herictopia 0 Posted March 13, 2009 Just a few quick question. This is the first time i am running 4 cameras with one cat5e cable. The distance is about 800 feet. My question is: should I use active baluns or passive ones? if passive, can i just solder the coaxial cable to the twisted pair and then do the same thing on the receiving end (dvr side) with coaxial cable and a compression bnc connector? Seems to me the passive video 4 channel transceiver and receivers are WAYY over priced... are there anything special involved in the boxes aside from re-routing the wires? Also, can you guys make some suggestion on the kind of cable I should run? I found cat5e cable selling on ebay for like 60 dollars...should I go with those? what/where can I find quality cable at reasonable price? All help is appreciated. Thank you. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
vin2install 0 Posted March 13, 2009 You need to use baluns or you will get crappy images. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
scorpion 0 Posted March 14, 2009 Just a few quick question. This is the first time i am running 4 cameras with one cat5e cable. The distance is about 800 feet. My question is: should I use active baluns or passive ones? if passive, can i just solder the coaxial cable to the twisted pair and then do the same thing on the receiving end (dvr side) with coaxial cable and a compression bnc connector? Seems to me the passive video 4 channel transceiver and receivers are WAYY over priced... are there anything special involved in the boxes aside from re-routing the wires? Also, can you guys make some suggestion on the kind of cable I should run? I found cat5e cable selling on ebay for like 60 dollars...should I go with those? what/where can I find quality cable at reasonable price? All help is appreciated. Thank you. I would recommmend using the cat5e that comes from your camera dealer. You may pay more in the longer run, but then you have a "face" to your source. If you are going to buy from EBAY then $60.00 may, or may not be a value. If it is cheap wire, then why is it cheap? I just came across some cheap rg59 through my distributor, and I now ask for a different brand. I normally receive wooden spools, and on the last order they sent reel in a box style. I thought nice! Turns out it is crap. After pulling a long distance I find the red, and black two conductor pulls up inside the sheath. I would lose about a foot. I would have to cut the coax back a foot to match the two conductor. I always pull more than I need, and in this case it save my derrier. Reel in a box was nice, but the wire was not worth it. The coax side was very flimsy. I rather have a better wire to work with. I am more concerned about having to go back time, and time, and not earning any money! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jeromephone 6 Posted March 14, 2009 Go with a name brand. One of my wire dist told me that a lot of UL listed cable was bogus They get a reel or two tested put the seal on and then sell whatever they want. Best way we have found are pull boxes no reel to mess with and they have few tangles. I am talking general, bertek or belden. Saving twenty dollars on wire will come back to haunt you. Some of the offshore siamese has 22 ga wire for power instead of 18 ga stranded copper. CAT5E or Cat 6 CAT5e is a lower grade cable and is what you are seeing showing up on ebay etc. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Soundy 1 Posted March 18, 2009 Just a few quick question. This is the first time i am running 4 cameras with one cat5e cable. The distance is about 800 feet. My question is: should I use active baluns or passive ones? Passive should work fine, if you use good-quality cable. if passive, can i just solder the coaxial cable to the twisted pair and then do the same thing on the receiving end (dvr side) with coaxial cable and a compression bnc connector? Sure, the signal WILL get there, but it will look terrible - expect severe noise and ghosting artifacts. Seems to me the passive video 4 channel transceiver and receivers are WAYY over priced... Well, you can always go with individual baluns on each wire pair, for a total of 8 single-channel units... but that will probably cost even more. are there anything special involved in the boxes aside from re-routing the wires? Yes. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
