maalna2 0 Posted December 10, 2011 Sorry if this has been answer before but I have been reading different tips on this forum all day and have not ran across this yet. I am looking at getting a small system for my home. I really only need/want 2 to 3 camera. Before reading everything here I was just going to buy a kit and call it good but I see you can get better quality for about the same price by not buying a kit. All that to ask this. What kind if any camera can you just hook into the back of the DVR and not have to worry about running to a power outlet? I would like for the camera to get power from the DVR if possible. Thanks for the help and again sorry if that is asked a lot. Mark Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Old Car Guy 0 Posted December 11, 2011 I don’t know of any cameras that don’t need power to run them. I also don’t know of any DVR’s with a built in power supply which is what you would need to power the cameras at the DVR. If you don’t want to run the power wire and video cable separately, you can buy video cable with the power wire built in and connect the power line to a wall wart or power supply. You also should consider the difference between 12 v and 24 v cameras, 24 v being the better choice in my opinion. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Soundy 1 Posted December 11, 2011 There used to be a few old multiplexers that ran power over the coax, but they would only work with a few specific cameras designed to receive power that way. The only current analog systems that run power and video on the same cable are the cheap-cheap package systems that use a multicore cable with power, video and audio... but with those, you're usually limited to using the same brand of cameras and DVRs together, as most of them use proprietary pinouts. Other than that, there's at least one NVR I know of that has an internal 4-port PoE switch and you can just plug up to four IP cameras into it... but you're getting a LOT more expensive with that (starting around $2000 for the NVR, I think, plus $500 and up per camera). If it's more a matter of just using one cable, you can use Cat5e/Cat6 (or any other sort of UTP) with baluns.... but you will still need a separate power supply for the cameras. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
maalna2 0 Posted December 12, 2011 Thanks for the replies, since I am just starting to look I thought I would ask. What are the baluns for? Do they help to make the picture clearer? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
