gian_18778

Hi guys, gat a few questions here; A friend of mine has a 8 camera CCTV setup around his property. He used CAT5 for his runs and dual power supply cameras. After everything is set up he's only receiving 4 video signals. He and a friend of his pulled the wire to all locations and he performed a continuty test on all the lines, and everytihng check out fine. What's puzzling is that he is only receiving video for 4 cameras at the DVR. He had one of his CCTV buddies to look at it but they could not solve it, and then he called me to see if I could assist. I'm no CCTV expert, but I know a little Electronics. He is using a 12VDC 10AMP power supply for his distribution. He has passive video baluns at the cameras and 1-8CH passive video receiver at the head-end. Here's what I found. I read 11.98VDC at ALL camera locations, tested video and power lines for continuity, that was fine. I connected a monitor at the camera locally and did not get any video, however, I disconnected the camera and hooked it up directly to the power supply and got video. Did this for all cameras not seen at the DVR and ALL cameras produced video at the power supply. Wierd. Tested the video baluns, and ALL transmit video. Out of the 4 cameras that can be seen at the DVR, three (3) of them are about 75ft. from the DVR and the furthest one has to be about 180-200ft away from the DVR. It's strange. My friend did admit that *some* of the cable may have some stress or kinks in it during the installation of the wiring, but if you're still getting continuity, then that should signify that the cable is good, shouldn't it? All in all, I did not know what to tell him. The cameras appear to be good, getting continuity on the pairs of the cable, I thought that the distance was going to be a problem, but one of the cameras currently being seen at the DVR is at least 180-200ft. away, I'm getting roughly 12VDC at each camera location, the only thing I could thing of was *maybe* there is some wire damage... Any suggestions?

The problem is solved. Doubling the CAT5 on the power pairs did the job for 3 of the cameras, for the last camera (the furthest one out) looks like my friend may have to power the camera locally. If the power supply was a varible one, he might have been in luck. Overall he's happy, so I'm I, now I can get back to the NFL Network. Thanks guys, if anyone else gives me a CCTV problem, I'll bounce it at you guys, and see if I can get it solved.

You're right I did measure the voltage w/ the camera disconnected. I did that to make certain that there was no significant voltage drop in the line. With the camera connected I got around 5.6VDC.

Thanks

Hey thanks Rory, I'll try this and update my friend, I'll let you know what happens.

The CAT5 is 24AWG, forgot to mention that. The Baluns are NVT, no other name on it, the passive receiver, has no name on it So just double the power? or power and video?

Hey Rory, wassup man? Ok, I just got the specs. These cameras do not have a name, like Pelco, or Sony or anything like that. It just states DSS (Digital Slow Shutter) High Resolution 3-Axis Digital Color Dome Camera (vandal proof). Power Consumption: 330mA/4W (MAX) *No distance for the camera power given. Yes, the CAT5 provides power for ALL the cameras. Basically there is one CAT5 cable/ Camera. The Blue pair (Video), the Orange pair (Power).

Welcome to the boards bro. Glad to see you here.

Good day, My name is Gian, and I was just doing some research on networking, and e-Security and came across this site which is very impressive from what I've read so far. Hopefully I'll be brought up-to-date on what's currently going on in the industry from all of the professionals who are currently active on this site. I'm looking forward to broadening my horizons with you guys, and establish working relationships. Thanks and have a good day! Gian Smith

Wassup Rory? Happy to see you here!