stevefpi

Hopefully this is an easy question. I've got a DVR setup with 8 cameras that we setup and teardown frequently. I'm about to purchase bulk RG59 siamese cable (video+power) to make our own robust cabling since the white Q-see cables are crap. My questions is, crimp BNC connectors or twist on? Which is more robust in terms of durability? We usually setup and then tear down the setup within 12 hours and we're very careful with the cables but they still need to be able to stand up to the abuse. Thanks!

awesome, thanks for the info. That starter kit does look cool but like you, I'm only using BNC connectors so the rest would be waste. I've never bought the BNC connectors before so what would a good price range be for a bag of ten? I'll take a good look at that site you sent me. The reason I was going with that link I posted earlier is because they have good pricing on the cable spool we need. Honestly, money is a huge issue as we're a non profit. I want to save money but not get shotty hardware that will need replacing in a year. If anyone can suggest a vendor for compression and/or crimp-on BNC RG59 connectors, that would be great. Also a crimping tool as well. I don't need the ones that work with 20 different types of connectors. I only use BNC so I only need one that works for RG59 BNC connectors. I'm really happy to have found this forum. Thanks for all the great info! cheers

I'm currently looking at these as a possibility. http://deepsurplus.com/BNC-RG59-Compression-Connectors-Nickel-Plated-Bag-of-5

Cool, I'll look into those as well! Cheers

Sorry for the stupid newbie question but this one is bugging me and I can't seem to google an answer that makes sense to me. You got two identical cameras on the DVR and you record for the exact same amount of time. Camera 1 is in a location where no one entered the room so nothing moved during the recording. The second camera is in a high traffic area so lots of motion. The filesize for the resulting AVI video from camera 1 is much smaller than that for camera 2. I can except the simple answer that camera 2 recorded more so the resulting filesize is bigger but I guess I want a more detailed explanation on why that is. Does that make sense? I'm sure I'm coming off as a huge idiot for asking this. I do have brain, I just can't seem to find a detailed explanation that my mind can accept. Any help for this mentally challenged individual? cheers

Matt, Thank you. That makes perect sense and is exactly what I needed to know! Cheers Steve

I've got a 8 camera Q-see DVR setup and I want to get more sturdy cabling than what came with the cameras from q-see. I'm looking at coax but I'm confused as to which type is best? It's just a 30fps video feed (no audio) going to each camera and all cable lengths will be 50 or 100 feet. RG-6/U? RG-58/U? RG-59/U? I'm thinking RG-59/U but wanted to get suggestions from people more knowledgable at this than I am currently. Thanks

You mean 59U for the signal and separate cables to power the cams? I have the power cables that came with the cameras from q-see and power-wise, those work fine. It would be nice to just string one cable ofr signal and power but I can handle the coax for signal and the q-see cables for power. Just wanted to make sure I'm reading you correctly. Thanks

We recently had all 8 cameras running for a long period of time and tonight I was able to compare them. Two cameras showed the wobble distortion and the rest were fine. 7 of the 8 cameras were on the same floor as the two showing the distortion and in both cases, the problem cams had a working normally cam running in the same room. I'm now pretty confident that the problem is cable related. If the placement of the DVR (being near a high EM field) was the problem, I'd suspect that all cams would show the same behavior at the same time. If it was cabling being strung near a high EM field, I'd see the same behavior from all cameras in the same room because the cables coming out of the room are strung together. I'll do some testing on all cables and see if I can't find the culprits. We setup and tear down the cabling each time we use the cameras so we might not have been as careful as needed and wore out the cables quickly. Damn Q-see. I've dealt with their support before and it was not fun. I guess I'm in the market now for more robust cabling that can handle the signal and power for all 8 cams. Lovely, more money to spend that I don't have! Thanks to everyone who commented, your ideas were extremely helpful! Cheers

OK, quick rundown on what we have: -Homemade computer running Windows 7 enterprise -Q-see 8 Channel Software H.264 Real Time Recording PC Based Network DVR PCI-E Card. Product Model Number: QSDT8PCRC -8 cameras: 4 x Outdoor 6mm Color CCD 420TVL Camera - 30ft Night Vision. Product Model Number: QD28414 4 x Outdoor 3.6mm Color CCD 420TVL Camera - 30ft Night Vision Product Model Number:QD28414W -SuperDVR 6.3.2.3- DVR Card Access Program For power we're using the q-see provided 8 camera power adapter. Cables are all q-see made and came with the cameras. Our problem: Test of the setup showed no initial problems but on two separate occasions (and two completely separate locations) we're seeing a full image wobble type effect in the feeds. See example at: http://www.parafpi.com/images/test.avi We're seeing it on multiple feeds and it comes and goes. Any ideas as to what is causing this and how to stop it would be greatly appreciated!

I'm fairly confident that it's not actual motion of the cameras themselves. We've now had cameras spread out over a location and we see the effect happen on all cameras at the same time. The firs ttime I noticed this, I had the DVR setup right next to a fridge that was kicking out a huge EM surge everytime it cycled on. (stupid, I know!) So I chalked it up to that. Now we've had the unit in locations where it's not setup next to a high EM source and we still see it. I've got alot of options to test, thanks for all the great ideas!

Lovely, Can anyone suggest good cabling preferably ones that have the power included with the signal? Manually stringing out cabling for each camera is a pain in the butt already and I don't want to double that. Thanks

Thanks for the replies everyone. I can say for sure that the camera is not moving. We see this on all 8 cameras and all are placed in various positions around the location. I have not checked if the wobble appears in the visible as we mostly always use the IR. I'll check that asap. At one point, one of the q-see cables got wonky so we replaced it with a coax. I'll check that and see if the wobble is present on that feed as well. I'm open to any and all ideas at this point. Thanks!