gazz

I already have some PTZ domes in the roof of my aviary, the rest of the cams are fixed, and i point them at the nest sites the birds choose so i can keep an eye on the chicks, i rekon the parents know when i'm watching tho, as they are very good at standing on the nest so they block the view of the chicks when feeding them... and that's the bit i need to monitor the most... so watch for chicks not being fed etc. So i thought i'd mount the fixed camera's i have on pan and tilt mounts, and i figured the cheapest way to do that would be to get 2 standard hobby type servo's (the type used in radio controlled planes, cars, boats etc) mount one ontop of the rotating part of the other, and i can have pan and tilt with the camera mounted on the upper servo, only problem is i want to control the servo's with my existing cctv system (concept pro VXH264, and the matching VA-KBTPRO+) So i need a way to convert the pelco commands to servo commands, I looked at using an arduino and writing the code my self to do that, but coding is not my strong point, and i need a few other boards to get the RS485 signal to TTL levels for the arduino to understand, before i beging ti interpret the pelco commands and translate them into servo movements. So i was wondering if anyone knew of a ready made, and preferably dirt cheap board that can take a RS485 pelco input, and output something a pair of servo's will understand.

Could it be caused by a load of the infra red led's dying? I noticed a similar problem on one of my cams, great pic in decent light, at night it was grainy as hell where it used to be clear, i found out about 3/4 of the infra red led's had died, i put another illuminator ting assembly in that camera, all led's working and the picture was back to normal at night again, If the cam can't be opened up to have it's led ring replaced, then maybe an external infra red illuminator mounted by the side of the cam may help... tho it depends on the cost of a new cam of course.

Yup, i want to move some cheap cameras a little bit in my aviary, so i can adjust the position they point at the nests a little, to see the chicks being fed when the parents are standing so they block the cams view occasionally, the camera's are those round bodied ones, about the diameter of a deodorant can, and about 4 inches long, weigh next to nothing, I need no security, no weather protection, no over engineered so it wont break type durability, really the opposite of what most people want in a CCTV situation, a couple of hobby servo's will be ideal, cost about a tenner the pair, rather than 5 times the camera's cost for a proper ptz mount, I was also thinking of making a kind of turntable, the pan servo would rotate the camera mounted on the edge of the turntable around an axis, so it could position the camera anywhere around the perimeter of the nest site, that case the servo would be modified for continuous rotation, but i still need to translate the pelco commands into servo left and right commands. But it's the code he's put on the chip that does the magic, unfortunately there are a lot of people on youtube who are just showing off what they have built as a way to 'prove' they are better than others, i guess that's half of the reason youtube exists, but it's much better when people help each other out with similar projects.

Unfortunately i got pretty much the same response on electronics forums, they all say 'just buy a proper ptz mount' or use servo's and run wires back to a dedicated controller made out of bits of old computer joystick and sticky tape.... or even connect the servo's to a RC reciever, and use a RC transmitter to move them. The protocol is pretty simple, if you understand the programming languages, which i dont very well, but i figured i'd use an arduino, i'd need an RS485 'shield' which is basically just a rs-485 to TTL converter chip mounted on a board that plugs straight into an arduino, this gets the rs-485 signals safely into the arduino, i then need to faff about getting the arduino to listen to the commands, then translate them into servo movements and output to the servo's, The servo side is already present for arduinos, you just need to tell it what angle in degrees and on which pin the servo you want to move is on, and it'll do it, it's just translating the pelco commands into something the arduino can understand and work with. prolly a 5 minute job for someone who knows a programming language, but for me i may as well be trying to fly to the moon on my pushbike. anyhoo, the pelco protocol is: http://www.commfront.com/RS232_Examples/CCTV/Pelco_D_Pelco_P_Examples_Tutorial.HTM So need to figure out how to get say 'FF 01 00 04 3F 00' into something like 'pin1, servo.write(160)' tho that would just take the servo to 160 degrees, need to add the code to move the servo constantly untill a stop command is recieved, or untill the servo reaches the end stop/180 or 0 degrees is reached, but that code is already present too. There is one person on youtube who has done just this: But he dosent seem to want to give the code out, despite a few people asking including my self... and possibly you?? someone wanting to move a 1lb camcorder.

