Shorted ptz wires

[dickday 0]

Greetings.

 

I just replaced a regular camera with a pan-tilt camera. It's installed in a barn, so running additional rs485 was not easily done. Since the new camera requires power at the camera, and I would not be using the power cable in the video/power cable, I was told that it would be okay to cut off the old 12-volt power ends and use that wire for the rs485 cable.

 

I know the camera works since I tested it in the house when I received it. The pan tilt worked as it should.

 

When I applied power and connected the video and rs485, the video looks good but I have no control over the camera. When I try to move it, I get flicker on the screen. I was careful to maintain the correct polarity but tried switching polarity and the camera still behaves the same. Every few minutes, it will move down and to the left, then move back to the home position.

 

With the wires disconnected, I don't get the flicker on the screen but it still will every so often move on its own.

 

When I installed this, temps were around 10, so I did not put a meter on the wires (like I should have) to make sure they were not shorted.

 

Does the above sound like the wires are shorted? Is it okay to use the power wires for rs485?

 

Thanks for any suggestions.

[shockwave199 0]

How far is the camera from the dvr? Perhaps the distance is so great that you need a thicker gauge wire for the 485. I'm assuming you're using cheap pre-made cable? Good quality siamese cable has much better power wire than what you'll have to work with when cutting off the power barrel on the cheap stuff. Perhaps it's just starved for enough power because of a long distance. You could try running a bit thicker gauge wire as a test to see if it behaves and if it does, make it permanent. As for the movement, it seems like a preset was set and the camera is doing some kind of one preset tour. It's not an auto tracking camera is it? You'll need to go into the menu of the camera and check to see if there is any kind of active tour and schedule set, and reprogram or set the camera back to defaults to clear it. But you'll need to solve the 485 problem first.

[tomcctv 187]

Hi. PT would not have auto track. are you using same power for camera and head unit ???

[dickday 0]

I have a 5amp power supply that is connected at the camera. The camera is a Zmodo CM-T1001BG. As I said, it worked perfectly when I tested it, so there is something it doesn't like about the new setting.

 

The power supply I used to test it is not the one that is powering now. The one that's in use now just arrived when I was installing the camera. I wonder if it would be wise to also swap power supplies? Maybe the one that I am using has a problem>

 

Thanks

[dickday 0]

Assuming the gauge of wire is the problem, and I run Cat5, can I combine multiple wires in the Cat5 for each of the two rs485 wires? The Cat5 is have is solid copper and is, I believe, 24 gauge. The manual for the camera says the rs485 should be 18 gauge.

 

Thanks

[shockwave199 0]

Yes you can. You should check and make sure the wire is in the dvr solid as well. Make very sure you have it hooked up to the proper terminals in the dvr, and that it's in there with a good connection. Often times the hookups are small and finicky, made all the worse if you're looking over the dvr from the front in a kind of compromised position to begin with. So at least make sure the 485 on the dvr end is in the right terminals and in there securely, for the wire that's in place already. Again though- what is approximate distance you're dealing with? In a barn makes me think you have a long stretch.

[dickday 0]

Yes you can. You should check and make sure the wire is in the dvr solid as well. Make very sure you have it hooked up to the proper terminals in the dvr, and that it's in there with a good connection. Often times the hookups are small and finicky, made all the worse if you're looking over the dvr from the front in a kind of compromised position to begin with. So at least make sure the 485 on the dvr end is in the right terminals and in there securely, for the wire that's in place already. Again though- what is approximate distance you're dealing with? In a barn makes me think you have a long stretch.

 

You got that right... the terminals for the comm wires are iffy at best. I would have liked screw terminals better than the type they have. The pigtail that I made that goes into the 485 terminals is stranded but thick and I tinned the ends to be sure they went in straight. If it makes a difference, I will replace that with solid copper wires. There is only one place for these wires, so I know I have the right inputs.

 

Distance is around 145 feet. Strange, I posted a reply earlier that had the distances but do not see it now. Sorry, should have had that in the first message.

 

The negative side of the old power cable is as thin as my hair and Zmodo says it needs 18 gauge for the rs485, so hopefully that is the problem. I had hoped to avoid running another cable, especially in this weather (-1 tonight with high winds).

 

Thanks

[shockwave199 0]

Yeah, yuck! But like I suggested, run a temporary wire quick and easy just to confirm that is the problem, before you go nuts. Thin as hair wire over 145'...might very well be the problem. Good luck- stay warm if you can!

[cctvmann 0]

another thing to check with the camera moving on its own is the termination switch make sure the rs485 is terminated in the pcb as iif not the 485 signal can be a bit speradic.

