Balun haters gonna hate...

[Soundy 1]

lets loose the cat5 wire all together?

 

8x Baluns @ 18 ea. $144 = $144

400' RG59 Siamese @ 0.15 ea. $60, 8x BNC connectors @ .75 ea $6 = $66

8x baluns at $5/pr = $20.

 

You just admitted you don't even know the real price of Cat5; it's obvious you're using the highest possible price you can find for baluns in your calculations as well.

 

Irrelevant.

[rory 0]

To be fair, my CCTV vendor (I'll PM you the info if you request it) has 1000' cat5e @ $39.00 per 1000', & cat6 @ $61.00 per 1000'

Thats still about the same difference of price between the Cat5 cable and RG59 siamese.

problem is the baluns still bring the price up.

How much for a bag of 100 BNCs from your vendor?

 

0.079 for RG59 siamese.

0.039 for Cat 5

 

Dam stuff is cheap there.

How much for budweiser??

I pay $2.50 a bottle/can .. cheapest.

 

I am not saying dont use it, but to say using Cat5 and baluns is cheaper is just ridiculous and a total fabrication of the truth, not to mention the facts speak for themself. Anyone who has a problem with it must have something to loose, cause I could care less either way, I use whatever is needed for the job.

[Dirk_D 0]

crimp on BNCs ~$0.30/ea @ my vendor (used to be closer to .05 or 0.10, ~$1.00/ea @ adi

[rory 0]

actually I went lower on the price - here it is @ $19 each.

http://www.123securityproducts.com/500009.html

if you can find them for cheaper at a reputable reseller than let us know.

Ive checked around though and they are all pretty much the same price.

Ofcourse they arent those "bench tested" Baluns ..

Would love to see the "real world tested" Baluns though ..

Do you do Youtube??

[rory 0]

crimp on BNCs ~$0.30/ea @ my vendor (used to be closer to .05 or 0.10, ~$1.00/ea @ adi

Wow thats cheap, how much for twist ons?

[Dirk_D 0]

snip

Edited January 18, 2012 by Guest

[tomcctv 190]

love it when people start doing costs. coax or cat5 cat5 is the cheapest ALL the time.

 

 

no point in saying 4 cam system coax cost this or in cat5 costs this. as you are not using the same amount of cat5 as coax so coax is 400 cat5 could just be 200 or if the cameras are in or around the same location its just 100

[PaulsonLaw 0]

You all are really gtting into the price war lol....

 

 

Ok, so if they are not baluns & just connecters, then what is wrong w/ that? They work fine @ 4 cams on 1 cat5 at near 400'.....

So why use a balun?

 

Home depot has cat5 for 189!!!! GEEZ, I paid less for 1000' of TC-L2 cat5!

[Numb-nuts 1]

Regardless, with analogue wiring if you use cat5 and baluns you are likely going to still need BNC plugs at both ends,

that is unless you use individual Baluns at either end. So until there is no more analogue, we remain dependent on BNCs

long may they remain. I kinda like them anyway.

[Dirk_D 0]

actually most of the low cost baluns completely eliminate the need for the BNC on each end of the cable. So then the concern is the solid strand cable which will break if knicked, power requirements of IR cameras, cable distance limits of the 24VAC cameras (some of which go into heater/blower housings).

[rory 0]

Ok, so if they are not baluns & just connecters, then what is wrong w/ that? They work fine @ 4 cams on 1 cat5 at near 400'.....

So why use a balun?

What cameras were used?

What was the quality of the picture (samples)?

I used cheap Baluns at a couple hundred feet and the image sucked.

I wouldnt even use those at 100' distance for a client.

[rory 0]

love it when people start doing costs. coax or cat5 cat5 is the cheapest ALL the time.

 

 

no point in saying 4 cam system coax cost this or in cat5 costs this. as you are not using the same amount of cat5 as coax so coax is 400 cat5 could just be 200 or if the cameras are in or around the same location its just 100

So what, the camera magically moves closer to the DVR by 200'?

[tomcctv 190]

So what, the camera magically moves closer to the DVR by 200'?

 

 

 

 

no rory but 2/3 or 4 cameras in the same location will need 4 runs of coax cat5 1 run.

 

 

am just saying you cant count run for run against cat5. so the maths is not right

[Soundy 1]

Ok, so if they are not baluns & just connecters, then what is wrong w/ that? They work fine @ 4 cams on 1 cat5 at near 400'.....

So why use a balun?

Because the unbalanced line is extremely prone to induced noise. Put a powerful motor close to that line and watch the noise appear in all four cameras.

 

First time I ever use baluns, we'd had to use station wire to connect up two cameras because that's all that we could get to the location. We gave the customer two options: one camera using the proper coax, or two using the station wire, with the possibility that it would be very poor image quality because of all the lighting and high-voltage electrical it would have to run past. They chose the latter... and naturally complained with the video looked like crap.

 

So we dropped the $45 *each* for two baluns, put them on one line... *bam* crystal-clear picture. They were happy to pay for that, and for us to do the same to the other camera.

 

Home depot has cat5 for 189!!!! GEEZ, I paid less for 1000' of TC-L2 cat5!