I seem to have done something wrong on this forum, on everyones ignore list or something? Last year i was after some new domes for my PTZ cams, as seen above in the thread, i was offered some, but when i tried to get them, nothing happened, i PM'd twice, offering to pay the going rate and postage even, but nothing. Thing is i really need a pair of clear domes for my sunkwang PTZ's, as i have found out that the angle of the sun at this time of year in the morning is just right, or wrong, so it is making all the scratches and nicks on my domes stand out even more, so much so that half the time the lens focuses on a scratch rather than the object i am trying to look at. I have resorted to running one of the camera's with the dome off as it's that bad, luckily the cam is located under a sheltered area, so no chance of rain getting in, but it's still not a good idea to run them domeless i imagine, not to mention the vulnerability, Please, can someone help me get some new domes for my cams, i will happily pay for them, i just need the standard clear ones, so hoping i can find someone like before who had swapped the clear for smoked ones to sell me some.

I bought 2 sunkwang v106 ptz domes last month, they were second hand and thus had scratched domes, (paid £100 each, so i don't feel that hard done by) the domes are polycarbonate i guess, scratches really easily, but with them being vandal domes, i guess they need the strength more. on both of them, at some time the internal black plastic cover that goes over the camera, which clips off to access to dip switches, had detached it's self and rubbed on the clear dome as it was rotated, also some sun yellowing and exterior scratches. i have them in my aviary now, so don't need the vandal proof properties anymore, worst is they will get pecked at by a randy canary who falls in love with his reflection in the dome the domes measure 4 inches across the top opening, then a little lip around the outside of about 1/4 of an inch at most, and they are approximately 2 inches deep. Anyone know where i can get 2 new domes matching that size cheaply, im in the UK, so that makes things harder, i've been thinking of getting some of those naff fake domes just to see if the clear dome will fit, but from what i can see from photo's, their domes clip in place with tags, i.e. no lip around the top, or possibly find someone who bought cameras with the same size domes, then changed the clear domes for smoked/mirrored domes and still has the clear domes sitting around taking up space???

last year i asked a Q about getting new domes for my sunkwang PTZ cameras, Someone said they had a pair of new clear ones, but for some reason i couldent purchase them off him, Anyone know of a place i can buy some new domes from.. in the UK,

ahh well, never mind i guess, i'll keep looking for a place to buy some from.

hey there, any ideas if they are the ones i'm after?? if so PM me your paypal addy and i'll pop some money over for postage etc.

Did you find any clear domes by any chance???

not sure if these cams are clones of others, they are branded sunkwang, i've seen a load of pictures of domes that look similar, unfortunately in the usa, postage to england will be the killer, This is the dome, the O ring is still in place, but any dome like that as long as it's 4 inches by 2 inches with a lip will fit, as it clamps in place in the lower housing,

whats this concept account you mention? i have actually had a little sucess, but not using their software, looking on the net i came across some tutorials on getting cms working, and one of them was for vitek EH series dvr's, they use almost exactly the same GUI as the concept pro, Their instruction manual is a carbon copy too, so i guess one or the other have re-badged this dvr, anyway, the EH-CMS software works!!! now i'd still like to get the concept pro's CMS software working, just because it bloody well should, but i guess i can just keep on downloading CMS software and trying it out, there is another that works, but i cant remember it amongst the ones i've tried that dont work,

