Whats better a 12 Volt DC power supply or 24 volt VAC?

[jstory 0]

Im looking at power supplys right now that are 12 volts and supply 5 amps on 16 channels total. Shouldnt it be more like 2 amps per a camera? What brands do you recommend, it seems i always have issues with power on IR cameras even though i use 18 gauge wire. Sorry for the questions im new. Also what type of dome cameras or box cameras do you recommend for under 250 bucks? Something with adjustable lenses would be nice on the domes.

[VST_Man 1]

DC & AC are both "good". Cable quality and length to camera will determine which one to use. 200 - 250 for DC and beyond that AC. You can use AC below 250.

 

Amps of the power supply equate to amps available to use. All camera's have specs that provide the camera's amp usage. ie; most smaller bullet type camera's with no IR use approx. 150mA (miliAmps). with IR they can go higher. PTZ's use 1.5Amps and higher. So if you total all your camera's amp usage at full power rating you'll get the number you need to supply. 5 Amp's is ok if you use 4.5 Amps.......power supplies come in larger Amperage if required. 1000mA is the same as 1 Amp

 

Best power supplies I've installed are Altronix, pricey. I've used cheaper with no problems yet. Altronix is just made better.

 

The below link is to a Armor Dome I use in my installs. Has just about all you'll need. Nice thing about it is that it is IR sensitive with a IR cut filter.....the other link is to the IR I use with it........you'll light up the scene very nicely!

 

 

 

http://www.primocctv.com/primo/DOMEMAIN/DOME-PD2815NVF/DOME-PD2815NVF.html

 

[/url]http://www.supercircuits.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=5436

[rory 0]

Altronix also gets you the higher amp power supplies, for example i needed 2 amps per camera so i got a 25amp Power supply .. cant get that in the OEM gear normally.

[jstory 0]

VST Man, where can i order that camera? Also does a varifocal lense mean i can manually adjust it or it adjust itself? Would it be bad to use AC for a run under 200 feet? Most of the cameras i have been looking at have the option for 12 or 24 so i would like to stick with one powersupply.

[VST_Man 1]

12vdc & 24vac are both "good", but since all your camera's are dual voltage stick with 24vac as it is becoming the industry standard. I use 12VDC when I need to power other accessories..ie..a external usb harddrive.

 

note: 2 different types of power supplies availble. PTC & fused. PTC is a auto-resetting 1amp fuse and fused are the agc or mini fuse types. I like both..................PTC cannot be increased where a fused can be increased ie. replace the 1 amp fuse with a 2 amp fuse, in order to power the usb drive.

 

I'll pm ya on purchase info.......

 

varifocal means you can manually adjust focal length & focus.

[kensplace 0]

24v ac is easy to convert to 12vdc at the camera end if required, but its very difficult/impractical to convert 12vdc to 24vac at the camera end, so using 24vac gives you the option of using a converter at the camera end to power local 12vdc cameras/devices if required.

[Metal Shaper Man 0]

After calculating the needed amps, I bought an Altronix R615DC1016, 16 camera 10 amp Rack Mount Power Supply for my 12 Volt none IR cameras. One can adjust the voltage via a trim pot from 6 to 15VDC. Right or wrong, I adjusted it to compensate for the voltage drop at the power connectors on the cameras. I’ve not had any trouble with it at all.

[VST_Man 1]

perfect