What our experts say...
Quality is something that’s hard to define, though we usually recognise it when we see it, and hear it, in the case of the Eneo Fastrax EDCH-144 day/night dome camera. This has a remarkably smooth pan/tilt mechanism that makes a particularly satisfying, almost musical, whirring sound as the camera goes through the motions; it just oozes precision, but that’s just the beginning.
Long before we get to the mechanics there’s an impressive list of features to get through, starting with the camera module, which uses a 1/4-inch ExView CCD (752 x 582 pixels) giving a claimed 480 lines resolution and low light sensitivities of 0.3 lux in colour/day mode and 0.16 lux in mono/night mode (a switchable IR cut filter flips out from in front of the lens in night mode).
The lens features a 24x optical zoom and this can be extended to 264x with a 12x digital zoom. It has a good assortment of exposure controls, and these include switchable backlight, variable and preset shutter speeds, manual and auto iris, switchable AGC plus a full set of manual white balance options.
Pan and tilt speeds range from 0.1 to 90 degrees per second under manual control and up to 360 deg/sec in ‘Turbo’ mode and when moving between preset positions. The dome stores up to 128 preset positions and these can be assigned eight character IDs. Presets can be sequenced into four tours and four autoscans and there’s an autoflip function, for following a moving subject as it passes beneath the dome.
Up to eight ‘zones’ and dynamic privacy masks can be defined, it has four alarm inputs and one output, and for good measure it is compatible with the most widely used comms systems, control protocols and matrix switchers (RS232/485, Ernitec, Pelco, Philips, Sensormatic and Vicon).
The designers have gone to considerable lengths to protect the camera, both from the elements and any passing vandals, starting with a lightweight but tough outer shell and cover. The two-part dome housing sits inside the shell: the upper part is a heavy-duty alloy casting; the lower section comprises the transparent acrylic dome and its mounting ring, held in place by five tamper-proof bolts. A rubber seal between the two case parts provides an IP 65 rated seal.
The PTZ mechanism is mounted on a simple plastic chassis that bolts to the inside of the upper housing. Two circular PCBs, supported on metal pillars, attach to the upper chassis pan, which is fitted with a small cooling fan. Between them the two circuit boards handle power regulation (it requires an 18-30vAC supply), PTZ and camera control and communications.
The pan motor is fitted to the lower chassis plate, and this drives the rotating camera platform through a simple toothed belt and gear mechanism. A similar arrangement is used to tilt the camera, which has an unusually wide vertical range of -10 to +190 degrees. A small thermostatically controlled heater unit is fixed to the side of the case.
All of the camera components and lens are housed inside a curved cylindrical housing. The cables carrying power, video and control signals to the camera modules in domes spend their time flexing and on some models this can be a weak point. However, that’s unlikely to be a problem on this one. It uses an ingenious curly ribbon cable, spooled around a pillar on the side of the camera housing, and by the looks of it, it should avoid any long term problems associated with fatigue failure.
A single cable carrying all of the power, comms and signal connections emerges through a sealed gland on the top of the unit. There’s a quick release safety suspension wire attached to the top of the case, and for good measure, to the PTZ module and dome cover, as well affording good protection against the ravages of gravity and butter-fingered installers. The high quality of construction and materials is apparent throughout; otherwise there is not a great deal to see. It’s a plain and functional design with no unnecessary embellishments.
Setup and operation
Our test dome was hooked up to an Eneo EDC KBDM-3 dome controller keyboard (a remarkable piece of kit in its own right) and this proved to be an unusually painless partnership, with the controller quickly establishing a connection to the dome, and after running through a brief self-test routine it was ready to use.
After logging on to the controller, using a four-digit PIN, the dome’s menu display can be accessed. This opens with eight options, which from top to bottom are Auto Scan, Preset, Tour, Pattern, Alarm, Area Title, Privacy Zone, camera and Setup.
Most of them are self-explanatory but it’s worthwhile looking at a couple of them briefly to illustrate the extensive range of options, particularly when it comes to camera control.
