Interface Pelco Spectra Series Cameras to Your eyesite 110, eyesite 140 or eyesite 550

The eyesite 110, eyesite 140 and eyesite 550 support a wide variety of industry standard camera control protocols. Currently we have drivers in our units to support Panasonic, Kalatel, Philips, Sony, Electronic Lines, Pelco, Samsung and Merit Li-Lin PTZ cameras.  Using the Pelco D protocol, many others can also be controlled.  The following uses the Pelco camera as an example, other brands may vary slightly, but these notes can still be useful.  Click the following link to the Pelco web site for more information on the Pelco Spectra Dome series.

What You Will Need For Your eyesite System:

• One to six Pelco Dome Cameras - Any model that supports the Pelco D protocol.
• A RS-232 to RS-422 Interface Converter - B&B Electronics 422PP9TB recommended.
• A Null Modem Cable - Standard DB9 Male to DB9 Male, suggested wiring shown below.
• Lots of Cable - Coaxial Cable (RG-59) for video, CAT4 or CAT5 UTP for power and control.
• Power supply for the Pelco camera(s) - Typically a 24 VAC power supply.

Step 1:  Install the Basic Components within Your Site.

Follow the recommended procedures for mounting, installing, and wiring the Pelco cameras into the desired locations within your site.   From each camera to the eyesite unit, you will need some UTP (unshielded twisted pair) for the power and control signals and some Coax for the video. 

For the video, we recommend using RG-59 for cable runs of less than 300 feet and RG-6 for longer distances.  For the control, we recommend you use CAT5 cable where one pair is used for the RS-422 transmit, another pair is used for the RS-422 receive, and the last two pairs are used for the power connection to the camera. As most CAT5 wire has four pairs, using a full pair for each of the power supply connection has the advantage of lowering the resistance of the path to the camera and maximizing the voltage to the camera unit.

Here is a detailed look at the RS-422 connections for a Spectra Series dome camera.

Step 2:  Convert the RS-422 Camera Control Signals to RS-232.

Since the data ports on the eyesite 110 and eyesite 140 are RS-232 type interfaces, an interface converter is needed between the monitoring system and camera(s).  For Pelco cameras like the Spectra series, an RS-422 interface is used.  RS-422 has an advantage over RS-232 in that it can be used to send and receive serial data over comparably long distances.  Many interface converters can be powered by the driving RS-232 interface.  We recommend a unit from B&B Electronics which works great with the eyesite systems.  The unit is shown below and has a 9 pin Male DCE style RS-232 interface on one end and a screw terminal block for the RS-422 side of things.

	Click here for more information on the 422PP9TB from B&B Electronics.
	The control block on the Pelco camera system should be connected to the interface converter (see the table on the left).  Care should be taken to ensure that the following connections are correctly made.  All four wires must be connected to the correct points of communication between the eyesite system and the camera(s) or it will not work.

 Step 3:  Connect the RS-422 Converter to the eyesite System.

The B&B RS-422 interface converter is configured as DCE and the eyesite data ports are configured as DCE.  As a result, a NULL MODEM is required to properly connect the two devices together.  Most null modem adapters or cables should do the trick.  The cable pinout on the left  is provided in case you want to make your own or compare the pinout of an exisitng null modem adapter or cable.  When in doubt, the following cable has been proven to work.

Note:  If the interface converter is to be powered by the eyesite unit, Data Port 1 must be used as the control port for the cameras.  If the converter will be powered via the terminal block and an external DC supply, then either data port on the eyesite unit may be used.

Step 4:  Configure the Pelco Camera Unit.

The camera must be setup to use the Pelco D protocol and each of the cameras you plan to connect to an eyesite unit should have an address that matches the video input you plan to connect the camera to.  For example, the camera shown below has been configured to be connected into the first video input of the eyesite unit and thus, has been set to address #1. 

Up to six Pelco cameras can be connected to the eyesite system with addresses 1 through 6.  The camera control signals can be daisy chained between the cameras, ultimately creating a large loop back to the interface converter, and thus, requires only one of the data ports on the eyesite unit 1 through 6.

Here is a detailed look at the switch setting on the Spectra Series dome camera.

Step 5:  Configure the eyesite Unit to use the Pelco D Driver.

On the eyesite sytem in the DATA OPTIONS menu, select the EXT CAM option for the desired data port and then choose the PELCO D setting to enable the driver for that port.  The data rate and format for the port will automatically be set to the correct values for the Pelco series cameras.  Save the settings and you are ready to go to the CAMERA VIDEO SETUP menu.  Choose the PREVIEW/SET PRESET item and test communications to the camera(s) and setup any presets you wish.

Note:  When configured for the PELCO D protocol, the eyesite will search for a response from a Pelco camera at any address from 1 through 6.  If the system finds a camera at that address, it will assume the camera is connected to the respective port on the eyesite unit.