CCFC Field Camera
76
14. RS-485 Communications
The optional RS-485 communication interface of the CCFC can be used in
conjunction with the MD485 to interface a datalogger to one or more cameras.
Refer to the MD485 Manual for additional information.
This value is displayed on the web interface under
Settings>File
Transfer>PakBus.
The MD485 is useful for connecting more than one camera to a datalogger or if
long cable lengths are involved. If multiple cameras are connected to an
MD485, it would be beneficial to offset the capture times of the photos so that
only one camera is attempting to transmit a file at any given time.
The camera can download photos or video via an RS-485 port using the
PakBus protocol. An MD485 is required to interface the camera to a
datalogger. The following items are required for RS-485 PakBus
communications and can be confirmed by either the web interface of the
Device Configuration Utility
:
x
Confirm that the PakBus port parameter of the Communications
Setting is reading RS-485.
x
Set the RS-485 BAUD rate to match the BAUD rate of the device
being connected to the camera.
x
Set the parameter PakBus Address of Communication Settings to a
unique value in the PakBus network.
x
Set the parameter PakBus Destination Address of the device that the
camera needs to send photos to.
x
Include PakBus Security Code, as required.
15. Send Via PakBus: PakBus Communications
The CCFC camera uses the PakBus protocol to send photo or video files from
the camera to a Campbell Scientific datalogger or other PakBus compatible
devices. The Loggernet Tool PakBus Graph can be used to change the
configuration of a camera. The use of the PakBus Graph is discussed in Section
15.2
Send Via PakBus: PakBus Graph Operations.
Refer to the Loggernet
literature or software for more details.
PakBus can also be used to control specific operational parameters and to
transfer variables or text between the datalogger and camera. When a photo or
video file is ready to be transmitted, the camera will initiate communications
and send the photo or video via the selected serial interface.
The CCFC is capable of producing video files that exceed 30MB. Trying to
send such a large file to a datalogger using PakBus can be problematic. For this
reason, the CCFC is setup to not send any files using PakBus that are larger
than 2MB.