This menu has no less than eight sub menus and these deal with Focus Control (auto/manual and AF sensitivity), White Balance Control (auto, indoor, outdoor, one-push, ATW, Manual and Red/Blue gain), AE Control (auto, manual, iris/shutter priority, bright, full auto Manual, slow shutter, manual iris: F1.6 – F28, Gain: -3dB – 28dB & Shutter: 1 sec to 1/10,000th sec in 22 steps), Line Lock (internal/external, phase adjustment), Sharpness (0 – 15), Backlight Control, Digital Zoom, and Night Shot Control (Auto, Manual, Global and Local Control).
The Dome Setup menu also covers a lot of ground and includes OSD Language, Home Function (Auto, Preset, Pattern, Tour, wait time), OSD display (camera title, view direction, dome display, areas display), View Angle Setup (Pan range, flip, tilt over angle), Initialise (factory default, erase data), Origin Offset (Pan/Tilt offset), Dome Reset and System Information (type, hardware and ROM versions, Protocol, Baud Rate).
That’s just a small sample of what’s on offer. Suffice it to say, should the need arise it is possible to take control or adjust almost any aspect of this camera’s operation. In most cases, however, apart from the usual preliminaries, such as setting preset positions and programming tours etc, manual intervention should be largely unnecessary, because as we will see in just a moment the camera’s automatic exposure functions are very efficient.
If the need arises to delve into the menus then it is all very civilised with plenty of on-screen prompts for some of the less obvious functions. Menu navigation is reasonably intuitive, with most operations controlled from the joystick and rotary zoom control.
The only minor exception is setting up Privacy masks, which is a bit of a hit and miss affair. It involves centring the camera view on the area to be masked, and pressing a button on the keyboard. It’s a bit of a sledgehammer approach with no opportunity to modify the shape of the mask.
Performance
We could pick a few nits and grumble about the autofocus system, which has a slight tendency to be hesitant and ‘hunt’ especially at higher zoom settings and in poor light, but a quick dab of the manual focus buttons usually settles it down.
The manual is a bit heavy going and it could do with a bit more detail on connecting the unit to the outside world but that’s about it. Picture quality is excellent, in good natural light images are crisp and detailed, colour accuracy is good, and noise levels are well below average for a camera of this type.
The auto exposure systems deal effectively with all but the most difficult lighting situations and respond quickly to changes in level. Low light performance is particularly impressive and it manages to produce a useable image beyond the point when some rival day/night domes would have descended into a noisy mush.
Mixed lighting results in some subtle changes to the colour balance and tube lighting produces a slight greenish-yellow caste but this is easily compensated for with the manual white balance controls. The plastic dome creates a few internal reflections, though these are no worse than normal and only becomes a nuisance when a bright light source strikes the dome at shallow angle.
As expected the pan tilt mechanism proved to be fast, accurate and silky smooth with near zero overshoot on fast pans. The progressive speed control has been very well thought out, enabling really fine positional adjustment even at extreme zoom settings.
What the manufacturer says …
The vandalism resistant plug and play versions of the successful Fastrax series deliver an external dome housing with a clear bubble, integral heater, fan and sunshield for outside usage. And naturally the day/night high speed dome itself: choose between the two models with a 26x or 22x zoom lens. Both systems come with a removable infrared cut filter, and up to 80 presets and four tours can be saved, so that sensitive areas are regularly viewed.
The high-resolution Fastrax EDCH-144 Dome has a focal range of 3.5 – 91 mm (F1.6) at a light sensitivity of 0.3 Lux (0.16 Lux B/W) and move to the individual positions at speeds up to 360deg/sec. The Fastrax PP systems have IP65 protection rating.
Configuration on-site (or from a central control centre) is easily carried out with the Fastrax_Config software: all settings are user-friendly and made over the three function groups of menu control functions, serial interface properties and PTZ control.
Features of the EDC-KBDM-3 controller include system keyboard with joystick, 5-inch monitor; 12vDC/230vAC, Fastrax Protocol; programming and control of camera series: Fastrax, Minitrax and Almira; control of recorder series DLR3, DTR and DPR;
It supports up to 64 cameras, programmable sequences/patterns, preset position and pattern control, auto and random scanning, auxiliary operations, alarm handling and alarm log, and PTZ control with eneo Fastrax Protocol.