i have a concept pro VXH264-16 dvr, bought second hand. the big thing concept pro go on about is it's ability to work with central monitoring software, something i'd find interesting as the screen shots of the cms software i've seen are a lot better than the built in web based monitoring. so i downloaded the 'CMS standard v1.0' software from concept pro's site, but i just cant get it to connect to my dvr. i can connect to the dvr via the web based interface, and via the remote agent software, both on the home lan and from the internet, But i enter the exact same details in the CMS software, which are the ip addy, port and log in details, But the cms just wont connect, tried the local ip, internet ip, the mac.dvrlink.net DDNS thing, no joy. i've downloaded a few other CMS's and tried them, but again, it just will not connect to my dvr, i read somewhere that the dvr needs something turning on in it's menu's to enable the CMS to work, but i've gone through all the menu's and can't find anything relating to this, Anyone any ideas what i'm missing? i contacted concept pro, and was just told they do not deal with end users, great,

I have a concept pro VXH264-16 dvr, and like most dvr's they expect you to use the mouse to control it, But just like my swann dvr, i find the mouse extremely sensitive, it's pretty hard to click on small icons... like channel selections when choosing files to burn etc. There is of course no setting in the dvr that can adjust the sensitivity of the mouse... that i can find, wondering if there is something like an installers menu where things like this can be adjusted? the dvr has an RS232 port, but it just says in the manual its 'for factory use only' any way to use that perhaps to get into the guts of the software and adjust things like that?? i also have a lovely 19 inch 4:3 touch screen monitor i'm using on this dvr, lovely picture, but of course i cant use the touch screen part this touch screen has a RS232 interface, would be lovely if it could be used with the dvr with a little hacking, but i guess short of finding a new touch screen controller that can output a mouse signal, with no drivers needed, i'm out of luck?

my camera's are mostly in my aviary, a couple of them about a foot above and to the side of nest sites, and i've found out that spiders are attracted to the infra red led's on the camera's big time. bit of a pain as they keep weaving webs over the lens, as well as triggering the motion detect recording, but worse the spiders are annoying the birds, crawling over them all night long, the birds cant see in the dark, otherwise the spiders would be eaten pretty quick, instead i see the birds woken up shaking to get the irritating spiders off them every so often. i know the simple answer is to turn those cameras off at night, but i've got a nest of chicks right now i would have lost, after something spooked the parents at 3am, and i spotted they'd deserted the nest and saw the chicks breathing slowing down as it got too cold.... fetched it and the eggs in and warmed them up, pu them back the next day and the parents are looking after them fine now. i see people mentioning using a spider spray on their cameras, but has anyone any ideas if they are safe to use near birds? any particular spray recomended?

yup, disabling the IR on the nest cams is best.... problem is i need to go in and pop the sun shade off, then unscrew the front and hope i can reach the plug, if not unscrew 2 tiny screws and pull the led ring off, then put the cam back together, all the time the parent birds will be dive bombing me as they think i'm after the chicks.... i had to be super quick when i rung the chicks yesterday. im in the UK BTW, i'll try and find a supplier of spider spray, then find out if there's a number to ring or website on the can to find out whats in it and if it's harmfull to birds, If it was a month later... i'd get a load of conkers and put them around the cameras..... or maybe i can fix up a white light and have it turn on every hour for a minute or so, letting the birds see the spiders and eat em

Just got a sunkwang ptz camera, running it from a swann dvr8-1200 atm, The camera has a choice of pelco-D, pelco-P or SK-P (i imagine that's a sunkwang protocol) And baud rates from 2400 to 9600, The dvr can work with the pelco-D and -P protocols, and any baud rate, is one better than the other?? i.e. which settings should i choose if it matters at all.

