I got a 500G DVR and 8 CCTV cameras last Christmas, They work fine and they have motion detection. What I want to do is a make PTZ controller for them. Here is what I plan to do. The main Uno or Mini will control the cameras by RF. User input will be by a IR remote. Only 2 bytes will be sent by RF, Camera number and Command. The receivers will all be the same, including the sketch.
With the IR control, a number 1-8 is entered. Then a command, Left, Right, Up, Down and Home. The master will then send an ASCII number followed by a ASCII command like L, R, U, D and H. All receivers have the same sketch. Each Mini receiver will receive all camera numbers and commands, Each receiver will have it's own 3 pin address that it reads in. That will be how it knows to respond only to it's command.
I have the sketch for the master done, subject to change. I have the sketch for the slave done also. Without the RF radios, they work with a single wire. RF's will be in next week.
I'm also working on the mechanical parts. The prototype will be 1/8" plywood and will be mounted under my porch roof for protection. We will see how it gos from there.
OK, I got my el'cheapo RF Transmitter and Receivers. Had problems with VirtualWire Lib. It won't play well with IRremote.h and servo.h. So I'm writing my own RF send and receive, that uses no library or timers or interrupts. It's coming along nicely. It's slow, but I don't need high speed. The servos need time to react anyway.
I think the RF antennas need to be 1/4 or 1/2 wave length. If that will improve transmission quality? Testing to follow.
RF wireless noise is a common problem. Is it background noise or corruption of data? Two different things. Background noise may be from something near by sending on the 433 MHz frequency. If so, then there is not much you can do besides using a directional antenna. However if it's corruption of data. It's probably due to a lack of a Ground Plane. Google: Ground Plane Antenna. Make sure you have a 6.5 - 6.75" antenna for 1/4 wave length. Try to place the radios directly above the Arduino. That will make the Arduino the Ground Plane. You can also place the radios above a metal plate that is connected to ground. Don't let the radio Tx or Rx touch the plate. You can use 4 wires, same length as the antenna, in a X pattern, connected to ground, under the Tx and Rx radios..
I figure i"ll need about 75 feet of range to cover my lot. I ran a test yesterday at 40 feet, sending RF data. It ran for 8 hours and did not drop a single byte. Next test will be at about 80 feet.
Yes, the cameras are wired and working fine. What I want is to be able to Pan and Tilt them. I can do that by wires also, but the RF tx and Rx's cost a lot less then coax cable. Also I just want to do it wireless for a challenge. I do not want to use the internet. What is there now is twin coax, one for power and one for video.
Update, Screen shot of receiver #1, Range Test at 80 feet.
Receiver #, Command, CRC, Pan value, Tilt value.
Only the first 3 bytes are sent. The last 2 are calculated Pan and Tilt ++ or --
Receiver Address is 1 byte: 1 - 8
Commands are 1 byte: Left, Right, Up, Down, Center.
CRC is 1 byte: Address xor Command.
Pan value is 1 byte: 10 - 170.
Tilt value is 1 byte 10 - 170.
Here is a photo of my strip board power supply with a Pro Mini and Receiver and Servos.
9 volt DC input. FTDI cable to computer. The FTDI won't be used in the finished project.
So here is the prototype built. it works fairly good. I don't like the servos homing when powered up. and the output shafts are too weak for the camera. Next move is to improve the design and use those small 5V stepper motors
Here is the 1st. prototype.
