Swann Pro-642 Camera - I moved OSD joysticks into my house!

[Billy_ICU 0]

I previously purchased a Swann PRO-760 camera and it came with an OSD control which can be installed at the location of your DVR/monitor (if you run an extra 2 conductor wire). And I did that - can get into the OSD menu from my DVR location...

 

I was impressed with the OSD, so I purchased a Swann DVR which came with 4 PRO-642 cameras (also have OSD)...

 

Well they wired the joystick control into the CAMERA PIGTAIL! With no connectors to move it inside the house. Plus the camera can be installed covering the hole where the wires come out, but you can't drill a very large hole.

 

I was replacing one older camera and it had a 3/4 inch hole for the wires... And that joystick would NOT fit into that hole.

 

So I "operated" on the joystick to remove its plastic cover (make it smaller to fit into the hole). And lo and behold, it turns out there was nothing requiring power for the joystick to operate!

 

Actually it works by causing a dead short between the white wire and the black wires (to make the OSD menu pop up). And it causes various different resistances with various arrow movements between those same wires.

 

So that meant I could connect a two conductor wire between the black wires and the white wire, run that inside to my DVR, then reconnect the black wires and white wire to the cable - Then presto! OSD access where it should be - at my DVR and monitor!

 

Note the other wires are...

 

Red

Red - Connect both reds to +power 12VDC.

 

Black

Black - Connect both blacks to -power.

 

Yellow - Connect to video center connection of coax/BNC.

 

White - OSD (along with connection to the black wires).

 

I chopped off the entire joystick end of the pigtail leaving enough wire (8 inches) to reconnect it inside my house. So I had to solder all the connections for power, video, and the OSD 2 conductor cable. Only the black wires and white wire are connected at the DVR end. I chopped off the unused power and BNC connectors from the joystick and put some insulating caulk on it.)

[lwpeterkin 0]

Hello, I have 8 Swann pro-642 cameras and DVR. I would like to build a joystick controller that I could "plug and play" in line for any of the 8 cameras where they plug into the back of the DVR.

 

Having a connector on the pigtail joystick would make it easy to swap to different cameras for controlling them inside the house.

 

I would purchase a camera with joystick pigtail, and then cutoff the pigtail. Could you provide any direction on how to modify the pigtail so it could be used interchangeably with any of the 8 cameras. Thanks.

[Billy_ICU 0]

I did not use the Swann wiring cable for each camera!

 

I ran my own cables...

 

-One for video from the camera.

-One for 12 volts DC power to the camera.

-And one 2 conductor cable for the OSD for the camera. (Wired into the camera pigtail as described above.)

 

It sounds like you did not modify the wiring to each camera and run your own wires - you are using the Swann provided cables? If that is the case, there would be no wire to connect to at your DVR.

[lwpeterkin 0]

I have not done anything yet, just seeking some technical advice. I want to purchase a camera and cut off the joystick. In this way I could make an in-line joystick connector that would go between the DVR and the BNC cable going to the camera(s).

 

With 8 cameras, it would be much easier to create an in-line joystick connector that could be swapped to whichever camera I want to adjust at the DVR end.

 

I would leave the 8 existing joysticks attached to the cameras, since the cameras are mounted on the roof in very hard to reach locations.

 

That means I would have two "in-line" serial joystick controls for a single camera. One currently existing at the camera, and a new one added at the DVR end. Do you believe that would work? Would the two in-line joysticks interfere with the operation of the joystick?

 

Thanks for any insights you have here.

[Billy_ICU 0]

Two joysticks on the same camera [for this particular camera/joystick only) would work so long as only one joystick is being used at a time.

 

They work by shorting the two wires mentioned above going to the camera - to get into/out of the menu. Then by moving the joystick various directions, place different resistances on the two wires.

 

If a joystick is not being used, then there would be no short or resistance placed on the two wires by it. Note one of those two wires runs only between the joystick and the camera (white wire).

[lwpeterkin 0]

Okay, It looks like my plan of placing a joystick at the back of the DVR in line with the existing cable will not work. Maybe you know of some way to make it work based on your experience.

 

Anyway, I dissected the cables from the DVR to joystick, then on to the camera as follows:

 

OUT OF THE DVR (4 wires in 2 Cables)

Cable 1 - Power

1) Red Wire

2) Black Wire

 

Cable 2 - Data ?

3) Yellow Wire

4) Black Wire

 

INTO THE JOYSTICK FROM DVR (4 wires in 2 Cables) - same as out of DVR

 

OUT OF THE JOYSTICK INTO CAMERA (6 wires)

1) Yellow

2) White

3) Black

4) Black w/White Stripe

5) Red

6) Red w/White Stripe

 

As originally noted, all the cameras are up on the roof in hard to get to places, so cannot run another new cable to the joystick/cameras. I had hoped there was some way to tap the cable at the back of the DVR and add a joystick in line. It does not seem possible since there are only 4 wires from DVR to joystick, but need 6 wires to the camera.

 

Do you concur that this will not work? Or do you have any other ideas that might use a joystick at the DVR end using the existing 4 wires to the joystick/camera to control the OSD?

 

I should have opened the cable up first since I assumed there were 6 wires out of the DVR (even though in hindsight that does not make much sense). Thanks for your time on this.

[Billy_ICU 0]

If you could run power to each camera and that power was near each camera, then it would free up 2 wires - which you could then use for the OSD.

 

Note to anyone else reading this thread... I just bought a used 642 camera - it has a black thumb screw on it instead of the Allen screws for adjusting aiming. Anyway, that camera/joystick has a separate wire going to each position of the joystick. So 6 wires needed to connect that older version camera! (No resistors used.)