Sentry Mode, Night Time ONLY Mode

[Sonny-Jim]

Hi Everyone,

I don't normally use Sentry mode due to the amount of battery it consumes and not having the ability to charge at home.
However due to a number of car break-in's on my street in the last few months i decided to turn it on as a precaution, but with the "Camera Based Detection" turned off to save on power/battery usage.

However since my last full charge (90%) a week ago it has still consumed 40% of the power, this is just ridiculous when my driving has only consumed half of that (22%), this does not bode well for the cost of using it.

Does anyone know if there is a way to set sentry mode to turn on when its dark only, so its off during the day but turned on during the night when break ins are most common?

Additionally can someone advise, if i turn sentry mode off altogether, and the car alarm is triggered, does it still make any recording of the incident?

Thanks

 

[Mrklaw]

it may be something you can automate externally - eg via their API. Home Assistant may be able to do that and perhaps some of the third party tesla apps could too?

edit: yes apparantly teslafi lets you schedule but you need a sub

if you’re parked at home it may be simpler to get some CCTV?

 

[Jason71]

You can automate it with an app like Tessie. It will cost you about £5 per month but has other uses. Referal code available on request. Free trial available as well

+1 for a security camera instead if you have a drive

 

[Sonny-Jim]

Thanks

Security camera would be the best option even if i had to pay a subscription as it would cover the house, however im parking on the street so the car can be parked anywhere.

just checked teslafi, and yes it lets you setup schedules but does not mention sentry mode .
didn't know all the stuff you can do, dont get why the Tesla app does not adopt more features.

 

[MrBadger]

just checked teslafi, and yes it lets you setup schedules but does not mention sentry mode .
didn't know all the stuff you can do, dont get why the Tesla app does not adopt more features.

Enable and disable sentry mode in controls/schedules and reminders.

If you haven’t subscribed yet you can extend from 2 to 4 week free trial using a referral code in many of our TMC user profiles.

Also as you have noticed, it’s not actually sentry mode that is using all the battery, it’s actually the car being awake, which sentry and a few other features requires.

 

[WannabeOwner]

Security camera would be the best option even if i had to pay a subscription as it would cover the house, however im parking on the street so the car can be parked anywhere.

A separate Dashcam would use only a tiny amount of energy (compared to Sentry Mode). Dunno how its monitoring ability would compare though.

 

[WannabeOwner]

If you haven’t subscribed yet you can extend from 2 to 4 week free trial using a referral code in many of our TMC user profiles.

Or create a scramble here:

TeslaFi Referral request thread

Morning, Anyone able to share their referral? Had the car a few days which is a shame as I forgot all about Teslafi and would have liked to track from the start. Cheers in advance.

teslamotorsclub.com

 

[MrBadger]

Or create a scramble here:

TeslaFi Referral request thread

Morning, Anyone able to share their referral? Had the car a few days which is a shame as I forgot all about Teslafi and would have liked to track from the start. Cheers in advance.

teslamotorsclub.com

Which the bots will normally win

 

[Jason71]

Thanks

Security camera would be the best option even if i had to pay a subscription as it would cover the house, however im parking on the street so the car can be parked anywhere.

just checked teslafi, and yes it lets you setup schedules but does not mention sentry mode .
didn't know all the stuff you can do, dont get why the Tesla app does not adopt more features.

Pretty easy in the Tessie app.

 

[WannabeOwner]

TeslaFi much the same

and can Enable for a tagged location (e.g. local supermarket to save having to remember to engage manually)

I don't think TeslaFi has DISEngage for a tagged location, and I thought it had an option for DISEngage for "Home", but I didn't find it when I looked just now

 

[Sonny-Jim]

Thanks for the confirmation, This is very helpful.

Additionally can anyone tell me if i turn sentry mode off altogether, and the car alarm is triggered, does it still make any recording of the incident of from when the alarm is triggered?

 

[MrBadger]

Additionally can anyone tell me if i turn sentry mode off altogether, and the car alarm is triggered, does it still make any recording of the incident of from when the alarm is triggered?

Very little, if any, overlap between alarm and sentry. Sentry (part of TeslaCam) was a bit of an afterthought and a bit of a quick bolt on that never properly integrated with the car, as witnessed by high battery consumption.

I ’ve never seen sentry triggered by the alarm going off.

