Panther Tower User manual

TOWER
USER MANUAL
www.panther.tv

INTRODUCTION
Congratulations to your decision of purchasing or renting your Panther Tower. We are pleased
that you made your decision in favor of equipment, which combines state-of-the-art technology
and many years of experience in manufacturing camera support equipment.
Selected materials and a great know-how ensures that in practice you have a wide variety of
possibilities, which you will appreciate during shooting. Your new Panther Tower is a high-quality
and modern tool giving the creative cameraman a new easy way to control your movements and
get more flexibility.
The Panther Tower is a very useful equipment, developed by specialists for specialists in order
to meet the expectations of every cameraman or grip.
To ensure that you will love working with your Panther Tower and that all requirements during
shooting can be fulfilled considering utmost safety and reliability, please carefully read this
user manual.
With our best wishes
Andreas Fitz
CEO | Executive President
Panther GmbH

TABLE OF CONTENTS
TOPIC PAGE
Basic Knowledge 5
Preparing 6
Accessories 18
Charging 12
Power Supply for the Tower
Wiring diagram
Positions
9
11
16
Limits
Mount Accessories to the Tower
17
18
Mount the Tower 7
Angle adjustment 8
Power Supply 9
Handset Control 13
Front Screen 14
Programming 16
Mini Shock Absorber with ISO Dampener 18
Maxi Shock Absorber with ISO Dampener 19
Mounting possibilities 20
Wireless Handset 21
22Safety

TABLE OF CONTENTS
TOPIC PAGE
Maintenance 23
27Notes
V-Belt 23
Toothed Belt 26

5
BASIC KNOWLEDGE
LOWER SIDE
UPPER SIDE
Front Panel
Sledge (backside)
toothed belt
cam for endswitch
Top Mounting (rotatable)
Bottom Mounting
(rotatable)
Drive Unit + Gear Box
Slider track
Sledge (frontside)
max. payload: 80 kg / 176 lbs
Safety Blocker

6
PREPARING
!
Please take care of a safe and secure preparation. Tighten all screws and
check every tube connection twice. We can not be held liable for incorrect
attachment of your car rig.
Prepare your car
First you have to prepare the vehicle where you want to mount the Tower.

7
MOUNT THE TOWER
Mount the Tower
After the preparation of your main car rig you
can mount the Panther Tower on both ends with
clamps. The clamps are designed to be mounted on
tubes with diameter of 48mm.
Please make sure, that the lower side of the tower
is at the bottom. Please check if the screws are
tight. After this you can go on with the next step.
tighten the screws

8
ANGLE ADJUSTMENT
Angle Adjustment
The Tower is designed for vertical
rotation. You will need a ladder to do so.
To adjust the angle of the Tower you
have to open 4 screws on the upper side
and 4 screws on the lower side.
After all screws are opened you can rotate the whole tower into the desired direction by simply
rotating with your hands. When it is in the desired direction, tighten the screws to fix the Tower.

9
POWER SUPPLY
Power Supply for the Tower
To supply the Tower with power you need 2x
24V, max. 20 A (galvanically separated).
We recommend to use the power case
(310289). It supplies 24V on each (outlet)
socket.
Take the power case and put it inside of your car (passenger seat for example). After that you
can plug in the power cable and handset cable into the Tower.
Now go on and attach the cables on your car. Please make sure that you fix them to prevent
unintentional flutters of the cables.
power cable
handset
handset
cable
power
case

10
POWER SUPPLY
When you are finished with fixing all cables you
can plug in the power cable into the power case.
You have two plugs at this end of the power cable
- please make sure that you plug in both of it.
The handset cable has to be plugged into the
handset.
After you have done this steps your set up should
look similar to the one in the photo below:
Now you can go on to the next step. To turn
on the Tower you have to press the Power On
button on the right side of the power case.

11
Wiring diagram
Be sure to use 2x 24V (max. 20 A) power, galvanically separated, in case you supply your own
power (battery).
POWER SUPPLY
1
2
3
GND
24 VDC
GND
24 VDC
1
2
GND
24 VDC
1
2
GND
24 VDC
(galvanically separated)
Battery 1
max. 20 A
Battery 2
max. 20 A
!Battery 1 and Battery 2 must be galvanically separated!
We recommend to use the Panther Battery Case (310289)

12
CHARGING
Charging the Power case
The Power case comes with two power
adapter cables. You need them to charge
the case.
Plug both of them in one of the two plug-in
possibilities of the case.
We recommend you to use two Panther 230V Charger (155559) or one Panther Combi Charger
(155729).
To charge you just have to plug the chargers‘ cable in one of the plugged power adapter cables
and a second one to the other side and switch the case to „On“.
230V Charger
(155559)
230V Charger
(155559)

13
Locking plate:
The locking plate attaches the handset control to a 18mm
rod.
On/O switch:
The Tower is switched on and o at the main switch. If the
Tower is switched on, the switch is lit. It is also used as an
„emergency-o-switch“. Depending on model year it can also
be a On/O switch instead of the lit.
Rocker switch:
Move the Towers‘ sledge up or down with the rocker.
Program buttons:
Positions or limits can be stored/recalled with the white and
green buttons.
1
2
3
4
The ergonomically designed front panel displays all information at a glance and enables direct
control of operating parameters such as speed, ramp setting etc.
Main Switch:
Combination of power on/o, safety power o switch on handset and fuse (that will switch
o at a constant current exceeding 10 A).
LCD-Display:
shows the momentary motor voltage
HANDSET CONTROL

