Protechy Bescor MP-101 Remote Hack The personal website of Matt Alford, Protechy elaborates on external control of a Bescor MP-101 PT head using an Arduino compatible platform, and nicely explained code. There are a few iterations of the hack, with the latest summarizing the approaches that worked best to date. We will want the fiber glass to adhere to these sides. Do the same to the back of the Bescor Mp-101, from the tilt arms back. (Picture 1) Second: With the metal side up, line up the controller box with the bottom of the box sitting flush to the base of Bescor Mp - 101. Using masking tape, tape the box in place only on the top and bottom sides. Overview The Bescor MP-101 Motorized Pan & Tilt Head attaches between a tripod and camera and enables panning and tilting the camera remotely. Two independent motors smoothly operate horizontal and vertical motion at adjustable speeds. The head supports payloads up to 6 lb.
Introduction
The Bescor MP-101 is a motorized tripod head that in its original form is controlled by a four-button switch connected by cable.It's a popular and well-built device that is crying out for wireless control.
If you buy the very expensive CamRanger (~350 USD) for wireless control of your camera, there is an (expensive) accessory available that allows you to also control the Bescor MP-101. Many people love the CamRanger, but I find the system unstable, and when it hangs the server needs to be restarted, which is pretty annoying when it's on a mast 12m up in the air.
An alternative (and better) solution for wirelessly controlling a camera is DDServer which is donationware and runs on the same hardware as the CamRanger (the TP-Link MR3040, which costs around 40 USD when bought without the CamRanger firmware installed). I also find the interface of DSLRDashboard much better than that on the CamRanger.
You need to be (or know) a little bit of a nerd to install the DDServer firmware on the TPlink MR3040, but you're getting a better product and saving 300 USD.
However, DSLRDashboard can't control the Bescor MP-101 head, which is crucial for the mast jobs that I do, which is why I was really happy when I found this simple solution to wirelessly controlling it.
Parts
IC 2262 / 2272 4-channel remote-control kit (~ 4 USD on ebay)7-pin DIN plug and wire (Or you can cut the plug off the wired remote)
The IC2262/2272 is a wonderful system comprising a key fob with 4 buttons, and a tiny circuit board with 7 pins - power and ground plus a pin for each of the buttons (plus a pin that goes high when any of the buttons is pressed). And it needs the same 5v supply that the Bescor head uses, so you don't need an extra battery.
Construction
Decide which buttons you want to control which movements (I chose A=Left, B=Right, C=Up, D=Down))Connect the corresponding pins to the 7-pin DIN plug.(Leave the VT pin on the board, and the speed pin on the DIN plug unconnected)
And that's it ! Couldn't be simpler.
But it can be more complicated, if you want, so I have actually put an arduino microprocessor between the 2272 and the head so that I can do more complicated things in the future (eg programmed panorama stitching).
But that's a story for another day (see below).
Another day :The range of these remote controls is normally around 100m, but I found that was reduced significantly when I had the Bescor motor switched on, presumably due to electromagnetic noise interfering with the radio signals. The device still worked, but at longer distances the motor ran intermittently when a button was held constantly.
For this reason, plus future features, I added an arduino microcontroller between the receiver and the Bescor head, whose job was to create a one second pulseeach time a short signal was detected, thus smoothing out the noise (at the expense of the loss of a few degrees of positioning precision).
Memorex expressit cd label template download. The wiring is pretty simple : Pins A,B,C, and D on the receiver are connected to Arduino input pins 8,9,10, and 11. VT is connected to pin 12, while ground and 5v are common to the Bescor, the receiver and the Arduino. Output pins 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4 on the Arduino are connected to the 7-pin DIN going to the Bescor.I also added an LED to pin 5, as a confirmation lamp.
Here you can pick up the Arduino code
© Mark Harris 2016, but feel free to distribute without changes.
(More DIY projects)MP-101 Pan/Tilt Head patent makes for an interesting read. Schematics in the patent depicts two H-bridges built from bipolar transistors. And RF500T motors! Are these Mabuchi RF-500TB? Looks about right. I now seriously think about opening the head and see whether I can discard all the electronics except the motors and have them wired to an existing DIN7 connector. So that I could drive them both using a single TB6612FNG driver controlled by Arduino. Hope to get more predictable results - love simplicity.
After removing 6 screws you gain access to the electronics compartment.
The very first thing I noticed are those two ICs which look like LB1930 motor drivers. This is fantastic because I now know which wires lead to the motors. It appears that yellow/orange wires lead to tilt motor and green/blue to pan motor. Should I power the head up and see what voltage is used? Never bothered to do that!
Here is a closer view with motor wires already unsoldered.
Few more screws and the PCB is released. I can see ST LM317T voltage regulator.
And the rest is just discreet elements. Now, should I do something about those 45°, 90° and 340° end-switches? Well, I tried. But failed.
First note that there are no wires leading to +60 and +30 contacts. Here are my notes on endswitch wire colors (note that in the photo colors are shifted because of the blue microscope light):
+60 - n/a
+90 - bluish-white
Bescor Mp-101 Hackensack
+30 - n/a
+0 - yellow
-0 - orange
-30 - green
Bescor Mp-101 Hack Free
-60 - brown ?
-90 - red
All these are neatly routed through a white tube:
Not only the +60 and +30 wires are missing, but I failed to discover how endswitches work. It does look like my Bescor head was tampered - note other contacts missing - there are soldered points with no wires coming. Despite being frustrated with time lost I do not mind it too much - I have now dirrect access to pan/tilt motors. And after selling the remote with cable for $20 my cost is just $50 - I do not think I could remotely approach it with a DIY solution.
So my plan of action is to expose motors contacts via an RJ45 jack and to use regular CAT3 cable to connect the head to the controller! Piece of cake!
