Finally got some telemetry stuff!

[kensplace 0]

Well I tried to do a telemetry decoder, but was a bit stumped when I got some sample chips and they were tiny (and I mean TINY) surface mount ones.

Perhaps if I had bionic eyes, and dexterity surpassing that of the finest open heart surgeon, then I may have been able to solder those chips...

 

So anyways, at that point, when I figured investing boat loads in surface mount soldering equipment was going to far, I decided just to go and bid on some 'real' telemetry stuff.

 

Miracle of miracles I won (two, one has arrived, the other I have to pay for, just won it).

 

Its a nice (and new) modern dedicated micros drx400p model, its got the 24v option (which I didnt need, and asked the seller if it was possible to use it for 240v instead, and he said no..)

 

Five minutes after opening it up, I figure out the first problem, the mains transformer for the 24v is loose, so I tighten it up.

 

Second problem, its not outputing anything on the pan/tilt or lights/washer etc outputs... checked and there is no damn fuse in it (is it normal for a new unit to have no fuse?) so I stick a fuse in. Nothing. Remove fuse, its burned up, blown.

 

Hmmmmm, another check for shorts (unlikely as no wiring installed yet) and all looks ok, so try once more - fuse dead again.

 

Guess the transformer is shot, pain, but not a problem as I dont want 24v on it anyways.

 

I unplug 24v transformers plug, and plug in the (obvious spare connector) which is mentioned in the manual to convert from 24v to mains (which the seller said cant be done...) and it works fine - panning away right this moment.

 

Total cost, 25 pounds, hate to think how much these things actually cost (not sure, as the websites just say contact sales for pricing....)

 

Still not figured out the iris control for the zoom lens (cosmicar/pentax h10zme 2p), but the zoom/focus is set up now.

 

It uses relays to control the pan/tilt which is a bit of a pain, having to listen to the click click click all the time when the joystick is used (and a bit worrying, how long are the relays going to last? Cant figure out why they did not use solid state stuff, instead of moving parts?)

 

Got a feeling I will probably have to mess around more with the lift/gain controls, as they are set to 250m cable length, and I am using 2 meters...

 

Knocked them down to improve the pic, and on the TV the pic is fine, but now I have weird lines going down the pic (the lines are not moving, just present) on the PC capture card input (only on the cam with the telemetry)

 

Hopefully thats just those gain/lift controls, but will look tomorrow, way to knackered now to mess around inside it.

 

Will probably need to take a trip down to b&q (hardware store) to see if they sell cable glands also, as despite the fact these things cost so much they are afraid to publish the price, the manu's are such cheapskates they expect you to drill your own holes and install your own cable entry stuff.

 

Any suggestions on best way to hande cable entry? Im guessing at just drilling holes, sticking cable glands (one per cable) - but do they need additional cable supports or do the glands keep the cable still and resist pulls?

 

[edit]

 

Guess what the most annoying thing is though, wanted telemetry so I could stick a camera out the back yard - it arrived a couple of days after tina, our yorkshire terrier got stolen from the back yard (at least we assume she was stolen from the back yard, the front was on camera recorded all day, and she didnt get out the front....)

 

Police just said its a sign of the times when I said were always getting burgled and stuff like that.

 

Fingers crossed they find her, she was nicked once before, and turned up miles away (the police told us were to collect her).