survtech

Pelco makes their own PTZ's. As far as I know, the only part they don't make themselves or have custom-made for them is the actual camera head. Those are mostly Hitachi, although some Spectra II camera heads were made by Sony.

It is not recommended to use CATV cable for video at all. If you do, I would say not more than 100 ft..

Not a good idea. Speaker wire is not rated for that application. Use Class 2 rated power cable.

No. Fiber would be safest as is totally immune to electrical fields. For twisted-pair and coax you must maintain sufficient spacing between power and video cables. Install the video cable(s) in separate conduits from the power wires and space the conduits as far apart as possible. OH! And cross your fingers!

It depends on the design of the camera. A well-designed camera should be able to tolerate at least +/- 10% from nominal. This reflects power supply tolerances and cable lengths. For instance, Pelco specs out their IP110 camera system as "Input Voltage 24 VAC (18-36)", which is 25% low to 50% high, and their C10DN-6 at "24 VAC ±15%/12 VDC ±15%". Then again, we have Dallmeier, whose cameras are rated +/- 5% at 12VDC. That means 11.4 to 12.6 volts. STUPID!

I smell a lawsuit

A UPS won't protect cameras from lightning. Lightning is so unpredictable that you never know what path it will take. By UPS'ing the power, you may or may not protect the cameras. Power surges can still enter the power cables after the UPS. They can also get into the video distribution path or travel directly into the camera through the mount. Camera power supplies, especially 24VAC supplies, rarely have problems and when they do it is almost always total loss of power to one or more outputs, not excess voltage (which is the only power-related possibility). The next most common problem would be environmental. Are the cameras located where they are exposed to excess sun and/or heat? If they are outside, are the cameras installed in weatherproof enclosures or are they rated for outdoor use?

with a black sheet over yourself and the monitor .. or yah wont be able to see anything good enough on the monitor to be able to focus properly Just don't use a white sheet (and a pointy white hat) .

Or focus during the day using a piece of #5 welding glass in front of the lens to allow the iris to fully open.

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Didn't Panasonic include a tool or bit? It sounds like a Torx security bit. See below: You can get the tool many places, including MCM Electronics: http://www.mcmelectronics.com/product/22-9795

For what industry? I work in the casino industry and we have never found a good training course in the basics so we wrote our own manuals. We have a number of them covering various aspects of Surveillance operations. Plus out Policies and Procedures manuals cover other aspects. In addition, I have written manuals and papers about our technical operations, including our DVR system, matrix system, monitors, etc. I have not seen any good CCTV Operators course so you will basically have to write your own from scratch. For technical stuff, take nthe appropriate sections from your User manuals and adapt them to your needs.

What video do you want to monitor? I work in a casino Surveillance department and we monitor the cameras 7/24/365.

1ft Minimum or I've went as far as actually suspending the cable in the air away from the wire that most electricians have laying on top of the ceiling tiles. How do others on the forum combat the "Ground Loop" issue on their end? Thanks, John Surprisingly with over 900 cameras, we have never had a ground loop issue in the casino. That is probably due to our using Pelco CM9760-MDA's on all inputs. Thay have isolated input connectors (no common ground).

Wireless digital may work or it may exhibit the same problems we experienced with wireless analog. We discovered that wireless analog had too many problems when the elevator was in motion. The signal faded in and out as the car moved, causing tearing and ghosting in the video. Another issue was that even though some companies said it would work, they all refused to let us return the equipment if it didn't.

That's hard to say since you never really know if you are going to have a ground loop issue. The best I can tell you is keep the cable as far away from power wires as possible and if you have to cross them, do it at a 90 degree angle. Also try to attach the cameras to non-conductive surfaces where possible.

That actually makes sense since many elevators don't have spare wires in the stringer cable for video. That has to be specified before the elevator is installed and most architects don't. The cost to add a second stringer cable to an elevator is prohibitive. We have a freight elevator that only travels 3 floors. We needed to get a camera in the elevator due to vandalism issues. There were no spare wires in the stringer. Our contract requires that any work on elevators be peformed by the manufacturer's techs. Our only solution was to have the manufacturer fabricate and install a second stringer cable. The cost was around $10,000. Many elevators have an AC outlet box on the roof of the car for service reasons so putting a camera power supply and a DVR there makes economic sense.

Good advice above. Also keep in mind that it is not a good idea to run a separate cable in an elevator shaft and it is usually against building codes. You should utilize any spare conductors in the "traveller cable". Many traveller cables have coax or twisted-pair or both included just for that purpose. You will usually need to get the elevator manufacturer or service company involved in the installation to operate the elevator for you, stop it between floors so you can access the roof of the car and to connect your cables in the elevator control room and the elevator car's control panel.

275 ft. is no problem if you use proper RG-59. Make certain you get high-quality RG-59 with 100% pure copper center conductor and at least 95% braided copper shield. Do not use CATV cable, which uses clad center conductor (copper-coated steel) and aluminum shield.

We use it but limit it to not much farther than 100 ft. It works fine for relatively short runs. No problems terminating it with West Penn compression BNC's and if crimped correctly they are plenty strong.

Most experts say 750 ft.

What shielding? If you are using utp, there should be no shielding; just 4 pairs of twisted cable. Attach a balun to the same pair at each end using the same colors at the baluns' (+) and (-) connections and you should be good to go. You should not use other cable types (ie. shielded pair) or other cable sizes other than CAT-5, CAT-5e or CAT-6.

We use EMT all the time for pendant mount cameras. Just make sure to use high quality fittings with at least 2 set screws and it helps to have at least one of the fitting screws penetrate through the conduit. If you are concerned about the dome falling, you can also add a safety strap inside the conduit.

It won't be a problem as long as you use high quality CAT-5e or CAT-6 and good baluns or active devices. We do it all the time. In fact, we often use West Penn CC2418 siamese 18/2 with 2-pair CAT-5e. We use one pair for video and one for PTZ control.

Yes, you could use a 12 volt regulator. The only problem is that voltage regulators typically require the input voltage be at least a couple of volts above the desired output voltage to work properly. That works OK with 14.5 volts but may not work at 13.2 volts. It also means it can be dependent on your power cable length and size (gauge). The voltage drop in the power cable could affect the regulator's ability to regulate. Manufacturers cheap out if they use "crowbar" reverse polarity protection without providing a simple-to-replace fuse. The better method uses a full-wave rectifier bridge. That allows the end user to hook up DC power without regard to polarity, but it also drops the voltage by 1.2V and many camera circuits won't run at 10.8 volts. Some cameras require exactly 12VDC. I smoked a Dallmeier camera by hooking it up to a power supply that put out 13.2VDC. I later learned that the camera required 12VDC +/- 5% (11.4-12.6 volts). Stupid on my part, but also stupid on the manufacturer's part since it is very difficult to maintain that tight a voltage tolerance in real-world conditions. It just proves the point - always read the directions!