Dedicated Rig

Applies to DroneTracker 0.2.552 and later · Audience: rig owners and operators · Last updated October 5, 2026

About the Dedicated Rig

The DroneTracker Dedicated Rig is a pan/tilt sensor head that finds aerial objects, turns to keep them in view, and identifies them. It carries three cameras:

• a day spotter with a wide view for finding targets in daylight,
• a night spotter (thermal) for finding targets in the dark, and
• a telephoto camera that looks closely at whatever the spotter is following, so DroneTracker can tell what it is.

The spotter in use decides where the head points; DroneTracker switches between day and night automatically. The telephoto only identifies — it never steers the head. Everything is run from the DroneTracker console on the rig’s computer, or from a handheld connected to it.

Specifications

Before you start: safety

• The head can move suddenly and with force. Each servo produces up to 40 kg·cm of torque. Keep hands, cables and faces clear whenever the servos have power.
• Servos snap to position when power is applied. Hobby-style servos cannot report where they are, so on first power-up they move to their commanded position at full speed. Before powering up, place the head close to its home position, and stand clear.
• Use travel limits (below) so the head can never drive the cameras or cables into the mount.
• Disengage in the console before adjusting the head by hand.

First-time setup

1. Mount the head on a stable, level base with a clear view of the sky. Route camera and servo cables with enough slack for full pan and tilt travel.
2. Power on in this order: servo power supply, then the rig computer. Keep clear of the head as the servos receive power.
3. Open the console and go to Admin → Hardware → Devices → Dedicated Rig.
4. If the page says Servos are simulated, the servo controller isn’t detected — check its USB cable and servo power, then reload the page. When it’s working, the session panel reports the real servo controller.
5. Under Servo preset, choose AGFRC A80BHMW (180°, IP67). This sets the correct servo travel for these servos.
6. Set Home pan and Home tilt to where the head should rest when idle (for example, facing your main area of interest, tilted slightly up).
7. Set travel limits — see the next section.
8. Choose the cameras — see Cameras.
9. Calibrate — see Calibration.

Cameras

The rig uses three USB cameras. You choose each one in Admin → Hardware → Devices → Dedicated Rig:

Plug all three cameras in before you start. Each one should be chosen for one job only.

Tell cameras apart by USB port

Cameras of the same model have the same name. The camera lists add the USB port each one is plugged into, for example · USB port 2.1. Note which port each camera uses, then pick by port.

Once you choose a camera, DroneTracker remembers its USB port. After a restart or a re-plug, the computer may give the camera a different number. If that happens, DroneTracker finds the camera on its port and keeps the binding on the right camera. If you choose a different camera, the new port is remembered. To keep this working, leave each camera in the same USB port.

Day spotter: the Optical Sensor panel

1. Under Camera, choose the day camera.
2. Optional: change the Display label.
3. Set Zoom (mm) to the lens’s current focal length. The panel shows the Computed FOV (field of view) as you type.
4. Under Capture format (preset), choose a format. The list shows only the formats this camera says it supports, such as 1920×1080 @ 30fps (MJPEG). When you pick the camera, DroneTracker starts from 1920×1080 if the camera offers it.
5. Check Sensor width (mm) and Sensor height (mm). Together with the zoom, these set the field of view.
6. Click Bind, or Update binding if a camera is already bound.

The bound day camera no longer appears under Local Cameras, so you can’t use it twice by mistake. To release it, click Unbind.

Tip: Choose a format from the list rather than Custom…. If you type in a format the camera doesn’t support, the preview may still work, but capture can fail. When the camera doesn’t report its formats, the list shows a standard set instead. Pick one you know your camera supports.

Night spotter and telephoto: the Spotters & telephoto panel

1. Under Night spotter (thermal), choose the thermal camera.
2. Under Telephoto, choose the telephoto camera.

Each choice saves right away. The panel reads “Saved — takes effect when the capture session next starts.” Choose — none — to leave a role empty. A one-camera rig needs only the day spotter.

There’s no format list for these two cameras. DroneTracker opens each one in a format it supports.

If a bound camera is unplugged, it stays selected and shows (not detected).

Thermal camera: keep the top half

The TOPDON TS001 thermal camera sends its picture in the top half of each frame. The bottom half is a raw data band that looks like a green block. DroneTracker cuts it off, in both the video you see and the video it analyzes.

This is controlled by Thermal frame crop — top_half keeps only the image when the camera stacks raw data below it (TS001 / P2 Pro UVC), under Day/night switching & telephoto:

• top_half (the default): keep only the top half. Use this for the TS001.
• none: keep the whole frame. Use this for a thermal camera that sends a normal picture.

