FAQs SeeMate™ Underwater Video Cameras

Q. Why do I get large white blotches and streaks in my camera images when I’m trying to look at my fish? A. These white blotches or "flaring" concerns are the result of the camera lense being subject to high levels of light that the camera cannot compensate for. Such light sources as sun or high intensity underwater lights can overpower the CCD on the camera board. Some cameras are better than others in controlling flaring. The type of lense also has a great effect on the potential for flaring. For example, a wide-angle 2.9 lense gathers more light and will flare much more readily than a smaller 4.3 lense. The depth in the water that the camera is positioned, time of day, and water quality are all contributing factors in the degree of flaring. Q. I find continually plugging and unplugging my cameras into your SeeMate™ monitoring carts to be time consuming and inefficient. What can be done? A. To reduce camera-handling issues I.A.S Products Ltd. offers a permanent camera monitoring system using a WireLess W.A.V.E.™ POD. Each POD allows up to four (4) cameras to be permanently connected to each POD with a maximum of sixty (60) PODS available for farm positioning. A RECEIVER ANTENNA is permanently mounted to a SeeMate™ monitoring cart with a handheld controller provided for operator access to any camera on any POD. For easy operator reference the monitor screen shows POD number and camera number in the bottom left hand corner of the screen. Q. I want to use cameras on my circular cages, but I have problems when the wind forces me to feed at the opposite side of the cage to my camera cable plug. What can you do to help me? A. I.A.S. Products Ltd. can provide you a means of looking at video camera images without worrying about physically connecting cameras to your video monitor. A WireLess W.A.V.E.™ transmitter POD allows up to four (4) cameras to be wired into a transmitter box. On your boat a receiver antenna is wired to your monitor and a handheld controller is provided to both turn on/off the transmitter POD and to select the camera you wish to look at. Q. Why does my SeeMate™ camera-monitoring cart suddenly turn off while I’m watching the video picture? A. This automatic shutoff is a low battery fail safe. To be sure that no long term damage can be done to the gel cell battery, a low voltage shut off circuit has been installed that will turn off the power to the monitor and the cameras when the power level in the batteries drops to 11.0-volts. At this voltage 85% of the batteries power has been used. Below this voltage level it becomes very hard to recharge the battery. When the SeeMate™ cart "turns itself off", it is telling you that it is time to recharge. This is confirmed by looking at the three (3) battery power strength LED lights on the front face of the SeeMate™ cart. Q. Will the charger provided in the SeeMate™ monitoring cart do damage to the batteries if I leave the charger permanently plugged into a 120-volt AC power outlet? A. The charger is designed to do no damage to the battery. The 12-volt DC 10-amp charger is fully regulated and is designed to maintain the batteries in top condition while the charger is plugged into a 110-volt AC power outlet. Q. My batteries are less than two (2) years old and I cannot get the charger to recharge them. What is happening? A. A battery charger needs to sense resistance in order to recharge. In the case where the batteries inside the SeeMate™ monitoring cart are dead flat, the charger senses no resistance and as a result will not recharge. A recharging procedure is required to "Fool" the charger into going to work. This procedure requires a charged 12-volt DC battery to be added to the SeeMate™ battery pack in order to provide the resistance necessary for the charger to work. To assist you in this process please refer to the document titled "SeeMate™ C2-12 and C4-12 Monitoring Cart Systems -Battery Power Information" Q. I see extra plugs and terminals inside the SeeMate™ monitoring cart. What are they for? A. These extra plugs and terminals are power and video receptacles provided by I.A.S. Products Ltd. to accept additional video control products such as: a) A 12-volt DC video recorder. b) A video screen splitter that displays four (4) camera images. c) A WireLess W.A.V.E. ™ video receiver. Q. You have two types of video monitors, a nine (9) inch and a twelve (12) inch. Which is better? A. Contrary to belief the larger twelve - (12) inch viewing monitor does not provide a larger field of view. The actual video image seen is identical to the smaller nine - (9) inch. The advantage of the smaller 9-inch monitor is a crisper image whereas the larger twelve - (12) inch monitor gives you the advantage of a larger image that can be viewed further back from the SeeMate™ cart. Q. I notice that when I look at the camera monitor image I have a dark picture no matter what I do with the brightness and contrast control knobs on the front of the monitor. A. A dark image especially around the four edges of the monitor screen is an indication of low 12-volt DC battery power. As line voltage drops, the ability for the monitor to allow for image control adjustments also decreases. When you have a very dark screen image, you will notice that only the red battery strength LED is illuminated. The best solution is to recharge the battery system. Q. Why does I.A.S. Products Ltd. use more expensive gel cell batteries verses batteries I can get at a local automotive outlet like Canadian Tire? A. Not all batteries are the same. While you can certainly order gel cell batteries from any automotive outlet be sure to source a deep cycle battery that permits repeated deep draw battery use and recharging. The batteries used on all I.A.S. Products Ltd. equipment are typically used in golf cart applications where repeated deep draw and recharging is common. Average life is 2.5 to 3 years of use. Q. Why does I.A.S. Products Ltd. use gel cell batteries versus more traditional lead acid batteries? A. For safety and environmental reasons we use gel cell batteries for all aquaculture applications. In most cases gel cell batteries are placed in mobile equipment that can be tipped or moved in such a manner that battery acid would leak from traditional lead acid batteries. Concern about electrical and equipment corrosion along with associated person injury concerns has lead us to conclude that in our application gel cell batteries are a superior product. Q. The size of the image on the monitor doesn’t fit the maximum size of the screen. I see a boarder around the entire image that I cannot adjust using the control knobs at the front or back of the monitor. What is happening? A. The power source used to run the monitor is producing insufficient voltage to generate a full image on the monitor screen. Not only will the image be small, but also the ability to control brightness and contrast of the image will be effected. Recharge the battery, replace or adjust the power source output to insure that the power supply to the monitor is in the 11-14 volt DC range. Q. My SeeMate™ C4 Monitoring Cart monitor has a very dark image that I cannot adjust using the brightness and contrast knobs on the front of the monitor. Why has this happened and what can I do to fix this? A. The darkening of the video image on the monitor can be the result of several factors including the age and, thus, the charged level of the batteries, the age of the camera, as well as the age of the monitor. In general, the video image darkens as battery power draws closer to the 11.0 automatic shutoff voltage for the battery pack. To provide for further adjustments past the regular front panel contrast and brightness control knobs there is a opportunity on some model monitors to make adjustments to the rear sub brightness and contrast settings. Contact I.A.S. Products Ltd. for specific instructions on how to make these adjustments without damaging the monitor. Q. My batteries won’t charge even though I can see the green light flashing really quickly when I look at the 10-amp charger indicator LEDs. A. When this happens it is usually as a result of the batteries being drawn down well below 11.0 volts. At low voltages the charger does not recognise the batteries as being items to recharge and as a result the charger will rapidly flash between yellow and green. To insure the charger can recharge the flat batteries, a separate charged battery will be required to provide sufficient resistance for the charger to start charging. Please refer to the document titled "SeeMate™ C2-12 and C4-12 Monitoring Cart Systems - Battery Power Information".