Again, that's plenum-rated Cat5. Plenum-rated (aka CMP aka FT-6) cable is always two to three times the price of riser/CMR/FT-4 types, whether you're talking UTP, coax, etc. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plenum_cable

[rory 0]

 

no rory but 2/3 or 4 cameras in the same location will need 4 runs of coax cat5 1 run.

 

 

am just saying you cant count run for run against cat5. so the maths is not right

Thats incorrect.

You need power and if you really think you are going to power 4 cameras over 1 single cat5 pair then good luck with that.

[rory 0]

So what, the camera magically moves closer to the DVR by 200'?

 

 

 

 

no rory but 2/3 or 4 cameras in the same location will need 4 runs of coax cat5 1 run.

 

 

am just saying you cant count run for run against cat5. so the maths is not right

if all your cameras are in one spot on your house then that is cool, but most people you know, want to actually see around their house.

[rory 0]

am just saying you cant count run for run against cat5. so the maths is not right

Again, and again, forget the cost of the cable, imagine you just dragged it out of the trash.

The baluns alone cost more than the coax.

[Soundy 1]

am just saying you cant count run for run against cat5. so the maths is not right

Again, and again, forget the cost of the cable, imagine you just dragged it out of the trash.

The baluns alone cost more than the coax.

For you, and only you.

 

A balun is not a complicated device. There's no reason it has to be expensive.

[rory 0]

A balun is not a complicated device. There's no reason it has to be expensive.

no wonder your clients want to use IP video, after using those $5 analogue baluns you sell them

[rory 0]

For you, and only you.

I dunno maybe its where I am, but I could swear the cost on this page says US $19 each???

But hey, it must be a special price just for me .. actually I could login and then I WOULD get my special price ... cause you know Im not just an employee, I actually deal with the accounting.

 

http://www.123securityproducts.com/500009.html

[PaulsonLaw 0]

Ok, someone post a link for me & I will buy 1 pair of baluns for 1 cam... I will order today...

 

Then I will take a pic of the cam w/ the high $$$ baluns & my... whatever they are lol

That will settle it...

 

Still dont see what wrong w/ the TC-L2 cat5/6 it's the same cost, about anyway, & the quality is A+++++++

[tomcctv 190]

A balun is not a complicated device. There's no reason it has to be expensive.

no wonder your clients want to use IP video, after using those $5 analogue baluns you sell them

 

 

 

 

Rory it all started out as a good post as and why baluns are used. now the post has just turned into a load of rubbish.

 

 

if your happy spending $19 then your happy if you want to make more profit shop around

 

USA i have checked i can buy baluns at 85 cents google is a good friend.

 

 

Thats incorrect.

You need power and if you really think you are going to power 4 cameras over 1 single cat5 pair then good luck with that.

 

 

well again rory that depends on the balun 1 cat5 2 cameras with power and data and audio.

 

just to help you out a little 2 cameras and data and audio are down 1 pair the power down the rest.

[Soundy 1]

Ok, someone post a link for me & I will buy 1 pair of baluns for 1 cam... I will order today...

 

PM me your address and I'll send you a pair of the baluns we use.

 

Of course, if it's just on your bench, it still won't be a valid comparison

[Secerator 0]

Just bought 1000 ft cat 5e cable for $44 on ebay (free shipping). It arrived today. Feels solid and good quality. After researching the seller I found that he sold thousands of rolls.

That is what they sell. cat 5/6, siamese, hdmi, just big rolls of cables, different types. All good reviews. People buying several rolls, I'm sure those buyers are service providers in the industry not regular DIY like me. I know some of you would say: don't buy crapbay stuff, ebay is still an option if you know what you're buying.

 

So I guess you could consider that price in your comparison: $40 or $44 / 1000' of cat5e. (they have $44 and $40 rolls of 1000' cat5e. I bought the $44 version because they said it had a better box...). Free shipping and I emailed them several times with questions and they responded in less than 20 min each time.

 

Now looking for baluns. I've run a cheap 150' videosecu cable from amazon to one camera and video sucks compared to the other cameras (about same quality cable, but shorter, 60'). Hope that the cat5e will improve it.

 

Bought cat5e because will also need to run some networking cable to my samsung TVs for internet and NAS access. Also to connect a PIR to my DVR. This roll will be enough for all my cable needs. It would be great if I could do SVGA to cat5 to SVGA of some sort. Right now I use a 25' VGA (svga) cable (same cheap amazon) from the DVR to one TV with great results. Would be nice to be able to connect my living room TV to the DVR... Running SVGA means bigger holes in the walls.

 

Still not sure what type of baluns to order. I ordered one pair of the cheap ones (grey ones not the black piramidal ones). probably will buy a pair of the better ones and compare them. (less than 150' runs)

 

Waiting on my power supply now (same, cheap amazon, but with good reviews) VideoSecu 18 Output 12 V $55.

Also bought an Optex 402 PIR from ebay for $31, used a little indoor, but perfect, I hope so (it was just shipped today).

Edited January 17, 2012 by Guest

[SEANHAWG 1]

About 50 posts ago, there was a mention of some connectors that looked to be just adapters and not Baluns. Isnt that what a passive balun really is? Just a glorified adapter? Or is there something else that makes it a "real" Balun.