Help needed identifying this Camera

[VorlonFrog]

Have you tried the ODM tool against the camera yet? I would think it might display some helpful XML in response to a general query.

 

[Michael Trew]

Hi

Yeah I have tried the ODM as it gave me a lot of useful information, I was able to grab the rtsp stream using this method though using this I am still not able to control the PTZ nor does the ODM seem to produce information regarding the PTZ controls. The web GUI for the camera states the camera is using PELCO-D as the PTZ control.

The first screenshot is the Identification tab, the second screenshot is a description of the PTZ profile.

 

[VorlonFrog]

That model number was helpful in confirming it's a XiongMai PTZ camera module:
http://www.xiongmaitech.com/en/index.php/product/product-detail/27/104/65


Have you tried using the Linux/Cygwin/Gnu 'curl' command to talk with the camera? It seems the GetNodes request should return the handle to the PTZ controls.

 

[Michael Trew]

I've already looked into that item. ODM produces various web addresses such as this; http://192.168.1.10:8899/onvif/device_service
I'm not sure what this means. Does this address contain the information which is sent to ONVIF service when the camera receives a request for information?

Entering this address into the address bar returns this;
SOAP-ENV:ClientHTTP GET method not implemented

I would guess that means the camera doesn't know how to handle get requests.

 

[VorlonFrog]

I found this StackOverflow link that might prove helpful. It's for a GetSystemDateAndTime request, which does not require security/username/password information. What you need is the GetNodes command to return the PTZ node identifiers, and that requires a username and encoded password.

Also this link to some Pelco-D Protocol information. Might there be a Python library that speaks this protocol?

 

[Michael Trew]

This is a list of all possible commands I can send to the camera http://www.onvif.org/onvif/ver20/util/operationIndex.html
All commands which are available within Device Management are able to be used though as soon as I attempt to send a command outside the device management sub class, I recieve an error 'sub class' not found, or (400) Bad request, or camera refused connection [10061]

For example; camera.devicemgmt.GetSystemDateAndTime() returns the date and time found within the system.
though camera.ptz.GetNodes() returns ptz class not found.

Additionally I can use an alternative method to setup the PTZ class and from here call the get nodes but again I am receiving a (400, Bad Request)

 

[wxman]

Wxman, I'm interested in the particular problems you encountered, if the issues are the same as mine this would help us find a better solution as i would hate to see this camera go because of its lack or support.

One thing was a wiring issue. Image would get all distorted to where you couldn't recognize anything...Had to take it apart and when shoving in on some of the internal wires the picture would clear up to normal...put the screws back in, an hour later it was back to giving a distorted image. Wires just wouldn't stay in place and kept coming loose. On top of that, the zoom module the seller included inside the housing had a scratch on the sensor, so I had to replace it with another zoom module. During this replacement, I damaged the ribbon cable connecting the zoom module to the housing's internal boards..I also noticed the system would lose signal at random times and sometimes I could not get the pan/tilt to move at normal speed. Tried to give the seller the benefit of the doubt, but they suddenly seemed to no longer understand English, were ignoring messages, making offers to send replacement parts and then backing out. Apparently, the seller was just selling broken second-hand junk as they started getting bombarded with negative feedback from others about "received defective unit"...Their feedback rating on Aliexpress dropped to 33% in the following weeks. At this point, I realized that mine wasn't an isolated issue and that they were just scammers, so I filed a claim to return for a full refund.

Ordinarily, I would have lost out on the $80 to ship the unit back, but the postal service in China lost the package and the tracking never showed up as "delivered". Of course the seller naturally claimed to have never received it...This problem worked out to my benefit because the package was fully insured. After filing an insurance claim with the post office, I got back the camera value plus the shipping cost for the lost package. In the end, the ordeal didn't cost me anything but time and stress.

I did learn some valuable lessons though....First, I learned a lot about the internals of cameras and how to do some repairs....Second, I learned to never purchase an expensive item on Aliexpress unless there is a lot of positive feedback, not just on the seller's account, but on the specific item that I'm purchasing too. This seller had a good feedback rating when I initially made the purchase, but that's because they had been selling a lot of cheap items with little that could have gone wrong. There wasn't any feedback on the exensive PTZ camera and realize I should have waited until people were able to try out that particular unit and give positive feedback on it specifically before making that kind of purchase.

 

[VorlonFrog]

At this point, I'm beginning to wonder if the PTZ is managed completely separately from the IP Camera, since it appears the camera firmware may not understand it has PTZ capability. What kind of wiring/connections other than power and ethernet are available?

Here's a different, but very similar device, which says

PTZ Control: Built Into EagleVision Software using Pelco "D" Protocol thorough RS485 Serial connection

Finally, do you have something similar to this controller with the camera? I'll bet that's what you need.

 

[Michael Trew]

Hi guys

No we don't have something like that Controller and I'd have to agree with you regarding the pelco-d software. I think it is actually impossible to use python to control the ptz of this camera. We have since stopped development of the python interface for this reason. I even went so far ad to sniff the exact soap protocol being sent to the camera for a pan left but even that didn't work.

I appreciate all the help you ladies and gents have provided, it has been substantial. In the end we are using a general cms software and accepting we will never achieve full functionality of the camera, aka wiper blades, led control.

Again thanks