Support: Technical support on all IAS products is available by telephone between the hours of 08:00 and 17:00 Pacific Standard Time, Monday to Friday by calling
+1 604 924-1844.
Parts and repairs are available from IAS or Authorized Service Providers in your area.

Warranty: IAS Products Ltd. warrants product of its own manufacture against defects in materials and workmanship for a period of twelve (12) months from the date of shipment. This warranty does not apply if the goods have been damaged by accident, abuse, misuse, modification, misapplication, by damage during shipment, or by improper service or storage. Our obligation under this warranty is limited to repairing or replacing, at our option, without charge, F.O.B. our place of business, any part of our own manufacture which is proven to have been defective at the time of shipment provided the Buyer i). provides immediate written notice at the time such defect is discovered. ii). establishes its normal use and service of the product, and iii). returns the defective equipment or product, transportation prepaid, to establish the claim. IAS Products Ltd. shall in no case be responsible for labour charges, lost production, damages or delays as a result of such defects.

Contact: IAS Products Ltd.
1415 Dominion Street
North Vancouver BC
Canada V7J1B3

Telephone: +1 604 924-1844
Facsimile: +1 604 924-1848
Email: info@iasproducts.com
Web Site: www.iasproducts.com

Although IAS Products Ltd. makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of these product specification sheets at the time of publication, specifications for products described in this publication are subject to change without notice. No warrant for customer applications or usage is implied. IAS Products Ltd. makes no representation that the goods comply with any present or future federal, state, provincial, or local ordinance. Compliance is the Buyer’s responsibility.