ANiforos

Thank you all again for your comments and suggestions. I do have another question relating to my connections which are outside, but under a covered porch, out of the sunlight and out of the rain. The wiring which comes out of the cameras is terminated with the female end of the Cat5e . My cable run is terminated with a RJ45 end, and the RJ45 plugs into the female end at the camera. Should I wrap this connection with anything to keep the moisture out, such as some plastic food wrap, or regular old black electrical tape? I'm just thinking the moisture in the air will not be good for these connections. Again, any thoughts on this will be appreciated. Alex

Thanks so much for the info. I ran some cable to the front porch yesterday and feel very comfortable that it will be fine.

I'm wondering if it is ok to use the indoor cat5e cable that came with my system on an outdoor covered porch. The cable will be run along the top of a wooden beam, out of the sun, and out of the elements. I have some outdoor direct burial cat5e, but I am saving it for two fairly long runs outdoors. I don't want to use the outdoor cable and then not have enough for the outdoor runs. During the summer, temps reach in the middle 90's, and winter temps reach as low as low 20's and sometimes in the low teens for a few nights. Again, thanks for any insight. Alex

I'm trying to decide how to label/call each camera........use its location or use what it is viewing. I'll explain what I mean. I'm putting in a 9 camera IP system in and around my house. Lets say I have two cameras on each end of a living/great room. The front door of the house is at one end of this living room. A rear garden door is directly opposite at the other end of the room. I have a camera mounted above each door, pointing towards the opposite door. Temporarily I am calling/labeling each camera by its location, not by what it is viewing. So the front camera above the front door is the front door camera. Should it be called the rear door camera because it is viewing the rear door? I'm just wondering if there is an industry or tech standard on this. I'm also wondering if each camera is labeled by number in the order it is installed, or are they grouped so that, for example, Cameras 3, 4, and 5 are all at the front of the house, and cameras 6, 7, and 8 are all at the back of the house. I'm just wondering if there is any rhyme or reason for labeling in any particular sequence. Thanks for any thoughts or suggestions. Alex

Of course, I remembered something I wanted to ask. I live in a log house, 6" thick and 12" high. They are dovetailed at the corners, so the logs do not sit on top of each other except at the dovetail. There is insulation and chinking in between the logs. I built it in 1992. It is a Hearthstone Log Home, they are out of Dandrige Tennessee. Somewhere along the line when I was building the house or just after I built it, I was told that a good thing to do before the insulation and chinking was put in.......and after the wiring was put in, to take a picture of each wall so I could sort of tell where the wiring was run in case I needed to do any renovation or some such thing. Well, I did not take the pictures and every time I go to drill a deep hole I am terrified that I am going to hit a wire, which would be a disaster since you cannot just open up a log. I remember the logs being predrilled with holes for vertical runs and then some of the horizontal runs were between the logs in the insulation and chinking area. I called Hearthstone yesterday for help and was told that there are vertical holes drilled in the middle of a log (3 inches from the inside or ourside of a log) , remember, the log are 6" thick, and that these vertical holes are about one foot from either side of a dovetailed corner, and one foot either side of a door or window. Other than that, he could not help me as they don't keep plans from that long ago (1992). Sooo, to make a long story short, is there a device that electricians use to locate wiring in a wall, sort of like a stud finder, that would detect wiring 3" deep in a solid log wall? I have a little magic marker shaped device, an AC voltage detector, that detects AC current, but it is for an inch or so to determine if wiring has current going through it. It doesn't really work for what I need. Thanks again for any input. Alex

Thanks for everyone's input. I just purchased a 1000' roll of intertek Cat5e wire. Here is what the label says: Outdoor Cat5e. 350 MHZ Direct Burial (PE Jacket), Water Block Tape. Norfolk Wire & Electronics, the company I purchased it from printed off the spec sheet for me. The spec sheet is from WAVENET, apparently the company who makes or distributes the wire. It does not have any goo in it. Some direct burial wire is gel filled, and others are not. This one is not. IT is also unshielded. I wasn't particularly wanting shielded, I just didn't know if I needed it or not. Apparently its not necessary for what I am doing. I had asked earlier about the "tape" labeling I had seen on the internet. Apparently the tape refers to the soft cloth type wrap that is between the grouping of twisted pairs and the outer jacket. I have noticed that the outer jacket on this particular wire is a little more flexible and not a perfectly round as another direct burial wire I had seen at Lowes Home Improvement. The one I purchased almost looks and feels like it is regular riser ethernet cable, but it is labeled on the side of the jacket as being outdoor direct burial. The Lowes version had a white, perfectly round hard insulation around the twisted pairs, as well as an outer jacket covering the entire thing. The Lowes actually looked better, but they had no spec sheet and there was no sticker on the side of the reel describing exactly what it was made of. I decided on this "tape" version because it seemed a bit more flexible and I thought wiring my log house would be easier. To answer an earlier question about what I plan on doing for that long 350' run.......I'm not sure yet. I may just try the long run without using any type of extender. If I have to, I'll buy a repeater and install it in the line. I am assuming that no damage will be done to the equipment by trying a longer run that the 328 feet, that I will just get a crappy image. If actual damage might occur, please feel free to inform me. Thanks again for all the great suggestions and input. Alex

Thanks for your input. I have decided to use Cat5e, direct burial, solid copper (not CCA), but I am still unsure about whether to use shielded or unshielded. I called Lorex and a person I could hardly understand said to use shielded. I have read posts on here that say to use unshielded, as shielding changes the frequency. I would rather use unshielded as I think it would be easier to pull and crimp ends on it. Please correct me if I am wrong about that (easier to pull unshielded). Thanks again for any input from you wonderful people. Alex

Should I get shielded or unshielded?

Thank you mgb. I have been researching cat5e cable and I've seen notations of "underground, or direct burial waterproof tape". What is the "waterproof tape"?

Hi there, I've been perusing over these pages for several weeks now and just like most things, there are lots of opinions on what is good, what is bad, and what is mediocre. I recently purchased a Costco system....I know I know, some think its trash, some think its OK. Their return policy is one reason why I got the system there. Its the Lorex Stratus, LNR 363C9B,16 channel, 9 camera, 3 TB HD, 1080P. It came with 100' of Cat5e cable for each camera. One thing I am contemplating doing is buying different wire instead of opening all the included coils. I got the idea from this site. One reason for different wiring is to be able to run my wiring without ends, and then install ends after the wiring is in place. This allows for smaller holes to be drilled and easier pulling of the cable without ends attached. I live in a log house and I prefer smaller holes if possible. Plus, if I don't uncoil all the included wire, it will be easier to take back in the event the system ends up being trash. So, my two questions are as follows: One of my runs will be approximately 350' or so. I am aware of the 328' limit, but is this a hard and fast rule? Will a bit more distance really make that much difference. The 350' run is to a camera outside, so cable will have to be installed either underground or in a pvc pipe underground. I'm considering either Cat5e direct burial, or Cat6 direct burial. Is there any advantage of using Cat6 due to the distance......will Cat6 work better due to its size being larger.....if it is larger. I'm assuming it is, but maybe not. Thanks for any advice you can give me. Alex