RS485 PTZ Control

marv2097 · Post by **marv2097** » Wed May 17, 2006 5:24 pm

Hi,

Is there a definative list of which of the RS485/422 based protocols ZM supports. I have read a couple of posts about this but it isnt really clear. I have a dennard 2040 that I would like to control.

Thanks

Martin

Post by **zoneminder** » Wed May 17, 2006 9:46 pm

Essentially it's Sony VISCA and Pelco-D at the moment. There is rudimentary support for Pelco-P as well but there are issues getting two stops bit on the serial port. I would like to get Vicon in but it requires a bit more state information than is stored at present. I have rewritten the PTZ control stuff pretty much entirely to make it easier to support this, and other protocols, but I don't think I'm going to risk putting it into 1.22.2 though it seems to work here and is faster than what is currently used.

If anoyone has other protocols they would like put in and can supply the documentation for them then I'll be happy to put them in.

jameswilson · Post by **jameswilson** » Wed May 17, 2006 9:52 pm

I still have those bbv protocols matey lol
The dome protocol and the 232 keyboard protocol as an input device

Post by **zoneminder** » Wed May 17, 2006 9:54 pm

Yes. They should be easier to add support for in the new schema as well. The cam is still in the box at the moment though

jameswilson · Post by **jameswilson** » Wed May 17, 2006 9:56 pm

what cam did i send you a dome? If not i can. I havnt got a 232 keyboard at present but i was thinking of getting the front end's sorted before i looked at alternative keyboards.

Post by **zoneminder** » Wed May 17, 2006 9:58 pm

Yes, a swan necked thing that looks like it's been ripped of a wall (it still have the screws in the rawlplugs sticking out the back!).

I thought you mentioned that that was BBV but I could be wrong (again)

jameswilson · Post by **jameswilson** » Wed May 17, 2006 10:03 pm

no thats not a dennard dome thats a vcl orbiter i think but i dont have the telemetry for that its an external 10:1 colour dome thats 485 controlled or fsk with a converter. I can 'long term' lend you a D2060 if you like to help with the protocol in fact ill bring one down to you next time im there for a coffee. That way ill get bbv support into zm wont I lol
Ill also bring that blc10 i promised last time

Post by **zoneminder** » Wed May 17, 2006 10:06 pm

Ah ok. I have the VCL protocol somewhere, but it is a stateful one and so needs a bit more work.

jameswilson · Post by **jameswilson** » Wed May 17, 2006 10:08 pm

Phil do you know if you can mix protocols on a 485 line as ive never tried?

marv2097 · Post by **marv2097** » Wed May 17, 2006 10:11 pm

Phil,

I will send you some info on the Dennard protocol on email, I have VCL orbiter but I have no idea how to control it. Do you have a copy of the VCL protocol?

The dennard camera is supposed to be one of the best speed domes around. It seems to have plenty of features. I dont mind trying to help out code the dennard protocol. Ive made a vb app for it so im sure it wouldnt be too hard to code for ZM. Got to get the ZM downloaded and built first tho

marv2097 · Post by **marv2097** » Wed May 17, 2006 10:12 pm

jameswilson wrote:Phil do you know if you can mix protocols on a 485 line as ive never tried?

You should be able to james, The dennard domes will simply ignore any packets that dont conform so you could send them alternately.

jameswilson · Post by **jameswilson** » Wed May 17, 2006 10:16 pm

well that makes for an interesting project, could zm handle sending (obviously not at the same time) different protocols down the same line

tech_fixer · Post by **tech_fixer** » Thu May 18, 2006 12:37 pm

I dont know if any of you have already seen any of these, but I thought it might help...

Linux Serial Sniffers:
https://sourceforge.net/projects/slsnif/
http://www.restivo.org/projects/sersnoop/

I believe you can tap into a serial connection between 2 devices and "listen in" to reverse engineer the protocols.

Also, some manufacturers and/or resellers loan their products to prospective customers, hardware reviewers and sometimes to software developers. It all depends on the salesperson.

Hope this helps.

Jose.

jameswilson · Post by **jameswilson** » Thu May 18, 2006 12:46 pm

i can get hold of anything for a couple of weeks but i dont think my programming ability is up to much on this fron as i have never tried to do anything like this before. On a completly seperate topic on my in progress/yet to start list are hardware alarm inputs, links to professional intruder alarm and a keybaord for zm

marv2097 · Post by **marv2097** » Wed May 24, 2006 8:31 pm

jameswilson wrote:On a completly seperate topic on my in progress/yet to start list are hardware alarm inputs, links to professional intruder alarm and a keybaord for zm

What exactly where you thinking of for IO? I have been looking into a making a USB/Serial device with a couple of relay outputs and some inputs that were intended for pir or other sensor inputs. It would have an RS485 I/F for PTZ also. Is there any support for IO in zone minder such as external triggers etc?