14
FRONT SCREEN
Control LEDs:
Red, yellow and green LED will light up for 2 sec. if Tower is
switched on.
Power: yellow LED
Brake open: green LED
Battery
empty/error: red LED
will light up when the
Tower is turned on
is blinking if a
minimum limit is
active. It will light up
when the brake is open.
It is also blinking if a
limit is active and the
brake is open. If the Tower is not in operation for longer
than 4 seconds, the brake will close automatically and the
LED will go out/respectively blinking in another frequency.
is blinking if a maximum limit is active. It will light up
when batteries are empty or in case of an error. The error
can be determined by removing the electronics cover and
looking at the display on the left side of the electronics
housing:
Error determination:
b: (on) battery empty d. (blinking )fault at rotary encoder
E. (blinking )fault at end switch H. (blinking) fault at handset
L. (blinking) current exceeding normal value

15
Not available for the Tower
(only for Panther dolly)
make sure that it is turned to „O“
Position ON:
Position OFF:
Programing keys on handset are activa-
ted. (Note: take care against unintentio-
nal operation, see „Programming“.)
Limit programming possible
Position 1:
Position 2:
Position 3:
Position 4
speed: 0...25%
speed: 0...50%
speed: 0...75%
speed: 0...100% (maximum speed)
soft ramp:
medium ramp:
hard ramp:
acceleration very soft, hardly perceivable
characteristic between soft and hard
strong acceleration to maximum speed,
strong deceleration until stopping
FRONT SCREEN
At all ramp settings (soft, medium and hard), but especially at „soft“, the
Panther Tower will still move somewhat after the handset‘s manual control
switch is released: risk of crushing! Observe safety distances. If there is any
danger of crushing, press the „power o“ safety switch on handset.

16
PROGRAMMING
Positions:
Set „Program“ switch on front panel to „ON“.
a. Use manual control switch to select the sledge height that will serve
as starting point. Press the key marked STF to enter the first point
(starting point) in the program memory. (When STF is pressed, only
the starting point is memorized, and any existing programs are
erased.)
b. Use the manual control switch to bring the sledge to the next desired
point (= first stopping point). The Panther electronics will memorize
only the highest speed used to reach this point manually, and will
repeat the move at this speed throughout. If you wish to program a
slower movement, you must drive slowly to the stopping point.
c. You may drive up or down to any stopping point until it is entered.
Enter the point by pressing STM. Note: Stopping point will only be
recorded when the sledge is completely stationary. To be quite sure
of correct entry of any point, always wait a moment before pressing
STM.
d. Move to the second stopping point and enter it by pressing STM. Any
of up to 255 stopping points are entered by always pressing STM.
e. Before recalling or resetting the program in sequence, move to the starting point by
pressing GRF. The sledge automatically returns to this point at the maximum speed
chosen with the speed selector.
f. To recall the program, press A (Action) for every movement in chronological order.
A
Action
STF
STore First Flag
STM
STore Movement
GRF
Go to Reference Flag

17
Limits
Set „Program“ switch on front panel to „OFF“.
a. maximum limit:
Use manual control switch to select the sledge height that will serve
as limit point. Press the key marked “GRF” and additionally press
2x “STF”. The blinking of red LED confirms the storage. The limit is
active. Press “GRF” and additionally 1x “STF” to switch the limit in to
the passive (o) mode. Press again “GRF” and additionally 1x “STF”
to switch the limit again in to the active (on) mode.
b. minimum limit:
Use “STM” instead of “STF” key and follow instruction as discribed
under a). The green LED is blinking as confirmation for storage.
PROGRAMMING
• a limit can be set active (on) even if the sledge position is outside the
limit area.
• Only a passive (o) setted limit can be overwritten
• Positions/limits will remain in the memory even if the Tower is turned
o.

18
ACCESSORIES
Mount accessories to the Tower
To get the best results we recommend to use the Panther stabilization-rigs:
- 310091 ISO Dampener (for horizontal smoothness)
- 310249 Mini Shock Absorber (for vertical smoothness)
- 310371 Maxi Shock Absorber (for vertical smoothness)
Turn on the Power of the Tower in the front panel and after that on the handset. Use the
handsets‘ rocker to position the Towers‘ sledge to working height.
Mini Shock Absorber with ISO Dampener
For horizontal and vertical stabilization we recommend you to combine Mini Shock Absorber
with ISO Dampener or Maxi Shock Absorber with ISO Dampener.
Take the Mini Shock Absorber and mount it with 4 screws as you see below:
Now you can mount the ISO
Dampener via the Mitchell
connection.
Make sure that you tighten
the all screws for a safe
operation!

19
ACCESSORIES
Mount your Remote Head to the ISO
Dampener (via MItchell). We recommend to
use a stabilized head to get the best results.
Maxi Shock Absorber with ISO Dampener
The Maxi Shock Absorber can be mounted directly to the Tower (without Mitchell plate) as you
see below. It also can be combined with the ISO Dampener.
You can read in separate manuals how to adjust the Mini- / Maxi Shock Absorber and the ISO
Dampener. Please read carefully.

20
ACCESSORIES
Mounting Possibilities
The Tower is designed to work with following mounts.
Mitchell Plate (136909) with
Distance Adapter 64mm (310828)
Mitchell Adapter (310333)
Tube Flange (228122) Tube Flange (228122) with
Double Euroadapter (125137)
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