UMDRanger 0 Posted July 23, 2007 So for the last few weeks I've slowly been doing upgrades to my CCTV system at my store. I've found large sections of Sensormatic composite cable just sitting in the ceiling, with connectors, but going to and ending no where... I've found that several cameras added by previous LP used off the floor coax (cable TV) with silver or even just a foil shield as opposed to RG-59 with 95% copper... But last night I found the kicker... as the last part in a stockroom cable loop, after several barrel connectors and various lengths of cable (rg-59 and others), was a 50' section of 18-2 with RCA adapters spliced in I really have to wonder what type of image they got after that mess... Anyone else have any "WTF?" moments when rewiring a system? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
scorpion 0 Posted July 23, 2007 Ha! Ha! Are you sure you are not in the showroom I inherited from a purchase? I have a cable that comes out of the false ceiling at the back door, it runs down the wall, and it follows the baseboard then it runs right out in to the walkway and goes all the way to the front of the shop. This is from a sat dish that goes to a 32" at the front of the shop. Did I say I have a drop ceiling? I have the same "spaghetti" wiring you have! I have network cables that are duct taped to the floor! At least it is not a trip hazard! The original camera placement did not make any sense, not from a security point of view, not from a marketing kind of view, and not even from " hey! I am an amature doing a camera install" point of view. The guy who moved in next door recently asked me about a bunch of cables that come from our unit, and that travel into his unit. He was going to cut them, but decided to ask first! It turns out that if he had cut those wires he would have killed our internet, and multiphone system! I guess at one time they had two units for a showroom, and then reduced it to one unit. The outside Pepsi machine that we control is plugged in to the other units power. They seemed to have an issue with this for some reason, and I do not know why? It is only a compressor! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
UMDRanger 0 Posted July 26, 2007 Is there some difference in the old style Baluns (has two screws on top for the cat5e, or you can use a ethernet jack with only two pins being installed on the balun) and the new ones? I got 8 baluns from another store's supply (who didn't know what to do with them, but had them a long time)... but when I use any of them all I get is a messed up signal. Image is twisted into a "V" shape, and scrolls top to bottom ultra fast. I got the same results on just a 4' section of cat5e as a test. I did find that if I applied pressure on the balun at random places that the image sometimes started to stableize / scrolling speed slowed. Ideas? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
VST_Man 1 Posted July 27, 2007 yep. just did a few hotels. one had a mass of 32 cables curled ontop of the false ceiling, and I mean approx. 100ft. just snaked on a pile.false ceiling was drooping and then some. funny part is that the cables were right above the owners desk and a few more months and it may have dropped ontop of him. other hotel has CAT5 & RG run everywhere, older system was installed with CAT5 and the newer was RG.........newer was installed ontop of older and when they added the 32 additional cameras they just installed them alongside of the old, never took them down? yep, two cameras side by side, indoor and out......looked very odd. and to make matter worse the power supplies were fused and hidden in the false ceiling all over the hotel. i had to go looking for them to find then as nobody knew where they were. big mess. third one was not toobad outside the fact that they used bullets all over the place and they were all mounted at hand grasp level? batter up! I am amazed at the sloppy installs I seen and even more amazed at what was paid out. Makes my first install look like a clean room........ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jisaac 0 Posted July 27, 2007 Man we see some of the sloppiest, messiest, most unproffessional installs around here. Its so strange that people even let them get away with it. If I had people installing a system for me and they did the kind of job that some of the companies do around here I would make them redo it. We use wall plates, conceal all wire (except going from plate to equipment), and make sure everything looks exceptional. And then to see how some people do it is just crazy. ex. thats just funny Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cybrmartian 0 Posted August 5, 2007 I have seen some reall good jobs done in my area. I seem to think half of my work involves fixing other peoples stupidity. Most of the things are common sense but some you just have to wonder how qualified these people are. I have seen Indoor cameras mounted outside with Silicone Caulk all over them for protection. When i asked the business owner why they let the installer do that since he told me he thought it was wrong he told me the installer told him it was in "Code". I ended up having to reinstall all 32 cameras with appropriate ones. Another time I went to do an upgrade which included running new cables and the whole works and taking out all the existing equipment to include the cables. The previous installer decided I guess it would be fun to install all his cable the hard way. This older building has a drop ceiling with insulation laying right on top of the Ceiling tile. The Winner before my company ran all his cable between the Ceiling tile and insulation. This insulation was probably at least 15 years old and had all the normal Funk you would expect a building that had a leaking roof and a mouse problem to have. I have seen Cables that were spliced together with Duct tape, power adapters like in jisaacmagee's picture where at arm hieght they can just be unplugged before you are even on camera, I have seen cameras installed with Double sidded tape, I think the best of all was in a 24hr store and i wish I took a picture of this they had thier entire CCTV system hooked up to a switched outlet that was right near thier door. Above the Switch was a warning sign that said not to touch the switch because it would shut down all thier cameras. Matt Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rory 0 Posted August 5, 2007 I think the best of all was in a 24hr store and i wish I took a picture of this they had thier entire CCTV system hooked up to a switched outlet that was right near thier door. Above the Switch was a warning sign that said not to touch the switch because it would shut down all thier cameras. Matt Now thats the best I've heard yet Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
scorpion 0 Posted August 5, 2007 I hear you on the indoor cameras mounted outside, and caulked to seal them! I recently had a customer hire me to move her system from her two bedroom house to her other house that she just bought. It was about a cheap of a system that you can have. I asked her how long she had the system, and she had it for two years, and it was still going strong. She was 80 years old, and stood her ground that she was not going to buy replacement cameras. Two domes had plastic bases, and the other two were metal bases. The plastic based cameras were fine. Just needed a little dust taken out of the dome, and wipe the inside clean, and it was good to go. The other two were cleaned up, but the bases were starting to deteriorate. Two years old, and the cheap cameras with one inch by one inch B/W minis inside a clear plastic dome, and the back was exposed, and they are still working! I have to say I am impressed. I saw the bill. Look like the guy who put them in did not make any money off it. It looks like he did this out of the kindness of his heart for the lady. If he made $100 out of the whole deal if he was lucky. When I gave her a quote on a new PROPER system I thought I was going to have to perform CPR on her with the look on her face. She was a tough bird. She starts lecturing me how she is on a fixed income, how her husband died, and left her all alone, her husband's pension was good many years ago, but in today economy it does not go far, and social security doesn't go very far either, and she can't afford any money, and she is so scared of these teenagers, and she has no one to call on to help her. When I left I was impressed how she just finished painting the exterior, had new tile laid in the kitchen, new wall to wall carpet through out the house, and for such a very old house it was maintained very well. I mean not far from showroom condition!! Must be one heck of a Social Security Check she gets! Now lets talk about the house she is moving in to! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jisaac 0 Posted August 5, 2007 this is a little off topic but still a good story. I got a call from a guy the other day that said that he had bought some camera equipment off of ebay and that he needed someone to install it. Usually we won’t do that but since he said he had bought 1 pelco ptz, a pelco dx700 dvr, and a pelco kbd300 controller I decided to agree to it. So our guys get there and as soon as they get there they call me and are like," uhhh there is a little mix up on the dvr, ptz, and the controller." So I asked them what they meant and they said for the ptz instead of a pelco spectra ptz they got some no name china made ptz. Instead of the pelco dx700 they got a 4 year old pelco time lapse vcr and a genex multiplexer. And instead of a pelco kbd300 they got some really old controller (the ones with arrows instead of a joystick). And it was not even close to a pelco. This guy got ripped a new one off of ebay. (Its a little bit satisfying to see someone who tried to save some money get ripped on ebay!) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
