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Guide to Closed Circuit TV (CCTV)

CCTV cameras on the move

In the good old days, long before the invasion of the Domes, the only way you could move a camera around was by using a motorised platform called a Pan and Tilt head.
Doktor Jon has always wondered who it was who first came up with the name Pan and Tilt or P/T head .... if you consider that the much snappier “remotely controlled motorised camera realignment platform” could easily have caught on, if it had been thought of first .... or perhaps not!!

You’ve probably gathered by now, a P/T does exactly what the name says; it allows an operator to remotely command the camera to move up and down (Tilt), and left to right (Pan). As with camera housings, the P/T heads come in different sizes, and with various degrees of environmental protection, depending on where it’s intended to be used. So if you need to get a camera moving, here are the options:-

Pan only heads - If you simply need to make a camera turn from side to side, a basic ‘minipan’ unit may be all that’s required.
Side Mount (SM) Pan and Tilt heads - The original design of a P/T head, has the camera supported on a side mounted platform.

Over the Top (OTT) Pan and Tilt heads - A more recent innovation (only just!) is the P/T head that supports the camera from below.
Variable speed Pan and Tilt heads - If you need to use a powerful zoom lens to track targets, then variable speed is simply a must.

Specialist Pan and Tilt heads - The range is almost endless; medical, low noise, nuclear, high temperature, deep water, arctic ....
Preset positioning option - Ask the system nicely and it will look at exactly what you want.

Control systems for Pan and Tilt heads - What are the options for controlling a remote control platform?

10 ‘must know’ things about PT heads - What only ten I hear you ask! Well the other 158 are just soooo boring, you really don't want to know.
How to select a Pan / Tilt head - Does the specification sheet tell the whole story, or are there significant chapters missing.

Track mounted CCTV cameras - Page under construction.

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