AngusMcDoon
Well-known member
Not Yet another Pointless Project, but Yet Another Pointless Procedure - how to connect a generic security camera to a Raymarine Axiom display
Raymarine Axiom MFD's have a camera app installed which is designed to connect to a Raymarine camera like this...
The problem is that it costs over £500, so with a bit of help from Google I found this article and thread...
Broad IP camera support, a Raymarine advantage
Raymarine uses the ONVIF camera protocol but the problem is that they use no authentication, and most cameras need that. To find a camera that uses ONVIF without authentication and is suitable for external use has been difficult (for the people on the thread, not me), but someone found one, and I got one. It costs only about £25 and is this one...
External security camera
This comes with ONVIF authentication on by default, but in the settings you can switch it off. To get to the settings you connect it to your router at home with an ethernet patch cable, then log in to the router from a computer on your home network to find the camera's IP address that has been assigned to the camera. Then on your computer type that IP address in a web browser. This opens a webpage with a settings tab. The settings are all in Chinese, but in Chrome you can right click and translate them to English. Find the ONVIF page, and untick authentication, then 'Keep'.
The Axioms only have a Raynet connection but this is ethernet in disguise with a different plug. You can buy or make a Raynet to standard ethernet plug cable. If you have more than 1 ethernet device to connect to your Axiom you need a switch. Raymarine does one like this...
but it's over £300. Any cheaper switch will do. You can buy them for about a tenner but at that price they're more suitable for your living room rather than a boat. I've got this industrial one because it's got a proper power connector rather than a push in plug, runs on 12V and can be mounted to a DIN rail or a bulkhead...
SW-005 | Brainboxes Wall Mount Ethernet Switch, 5 RJ45 port | RS
This switch has standard ethernet sockets but you can cut a Raynet cable in half and crimp on your own plugs to make 2 cables. The crimper only costs £15 and the plugs a pound with a boot. They won't be as waterproof as Raynet connectors but should be OK in a protected area of a boat. If the plug fails it costs buttons and takes moments to attach a new one. I can make another YAPP (procedure, not project) on how to make the cables if anyone is interested.
Anyway, connect all that lot together, start the video app on the Axiom+, and the camera view comes up straight away. Here it is tested on my living room floor...
I don't know if more than one camera connected simultaneously would work, but they're so cheap I might get one to try. It looks like on the panbo thread that the finish on the camera isn't great, so I'll have a spare.
Additional note 1: the camera needs 12V and there is a socket for a standard barrel plug. There's no hint in the instructions about polarity of this socket so I investigated inside, and it's the normal way round - centre pin positive. When (or if) I install this on my boat I'll snip off that connector and make a waterproof one. There's a separate connector for the ethernet cable which is waterproof.
Additional note 2: for the same price I can get a Power Over Ethernet camera where the camera's power goes down spare lines on the ethernet cable. I'll need a POE 12V injector to get power into the ethernet cable for about £5 but it will save running a power cable to the camera and overcome the problem of that non-waterproof power connector on my current camera.
Raymarine Axiom MFD's have a camera app installed which is designed to connect to a Raymarine camera like this...
The problem is that it costs over £500, so with a bit of help from Google I found this article and thread...
Broad IP camera support, a Raymarine advantage
Raymarine uses the ONVIF camera protocol but the problem is that they use no authentication, and most cameras need that. To find a camera that uses ONVIF without authentication and is suitable for external use has been difficult (for the people on the thread, not me), but someone found one, and I got one. It costs only about £25 and is this one...
External security camera
This comes with ONVIF authentication on by default, but in the settings you can switch it off. To get to the settings you connect it to your router at home with an ethernet patch cable, then log in to the router from a computer on your home network to find the camera's IP address that has been assigned to the camera. Then on your computer type that IP address in a web browser. This opens a webpage with a settings tab. The settings are all in Chinese, but in Chrome you can right click and translate them to English. Find the ONVIF page, and untick authentication, then 'Keep'.
The Axioms only have a Raynet connection but this is ethernet in disguise with a different plug. You can buy or make a Raynet to standard ethernet plug cable. If you have more than 1 ethernet device to connect to your Axiom you need a switch. Raymarine does one like this...
but it's over £300. Any cheaper switch will do. You can buy them for about a tenner but at that price they're more suitable for your living room rather than a boat. I've got this industrial one because it's got a proper power connector rather than a push in plug, runs on 12V and can be mounted to a DIN rail or a bulkhead...
SW-005 | Brainboxes Wall Mount Ethernet Switch, 5 RJ45 port | RS
This switch has standard ethernet sockets but you can cut a Raynet cable in half and crimp on your own plugs to make 2 cables. The crimper only costs £15 and the plugs a pound with a boot. They won't be as waterproof as Raynet connectors but should be OK in a protected area of a boat. If the plug fails it costs buttons and takes moments to attach a new one. I can make another YAPP (procedure, not project) on how to make the cables if anyone is interested.
Anyway, connect all that lot together, start the video app on the Axiom+, and the camera view comes up straight away. Here it is tested on my living room floor...
I don't know if more than one camera connected simultaneously would work, but they're so cheap I might get one to try. It looks like on the panbo thread that the finish on the camera isn't great, so I'll have a spare.
Additional note 1: the camera needs 12V and there is a socket for a standard barrel plug. There's no hint in the instructions about polarity of this socket so I investigated inside, and it's the normal way round - centre pin positive. When (or if) I install this on my boat I'll snip off that connector and make a waterproof one. There's a separate connector for the ethernet cable which is waterproof.
Additional note 2: for the same price I can get a Power Over Ethernet camera where the camera's power goes down spare lines on the ethernet cable. I'll need a POE 12V injector to get power into the ethernet cable for about £5 but it will save running a power cable to the camera and overcome the problem of that non-waterproof power connector on my current camera.
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