PTZ Troubleshooting! Need Help!

[MetalguitarJames 0]

I'm a surveillance tech at a tribal casino and we have been having a hell of a time troubleshooting an outside Honeywell KD6 rugged dome ptz. We took a lighting strike last year and it hasn't been the same since. We get severe horizontal striations across our monitors anytime that it's moved with our Ultrak UltraKey Joystick/Keyboard. It's hooked up as follows from the light pole:

 

1. The "hat board" 2 data lines, 2 power wires, 1 RG-59 coax cable.

 

2. The Data lines are run straight back to the surveillance room into "jumper blocks" that run into the back of our "Mini Max 1000 matrix switch.

 

3. The power wires are run to a breaker downstairs along with 2 other outside ptz's.

 

4. The RG-59 runs into a passive NVT.

 

5. Out of the NVT it turns into twisted pair (CAT 5) that runs all the way to our surveillance room into another passive NVT.

 

6. Out of that NVT it turns back into RG-59 that runs into an input of the back of a Honeywell Fusion DVR.

 

7. From the output of the dvr it runs into the input on our "Mini Max 1000 Matrix Switch". And from the matrix it runs into our monitors.

 

Now we have troubleshooted many different things. We've switched out the Main Matrix board. We've tryed different dvr's. We've also tried different inputs on the back of the matrix.

 

What's strange is that when we use a handheld monitor (Normally used for focusing still cameras) on the RG-59 that comes out of the nvt inside of the surveillance room, and move the joystick we don't get the striations. It only has the striations when it come out of the output on the back of the DVR.

 

We've spoken to Honeywell tech support many times and they're just as stumped as we are. We are starting to think that it may be a grounding issue. We've also switched out different ptz's with it and it only happens on those specific wires. It would be extremely difficult to run new wires considering that we can't find the damn electrical conduit that it runs through.

 

ANY SUGGESTIONS?

 

James Myers

[rory 0]

Sounds like maybe a wire issue ..are you using all the pairs on that cat5?

 

Also, what model number is the NVT?

 

Rory

[MetalguitarJames 0]

NVT-213A and we are only using 2 of the wires on the cat 5.

[rory 0]

2 Pairs ..? If so perhaps switch to the other 2 pairs and try that .. if still doing it maybe get 2 new 213s or use from another camera.

 

They have Transient Protection and interference rejection built in, but maybe look at the 652 and 653 which are amplified (these 213's were working before though right?) .. last resort would be to run new cable somehow .. or if that is impossible .. go wireless .. though i know thats not exactly easy also .. nor inexpensive ..

 

Another route would be to invest in a video meter and test the signals coming back to the system .. if its a DVR it is much more tempermental in regards to the signal .. a weak signal can show directly on a Monitor with less issues, if any, but once you plug it into a DVR system, if the signal is weak it will be much worse.

[kensplace 0]

Could it be a interlacing issue?

 

Is the DVR setup to deinterlace the picture if needbe?

[MetalguitarJames 0]

Untill we can get the sissors lift back we are stuck because we have to be able to get high enough on the light pole to do any more trouble shooting. We'll just have to see what happens then. I really appreciate all of the replys so quickly! I will post updates as soon as I can.

 

Thank you,

 

James

[VST_Man 1]

change the power supply and check results...........

[MetalguitarJames 0]

2 Pairs ..? If so perhaps switch to the other 2 pairs and try that .. if still doing it maybe get 2 new 213s or use from another camera.

 

They have Transient Protection and interference rejection built in, but maybe look at the 652 and 653 which are amplified (these 213's were working before though right?) .. last resort would be to run new cable somehow .. or if that is impossible .. go wireless .. though i know thats not exactly easy also .. nor inexpensive ..

 

Another route would be to invest in a video meter and test the signals coming back to the system .. if its a DVR it is much more tempermental in regards to the signal .. a weak signal can show directly on a Monitor with less issues, if any, but once you plug it into a DVR system, if the signal is weak it will be much worse.

 

Anyone have a link for that "Video Meter"? The only thing that I could find through google was a "Video Level Meter". Is that the same thing?

[Cooperman 0]

Apart from what has already been suggested, it sounds like there may possibly be a suppression problem with the P/T drive motors. Does the "striations" show up the same for both pan and tilt?

 

As rory said, any signal imperfection present, may look fine on a test monitor, but it can be significantly magnified when fed through a DVR.

 

If it is the motors, you'll need to look at placing some type of smoothing capacitor or R/C suppressor across the motor terminals. Ideally, when you have access to the camera, if you can drive the motors locally using a low voltage supply (but not using the controller), it would be interesting to see if the same problem shows up.

 

If you have a decent VDA available, it would be worth placing that immediately before the input to the DVR, and see if that has any effect on your problem.

[MetalguitarJames 0]

Apart from what has already been suggested, it sounds like there may possibly be a suppression problem with the P/T drive motors. Does the "striations" show up the same for both pan and tilt?

 

As rory said, any signal imperfection present, may look fine on a test monitor, but it can be significantly magnified when fed through a DVR.

 

If it is the motors, you'll need to look at placing some type of smoothing capacitor or R/C suppressor across the motor terminals. Ideally, when you have access to the camera, if you can drive the motors locally using a low voltage supply (but not using the controller), it would be interesting to see if the same problem shows up.

 

If you have a decent VDA available, it would be worth placing that immediately before the input to the DVR, and see if that has any effect on your problem.

 

Sorry it took so long for me to reply. I've been quite busy lately. Yes it shows the striations with pan and tilt. It'll even show the striations when we move 2 other certain outside PTZ's that are on the same data block (Meaning where the data wires are hooked up to inside the surveillance room). I'm not very familiar with a "smoothing capacitor" or R/C suppressor. Can you elaborate on that for me? And also I don't know what a VDA is. I'm still learning all of this stuff. I appreciate all of your help.

[Cooperman 0]

Hi MgJ,

 

My previous suggestion was to drive the P/T motors directly with a low voltage supply, rather than using the data driven controller. That would confirm whether the problem is in some way connected to the 'Data' circuit, rather than the driving circuit (e.g. possibly the motors themselves).

 

Most electric motors (particularly DC) are electromagnetically noisy, so when they operate, they can spit out airborne (and cable borne) interference. To counteract the problem, manufacturers generally fit electronic components, usually either an electrolytic capacitor, or an R/C suppressor, which is a component that contains both a resistor ® and a capacitor © wired togethor.

 

The effect is to gently filter or smother the interference. If you have not been required to work with electronic components in the past, it would be sensible to get some advice from a local supplier, particularly as fitting the wrong value components can potentially create other problems.

 

A VDA is simply a Video Distribution Amplifier. It's purpose is to take a standard composite video signal, then internally boost (amplify) it and split the signal to a number of outputs (usually between 3 > 10). The idea behind the suggestion was to 'condition' the video input so that you would know that a good 1v P-P signal is being provided on one of the outputs.

 

I just noticed in your original post that you mentioned having received a lightning strike in the past. That would increasingly suggest to me that something has broken down at component or motor level.

 

It's a shame you don't have access to an oscilloscope for fault finding, but then that's a whole different ball game