wxman

We're trying to get some PTZ IP cameras set up for remote control over internet. Problem is, some of the places we need to install do not have internet access. In some cases, the nearest internet connection would be anywhere from 1000 ft away to as much as several miles away...In essence, the cameras would need to be connected to routers at the install site and those routers would need to connect wirelessly to a distant internet connection. Obviously, standard WIFI is only going to serve a couple hundred feet without the use of repeaters. I'm looking for some advice on what the best (preferably cheapest) method is of doing this would be? I've seen some 2.4 Ghz and 5.8 Ghz wireless transmitters that seem like they would do the trick to reach thousands of feet and perhaps several miles, but I'm trying to determine what would be the best options. I also understand that the FCC imposes limits on the power/radiated power that a transmitter can send using these frequencies in the U.S. Hopefully someone here has experience with this and can send some pointers my way. I'm not exactly sure where to even start! Thanks in advance!

I'm trying to determine what a device is that is in some PTZ cameras. I'm thinking it may be a "DVR Card" but not completely sure if that's what this is or not. Basically, it's a small circuit board inside the camera housing of an analog (or hybrid analog 960H) camera system that accepts the wires coming out of the housing circuit board and converts them over to RJ45 Ethernet and allows these cameras to be used through the internet as an IP camera. In the attached picture, the green board is the analog housing circuit board and the blue circuit board is the "adapter" that converts to IP. Could someone tell me exactly what these are called? I've tried explaining it in Google, but not finding results of anything that looks like it. Thanks!

I did. I only find a document printed in Chinese. Using the google page translator, it translates the title of the board to "IP Module"....However, every "IP Module" I've found online has an actual camera sensor on the circuit board. This board has no sensor. All this one does is basically convert between analog and digital, much like a Network Video Recorder; Except it's mounted inside the housing, shares 12v power with the housing, and uses wire for it's analog input, rather than a coax. The Ethernet cable output allows you to connect to your router, then you can view, record and control the PTZ of the analog camera over the internet (even reset and restart the whole unit, as this circuit board is "in line" with the whole unit's power supply). I've searched everywhere and can't seem to find an exact match for this. Doesn't seem to work exactly like a DVR card. Does the function of an NVR, except is connected and powered differently. I've got some other analog PTZ's that I'd like to install a circuit board like this to, as it seems to be a better option than having a separate NVR...but can't seem to find anything else in the market that does this exact function. The chinese document describing the features of the board does not give any way of purchasing the board.

P.S. Just to clarify, there's no coax cables involved. I've seen some video encoders that will accept a coax and output an RJ45 network cable, but that isn't what this system uses. The zoom camera module connects to the housing circuit board with flat flex ribbon cable, then wired directly to this mystery (endoder/DVR card/whatever it's called) circuit board and then out as RJ45.

Trying to get a PTZ system set up. The purpose is not for security, but for profession-grade weather monitoring (to monitor cloud cover, cloud type and structure, precipitation type, etc.)...I've got a good pan/tilt housing to meet the needs, but I'm trying to determine what type of sensor/zoom module to include. I've noticed a lot of standard grade "backyard" weather stations use Foscam. The picture looks decent, in my opinion, but they lack the strong zoom. Would like to have something like a 36x optical zoom. Seems from other reviews (at least from a security camera standpoint) that Sony chipsets are the most recommended? It also seems to be a popular opinion that a lower resolution analog CCD (something like 700tvl Effio-P) gets recommended over a digital, higher resolution (such as 720p or 1080p Exmor). I would imagine that WDR will be very important for this application as you'd want a good look at cloud structure next to a blue sky and horizon tree tops. Wouldn't want to have the blue sky look a solid, blown out white/gray to where they couldn't observe cloud structure, and preferably not have to adjust the exposure to where horizon tree tops look black. What would you think is best for this particular application? Higher resolution Exmor CMOS or a lower resolution Effio CCD? Or perhaps another option?

Interesting problem that I'm wondering if anyone has experienced or could provide advice. My PTZ camera works perfectly in daytime mode, but when you change it to night black and white mode, the picture starts shaking from side to side and random interference keeps popping up on the image every few seconds. Flip it back to daytime mode and it works perfectly again. First suspected it was something to do with the IR lights. However, I have now completely removed the IR board and lights, but it still starts shaking and giving interference when I manually switch the camera menu to night mode. I'm thinking there must be a problem with the sensor's night vision mode. This is using an Effio-E sensor. Has anyone ever heard of this? or have any idea if this could be caused by something other than the sensor? With the IR lights out of the question, I don't see where the problem could be in anything other than the sensor? Thanks for any help you can provide!

So I'm just a hobbyist with this stuff and have gotten myself into a project that's proving to be a little more complex than I had expected. Here is a picture of my PTZ setup. Sorry the picture is a little blurry, but I've tried to label things as best as I know how to help you get your bearings straight. The attachment "Camera_Setup.jpg" is the way the insides of a PTZ system I have looks. 36x Powered Zoom lens connected with ribbon cable to a circuit board. That circuit board connects with ribbon cable to the board that the CCD sensor is on. Sensor board and lens board are connected with ribbon cable. Then the lens board connects with ribbon to the systems main circuit board (where the pan/tilt and IR devices are connected to as well). The ribbon cable is a 9-pin ribbon cable, by the way. The sensor is supposed to be Effio-E. Problem is, the sensor is bad and I'm needing to replace it. I'd REALLY like to replace it with an Effio-V board (see the other 2 attachments for front and back of Effio-V board). It seems to all fit fine, except that new Effio-V sensor board doesn't use ribbon cable. I'm sure there's got to be some ways of adapting this to make it work. Seems as though it would be as easy as getting some kind of wiring adapter to put between the sensor board and lens board to convert that ribbon cable. Or perhaps there's other, better solutions? I'm just not sure what direction to go or where to get started. Since I've got to replace the sensor anyway, I just hate to put another outdated sensor on there, when newer technology is available. Besides, I could really use the better wide dynamic range and other features that the Effio-V offers.

Hmm, interesting thoughts...This is a powered zoom lens that is screwed on top of the sensor. I'm assuming that this IR filter is part of the lens and not the part of the sensor? Thus, if the IR filter was somehow damaged, I'd be looking at replacing the zoom lens rather than replacing the sensor board? While looking back over the video in slow motion, it does appear that the camera is trying to go back into color mode when that interference shows up. I also note that while the image is shaking from side to side, the writing of the on screen display seems to be moving as well. If I manually pan the camera back and forth, the picture moves but the on screen display writing stays steady in place. When this "night mode" shaking starts, the on screen display writing shakes with it...That makes me wonder if it's something wrong with the processing part of the sensor board itself.

Not exactly sure what you mean by "pulsing"? Here is a video clip of what it's doing. You'll see that in regular "daytime" mode, it works just fine. When I turn it to "laser on" and the night vision mode of the camera turns on, the image shakes from side to side and red interference runs through the screen every few seconds. Some notes to consider: -It's not in the IR lights because I completely unplugged the IR lights from the camera unit and it still does this. -The red interference is not the camera seeing red IR light in color because, again, the IR lights are not even on. Obviously it's something with the "night vision" mode of the sensor that causes the shaking and interference? I can't think of anything else that would cause this?

Does anyone here know if there are import duties that are taxed on CCTV camera systems that are imported into the U.S.? Specifically outdoor IP PTZ setups. I'm getting conflicting info as to whether or not there are import duties and what percentage those duties would be. Thanks!

Wondering if anyone can help me find a solution, even if it requires some mixing/matching of parts to piece together. - Outdoor PTZ - 360 degree pan - Greater than 90 degree tilt range (i.e. Need to be able to look at the ground, but also be able to tilt up to the sky at least 10 to 15 degrees above the horizon) - Needs to support a strong optical zoom (prefer 30X or greater optical zoom module---Doesn't have to be pre-installed as I can purchase a module like this for a reasonable price and add it/swap out the camera module myself..) - Long distance IR lights. I'd prefer at least 200ft; the greater the better! - Must have a wiper as I can't have rain drops blocking the picture and won't be able to get to the install location frequently to clean off splotches from dried rain drops. I've searched for days and had several close matches for under $500, but always something from the above mentioned specs that is missing. There's one for around 300 bucks that has all of these features except the tilt range stops at 90 degrees (doesn't go the extra 10 or 15 degrees above the horizon)..Those GVI domes that are going for that same price range do go the extra 15 degrees above the horizon, but they don't have the IR lights or wiper. I can find units for over $1500 that will do all of this, but I just can't see paying an extra $1200 bucks or more just to tilt up 10 or 15 degrees more. There's got to be a cheaper solution that incorporates the features of the first dome camera mentioned and can also tilt a little above the horizon like the GVI ones can. Anyone have any ideas of anything available that would match my search criteria (or know of a way to custom build something to meet my needs?) Heck, I would buy both of the units I mentioned earlier if there was a way of combining some of the parts, but I highly doubt they would be compatible/fit together. Thanks for any help you could provide!

Hi, I've got an analog PTZ dome camera (RS-485 to connect camera to Pan/Tilt head, etc.) and goes to a network adapter to convert to IP so that I can plug into my router with an ethernet cable and remotely control via internet. The problem is the pan/tilt scanner inside of the dome only has a 90º tilt range (i.e. can look between the horizon and straight down). I need to be able to view above the horizon sometimes, as well. Instead of having to start over from scratch, I would like to get a second pan/tilt scanner with RS-485 cable, mount a piece of board to this, then mount my dome camera to this board (see attached graphic). That way when I need to see higher up into the sky (above horizon), I could revert to this second pan/tilt scanner which would lift the whole dome (and the board it's installed on) upward at an angle. Basically this would mean two pan/tilt scanners that can be controlled to allow for a better tilt range. I'm assuming I could chain this second pan/tilt device in with an RS-485 into the same connection with the original pan/tilt device, IR lights, etc. Just making sure that the dip switches on this added pan/tilt scanner are set to the same protocol and to a different address. Would almost be like daisy chaining 2 PTZ cameras together, except the second assumed PTZ camera in this case is actually just a pan/tilt scanner that moves the platform that the original dome camera is mounted on. (hopefully this makes sense) First, would this even be possible to do? and second, when I need to move the camera remotely, how would I be able to tell my computer interface if I want it to move pan/tilt scanner 1 or pan/tilt scanner 2? The interface comes with arrow keys that when clicked can control the current internal pan/tilt scanner. I'm just unsure how I could go about telling it when I want to activate this second pan/tilt scanner to move the whole dome and mounting platform upward. Thanks for any advice you could provide!

Thanks for the reply. Sounds like I'll just have to start over from scratch with a new system. Guess I'll post a topic on another category to get some recommendations on a new setup with everything I need already built in.