fishcam10

Are there any downsides to running Cat5 and baluns as oposed to using coax in this application? I know Cat5 would be much cheaper, but are there benefits to using coax in this situation where there is a chance that these cables will be underwater at some point?

Thanks for the input. The cable run is going to be approximately 550' after a change in plans. Should I use active baluns for this run? This cable is going to be installed in a floodplain with the potential of being flooded at some point. Would a gel filled cable be the best choice?

I am interested in finding out what brands of Cat5e have the best quality ratings. I am using Cat5e to install 12 cameras with a run of approx 1500' inside buried pvc coated rigid steel conduit.

We are looking for something in the $700-1500 range. We need at least 30fps to get a really good image of the fish passing through our chute. We will also be connecting 4 security cams to this unit and would like to be able to view those over the internet. The fish cam video will be taken back to the office for review.

. Soundy, I think this is the way I am going to go. Thanks for all your help!

Hello all, I am looking for a high quality dvr to record fish passage on 8 cameras in a fish counting weir. I need at least 30fps on each channel and it needs to be easy to use, have 1TB storage and will allow remote access via the internet. I have looked at many different websites and the amount of brands is staggering. Any suggestions?

Soundy, Yes, we decided to have two seperate systems because our main system will have 10 underwater cameras and 30 underwater lights and the draw on a UPS system seemed to be too much and very expensive. Our main system will record to computers in a office about 1000' feet away from the river. I was hoping to design a simple backup system closer to the river.

Soundy,Survtech thanks for the replies. The system would have to run for about 1-2 hours on the battery. The primary system will run on 120V. The relay idea is what I was thinking so that the backup system would switch on when the 120V goes down. A regular UPS won't work because the system would have to have to be powered on all the time and then switch to battery when the main power went down. Any ideas for a relay?

Hello, I am designing a backup underwater camera system using 2 waterproof cameras, a 12 volt DVR, and (2) 20 watt 12V pond lights. I am trying to find a power supply or some type of switch in order to have this system in the "off" mode normally and then switch to battery power when our main 120 volt system power goes down. Any ideas?