i have a swann dvr8-1200 (want to replace it when i can afford it) it's connected to my router via a 20 meter cat5e cable, which connects to the internet on a dsl line, i get 1.2meg upload speed, 7meg down. i can only access the dvr on internet explorer... crappy activeX based remote viewer... and that's after jumping through hoops turning off loads of security settings. But the quality of the video is extremely poor, my camera's are in my aviary, but the pictures are so pixelated it's like looking at a lego creation, the response to commands is extremely slow too, just selecting which chanel to view singly from the main 8 chanel view is a pain, and trying to use the ptz cams is impossible.... click the button to move it, and you get a response 2 seconds later, it's exactly the same when using my netbook or the GF's new i5 laptop with dedicated gfx, and that's on the home lan. at my parents house yesterday on a 2 month old computer, and today at my GF's parents on a 6 month old computer, leggo pictures and 2 or 3 second lag. i've tried the bandwith setting in the network adjustments on the dvr, but it dosent seem to make any difference if i have it at 128k or 1024k, but i may be thinking that setting does something it dosent. it dosent even make any difference if i select lan or internet in the option when first logging on to the dvr remotely.. if im at home on the lan or away on the internet, both produce the same crappy pictures and lag. am i expecting too much? i know it could well be my dsl connection not having a fast enough upload speed, but then i'd expect the lan login one to be much better... but it's the same... i.e when logging into the dvr on the home network with it's ip addy... the 192.168 one, this is really annoying as i use my system to watch the live view 99.9% of the time, the recording part i can easily live without, but the net connection bit i do need (need to be able to check the bird when away, and if i spot anything wrong, ring a neigbour and ask them to go round and help)

ATM i have a horrible swann based dvr located in a bird room at the bottom of the garden, i view the cameras on the tv's in the house, and right now i have to have the remote for the dvr in one hand and the ptz controller on my lap, changing cameras with the dvr remote, and moving them with the ptz remote (the dvr's onscreen ptz is horrible to use, i have an ir remote extender taking the remote signal to the dvr from the house) looking for another dvr, and i want one where i can use a single controller to operate it and the ptz cams, i believe dahua dvrs alow this, but i am wondering about the connection between the dvr, ptz cams and controller, some controllers seem to indicate they use a rs485 connection, but one for the dvr control, and another cable for the ptz cams, and they use a rs485 to rs232 adaptor at the dvr end for one of the cables, couldent this be done with a single twisted pair from the controller to the dvr? reason i'm asking is i want to go wireless, and get a pair of rs485 trancievers, fit on to the ptz/dvr controller, and the other to the dvr inplace of the twisted pair cable that you'd usually run, reason being i need to be able to use the ptz/dvr control unit in different locations around the house, so wired will be a right pain (will run the controller on a 12 volt battery) Anyone able to tell me if what i am thinking can be done? or would i need seperate cables for the dvr and ptz connections,

Looking at a VXH264-16/1000 dvr, wondering what peoples opinion are of them?? i've read that videcon only sell to the trade now, so could that be a problem if i ever need spares/firmware updates or accessories? i think it uses a similar set up to my swann for internet viewing, i.e. download an unsigned active X upon first connection, after arsing about disabeling lots of security features in internet explorer, Any chance i'd get it working in google chrome? and any chance i could get a basic feed of the cams sent to a web page if that's the way round? i just want a simple way to let non technicaly minded people view some of my cams, it says it can be controlled with a ptz controller via it's rs485 connections, and of course mentions it's own keyboard ptz controller that costs around £250, anyone got one of these dvr's working using another cheaper ptz controller? all i want is for the channel to change to the ptz cam i select on the ptz controller, anyway, if anyone could give me a quick opinion of the VXH264-16/1000 dvr i'd be most gratefull... will only be using it for my aviary cams plus a couple dotted about the property, recording 3 channels on motion sensing, the rest purely live view,

Well, i really hope this is a half decent system, as i've gone and bought it now, hope £300 wasnt too much for it, Reading the manual it seems to do most of what i want and more, i particulary like the channel view options, not just the usual single, quad etc, but single channels in a larger window, with others in smaller windows around the main view, that is something i wanted badly on my current system, so i can monitor a nest cam in detail, but keep an eye on the other channels. Only thing that's going to bother me is it only mentions using it's own keyboard ptz controller to operate the dvr, i guess of course they will say that, but it's about what i paid for the dvr alone, so i wont be going down that route, wonder if one of the chinese ptz keyboards can control will work on it.

