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[320vu50]

Sometimes I can control the Ninja mounts (I have 4 - Cameras 1-4) OK. Then I can't.
They work just fine if the Remote Control is within ten feet of the power supply.
I have put them all on the same feed for power and filtered it. Plus, I also have a RR501Transceiver in that circuit about three feet from the normal place where camera control is effected.
From what I have been told this setup should work. But it doesn't.

To add to the problem I also have two Pan Tilt units on the second four cameras bank on a different controller. Sometimes it works and sometimes both cameras are controlled by either controller.
It is frustrating because I have done everything the insructions say do and the Ninja mounts and cameras still do not ignore the fact the camera codes are different. Camera 2 on bank 1 equates to camera 6 on bank 2; and Camera 3 equates to camera 7.

Am I doing something wrong?

[Brian H]

Cameras work in groups of four as you have found.
Same House Code Units 1-4; 5-8;9-12 and 13-16. Send an on to one in the group the other three go off.  The Ninja uses the RF from the remote to pan and tilt and a power line X10 signal to turn on and off the cameras in the group.

Your related problem is two cameras are on at the sametime. As each is in a different group and turning one on in one group will not turn off the ones in another group. So both will pan and tilt when they receive the RF signal as both are on. I know X10 makes a remote that can do 16 cameras but I don't think it also controls pan and tilt Ninjas.

http://kbase.x10.com/wiki/Ninja_Pan/Tilt_Base

[320vu50]

Thanks for the reply. It has been very enlightening on how they work. A further question; does this do the same thing if the House Code is different for each bank of cameras. This is important as I have a display system that has 8 cameras on at once. So I really need some way to make this work.
Gerry

[Brian H]

Yes only the four with the same house code and in the same group will turn each other on and off. Different house code cameras will not turn on and off with the other codes.
Are you using any software to control them?
Are they wireless cameras and if so how do you stop the signals from stepping on each other. Most setups can only have one on at a time.

Any Ninja with power On will follow any Ninja remote it receives as the house code is not used for panning and tilting. Only the addressable power supplies use it along with the the unit code groups to control what is on or off.

[320vu50]

Are you using any software to control them?
          No. The system I use for the video is called Blackbox. For cameras in it's system it has a power bus with constant DC provided as a separate wire pair to all the cameras. They do not pan tilt. So I am adapting them to four Ninja Mounts. Their system gives a view of all eight cameras in real time without the jump that is found in the other systems. The four Ninja Mounts are powered from their own XM 13A power supply units.

Are they wireless cameras and if so how do you stop the signals from stepping on each other. Most setups can only have one on at a time.
This is not necessarilly so. The X10 System with several Pan Tilt Zoom (including the sentinel) don't turn off when a different camera is selected. Plus, the house and camera code seems to affect the Ninja mounts in the same bank as the cameras don't move when different cameras in the same bank are operated. 

No, the 6 Blackbox cameras are hard wired and are constant on. I am also using one vanguard and one Pan Tilt Pro in the other two. I power them from their own power supplies and hard wire the video to the Blackbox system. The two power connections for those cameras (on Blackbox) are vacant.

Any Ninja with power On will follow any Ninja remote it receives as the house code is not used for panning and tilting. Only the addressable power supplies use it along with the the unit code groups to control what is on or off.

See if I have this right. If I run the Ninja Mount Cameras (1-4 on my system) as House Code C they will control properly and not interfere with cameras on any other House Code than C.
If I run the 2 Pan Tilt Zoom type cameras (6 & 7) as House Code D they will work without interfering with, or by, the house code C cameras. These two are fully wireless controlled (as they are made that way - the only wiring is power from plug in power converters which do not have any settable house or camera codes and a video that is radio or hard wired - and the camera and house code is programmed to the camera throuugh the remote.

Again, thanks for taking the time to help me with this.
Gerry

[Brian H]

You maybe right on the Sentinel; I have not done any multi-camera stuff where the equipment can do more than one camera. Most wireless setups only one wireless camera is on at a time. So thanks for the heads up on that.

Since the Ninja Mounts are controlled by their power supplies. The C1-C4 remote will enable one of the mounts and turn the other there off. One will then pan and tilt as you want. The ones on D6-D7 will be turned on and off by the remote sending their codes. This may leave one of the C units and D units on as they do not control each other. So if one of the remotes pan and tilt signal reaches both mount that are on. Both will move as House Codes are only used by the addressable power suppiles.
As a test for another thread. I ran the mount on a +12 volt supply that was not an X10 Addressable one. Patching the +12 to both the switched and unswitched connection on the 1/8" connector. The mount paned and tilted no matter where the House Code Dial is set.