Hi. I am brainstorming ways to add some sensors and controls to the property entrance gate area of my mother's house. I am planning on installing some HA there later this summer but have a specific problem with distance.
What I have:
House 2200' away from the gate.
Power at the gate and in a small pumphouse by the gate.
Electric powered gate
What I would like:
2 way audio/intercom
camera(s)
gate open/close control (most important requirement)
motion or other vehicle sensor
possible lighting control
The problem, of course, is the distance. Unless someone knows of a reasonably priced ethernet transmitter/receiver, I was planning on running conduit and cable. Distance limitations apply here too. Fiber optic is an option, but would cost nearly $1000 for cable alone. Is coax an option? If I run cable I will probably run 24v but 120v is an option if I need it for signal amplification or whatever along the way.
Thanks for any suggestions,
Armand
Have you already tested if X10 and/or UPB-Devices are working via the existing powerline over this distance?
Actual X10-Devices are more sensitive and reliable than in the past. UPB has even more reach.
BSR idea with MURS would be an option if you need only 3 or 4 wires to signal ... but:
gatecontroll, driveway controll, intercom, cameras etc all together wireless comes rather expensive.
WLAN is also a possibility, especialy because it is encryptable. But then you cannot use the RS485-Bus of the ELK-system (and similar systems), but must use network-switches for signaling and similar interfaces for voice etc. This depends also from the device-prices of your complete solution.
My solution: buried cable requires only a onetime investment. And offers the widest spectrum for future developmants. On the other side: what was the best solution in the past, is not necessarily the best for the future.
Renting a small trencher at Home Depot or Lowes or your local Dealer is around $45 for a day.
And then you are burrying a 3/4" PVC (schedule40) pipe, filled with 2 CAT5e and 1 CAT6e cables.
So you have 1 Networkcable, one in Reserve and one used for a 485-Bus (for the ELK-system) a phoneline or whatever.
Maybe Belkins has special cables, requiring only a 1/2" PVC-pipe.
If the pipe is 1 feet deep (that means under the frostlimit) and glued on all connections, it will become awfull reliable.
(trench all, put down all cables, string them with PVC to the middle from both sides, glue them, burry them)
I have it on my farm in 4 cases but for shorter distances:
for power from the meter-pole to the house (100 ft),
to connect the pumphouse with the house (100 ft),
along the meadow for sprinkler-valve-controll and power (400 ft),
along the meadow for reserve:1 CAT5e+ power (300 ft).
A longer line (or chain of lines) with more than 2000 ft -along all my property- may come the next years.
I never had any issue since 2 decades, is this luck only?
It all depends on prices and worktime.
So the only thing you realy need is a sharp pencil.
And what are your final requirements on signal and communication-channels.