Video format

USB cameras are opened in compressed MJPEG format automatically, at the closest size the camera supports. This keeps the frame rate up and the computer’s workload down. Thermal cameras that don’t offer MJPEG are opened in their own format.

Apply your changes

Camera changes take effect when the capture session next starts. Under Capture Session, click Stop session, then Start session.

When video is blank

Travel limits

Travel limits keep the head inside a safe range of motion. Set them under Pan limit min / max and Tilt limit min / max (degrees).

• Find each limit by moving the head slowly with the slew console until it is just short of touching the mount, a cable, or an obstruction — then enter that angle.
• Leave the servo’s own range at 0–180° (set by the preset). Narrow the motion with the limit fields, not by changing the servo range: the servo range also defines how commands map onto the servo’s movement.

Calibration (setting zero)

Calibration tells DroneTracker which way is “zero”. After calibration, the console works in your frame: azimuth 0° is your reference direction and elevation 0° is level.

1. Use the slew console to point the telephoto camera level at the horizon, facing north — or a landmark whose bearing you know.
2. Under calibration, press Capture Both (or Capture Pan / Capture Tilt to set one axis).
3. Check it: slew to a modest angle (for example azimuth 30°, elevation 20°) and confirm the head turns right and tilts up.

To start over, press Clear Both (or one axis), then capture again.

Capture with the head level and away from its end stops. If you capture with the head tilted all the way up or down, the allowed range shifts and normal angles are refused (see Troubleshooting).

Pointing the head: the slew console

Under Slew console, enter an Azimuth and Elevation in degrees and press Slew. The first slew engages the rig; Disengage releases it.

• Angles outside your travel limits are refused with a message showing the allowed range. Tick Clamp out-of-range to axis limits to have the head go as far as allowed instead.
• You can also point the head at a flight: on a handheld, tap an aircraft in the RF · 1090 MHz list; with a game controller, step through the list with L1/R1 and press A.

The rig view: all three cameras at once

Choose the Dedicated Rig as the source (⟲ Source) and the video shows its cameras together:

• Spotter, large on the left: the camera the rig detects with, with the detection boxes, a crosshair, and where the head points (Pan and Tilt). At night, when the rig has switched to the thermal camera, this pane shows the thermal picture.
• IR, top right, when a thermal camera is connected, in the palette shown on its label. Press X on the label (or on a controller) for the next palette: white-hot, black-hot, ironbow or rainbow. The palette changes only what you see; detection uses the camera’s own picture.
• Tele, bottom right, when a telephoto is connected, with its zoom on the label. LB − and RB + zoom the picture out and in, up to 8×. While the telephoto is identifying targets, its pane updates at the identification rate.

With a game controller:

The head moves only while you push a stick and stays where you leave it. It never goes past its travel limits: pushing against a limit holds it there. If the head moves the wrong way, use Invert pan or Invert tilt below. See also Game controllers.

Tracking settings

These settings control how the head follows a target.

Track — what the head follows:

• Multi-track (any object) — the default. The head follows whichever object the detector is most confident about, of any kind it can detect (for example drones, helicopters, airplanes and UAP). It still points at one target at a time and moves to another when that one is lost or another becomes more certain.
• A single class — the list shows each kind of object your current detection model can detect; choose one to follow only that (for example, only drones).

The choices follow the detection model selected under Admin → Models, so a different model shows its own classes. (From DroneTracker 0.2.548.)

Then start with a Tuning preset:

• Long range — gentle, smooth corrections for distant targets (most aircraft and drones).
• Short range — faster corrections for nearby, fast-moving targets.

Fine-tune if needed:

Day/night switching and telephoto

Under Day/night switching & telephoto:

• The rig switches to the night spotter when the scene gets dark and back to the day spotter when it’s bright again, using the brightness thresholds you set. The gap between the two thresholds stops it flicking back and forth at dusk.
• Each spotter has its own detection confidence — lower values catch fainter targets but may add false detections. The thermal camera usually needs its own aim offset because it sits apart from the other cameras.
• The telephoto identifies what the spotter is tracking; its confidence setting controls how sure it must be before reporting.

Changes take effect when the capture session next starts.

Troubleshooting

Still stuck? Open Admin → Support Access, choose a support type, describe what you see, and request support (Support and ideas).

Care

• The servos are sealed (IP67); the cameras and controller are not — protect them from rain and direct sun.
• Check mounting screws and cable slack periodically; servo torque can loosen fittings over time.
• After moving or re-mounting the head, recalibrate.