I received RG59 aluminum braid when i ordered cooper braid.

[osity 0]

I have read here that I should not use aluminum braid. Is there a visible difference in the quality of the picture?

 

I have one camera setup with aluminum braid as it was all I had around and it works OK, i guess. I cant really compare as I have never used copper.

 

I recently ordered 500FT of copper braid and the vendor sent me the wrong stuff (aluminum) and he told me to try it as it would be fine for short runs and he would discount it. I told him that I dont want the cable.

 

Thoughts please. Thanks HApPy New Year All!

[Metal Shaper Man 0]

When I first started fooling around with cctv, I researched and bought some decent cameras and a good dvr. Being impatient, I used aluminum shielded RG59 from a large coil I had laying around. I did not run anything more than a 50 ft. run. Within a few days, I was getting shadowed lines running up the picture on several but not all cameras. To make a long story short, I did several test. When I ended the testing by replacing the cable with solid copper center and 95% bradded shield, the problem went away. I suspect it was interference from the many electric and cable lines that pass near my building.

 

500 foot of that stuff is a lot of money to throw away if for some reason you have trouble. The bottom line for me is to use the recommended product for the application. Send that stuff back and get the right product.

[osity 0]

Does this look pretty good?

Seems like a good price.

 

http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=020&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&viewitem=&item=300063474522&rd=1&rd=1

[rory 0]

I wouldnt waste money on just Coax now though, I would get Siamese one time, shouldnt be that much more, but worth it.

 

Also on the RG6 cable, I used that in the beginning also, didnt know any better, and was all we could get down here. Most have been okay, but im going to be re running some of the old cable finally, and Im sure some of the cameras will be even better. Occasional Interference is the biggest issue Ive had with them.

[osity 0]

Havent found the use for siamese wire yet.

 

We just install power receptacles wherever we need one. This takes us about 15-20 minutes as there are lots of electrical wires running all over, above the drop ceiling.

 

We dont have a centralized location of power that is run to all the cams.

Is there a benefit to those power boxes? I never really found the need for those things yet.

[rory 0]

Well the main benefit is to power everything from the same power socket, to prevent Ground Loops and other issues. But also saves on the cost of additional UPS or Voltage Regulators .. Voltage Regulators protect the equipment from spikes and brownouts, etc .. down here we dont warranty any product without some form of Voltage Regulation .. most new UPS's have AVR built in also.