Blink cameras are relevant quality addition devices to your smart home, and with their increased popularity, most homeowners expect the blink cameras to work swiftly. However, like other smart devices, blink cameras will, at some point, malfunction. Luckily, troubleshooting the problems encountered by blink cameras is easy and can be done without the need for an expert.
Blink cameras have a speaker and a microphone within their housing. This camera can be controlled remotely or by physically adjusting its settings, which is mainly done to regulate the pitch or sound of the speaker.
Blink rings a weird sound when calling
Blink cameras are designed to sound and alert the homeowner when they sense motion. However, this sound is usually controlled in the blink camera settings and can be turned on, or off, its volume lowered or even raised.
But what if it makes a weird sound when calling?
If the sound of your blink camera speaker is not pleasing, then you can identify why and follow the necessary steps to correct it. Ideally, there are two categories of weird sounds that you are likely to hear when your blink camera is calling. Each can be corrected differently.
1. Chirping sounds, digital noise, or robotic sound.
In some cases, you might hear weird sounds from your Blink camera whenever it tries to convert audio to digital Live View clips. These weird sounds can be robotic sounds or chirping sounds. Usually, this sounds irritating, especially when they come out as clicks or scrambled distortions.
For all digital streams, your network strength and speed are key considerations. When the network speed fluctuates even for a second, compression errors will likely get into the audio stream.
Typically, a network upload speed of at least 2MB every second. This speed should remain constant or slightly above, even when several network users exist. Beware, internet service providers will only advertise the download speed, so be sure always to check the upload speed.
Blink weired noise due to wind or traffic
In other circumstances, distortions can be heard when the camera picks a background noise like wind, traffic, and other natural noise. These noises will make the blink send out information with anomalies, thus leading to the digital effect.
If your camera is placed near a hard surface, it will likely produce weird sounds. For instance, a camera placed near the wall or set back at the edge will create more noise. The camera forms one open-spaced side and the other three surfaces on the sides. The hard surface then reflects sound making the camera’s microphone first pick the correct sound before it picks the reflected sound. In the long run, the calling sound will be noisy or rather weird.
To avoid this type of noise when your camera is calling, ensure the upload speed of your network source is 2MB or more. You can also silence the Blink app in the Live View by tapping on the speaker icon on the upper part of the screen. You can also lower the volume of your blink control device by playing it back after some time.
2. Echo feedback or sudden repeated squeal
Every time the Blink camera picks up sounds coming from the Blink app, it transmits them back to the app. This transmission is referred to as ” feedback”. When the feedback is consistently received, the volume and pitch of the blink camera increase. In such a situation, the blink call or feedback becomes totally unpleasant and can lead to hearing problems.
Generally, feedback will occur when you have activated a camera’s open Live View, and this is usually done on the Blink app. The feedback, therefore, becomes irritating when you are within the Blink camera range.
To avoid annoying feedback, you can easily mute or reduce the volume of the device operating your Blink app. Similarly, you can silence the Blink app in Live View.
To do this, you will have to tap on the speaker mute icon on the upper part of your screen. You can also pause or stop the Live View session on your device by shutting down the app. However, the easiest way to avoid this unpleasant feedback noise is by moving away from the hearing range of your Blink cameras.
Conclusion
When your blink camera produces a weird sound when calling, it implies that the Live View session is on and apparently being interfered with. If you hear any of the above weird noises, consider the simple tips for saving the noisy situation mentioned earlier in this post.
