button within 4 seconds. This causes the camera to request an IP address from the DHCP server – the Linksys WRT54G is the DHCP server on my home network.

Notice I’ve left the lens cap on the camera to keep out dust.

Mobotix D24M DHCP Startup - R Key

OK – the D24M network camera has pulled a dynamic IP address from the DHCP server. How do you find the camera’s IP address? Easy!

• Login to your Linksys router, typically this is at http://192.168.2.1
• Go to the Status → Local Network Page
• Click the DHCP Clients Table button

Linksys WRT54G - DHCP Clients Table

Look for the camera host name in the DHCP Clients Table. The cameras host name begins with ‘mx‘ followed by the camera’s factory assigned IP address. My camera was assigned the 192.168.2.104 IP address.

Linksys WRT54G - DHCP Clients Table

D24M Camera Web Page

Startup your favorite web browser and go to http://<camera ip address> as noted above in the DHCP Clients Table. In my example, it’s http://192.168.2.104

Mobotix D24M - Web Browser DHCP IP Address Page

The Authentication Required dialog is displayed. The default user name is admin and password is meinsm.

Mobotix D24M - Admin Login

Quick Installation Wizard

The Quick Installation wizard should open automatically the first time the Admin user logs in. If it doesn’t:

• Click the Admin Menu button on the left sidebar.
• Click Quick Installation in the Network Setup section of the Administrative Overview popup dialog.

The installation wizard begins with the Language selection:

Mobotix D24M - Quick Installation: Language

This tutorial is continued in Part 2.

Take care,

Bob Jackson

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The Mobotix D24M is an indoor/outdoor professional grade system that’s most often used in commercial applications (banks, retail stores, hotels, office buildings, etc.) for security and surveillance. The Mobotix D24M camera is also suitable for residential users who demand the best. Mobotix (sounds like “robot”) is headquartered in Germany and with offices in New York for domestic sales and technical support.

The D24M-SEC camera kit consists of the camera, Ethernet cable, lens, wrench, camera- and software manuals and mounting hardware. You choose from one of several lenses when ordering the camera. My cost from Global Surveillance Systems, a Mobotix distributor, was about $875.00 for the camera and L32 (32mm, 60 degree wide) lens.

Mobotix D24M-SEC HiRes Internet Camera

The Mobotix D24M is a Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) camera, meaning the single Ethernet cable supplies both communications and power, which greatly simplifies the wiring and installation.

Mobotix D24M-SEC Features

The Mobotix D24M camera is loaded with features, the most important for my application being:

• 2048 x 1536 pixel color high resolution
• Outdoor rated
• On-board digital video recorder (DVR) with up to 32GB of flash memory
• Exchangeable lens with different fields of view
• On-board web server interface
• Very good low-light and nighttime performance
• Motion detection and event triggers for notifications, alarms and actions
• E-mail notifications for motion detection events, with- or without a photo
• Variable recording rates from 1 frame per second (fps) to full video recording
• High resolution recording while viewing live images at lower resolution
• Virtual pan/tilt/zoom through software control. Note this is not the same as a motorized camera mount.
• Secure internet access via SSL / https
• Support for different user access levels (admin, user, guest) and logins
• Power over Ethernet (PoE)
• Free camera management software (MxEasy, MxControlCenter)

The Mobotix camera also supports IP-telephony using Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) – similar to services like Vonage™ or Skype™ – and even can call you when it detects an event.

Camera Resolution – Size Matters

The image resolution (pixel count) is the most important camera feature. More pixels equals higher resolution and the ability to see details; recognize faces or read license plate numbers. The following chart illustrates the relative image sizes for different camera resolutions. The chart is scaled down to fit standard computer screens.

Mobotix supports eleven (11) different image resolutions from the tiny PDA (160X120) size to 3.1 megapixel QXGA (2048×1526). The green square represents an older analog video camera with 492 TV lines resolution.

Mobotix D24M IP Camera Pixel Resolution Chart

Which camera resolution would you rather have?!

Mobotix D24M-SEC Camera Performance

Seeing is believing when it comes to video equipment. These next photos are full QXGA 2048×1526 images from the Mobotix D24M-SEC camera with the L32 lens (32mm, 60 degree wide viewing angle) under different scenes and lighting conditions.

This sunny day image shows the Mobotix D24M camera performance with a wide contrast between bright clouds and dark tree shadows. Click for on the image for a full resolution view.

Mobotix D24M-SEC Camera: QXGA 2048x1536 Resolution

This scene is has a wide dynamic range from sun to shade. Notice the lower right corner picture-in-picture; this is used during virtual zoom/pan/tilt and for viewing multiple cameras at once.

Mobotix D24M-SEC: Shady Scene - QXGA 2048 x 1536 Resolution

For normal viewing with a web browser, I prefer XGA 1024×768 image resolution which fits well on my 1680×1050 desktop computer monitor. For comparison, this next image illustrates the Mobotix XGA web browser image next to the Panasonic BB-HCM511A Network Camera which has a maximum resolution of 640×480. This image is actual size:

Mobotix D24M-SEC versus Panasonic BB-HCM511A Network Camera

Nighttime performance is very good. This scene is illuminated by the street lamp. The red squares denote exposure exclusion windows to factor out the glare from the street light.

Mobotix D24M-SEC: Nighttime Performance

Compare this nighttime image to the same sunny day scene shown at the beginning of this section.

Apple iPhone and Smartphone Web Access

The Mobotix D24M has a low-resolution PDA web page option, but that’s no fun. I prefer to access the camera in 1024×768 resolution and use the iPhone’s pinch-in, pinch-out zoom and scroll gestures to view and control the camera. Very cool!

This image is a screen snapshot of the Mobotix web page from a 1st generation iPhone.

Mobotix D24M-SEC Camera: iPhone Web Browser Access

The camera network configuration is covered in the next installment of this series.

Hope this helps,

Bob Jackson

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