Sricam AP006 Outdoor Dome Camera

[smith288]

I purchased a Sricam AP006 Outdoor Dome camera on ebay to replace an out of date Insteon IR only (no cut lens) indoor PT camera that I had underneath the porch over hang.

I've read a bunch about this Sricam after I bought it (should have done it before but alas) and it's got great hardware but lousy firmware.

It has Pan and Tilt but no Zoom (even though it's packaging calls it a PTZ IP Camera) but it's got a solid metal casing, painted in an offwhite shade that matches my siding quite well.

ONVIF device manager calls it a GWellTimes-IPC with a hardware Ver 2.1 running firmware 13.00.00.77



It's picture is really nice for $80 off ebay to be honest. Probably could have gotten a better bang for my buck im sure but compared to that old insteon IP cam, this is heads above it in picture quality.



A few notes:

1. Use the Sricam junk app to get it up and running. Plug it into your router and then set up the wifi part.
2. URL to directly access the RTSP feeds: rtsp://IPADDRESS:554/onvif1 (640x480) and rtsp://IPADDRESS:554/onvif2 (320x240) in VLC or LiveCams Pro (my preferred iOS app for cameras)
3. Has ONVIF support but has some proprietary junk to set things like time and network.
4. NO presets. This is an absurd oversight in my opinion. Pretty basic operational feature but whatever.

If there is an open source firmware for this, I'd be all over it because this cam seem ripe for it. Great hardware, junk firmware.

 

[smith288]

I'd like to amend the preset statement. They work inside the Sricam app itself. Onfiv has no indication of having any presets.

 

[vegachicago]

I purchased a Sricam AP006 Outdoor Dome camera on ebay to replace an out of date Insteon IR only (no cut lens) indoor PT camera that I had underneath the porch over hang.

I've read a bunch about this Sricam after I bought it (should have done it before but alas) and it's got great hardware but lousy firmware.

It has Pan and Tilt but no Zoom (even though it's packaging calls it a PTZ IP Camera) but it's got a solid metal casing, painted in an offwhite shade that matches my siding quite well.

ONVIF device manager calls it a GWellTimes-IPC with a hardware Ver 2.1 running firmware 13.00.00.77

View attachment 10987

It's picture is really nice for $80 off ebay to be honest. Probably could have gotten a better bang for my buck im sure but compared to that old insteon IP cam, this is heads above it in picture quality.

View attachment 10986

A few notes:

1. Use the Sricam junk app to get it up and running. Plug it into your router and then set up the wifi part.
2. URL to directly access the RTSP feeds: rtsp://IPADDRESS:554/onvif1 (640x480) and rtsp://IPADDRESS:554/onvif2 (320x240) in VLC or LiveCams Pro (my preferred iOS app for cameras)
3. Has ONVIF support but has some proprietary junk to set things like time and network.
4. NO presets. This is an absurd oversight in my opinion. Pretty basic operational feature but whatever.

If there is an open source firmware for this, I'd be all over it because this cam seem ripe for it. Great hardware, junk firmware.

Thank you for your notes on direct access. I was looking everywhere.

 

[smith288]

You're welcome. It's actually why I posted it. There is next to nothing about this camera. Wanted to give some SEO bait so people who might want to investigate it, will have a place.

 

[vegachicago]

That's good. I know many call these things trash, but its the better person who works with what they have and try to make it work. Good going.

 

[Del Boy]

A wiser person would've just returned it.

I hate to think of how much time people have wasted trying to get Sricams working. I guess if your time is worth nothing then it's almost good value. The firmware/software isn't the only issue, the hardware is anything but great compared to anything semi-decent.

I do hope your posts hope anyone who got a Sricam and can't return it.

 

[vegachicago]

I can't return it. Sooo... Besides, it's doing great located 400 miles away on my farm. I have no complaints so far. I do not recommend these cams to persons that can't set up networks, wifi or adjust settings for DDNS, etc. But I'm retired. I have the time and probably could afford a better camera but this is the first time I've ever bought one of these so I was a little ignorant as to the features. The last one cam there was a Dlink 920 stuffed into a plastic housing. It lasted 4 years despite 38 degree below zero temps. As you can see, I try to push the envelope on cheap ass cams. Cheers

 

[smith288]

A wiser person would've just returned it.

I hate to think of how much time people have wasted trying to get Sricams working. I guess if your time is worth nothing then it's almost good value. The firmware/software isn't the only issue, the hardware is anything but great compared to anything semi-decent.

I do hope your posts hope anyone who got a Sricam and can't return it.

I'd rather be of help for people who a) like the challenge b) feels like it's cost is worth the battle.

For what it's worth, the camera's hardware aint all that bad and it's got a way better picture than my Foscam FI8919w outdoor dome. I just really wish the camera's firmware was open sourced. The firmware is literally a smelly heap of garbage that an MIT freshman could probably do better over a drunk binged weekend.

 

[smith288]

I am using Sighthound. It has a secure remote page I can access all my cameras so I don't need to pop open a port if I don't want to.

 

[jomegatau]

Thank you for the suggestions on how to connect to the AP006 PTZ cam!

I tried these instructions from VLC no sucess. What about the user/password authentication and the IPCAM ID. Somehow this authentication must occur before you can look at the live stream. Did you do anything special to authenticate on the webcam RTSP server? I only tried VLC running on Linux but maybe I made some mistake. VLC just froze waiting on data.

jeff

1. Use the Sricam junk app to get it up and running. Plug it into your router and then set up the wifi part.
2. URL to directly access the RTSP feeds: rtsp://IPADDRESS:554/onvif1 (640x480) and rtsp://IPADDRESS:554/onvif2 (320x240) in VLC or LiveCams Pro (my preferred iOS app for cameras)
3. Has ONVIF support but has some proprietary junk to set things like time and network.
4. NO presets. This is an absurd oversight in my opinion. Pretty basic operational feature but whatever.