[dickday 0]

Yeah, yuck! But like I suggested, run a temporary wire quick and easy just to confirm that is the problem, before you go nuts. Thin as hair wire over 145'...might very well be the problem. Good luck- stay warm if you can!

 

 

Thanks!

[dickday 0]

another thing to check with the camera moving on its own is the termination switch make sure the rs485 is terminated in the pcb as iif not the 485 signal can be a bit speradic.

 

 

 

I am waiting on an email back from Zmodo tech support telling me how to do this with the two Zmodo controlled cameras. One is at address 1 and the other is set to 129 (this is how they shipped) Right now, just the one is on-line.

 

Thanks

[dickday 0]

I ran a Cat5 cable from the camera to the dvr and I now can control the pan/tilt. Image quality is good.

 

My problem is that after a few moments, regardless of where we position the camera, it returns to the home position. The manual is worthless. I have sent an email to Zmodo, but it can take days to get a response, and I was curious if anyone on this list had experience with this camera, a Zmodo CM-T1001BG.

 

None of the reviews I have read mentioned anything about this problem.

 

Thanks

[shockwave199 0]

Zmodo site is horrible for anything. Couldn't even find a user manual pdf on this camera. Can you get into the menu for it? Try preset 95. You have to get into the menu and check the idle setting. It's probably set for a few minutes, so when the camera is idle for that amount of time it will go back to a 'home' position. And even that position is user programmable if you want. But what you really want is to set idle to none, or off. That will stop it from doing that.

[dickday 0]

Thanks. I have the manual in a pdf and there is no on-screen camera menu. The manual shows you what comes in the box, which wire is plus and minus and disclaimers like don't eat the lens or you'll get cancer. Absolutely nothing about programming. Preset 95 (I tried 65 also) brings up nada.

 

Thanks.

[shockwave199 0]

There is a preset that will get you into the camera. Try 65.

 

I would email them for the menu preset.

[dickday 0]

Thanks for the reply.

 

I cannot get 95 or 65 to bring up a menu. I have sent an email to tech support, but it does take a while to get a reply. I really like the image quality of the camera and the pan/tilt action is really smooth, I just cannot get the returning to home problem solved.

 

When I do get this resolved, I will let the list know what fixed it.

 

Have a great day!

[shockwave199 0]

Doesn't look like this camera has a menu preset. It has 32 assignable presets and you can program dwell times for them. That's it. So unless support says something different, I would try and program preset 1 to an overview position that works best for you. It may be that preset 1 will default to be the home position, if it will always return to a home position. Then from 2 on, make other preset positions. It may be that it returns to a home position and you can't change that. Or there may be an auto/manual setting. Not sure. But if you just want to manually move the camera around, make sure you're not starting a tour before hand, which could be the case.

[dickday 0]

Thank you. I hope to hear from tech support Monday. If they tell me that you cannot leave it set to one position indefinitely, then it's going back.

 

If that's the case, what camera would you suggest? We have three horse stalls and I had hoped to position this pan/tilt camera above the center stall on the back wall. I do not need zoom or any pre-sets. I have a 5-amp 12-volt power supply at the location of the camera and I have Cat5 and siamese coax running from the camera to the dvr.

 

Thanks, I really appreciate the help.

[shockwave199 0]

It's been a long road for you with this camera, so I'm kinda confused why you got a PT camera when you don't plan on utilizing it as such. I suppose if you can't get what you need from the camera you should just get a varifocal camera, aim it, and there you go. That's probably what you should have done in the first place. Since you've come this far, should you decide that even with its shortcomings you want to keep it in line, there is a workaround. Just program one position for all 32 presets for the longest dwell time each and start the tour. That will hold the camera where you choose to aim it for as long as you keep the tour going. Then if you choose to move it during the tour, it will likely return to the tour when you're done, but it will be the position you programmed in the tour. And maybe since it is a PT after all, you might have a couple other positions to add to the tour. Anyway, good luck with it.

[dickday 0]

The reason for installing a pt instead of a fixed is so we can monitor 3 stalls with one camera. I tried a fixed camera at one end of the stalls aimed across all three stalls and could not get the detail we were looking for. So, I thought one pt camera would allow us to pick the stall we needed to monitor. In such close proximity I didn't think we would need zoom.

 

I guess we could set up some sort of cruise but not really sure how much that would benefit us. There are times when we'll have a rescued horse or yearling that needs constant attention. The stall that they happen to be in is the one we would keep the camera focused on.

 

Is a varifocal camera one that you manually focus at the camera but have no control at the dvr?

 

Thanks again!