I'm seriousely looking for a better dvr, i want 16 chanels, all analoug if fine for me, no need for a hybrid unit. good remote viewing capabilities and quality, with easy to use interfaces that anyone can use.. without having to change settings in web browsers like you do with swanns, i'd like to be able to set it up so anyone can click on a link i give them, and they will see a window with one of the cams doing live view in it, and allow them to select other cams but that's it.. is this a built in web server feature i see mentioned?? i want to control it remotely via a ptz keyboard/joystick, the dvr will be in the bird shed at the bottom of my garden, i will live view it on my house TV's via the hdmi output if present or composite output of the dvr, so i want to be able to change cam view and work the ptz cams from one controller. i only want to record 3 or 4 cams, the system is to be used 99% of the time in live view mode, it's just so i can watch the birds in the aviary without them knowing i'm watching, and thus they act natural, obviousely dahua is the brand to go for it seems, but i hear they are sold under different brand names with different prices, Can anyone recomend which model fits my usage plans, and if possible what the re-branded dahua dvr's are called. of course i'm on a tight budget, £200 is what i want to pay, but can stretch a little if justified. i have a 500Gb HD from my swann system that i can use, that's more than enough capacity for me, so am looking at a dvr with no HD as an option to make it cheaper.

ahhhh.... does the remote viewing over the net thing use the resolution/quality as set on the chanels record settings??? i think this dvr has 200fps to play with, the usual, 4 or 5 per fps increase for D1, 2 for half D1 etc, i have 2 chanels set at 19fps D1, these are the camera's looking at the nests, then i have the camera out the front of the house set at 21fps at HD1 (to catch the neigbours chucking stuff over the fence onto the drive etc) those are the only chanels i set up to record, all on motion detect, the other 5 chanels i've had to 'set' as 1fps cif in the record screen, but i have recording disabled for them on the same screen. and of course the 2 ptz cams are the non recording ones, tho, i am deffo getting more than 1fps viewing any cam remotely, all chanels are set to 'best' quality (of a choics of 'good' 'better' and 'best') the cams: 4 of the camera's are what came in the box, swann pro 580 cams, they are 1/4" sensor 480TVL jobbies, and do a pretty good job, the 2 looking at the nests give a perfect picture day and night, the other 2 are looking along 2 of the flights, and are more than acceptable. Then i have an ebay no name, 1/3" sensor 520TVL cam, it's got a sony sensor tho... the seller bigged that bit up it's actually not that bad, pain to focus due to the crappy lense mount, but it's brilliant in the dark due to the 10mm infrared led's, 32 of em, look like a flood light when viewed with another cam. And 2 x sunkwang V106 ptz cameras, thing they have 480TVL sensors in em, they give the best pics by far. so i dunno what i can change, if anything,

quality wise it is, either on the lan or the net the pictures look as if they are constructed from lego, it's just the controls for the ptz work faster on the lan, it's the quality of the pictures i have an issue with, what is the point of being able to log into the dvr from anywhere, if you can't make out any details under 2 foot in size when they are less than 2 meters from the cam at all times, i could only just tell the difference between a canary and a song thrush, but only due to their colours, a block of yellow bobbing about versus a block of brown, i've recently tried the mobile login, and that is a much better picture!!!

aye, i'm going for pelco D too. i do wonder about ptz controllers and their dedicated buttons, i have a couple of 'hi-speed ptz controller' units, very simple things, 2d proportional joystick, the usual set of 3 buttons for zoom, focus and iris, numbers to select the camera's etc, then 'menu' 'auto' 'preset' 'call' 'shot' buttons, but my sunkwang camera's don't seem to respond to the menu or auto buttons, i get into the osd using preset 95, but i do wonder if a different protocol would enable the dedicated buttons.