wkearney99

Ethernet specs support only a max of 300 meters (around 328 feet). That's from one device back to a switch port. The same could be said for the POE distances, as there's voltage drop over longer runs. What gauge is this wire? At the very least you may want to make sure you're only running the devices at 100mbps, not gigE. If the devices are only 10/100 then negotiation wouldn't be an issue. But if they're trying to negotiate gigE connections that distance might very well be a big problem. What you should probably do is connect the cameras in a test configuration, just using short cables. Make sure THAT all works first. If that works then you've likely got cabling issues.

I also ran across these, but I've no idea how well they works: http://www.hdtvsupply.com/hdmi-to-svideo-converter.html http://www.hdtvsupply.com/hdmi-to-coax.html

Yep, that's about the only cheap route, down-convert the VGA output on the DVR to composite video and distribute it that way. Once it's composite you could even take it a step farther and convert that to an NTSC RF channel. Bear in mind that you'll have a significant loss of detail due to the down-conversion. That and some of the adapters are very limited in what input resolutions they'll accept. You'd have to know that your DVR can output a resolution it could use. 1024x768 is about the MAX you can use as a source for VGA-composite down-converting. 800x600 is more typical. This would likely mean your local monitor connected would also be stuck at that resolution. For the HD capable TV's you could convert the VGA signal an HD RF channel, but those boxes can be expensive. Like $1000 and up. This is because they have a fair bit of digitizing circuitry in them (that and licensing costs). It's not just a simple matter of an RF conversion. Pulling new wire and using converters is likely to be a lot less trouble over time for the TVs with HDMI input. Granted, you'd be tying up the input for this. Using a single-channel HD modulator might be your 'least worst' option. You'd have to integrate that with the existing antenna signal, but that's not that difficult or expensive using an RF filter.

And yet if their target market is still willing to pay, why should they alter their pricing? Just because the rabble/consumer market wants stuff cheaper doesn't mean the pro market suppliers have to go after it. The trick is in maintaining their desired volumes at the higher-end. It doesn't always make economic sense to go after a fish too big to catch. Plenty of companies have failed trying to serve a market beyond their capacities.

Not always, but with evolving technologies the price point for the 'latest and greatest' usually stays the same. It's the price for the older generation gear that usually decreases. For two reasons, one because they're making enough of them in volume to gain benefits from economies of scale. Or, two, because they can't sell 'em anymore and it's a fire sale. In addition as these shifts occur there's often an uptake by previously untapped markets. What might have once only been the province of pro or commercial consumers suddenly opens up to the larger residential consumer market. At the same time that new market being less educated but cost-conscious may willingly make lower-end choices that previous 'pros' would never chose. Is this bad? Tech products are a rapidly changing landscape. Keep up or sit tight with what you know. Just don't expect the rest of the market to stay behind with you.

Four cables to EACH location? A total of 16 cables? Or just one to each location?

Im building a new house and pulling wire, in a hurry before the foam insulation goes in. Ive got two cat6 cables pulled to where i will eventually put an doorway intercom. Right now they're just pulled through a 1/2 flex conduit. What i would like to know is what sized electrical box is typical for this sort of thing? I could have that installed now and leave it covered pending the intercom install. Otherwise i will pull the wire back and put some sort of cover over the hole until later. I would prefer to have it recessed, not in a surface box. The area is made of pvc trim over the sheathing, so i wont have masonry to deal with later.

Huh, none base off a standardized thing like a 2-gang or square work box? Strange. You'd figure that would provide a pretty widely accepted format for installs. Then I suppose I'll just pull the wire back in and cut-in the rough when I get around to finding which intercom I'd like to use.

Just use a regular electrical box cover and drill it to accommodate your camera mounted on it. Note, code requires separating low and high voltage wiring. So leaving the existing ac wiring in there technically violates code. For that you would use a 2 gang box that has a divider panel. I would not leave the ac live in there. If possible, disconnect and label it back in the breaker panel. Otherwise someone might get a nasty shock assuming theres no power on a line that has nothing connected to it.

Alternatively you could split the cat5 cable in two pairs as 100mb only needs 4 wires, not all 8 line gigabit ethernet. Then you could split the cabling again back at the switch and use normal ports.