PT unit for IP camera

[EarlT 0]

This looks like something you could mount a zoom camera on (with a weatherproof box) and turn it into a PTZ camera. Have any of you ever you ever dealt with one? Not sure how you make an IP camera use analog PT and IP Z. I have a Sanyo HD4600 I would love to be able to swing around.

 

http://www.supercircuits.com/Pan-Tilt-Units/OPTU1

[Nimrod 0]

From the web site.

 

“Operates on 24 volts AC at 15 Watts and requires six-conductor unshielded cable”

 

This means the 6 wires are connected to the individual motors and you have to do the correct power switching sequence to move the pan tilt. You could make a toggle switch box to do it or buy a pan tilt zoom control board, this board would also accept commands from your dvr program thru the serial port and converted to rs485 or from a real rs485 port if you have one.

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/Universal-Indoor-RS485-Decoder-PTZ-Camera-Control-/200560433762?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2eb2555a62

 

Or you can use this stand alone ptz keyboard to issue ptz commands.

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/DVR-CCTV-Keyboard-Controller-LCD-Display-PTZ-Control-/260770686778?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cb724e73a

 

All in all its a big job, a lot of wiring to get right, and don’t forget enclosure and power supply to.

[thewireguys 3]

http://www.videotec.com/en/page_707.html

[EarlT 0]

Thanks guys. Looks like the solutions you guys sent would work better with a zoom that can be controlled with rs485. Does't appear my HD4600 can do that. Maybe a box camera with a motorized zoom might work better.

[hardwired 0]

Yes, the Sanyo can only have the lens controlled from another controller, a better choice would be an IP camera that has outputs to control a pan/tilt mechanism. That would allow control and viewing through one IP address/GUI interface.

 

Acti has something similar in their new 4 Megapixel line, article here http://www.acti.com/pantilt . I would imagine a few other camera manufacturers have something similar.

[EarlT 0]

I just stumbled across a Cisco (linksys) PVC2300 that seems to have PT control built in like that Acti. Anyone know of others that have that capability built in?

[videotiger 0]

I have almost the exact same unit (appearance-wise), but it has the Pelco-D RS485 controller built into it.

 

http://www.polarisusa.com/product/215/pt-24oh-rs485

 

The controller has the same zoom/focus/iris/pan/tilt capabilities.

 

It works "okay". Documentation is fleeting; there's about a dozen or more DIP switches under a slide-away cover on the other side of the rotating upper half. No documentation came with the unit about what those DIP switches do. Cables are well-labelled, though. On the unit I have, the moving half has cabling attached to it for 75-ohm composite video and lense controls (zoom/focus/iris). The base half has cables for the 75-ohm composite video output, 24VAC power input, and RS485 commands in. Note that this PT mount is optimized for an analog composite output camera; I have an IP camera in a breadbox housing on it. I will have to "float" some cables to the moving head to make the UTP connections to the camera as well as the RS485 connections from the camera back to the fixed half of this mount.

[EarlT 0]

What IP camera are you using? I am tempted to get one just to play.

[thewireguys 3]

Avigilon has 485 output for PTZ control

[EarlT 0]

Avigilon have 485 output for PTZ control

 

Is that limited to some models or all box(ish) models? I am thinking of picking up one of the H.264 zoom boxes to compare against my Sanyo HD4600. It would be nice to have that on a PTZ mount. I have a demo of their software and am working through the various features slowly.

[videotiger 0]

What IP camera are you using? I am tempted to get one just to play.

 

I'm using a 5MP StarDot Netcam SC. I'm bench-testing it right now, and will mount it outside hopefully in the next couple of weeks.

 

There are other very nice IP cameras out there, such as from Axis and Avecont. The others in this forum would have much more experience and knowledge of those manufacturer's products.

[EarlT 0]

Let me know how well the controlling of that low budget PT mount goes. I will find a cheap IP camera that can control it, so I can play.

[videotiger 0]

Well, it pans and tilts in reaction to my clicking on the Netcam's web page PT buttons .

 

I don't know if the PT mount has presets or not. The Netcam's UI includes the ability to select presets.

 

I'm hoping/thinking that the DIP switches may be used to change the RS485 address, but without instructions, it's impossible to know for sure.

[EarlT 0]

Say videotiger, I may have stumbled across documentation for your dip switches. This looks like yet another version of the same unit with RS485 built in. The link below has a link to documentation.

 

http://www.cop-usa.com/images/product/pdf/AS20-RS485.pdf

[videotiger 0]

Say videotiger, I may have stumbled across documentation for your dip switches. This looks like yet another version of the same unit with RS485 built in. The link below has a link to documentation.

 

http://www.cop-usa.com/images/product/pdf/AS20-RS485.pdf

 

Oh, excellent! That looks like it. "Motor run, stably", ha ha ha!!!

 

Thanks, EarlT!

[EarlT 0]

 

Oh, excellent! That looks like it. "Motor run, stably", ha ha ha!!!

 

Thanks, EarlT!

 

Just curious, but how stable does it run? Are presets in your camera putting it back in the same place, or drifting some?

 

I see this model for real good prices, so might get one to put a IP camera on just for grins.

[videotiger 0]

 

Oh, excellent! That looks like it. "Motor run, stably", ha ha ha!!!

 

Thanks, EarlT!

 

Just curious, but how stable does it run? Are presets in your camera putting it back in the same place, or drifting some?

 

I see this model for real good prices, so might get one to put a IP camera on just for grins.

 

It seems to operate relatively smoothly and quietly, but I haven't had a chance to put it outside and let it combat the elements yet.

 

I don't have experience with presets and Pelco PTZ setups; just the presets on my Sony all-in-one PTZ IP camera. I suspect that the presets are a function of the PT mount, and not the camera (?). The combination of the preset function in my IP camera's PTZ controls and this PT mount don't seem to work; i.e. I doubt the PT mount has preset memories in it.

[EarlT 0]

Hey Videotiger! Do you have any updates on that PT unit. Just curious if you found a way to store presets.

[videotiger 0]

Sorry, no. I still haven't had time to mount the unit outside. I need to build a voltage regulator board (24 VAC to 5 VDC) and assemble the interface box before I can install the camera. I definitely want to do this, though.