ronbo 0 Posted March 3, 2008 Hi all, after playing around with my VCL dome ive found that it only uses up the coax, i dont know much about this but know i may not be able to use my PC DVR with it as i want to control it using the coms port and RS 232/485 converter. is there any way around this as ive been told i would need a maxcom keyboard and there for be a stand alone and then i wouldnt be able to use my PC DVR with is important for the site in question and it keeps the cost down. any ideas? ive looked for some sort of converter but dont think it excist Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PHAND 0 Posted March 20, 2008 Not sure I understand your description/question. What do you mean 'only uses up the coax'? If it's a video camera (as opposed to IP camera) then it will transmit its video from the camera to recording device over a coax cable. You will also need to get power to the camera. That can be done locally where the camera is, or run some 18g or better pair wire along side the coax and plug it in near the recorder. As for controlling it, if this is a PTZ type camera, then you will need to run the appropriate cabling between the camera and whatever you are going to control it with. RS232 has a limited run length that I wouldn't put past 25'. RS485 is much longer. If you are unable to run a control wire to the camera and want to use the existing coax, I'm sure there is some sort of device to allow that. But I'm guessing it will not be cheap. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kensplace 0 Posted March 21, 2008 If the dome really is up the coax only then you will end up having to get a controller for it, or a adapter of some sort to work with another controller. BBV (Building Block Video) may have something, if VCL does not produce anything themselves. Or you may be able to get a different board for the dome, that supports rs485 if you are lucky.. Do you have a model number for the dome so people can see what dome it is, maybe someone knows? Phand: Up the coax controll is where the control signals are sent in the same wire as the video signal, they both go up the same coax cable. The telemetry control signals are usually put in the unused area of the video signal, and decoded at the dome / or telemetry receiver, you need a compatible transmitter to put the signals in the coax, and a compatible receiver to seperate them out from the video signal, and interpret them. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites