excableguy

True.. But a well trained dog won't eat food that isn't served by it's owner. Maybe a couple shotguns wired to motion detectors will work too. LOL This post is out of hand. I agree that would work here, the locals hate dogs .. scared crapless of them. But i guess the kind of culprits this chap is up against might just poison them?

Why don't you just get some dogs? Everyone so far has responded with some form of technology.. Put a nasty dog on the inside of your house.. when you come home to half eaten burglars then you will have solved the problem and saved the next guys house from being robbed.

CB.. Shhh! lol

I totally understand that! That makes those cameras extremely versatile in their ability. Worst case scenario is I run power to 1 or 2 of the cameras from a closer source.. no big deal.

Thanks for your response. I'm sure the supply is regulated as it's a wall wart style supply. I read your other post here: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=26380 and found this here: http://www.calculator.net/voltage-drop-calculator.html?material=copper&wiresize=84.22&voltage=12&phase=dc&noofconductor=3&distance=150&distanceunit=feet&amperes=.70000&x=61&y=16 I was able to determine that in this scenario that 3 pairs of cat5 is better by a very small margin that 18awg from siamese cable with the calculator that I found, but different in the calculator that you found. I sure hope that the 12v camera will run on approx 10.2 - 11.4 like you mentioned. The calculator you posted a link to gives different results from the one that I found. It's a no-name camera from aposonic.. http://www.aposoniccctv.com/index.php/camera/fixedlens/193 and this camera as well http://www.aposoniccctv.com/index.php/component/content/article/192 This is stuff I should know since i've built small dc power supplies before.. I guess sometimes I don't allow myself to mesh one hobby into another. The differences are that I'm able to use any size cable I want to with the type of stuff i've used it for.

Ladder? When doing tower installs you usually climb the tower, or use a scissor lift. My tower happens to tilt over.

Thanks for the advice. Lets just say that interference wouldn't be an issue due to out of band harmonics. The only way my broadcast would cause interference is due to front end overload or poor shielding of cameras or the dvr. Time will tell since I haven't completed installing my cameras and dvr yet. I acquired one of those 8 channel aposonic kits for free. I ordered a spool of 18/2 Siamese cable to install the cameras with instead of using the junk cables that came with it. Installing connectors isn't an issue for me obviously. I'll probably do twist on bnc connectors and I can solder and heat shrink the power leads.. As far as the output goes, lets just say that my amplifier uses a 220v line, and in the USA that's the same power line that a household dryer or electric oven uses.

I like to use cheap dish soap.

Weight isn't much of an issue on this tower. After looking at the specs and speaking with the manufacturer I could do something up to about 35lbs or so where I want to place it. I like the idea of the bullet cams too! Thanks tomcctv! The picture is of the base of the tower.. 4x4x5ft hole and that's a 5ft ladder in the hole.

Found this wall plate while searching around. Pretty nice in terms of convenience. 4 bnc connectors and 4 2.1mm dc ports. Anyone ever used one? Just so nobody accuses me i'm not a troll.. and i'm not trying to advertise this product. Just curious. http://certicable.com/productdec.php?pid=2626

Those have worked for me in the past. At about half way down the wall there is a piece of 1x6 or similar going horizontally across inside the wall, it is just flat against the drywall though, thats what they mounted the drywall too I imagine. From the ceiling I can see the metal grids every 16 inches or so across, instead of wood studs. It looks like they used this metal instead, in fact this is everywhere. Its thin sheet metal though, in a U shape. I guess I can mount to that, or like you said, put a piece of plywood and then mount to that instead. Thanks Steel studs. Very common in commercial construction in N.A. Obviously not used for load-bearing walls, but with the drywall attached, it forms a very solid structure. Use a fine-thread drywall screw and it will tap itself right into the stud, no pre-drilling required. And yes, standard spacing should be 16", center-to-center.

Sometimes it's easier to take it in the shorts to do the job rather than make the customer eat it. I know how that goes.. In a residential application cost can really mean a lot to the consumer. Using bulk cable wall plates are nice indeed, however to the energy smart consumer it creates a bit of a problem. On one of my many home wiring jobs I encountered a customer who brought something to my attention and it didn't really make much sense to me. After I was all done mounting the keystone jacks for the ethernet I ran all over his house, he went behind me and placed foam gaskets behind the wall plates. Hear me out here.. in colder climates and hotter climates (I.E. southern latitudes) electricity bills can become high trying to heat and cool the home. Open spaces in the dry wall like that wall plate creates allows heated or air conditioned air to escape into the wall, and it doesn't just lose some air.. it loses a lot! I couldn't believe how much air could be lost until I removed a wall plate on one of my walls. I could literally feel the air escaping out of the hole. So to satisfy my curiosity I started to do a little research on the topic and found that this can actually save a home owner a bit of money in their home by sealing up the area behind wall plates among other things. I live in Arizona so air conditioning can get expensive. Having been in catv and the cabling business for a few years, I guess I could understand why I had a few missing wall plates around the house. I suppose it's like a mechanics car that never quite runs right because at the end of the day his last wish is to work on his own car. After patching them up and placing those cheap gaskets behind them, putting insulation around my hot water heater and installing a timer that I already had made quite the difference on my power bill. I made my money back on those things in less than 3 months. http://www.amazon.com/Gasket-Covers-Electrical-Stopper-Gaskets/dp/B002TIHKZE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1329590064&sr=8-1 And speaking of copper clad - Haha : http://www.cablinginstall.com/index/display/article-display.articles.cabling-installation-maintenance.slideshow-articles.1-Copper-clad-aluminum-cable-passed-off-as-legitimate.html

Hanging something to drywall is all about surface area. I'm sure behind the drywall there are studs.. wood or metal. If what you're mounting is really heavy, it doesn't hurt to put a piece of plywood up on the wall first before you mount your shelving or device to that. It helps distribute weight among the wall.

I totally understand less connections. I'm a radio operator and if there is one thing I do understand it's the necessity for using the right coax and connectors. I cringe when I see people use lame coax or connectors in radio applications or even catv.. (i.e. pre-made walmart cables) and now cctv! I happen to use LDF-4-50a Heliax on my radio equipment at home.. of course it's 50ohm stuff but it's no joke. I still have a spool of orange RG-6 in the garage from doing cable tv. Less connections the better is very true! I was recently given a home surveillance kit that was still in the box.. it's one of those aposonic 4 channel ones. It was never installed, still all in the box.. I laughed when I pulled the pre-made cables out of the box. I am one for doing things the right way, and also trying to maintain good looks too when I install something. I don't like my name branded on something that's poorly put together. Thanks for all the good tips so far!

Plus, Cat3, Cat5, and other such wires are easy to coil into a gang box, or push back into a wall gap... doing that with a bundle of RG-59 is not so easy. You'd have to cut the wires really short to minimize the amount that resides behind the plate, which makes them a lot harder to work on, and leaves you little extra in case something goes wrong. Plus you have the power connectors - this setup is obviously designed to allow individual wall-wart adapters to simply plug directly in. It's not suitable if you're using a central power can. Sorry, but something like this is just not practical for most installs. I think you're right.. It looks like it was made to use with a "home surveillance kit."

Thanks for your response. That's exactly what it would be used for is a diy'r. In a professional job in some data room or closet it's another thing to just run it through the wall.

Thanks. I'm sure someone does or can make a custom one. Plenty of wholesale manufacturers out there that do that kind of work.

if its used where the DVR is, you can just plug the cable right into the DVR. The power plugs is more of the concern though, very simple to disable the cameras by accident. If it is a cat5 balun to BNC plate then I could see the use. The point of the wall plate is to make the install look better.. Who wants cables running right out of the dry wall? I don't.. I think it looks tacky. Telephone, cable, ethernet, fiber.. all of these use wall plates.. why shouldnt cctv? Maybe you like the look of holes in your walls.. I don't.

I'm new to the cctv thing.. but how so? If this was used inside a closet or room where the dvr is I fail to see how it makes anything less secure.. should the cables just run through a hole in the wall? What has been defeated here?

Hey all, new to the boards here. Used to do a little cable tv and network cabling. I like things to look good and proper. I hope to learn a lot from this forum and also help others if I can. excableguy