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Camera control

ejudyejudy Posts: 1
in AMX Design Tools

I am looking to connect 1 camera to 4 different SX-80s in a single A/V rack. My problem seems to be how to control the 1 camera with 4 different codecs. The HDMI seems to be no problem but the control function is my problem. Is there a way or a switcher that would allow the camera to connect to all 4 SX-80s at the same time so that when you switch to a new secure VTC call the system that you are on can control the camera.

Comments

  • JasonSJasonS Posts: 229
    I would not connect codec serial ports together in a system with secure networks. Depending on networks and/or agency involved you are going to need some serious fiber isolation and be sure that only 1 codec is active at a time to avoid security violations. Do you have to have the codecs controlling the camera, could the control system control the camera?
  • zack.boydzack.boyd Posts: 94

    @JasonS said:
    Do you have to have the codecs controlling the camera, could the control system control the camera?

    Even if you need to use control from the codec, you could use any netlinx master to port the serial commands from the 4 codecs to one camera

  • JasonSJasonS Posts: 229
    > @"zack.boyd" said:
    > @JasonS said:
    > Do you have to have the codecs controlling the camera, could the control system control the camera?
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    > Even if you need to use control from the codec, you could use any netlinx master to port the serial commands from the 4 codecs to one camera

    That is an option but the concern becomes proper isolation between codecs on secure and unsecure networks. This is a bit of a touchy subject and it is really dependent on the networks involved and the local security officer's approval. You do not want to violate any security policies as it makes things very difficult for your customer and affects wether they are allowed to use their system.
  • zack.boydzack.boyd Posts: 94

    @JasonS said:

    That is an option but the concern becomes proper isolation between codecs on secure and unsecure networks. This is a bit of a touchy subject and it is really dependent on the networks involved and the local security officer's approval. You do not want to violate any security policies as it makes things very difficult for your customer and affects wether they are allowed to use their system.

    Ugh - Yeah this is why I have no desire to do anything requiring clearance. Sounds like a royal pain. I know that a lot of Netlinx Controllers are JTIC certified, but I don't really understand what that does or means. Don't people use one control system for rooms with secure/unsecure devices regularly?

  • JasonSJasonS Posts: 229
    Routinely use both brands in secure systems, generally the control system is on an isolated network. It is usually not an issue for the control system to handle multiple classifications as long as there is not a data path between networks. What the government considers a data path can be very strict. You can get lost in the weeds considering things like tempest. Alot of networks have physical proximity limitations. There is alot of fiber isolation with power control of the fiber rx/tx devices. We are not just talking about the network, also video, audio, usb etc. Some multiple classification systems use a specialized codec switching system that has gone thru extensive testing and accreditation. These systems cost just barely less than another codec. End users dislike these systems because it can take as much as 8 minutes to switch networks. It used to be that the control systems could do this switching with some specialized fiber switches, it was always a bit of a grey area storing the network configurations on the control system, again alot of this came down to the security officer's interpretation of the rules. In the past few years this practice seems to have fallen out of favor.
  • sentry07sentry07 Posts: 77

    Periods Processing. Pain. In. The. Ass. Factory reset the codec, reboot the codec, switch the black box (fiber tx/rx, power,etc) from one clearance to the other (which usually reboots the codec again because power to the codec goes through it), set the new registration server info on the codec and reboot again. If you know how long a Cisco C60 takes to reboot, you know that takes foreeeeeever. We added an extra "ARE YOU REALLY SURE?" because of how long it takes.

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