Coax w power OR Cat5e w balun?

[maikai 0]

Hi,

I am new here and stumbled unto this helpful site. need some advice. please bear with my questions.

 

I am renovating my new home and intend to install a few cctv cameras around the house. With some reading, i found out that cctv cameras can use either coaxial or cat5e cables.

 

1) should i use coaxial cables and install an electrical outlet next to the cameras? if yes, what type of coaxial cable is best used?

 

2) use Cat5e cables and install an electrical outlet next to the cameras?

 

3) use cat5e cables and use passive baluns? with passive baluns, I don't need direct power at the cameras? Can I just use the baluns to feed power to the cctv via cat5e cabling?

 

either one is fine with me just as long it's reliable, convenient and upgradable in the future.

 

thanks alot!

[rory 0]

Unless one has existing UTP cable or require long distances with amplified UTP devices, typically one would use RG59 Siamese Cable which has both power and video cable joined together but in separate jackets. RG59 Copper in and out with solid center, 18awg power cable. Either UTP with baluns or RG59 Siamese will typically require separate power run to the camera (you can utilize a pair on the cat5 for short distances and some cameras). For both scenarios run it back to a central area where the DVR is located and power with a Distributed FUSED power supply (eg. Altronics). Keep cable at least 1' away from high voltage. There are different scenarios and not every application is the same.

 

Upgradable in the future will depend what you intend to upgrade to. Coax is better for CCTV applications, some baluns are rubbish and cause the video to look very bad - yes others will argue this though, everyone has an opinion. If you expect to upgrade to network cameras soon then perhaps look at some decent UTP baluns. But then again if its far in the future who knows what kind of cable and hardware we will have then.

[Soundy 1]

I won't argue with rory's assertion that some baluns are crap... I have a whole tray of them that a buddy got for $5 each that don't work at all

 

As rory says, either way you go, you don't need to put power near the cameras - whether you run Cat5, siamese, or separate coax and power, the standard practice is to power all your cameras from a central location whenever possible, usually very near your DVR. Most commonly this is done with some form of 18/2 wire (18 gauge, two conductor), although we usually use station wire (22/4) - it means there's another pair available for future use, a practice that has save us a few times. "Siamese" cable is nothing special - it's just a piece of coax and a piece of 18/2 attached together for convenience.

 

Also, if you do go Cat5e, you don't need baluns to be able to run power over it. Or more to the point, you don't need baluns that INCLUDE power support. You DO need baluns to run video *cleanly* over UTP. Some *include* power connectors, but again, that's just for convenience - those kind of baluns generally cost more, so we generally just use the type that are video-only, and then split off two pairs of the Cat5 and connect them to power ourselves.

 

Generally I would suggest just going with the Cat5e and *quality* baluns; as rory points out, that leaves you the ability to easily upgrade to network cameras in the future. If you really want to cover your bases, you can pull Cat5e *and* coax, then use the coax for video and the Cat5 for power. Or pull all three and be prepared for anything

[maikai 0]

Thanks guys. Cleared up some queries that i had. Think I will go with Cat5e then, since i'm getting a box of it for LAN cabling around the house. Should have enough remaining for the cctv.

 

One thing that I still don't know is power supply to the cctv. Please bear with my questions again.

 

With the passive baluns, I can connect the output of the camera into it and the output is the cat5e. and on the DVR end, it's the way around to convert it back to coaxial?

 

what about for the power if i want to use cat5e to feed power to the cctv? All i need is a distributed fused power supply box? the twisted pair wires directly connects to it? is this the only way to supply power to the cctv cameras?

 

thanks again.

[Soundy 1]

Thanks guys. Cleared up some queries that i had. Think I will go with Cat5e then, since i'm getting a box of it for LAN cabling around the house. Should have enough remaining for the cctv.

That's good enough reason right there

 

One thing that I still don't know is power supply to the cctv. Please bear with my questions again.

 

With the passive baluns, I can connect the output of the camera into it and the output is the cat5e. and on the DVR end, it's the way around to convert it back to coaxial?

Correct. Video only requires one pair of wire; you have four pairs available in Cat5e, so you can actually run up to four video feeds over on cable.

 

what about for the power if i want to use cat5e to feed power to the cctv? All i need is a distributed fused power supply box?

 

Yes... or "wall wart" transformers... or whatever sort of power supply (or supplies) is suitable.

 

the twisted pair wires directly connects to it?

 

Correct. Because the wire is such small gauge, however, you usually want to use two of the four pairs for power. For example, I'll usually use (and mind you, this is just my own color scheme; it's not a universal requirement) the blue/blue-white pair for video; green and orange pairs for power - green/green-white both connected to ground or neutral (depending on whether it's DC or AC) and orange/orange-white to V+ or "hot"; and leave the brown pair for future use, or use it for PTZ control if applicable.

 

 

is this the only way to supply power to the cctv cameras?

 

Depends what you mean by "the only way". Pretty much all cameras have power terminals that need to be supplied; if you're using Cat5e (or any sort of UTP), you can run power over extra pairs in that; or you can power the cameras locally; or you can run separate power feeds alongside the UTP... in the end, that's your choice as to which works best for you.

 

Some baluns simply have a pair of screw or punch-down terminals for video connections...

 

 

In this case, you'd split off the power pairs yourself.

 

Some have RJ45 jacks on them and split out the power connections internally to a pair of pigtail wires; this is functionally no different from splitting out the power connections yourself, it's just done for convenience and a clean install. It does mean that you have to terminate your runs with RJ45 plugs or jacks, however.

 

[rory 0]

Just a note: if using something like the Extreme CCTV EX82 Day Night IR camera use at least 18awg cable for power, not UTP.