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Ember SyncBox

Synchronization Box for multi-camera setup

The Ember SyncBox synchronizes multiple Ember cameras over a shared bus, distributes a frame trigger, and bridges each camera's GPIO to the sync network. It also passes power through to the camera.

Overview

Each SyncBox pairs with one Ember camera (via the Ember GPIO port) and joins a shared bus that links boxes together. Across that bus, exactly one box acts as the master and the rest act as slaves:

  • Multi-camera Sync — the master camera configuration is emitted to the slave cameras.

  • Frame Trigger — the master emits the frame trigger; every slave receives it.

The master is chosen with the Bus Authority switch. Only one box on the bus may have Bus Authority enabled at a time.

Connectors

Label
Connector
Description

Ember GPIO

GH-6

Connects to Ember GPIO. See Pinouts / Remote / Sync.

Power Out

XT30

Pass-through power to Ember (12V - 26V).

Power In

XT30

Power input (7.5 V – 26 V).

Configuration Switches

Switch
Function

UART Term

Termination for the UART bus. See Topology.

Bus Authority

ON = master, OFF = slave.

Exactly one box on the bus may have this ON.

Trig Term

Termination for the trigger bus. See Topology.

Bus Jacks (RJ45)

⚠️ Not Ethernet. Despite using RJ45 connectors and cabling, these jacks are not compatible with Ethernet and provide no networking capability. They carry only the Sync Box buses described below. Do not connect them to a computer, switch, router, or any Ethernet device.

The three RJ45 jacks carry the bus between boxes over standard RJ45 cabling. The cabling carries two independent buses:

Bus
Signal

UART bus

UART @ 115200 baud — the synchronization channel.

Trigger bus

Frame trigger — master GPO2 to GPI2 on each slave.

Having three jacks lets a box sit in the middle of a daisy-chain (in one jack, out another) or fan out to multiple boxes in a star/hub layout.

Camera Setup

The cameras should have their GPIO configuration as follows

  • Master — GPO Mode: Sync Out ( Frame Pulse + Configuration Sync )

  • Slaves — GPI Mode: Frame Trigger

⚠️ Configure the cameras before connecting the GPIO cable. Otherwise, the trigger bus may start recordings on a slave camera if GPI Mode is set to RS Edge (default).

⚠️ Without setting GPI Mode: Frame Trigger, slave cameras will not capture new frames at the configured frame rate. Preview on HDMI will be frozen or slow (1Hz).

Topology

Boxes can be wired in different topology using the RJ45 jacks:

  • Daisy-chain (recommended) — box-to-box, in one jack and out the next.

    • Termination is easy: enable first and last box *Term switches.

  • Tree — box-to-box, with some boxes having 3 connection.

    • Termination is harder to determine and depends on the cable length.

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