 

[GlynG]

Re a Camera at home and not being able to park in the same spot - instead of a fixed camera you could use a PTZ, Pan, Tilt Zoom, so when you are not parked in your usual spot you can move the camera via your phone to get it in picture - and zoom in if your a little up the road.

 

[jankratochvil]

You can automate it with an app like Tessie. It will cost you about £5 per month but has other uses.

You can automate it yourself for free. And it has other uses: Add API methods. by jankratochvil · Pull Request #8 · stevieb9/tesla-vehicle
$ crontab -e 0 18 * * * src/tesla-vehicle/examples/charge.pl s1 0 6 * * * src/tesla-vehicle/examples/charge.pl s0 $ src/tesla-vehicle/examples/charge.pl s1 07:05:38 Tesla 37036km 2023.20.9 battery_level: 51% charge_limit_soc: 50% charging_state: Complete scheduled_charging: none preconditioning: none Windows are all opened. sentry_on: ok charge_limit_soc: 50% charging_state: Complete scheduled_charging: none preconditioning: none Windows are all opened. Sentry mode is on. Sentry mode != car lock.

 

[GeorgeSymonds]

If you dont want to pay for a subscription and/or don’t need the data capture Teslafi etc offer, then tesla info provide a free option. You create a simple link that turns it on or off which you can then automate with something like an apple shortcut.

 

[Jason71]

You can automate it yourself for free. And it has other uses: Add API methods. by jankratochvil · Pull Request #8 · stevieb9/tesla-vehicle
$ crontab -e 0 18 * * * src/tesla-vehicle/examples/charge.pl s1 0 6 * * * src/tesla-vehicle/examples/charge.pl s0 $ src/tesla-vehicle/examples/charge.pl s1 07:05:38 Tesla 37036km 2023.20.9 battery_level: 51% charge_limit_soc: 50% charging_state: Complete scheduled_charging: none preconditioning: none Windows are all opened. sentry_on: ok charge_limit_soc: 50% charging_state: Complete scheduled_charging: none preconditioning: none Windows are all opened. Sentry mode is on. Sentry mode != car lock.

I am aware. I did exactly that about 4 years ago but not everyone has the skills or the time.

 

[jankratochvil]

Teslafi etc offer, then tesla info provide a free option.

That way you are giving access to your vehicle to another company. I would never do that.

I did exactly that about 4 years ago but not everyone has the skills or the time.

Some skills are needed, yes. Time not, the software is already done. Normal opensource code, easier than to be connecting multiple web services hoping they all work together this time.

 

[Adopado]

Thanks for the confirmation, This is very helpful.

Additionally can anyone tell me if i turn sentry mode off altogether, and the car alarm is triggered, does it still make any recording of the incident of from when the alarm is triggered?

The reason Sentry Mode uses power is because the car is fully awake and running the computer and multiple cameras and constantly recording ... not just when it detects someone around the car. It can't do this if not awake. If the car is asleep and you have an incident sufficient to trigger the alarm the cameras will not be operating ... so the answer to your question is no it doesn't make a recording. Tesla could potentially change things in the future such that the car would initiate camera recording after it had wakened by the alarm going off but there would be quite a delay before the first images were captured. No good for smash and grab type incidents but could catch some video if somebody hung around making more entry attempts whilst the alarm was going crazy ... not so likely though!

 

[GeorgeSymonds]

That way you are giving access to your vehicle to another company. I would never do that.

Maybe I’m mistaken but unless your code has found a magical way to control the car without using a token, then it’s no different, you either have to trust someone enough to get the token in the first place, or someone needs to provide your code with sufficient details to be able to create them and be satisfied there’s no mechanism in there to pass the codes on. I don’t see any difference.

 

[jankratochvil]

Maybe I’m mistaken but unless your code has found a magical way to control the car without using a token, then it’s no different, you either have to trust someone enough to get the token in the first place, or someone needs to provide your code with sufficient details to be able to create them and be satisfied there’s no mechanism in there to pass the codes on. I don’t see any difference.

Sure my (stevieb9's) code needs the token. But you have my code. So you run my code on your own computer and you keep your token on your computer. I do not even know whether you run my code. You can (and you should) audit my (and primarily stevieb9's) code there is no backdoor nor call-home.