CCTV design and layout

[anthonytr 0]

Hi everyone,

 

This is my first post on this forum - I'm new to CCTV. I have a few design/layout questions I would like some advice on.

 

1). I'm planning on using Cat5e utp cable to each camera. Some are bullet cameras, some dome and 1 will be PTZ camera. Distances range from 30m to 60m. I wasn't gaing to send power of the cat5 cable and was going to route a separate power cable to each camera, all terminating in a power distribution panel so its all nice and tidy. Would this be hat is normally done? Separate power and video? I don't want to use the Siamese cable.

 

2). Is it standard practice to run the cat5e cable from the DVR straight to the camera, or do I terminate the cat5 at a junction box by the camera and then connect to camera into the junction box? All the cameras are external, with access through the wall.

 

3). What are some good manufactures of DVR machines? Prices seem to vary on the Internet from £300 to £3000. What should I be looking for as a benchmark?

 

The majority of my questions / concerns are layout based (how power is distributed, video signal retuned, cables are managed). Would appreciate any feedback or tips.

 

Thank you for your time.

 

Anthony

[camera-newbie 0]

Are the cameras analog or IP? I'm going to assume analog based on your comments. I've got a pair of analog cameras running with a single cable -- one CAT5e to each -- carries both video and power (24VAC) -- no need for the extra cable unless they're very power hungry, have integrated heaters that are power hungry,etc..

 

For the PTZ camera you may need an extra cable but I'll let others chime in on that one since I've never used any.

[anthonytr 0]

Thanks for the reply!

 

The cameras will be analog.

 

This might be a silly question, please excuse me. If I'm sending power and video down the same cat5 cable, isn't it a bit messy at the DVR end? I mean, the power bit will need to go into my power distribution box and the video bit to the back of the DVR. How do you get round this problem? Is there a hub where you can terminate the cat5 cable and then run the separate power and video feeds from there to pdu and DVR? Again, sorry if this is a silly question

 

Anthony

[Soundy 1]

1). I'm planning on using Cat5e utp cable to each camera. Some are bullet cameras, some dome and 1 will be PTZ camera. Distances range from 30m to 60m. I wasn't gaing to send power of the cat5 cable and was going to route a separate power cable to each camera, all terminating in a power distribution panel so its all nice and tidy. Would this be hat is normally done? Separate power and video? I don't want to use the Siamese cable.

I'd check the specs on the PTZ, see how much current it pulls, and MAYBE use a separate power wire to it, depending on the length of the run... other than that, there's no reason not to run video, power, and control over the same Cat5e.

 

2). Is it standard practice to run the cat5e cable from the DVR straight to the camera, or do I terminate the cat5 at a junction box by the camera and then connect to camera into the junction box? All the cameras are external, with access through the wall.

This really depends on how "tidy" you want to be. For the cleanest install, I'd suggest terminating the Cat5e into an RJ45 patch panel at the DVR end:

 

 

Then I'd use one of these type of units, which combines baluns and power supply into one unit:

 

 

From there, you just need short BNC cables to connect to the DVR, and standard network patch cables to connect the patchbay to the VPS unit.

 

At the camera end, a balun like this makes it easy to connect to the camera, although you can use standard screw- or punch-terminal baluns and split the power out manually:

 

 

One benefit to this is that if you want to switch to IP cameras later, you can just unplug the patch cable from the VPS, and plug it into a PoE switch.

 

For the PTZ, you can always separate a pair where the wires punch down at the patch panel, to run your signal over. This balun separates one pair for PTZ/data connection as well:

 

 

All that aside, there isn't really a "standard" practice for the connections. I've done it a dozen different ways, usually depending on the specific site requirements: where the DVR goes, where the power supply goes, where the cable runs come in...

 

3). What are some good manufactures of DVR machines? Prices seem to vary on the Internet from £300 to £3000. What should I be looking for as a benchmark?

That's WAY too broad a question without knowing some operational requirements. I could suggest good systems at both ends of that scale, but without more details, it would be pointless.

[anthonytr 0]

Thanks Matt for the great response!

 

I've been searching the web for somewhere to purchase one of the hubs but can't seem to find one in the UK.

 

I was thinking along the lines of using a cat5 patch panel, but wasn't sure it would work - great news. Hope I can find one of the balun hubs, it's seems perfect.

 

Anthony

[anthonytr 0]

I'm finding it tricky to source the CCTV hub. What would be the alternative?

[Soundy 1]

Seems it's actually made by Derytech - could try searching for a local supplier based on that name (try DEREV08P-VPS).

[anthonytr 0]

Nothing, their website doesn't even mention the product

 

Looks like I'll have to go with seperate power lines to each camera and then use a video hub to manage the video cables.

[Numb-nuts 1]

I like the idea of a separate power cable and a cat5 carrying the video signal. For every four video channels you would need to run a single cat5 to a central IDC junction box, and there you can run a single cat5 for each camera (using a single pair)and either add the power down the 3 spare pairs or continue to run seperate power cable to each camera. Start and finish the cat5 runs with baluns using 4, 8, 16 or 32 way balun at the dvr and a pigtail balun at the camera.

 

When running seperate power cable alongside cat5 in areas where it might be seen I try to run them in PVC conduit

as it prevents snagging and looks tidy.

 

Using combined baluns is perfectly okay but a

word of warning though, if you run power down a cat5 check for voltage loss at the camera end especially if using a combined power video and data balun.

[Soundy 1]

Using combined baluns is perfectly okay but a word of warning though, if you run power down a cat5 check for voltage loss at the camera end especially if using a combined power video and data balun.

There will be NO difference in power loss whether using a "combined balun" vs. just tying into the extra pairs - all the balun does is connect the power pairs straight through. Also, three 24AWG wires are almost the same cross-section (and thus current capacity) as an 18AWG wire, and thus there should be little or no difference in voltage loss if you're using all three pairs.

[Numb-nuts 1]

Using combined baluns is perfectly okay but a word of warning though, if you run power down a cat5 check for voltage loss at the camera end especially if using a combined power video and data balun.

There will be NO difference in power loss whether using a "combined balun" vs. just tying into the extra pairs - all the balun does is connect the power pairs straight through. Also, three 24AWG wires are almost the same cross-section (and thus current capacity) as an 18AWG wire, and thus there should be little or no difference in voltage loss if you're using all three pairs.

 

I agree but I have seen a lot of install problems where the DIY installer did everything neat and tidy but made a wrong assumption that they could run power through the combined balun or up the spare pairs up to 300m because they are using baluns. We know that a video signal can survive that but voltage drop has to be accounted for on long runs and I always pre calculate voltage drop anything over 15m. Depends what the weather is like that day