dual use for a cat5 run?

[upstatemike]

Good Info. Thanks!

 

[Steve]

Many of the discussions on this forum have established that RG59 is the best choice for CCTV. RG6 will work OK if it has a solid copper center conductor but most RG6 is copper clad steel. That is fine for RF but suboptimal for video.

Did we read the same discussions? In what I remember, and researching it on other sites at the time, it made more sense to just use RG/6U QS for everything. Yes, it must be the solid copper and quad shield but it is readily available and affordable.

 

[upstatemike]

I'm open to to the idea of standardizing on RG6 solid copper quad shield if it is truly as cheap as RG59. Where do you buy your wire? Maybe I'm looking in the wrong places for the best prices.

 

[draken]

got a newbie question. once you run the cat5 to BNC for the video, how do you convert the power from the cat5 to plug-in the cameras?

 

[upstatemike]

Cheapest way is to cut the power connector and splice the bare wires. Just be sure to pay attention to your polarity!

If you don't want to risk the camera warranty, look for one of those camera extension cables and cut that up and splice it to the cat-5.

A lot of cameras just have screw terminals for power so it often is not an issue.

 

[IVB]

Here's what happens when you try and be a macho guy in terms of polarity.