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Alan, Depends on your budget. Optelecom/NKF or IndigoVision would be my pick. Indigo's 9000-series H264 encoders are not cheap but are easy to configure and use and their network bandwidth efficiency is among the best, if not the best on the market. They're only single channel encoders/decoders though, so it does get expensive quickly. Optelecom/NKF have some multi-channel encoders and from all reports their video quality is also excellent with bandwidth efficiency close to that of the Indigo products. Cost is lower due to multi-channel capability (up to 4 video channels per encoder/decoder - they also do 2 channel and 1 channel units). Worth checking out.

The Panasonic 960 dome can be switched into Pelco emulation mode to allow it to be controlled by anything that can talk Pelco-D protocol. I just wish I could remember where I put the application note telling how to do it. You might need to contact a local Panasonic dealer and see if you can find it (if I do find it I'll post the instructions on the forum).

We have had this problem several times with a similar setup. The problem is the joystick on the keyboard - the pots get worn/noisy/dirty and the joystick fails to return to the zero position so it never sends the stop command to the camera. Don't bother replacing the RS485 board; get the keyboard fixed/serviced first. BTW, these keyboards are going EOL so if you want spares I'd order them soon (in fact I just ordered 3 myself for our system).

I design, install and manage a system with 200+ cameras (fixed and PTZ), some 50+ of those are using IP video connected via 5.8GHz wireless ethernet bridges of various different types (both point-to-point and point-to-multipoint), some with up to 3 wireless hops to get back to a fibre access point, then on fibre back to a matrix switcher, then across another IP network link back to the master switcher/control room. Multiple analogue/digital/analogue conversions are ugly, but that is what you get when you work with a system that has grown over 10+ years and has to continue to support legacy equipment. We use IndigoVision encoders/decoders with Panasonic dome cameras usign the transparent data port on the Indigo boxes to transmit the PTZ data from a Honeywell MaxPro video matrix to the Panasonic domes. Latency in this system, even with multiple video matrix switchers remotely located from the master and multiple wireless hops out to the cameras, is virtually indistinguishable from a locally connected analogue camera (but we do have decent network bandwith to play with). Most IP video streams I run at 4CIF, 25fps, 1024kbps although on bandwidth limited links I have some throttled to 2CIF,25fps 384kbps which, with the IndigoVision codecs, still results in acceptable video quality for our purposes with no noticeable lag in control. You can also control the Panasonic domes directly from the IndigoVision Control Centre software which means that you don't need the analogue matrix at all - it decodes and displays the images directly with full PTZ control including presets and all the other functionality and Indigo supply it at no charge. It can talk about 30 different PTZ protcols from memory. Suffice it to say that wireless IP video transmission can and does work very well as long as the system is properly designed and dimensioned. Disclaimer: I do not work for IndigoVision, Panasonic or any other manfacturer of CCTV, Video or wireless networking equipment; I'm merely a satisfied customer.

That is because the PTZ Stop command is being lost between your controller and camera (or the controller is not sending it every time). I'd be checking that the joystick on the PTZ controller is returning back to the zero position every time its used. If not, it may not send the stop command. There should be adjustments or a calibration procedure for the joystick but you may have to return it for service. There could also be a timing issue between the camera and controller or an intermittent comms problem causing lost PTZ data. How is the control data sent to the camera? Up the coax? Separate serial (RS232/422/485) cable? You need to be more specific about your setup.

If you have only 3 devices (camera - pc - camera) you don't have a star - you have a daisy chain with the PC in the middle. In this case you turn on the termination on both cameras and it will work fine. As soon as you add a 4th device, don't connect that one direct to the PC; you then *do* have a star which *will* cause problems for RS485 comms - I know from personal experience and having to go and rectify other people's bad installations. National Semiconductor have some RS485 application notes that are quoted by just about every other manufacturer of RS485 equipment (and are therefore considered fairly authoritative when it comes to the right way to do things). Worth reading and understanding.

Check the Belden catalogue online. Yes, copper inner/copper shield with minimum 95% braid coverage (prefer 100% over that distance). Personally I'd run fibre over that distance (in fact, I have on several installations); the cost of fibre (at least where I live) is comparable with the cost of copper cable and has a number of advantages such as full galvanic isolation (so no earth loop problems when the camera power source is different from the controller power source), no isolation issues if you have to run close to electrical cables/services e.g. shared conduit, no electrical interference etc. OK, so you need a media converter/fibre modem at each end which adds a little to the cost but in the long run I find it to be worth spending the money.

Panasonic use their own protocol (which is well documented) at 19k2bps but the Panasonic cameras can also emulate Pelco-D at 9600bps. You can switch the Panasonic 960 dome to RS485 by setting SW8 on dip switch 1 on (but you also have to set the RS485 address using dip switches 1-7). The smaller dip switch turns the RS485 termination on (SW1) and sets it to 2 or 4 wire mode) - see the manual for details. Panasonic did release an application note explaining how to put it into Pelco-D mode but I don't have a copy of it to hand. Ask your local Panasonic dealer.

Any of the Panasonic DVR's (e.g. 316, 416 series) can control the Panasonic domes over the coax and you can plug in a Panasonic PTZ keyboard to make it easier.

Goodrich ISR Sysetms (Sensors Unlimited) do an interesting range of SWIR cameras that are supposed to be the bees knees for day/night/limited visibility operations. The videos and captures on their web site are pretty impressive. I've not had a chance to play with them personally as I don't think they have a distributor in Oz but it is something I'm following up.