My Autopano Pro forum

I started to remove the original screw out of the rail, but I broke the little screw at the rear, because it is glued. Klaus, don't know how you removed it without destroying it...

@mediavets: yes you can use that drawing.

I don't remember if the M5 holes are on the good diameter to be used with the Manfrotto rail (I had to make new ones, but I don't know if the drawing is up-to-date). But if you use another rail, you better drill holes for it. But the other dimensions are fine. You will have to remove the original red thin disk (with a cutter blade), and put it on that new crown (no need to put some glue; the old one is enough).

I'll check for the M5 holes, and put that drawing on the APP wiki.

@klausesser: do you plan to make a pano inside the Altec?

fma38 wrote:

@klausesser: do you plan to make a pano inside the Altec?

No problem - big enough they are . .

Does anyone know what spec is for mains adapter for the Merlin head?

The company I bought mine from does not know and does not have mains adapter to test it!

I tried 12V 500ma and that didn't seem to work.

My Merlin was supplied with the battery holders missing - quality control does not seem to be a strong point with the manfacturer, when I ordered my supplier asked me to check whether the bubble level was present on delivery because some had shipped without one - so I want to start doing some testing using a mains adapter until I get the battery holders, I th8ink it may be a while before I get them.

Do you know whether the Merlin can be powered using a mains adapter without the batteries in place?

And finally.....on my head the DC input socket is the middle of the three according to markings on the plastics but the 'manual' supplied with it labels the bottom socket as DC input - anyone know which is correct, or what the outcome would be if one used the wrong socket?

Last edited by mediavets (2008-10-16 17:48:07)

Yes, you can plug the power supply without the batteries. In fact, I always remove the batteries when I plug it, because I don't know what happens if they stay in the Merlin...

The 2 power connectors are wired together, so no matter which one your are using.

I checked with a 12V/250mA power supply: it works fine. Even with a 9V/200mA.

Are you sure the + is in the center of your connector? Don't worry, you can't burn anything, there is a internal diode to protect inverted supply.

mediavets wrote:

You must have telekinetic powers - after trying two different 500ma adapters I tried again after your post and now it is working - a mystery.

It could be a bad contact in the circular connector. There are different diameters with small differences...

What an irritating sound that Merlin head makes. I have several PTZ video cameras - Sony EVI-D31, Canon VC-C4 and Picturetel PTZ2 - and use them with Internet video servers and they are all much quieter but then they are moving much less mass.

Yes, it makes a strange noise. I think this is due to the fact that there are a lot of gears, turning very fast at the motor side, to have a good tork at the output (motors are very small).

Initial test of gentLED_JUMP IR shutter release using the handcontroller to drive the head in Cruise and Shot mode shows that it works with the standard shutter release cable supplied with the head... and, yes. it fires the camera (Nikon D40 in this case but is available for other brands/models).

In Cruise and Shot mode it appears to trigger the IR device twice (based on the red power-on LED lighting on the device) about 1 sec apart for each location. Not sure why, but then I don't know what it does/would do from an electrical point of view with a Canon camera on the end of the wire either. This is not the automatic repeat function of the IR device which is set to a 2.5 sec repeat delay.

Cannot test under Papywizard control yet as I have not put the serial_TTL gadget together yet. I have to buy or borrow a soldering iron.

With the Troniosoft 4201 does it matter much what sort of wire is used to make the link that creates the power-out on serial connector pin 9? Would be nicer if one could simply make that link with a jumper!

Last edited by mediavets (2008-10-16 20:56:19)

fma38 wrote:

Good to ear it works But I hope you will find the reason of double exposure... Ar you sure 1 s is not the default repeat time of the trigger? I've read that you need to open the device to set the delay to 2.5 s...

He sent it set to 2.5 sec repeat - I checked. You have to remove the cover to insert the battery anyway. The other repeat option is 0.5 sec. It's the gentLED_AUTO that offers a variable repeat delay.

fma38 wrote:

And no, it does not matter what kind of link you use to power the pin 9; a short wire between the 2 pins or a jumper is fine. Just check you get 5V on the pin 9 before connecting anything.

There are no pins open my unit - I wish there were - so I'll have to add a wire. Looks like I'll need to borrow a voltmeter too.

Last edited by mediavets (2008-10-16 22:20:41)

Hi Frédéric,

Hmm. This is an interesting forum for us. It is nice to get feedback good/bad - is all good
as it helps us create better products.

Original idea was that devices that don't expect power on pin 9 do not get affected.
However we can provide newer 4201 modules with the jumper and also two free 220 Ohms
resistors when quoting "Papywizard" with the notes during order or via separate email.
Hope that helps.

We have taken on further staff and are now able to take on smaller designs.
We now have moulding capability so can offer a more finished product depending on interest.
We can offer a cleaner solution for your users.

Email me and I will put you in touch with our engineer again.

Shohid
Tronisoft

Tronisoft wrote:

Original idea was that devices that don't expect power on pin 9 do not get affected.
However we can provide newer 4201 modules with the jumper and also two free 220 Ohms
resistors when quoting "Papywizard" with the notes during order or via separate email.
Hope that helps.

Shohid
Tronisoft

I wish I'd known that when I ordered my 4201 just recently.

Well........to answer my own question...

I finally managed to get it to connect in the USB mode for re-flashing by removing the battery and then replacing the battery (battery cover seems to act as switch) with the Home (house) key pressed while attached to USB cable and PC.

So decided to try to re-flash OS2007HE.

That was successful and now it seems to be working again. A bit of a scare there.

So now 'all' I have to do is reinstall Python, Papywizard, the gpe-filemanager and the Load Applet programs and I'll be back to where I started again.

Last edited by mediavets (2008-10-21 13:00:13)

Can try to follow the wiki documentation, to see if it is correct?