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Author Topic: Suddenly unable to switch between cameras  (Read 28665 times)

dave m.

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Suddenly unable to switch between cameras
« on: April 07, 2005, 05:52:25 PM »

iwitness has worked fine up until recently-
now it appears NOT to switch between
cameras. AHP shows a switch between 2
wireless cameras (goes from "on air" to "GO
LIVE" and vice versa. but split screen
shows same image in both (one live - one
frozen) which ever camera I unplug the
remaining one shows in both screens. It
appears that the OFF command
to "deselected" camera isn't being sent. I
should see a frozen image of the camera
assigned there,in the deselected screen-
not a frozen image of the NOW selected
camera....  any ideas? (Both cameras share
same housecode and have adjacent
numbers..C1,C2
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X10 Pro

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Re: Suddenly unable to switch between cameras
« Reply #1 on: April 07, 2005, 07:02:59 PM »

Can you turn other modules on and off from
AHP? What kinds of cameras are these?
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dave m.

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Re: Suddenly unable to switch between cameras
« Reply #2 on: April 08, 2005, 12:20:29 PM »

the cameras and power supplies used are the
XC18A's and XM13A's  (I have eliminated the
cameras as source of problem as they work
individually) When I hook up just ONE
camera in iWitness and click on GO LIVE, I
get working video  when I try to click on
another camera button (different unit code)
it should cause the first camera to shut
down-and show a "frozen" image it does, but
NOW it puts LIVE video from THAT channel on
the NEW screen  (even though I should get a
blank image screen without a camera
connected to second button) If I install
the ONE camera on 2nd button I get exact
same problem, perfect video on that channel-
and problems with the others when I try to
switch over.  In AHP, all other commands
are working properly.  With Quad screen and
just ONE camera connected- I assume I
should show one video image and three blank
screens....switching to another screen
should show frozen image on that first
screen and the rest should STILL remain
blank (since only one camera
connected).....but I get that LIVE image on
new selected screen-even though it is a
different unit code...  any suggestions
appreciated.
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Tuicemen

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Re: Suddenly unable to switch between cameras
« Reply #3 on: April 08, 2005, 07:56:29 PM »

looks like the same problem I was having! to
fix this i had to have each cam in a
different sequence 1-4 & 5-8. I was using a
cam anywere same as the anaconda on a
videosender. As soon as I put one on c4 the
other on c5 problem was even worse so I had
to create macros for c4 & c5 when one was
turned on it would turn the other off.
hopefuly this will be fixed with the next
update or maybe thats the only way to add a
video sender into the mix.
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dave m.

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Re: Suddenly unable to switch between cameras
« Reply #4 on: April 09, 2005, 04:38:41 AM »

Just wanted to let everyone know I got my
problem resolved.  I first ruled out
cameras as the cause by testing each one
separately through a dedicated video
monitor- I also ruled out video sender
because this was able to handle the 4
cameras (sequential unit codes) and it
switched through the 4 without any other
images bleeding through.... then a single
camera was hooked up to the video/USB
interface through computer and everything
was fine-  when a second camera was added,
the origional problem returned..!  This
pointed to "software" issues....  a re-
install on iwitness seems to have cured
things. I only wish I knew the cause...I'll
try and keep track of things for awhile
until i'm confident this won't happen
again. If it does, at least i'll have some
additional info to pass on.
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dave m.

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Re: Suddenly unable to switch between cameras
« Reply #5 on: April 09, 2005, 04:53:57 AM »

Tuiceman,
My problem seemed a bit different then
yours, in that mine wasn't a sequential
order issue-  it was one where the selected
camera would show LIVE video in one 1/4 of
the quad screen and a "frozen" image of
that SAME camera in another window (where
it should have shown a frozen image of the
camera assigned to that quadrant)  if I
didn't have all 4 cameras connected- I
should have shown a blank screen for that
(1/4) and NOT a frozen image of a camera
that wasn't ever connected to that
quadrant. 2 cameras connected to the "split
quad screen" should never show more then 2
images (1 live one and one "frozen" image
from 2nd camera) unused quads should remain
blank.. in MY case, they didn't.  sorry if
this confuses anyone! It did me!
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Tuicemen

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Re: Suddenly unable to switch between cameras
« Reply #6 on: April 09, 2005, 05:45:10 PM »

mine showed frozen pics of the video sender
in all 3 of the boxes and live video in the
proper one if I had 4 cams configured I had
tested this when I was trying to nail down
the problem. The only way I could cure this
was having macros with the same address as
the cams turn the other off. this was in XP
as well as 98se. I never tried to put both
cams back into the same grouping as someone
had posted a bug when one cam was turned of
all in that group were turned off. maybe
that bug was patched I haven't checked.
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X10 Pro

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Re: Suddenly unable to switch between cameras
« Reply #7 on: April 11, 2005, 02:13:14 PM »

If you are in the 4-camera split window, it
should show stills from the non-active
cameras, and live video from the current
camera. If the timing between switching and
grabbing an image is off, that could result
in an image from one camera being displayed
in the window of another.

Not switching at all is a different problem.
If that happens, it would be good to
determine if AHP/iWitness is sending a
command to switch cameras. It should be
logged in the Activity Monitor if it is. For
troubleshooting, you could also set a lamp or
appliance module to the same address as a
camera to see if a signal is getting out.

Another thing to keep in mind: for XCam2
camera, AHP only sends On commands to switch
if they're in the same camera group (1-4,
5-8, 9-12, 13-16). The reason for this is
that the power supplies for the cameras have
a built in functions to make switching faster
-- if a camera set to A2 sees an A1 On
command, it turns itself off. If the command
isn't getting to the camera, it could be that
the camera isn't turning itself off, leaving
you with a mixed signal, or maybe video from
only one camera.
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dave m.

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Re: Suddenly unable to switch between cameras
« Reply #8 on: April 11, 2005, 10:49:36 PM »

Thanks x10 !
I had already swapped cameras with
appliance modules to test for signals as
you mentioned and saw the signals were
going out (verified by activity monitor)
everything worked fine with a single camera-
it was only when I had two or more
cameras installed and tried to switch
between them that problem popped up.  I
have to assume a "timing" problem as you
suggested because I WAS seeing the
wrong "frozen" images in the wrong windows-
anyhow, as mentioned, a reinstall on
iwitness cleared everything up - for now.
Thanks again!
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