Post by Deleted on Dec 10, 2007 16:00:47 GMT -5
So I am asked, how do you set it all up? Well to be honest, it isn't hard and you can save money depending what avenue you go.
The things you will need will be video cable, a couple baluns, a camera and a tv. Depending if you want to use two cameras or not, you will need either a video switch, or a quad processor. The quad processor allows automatic switching between signals, or you can display two video signals on the sam tv. What it does is split the screen in two, three or four ways. However in most cases, you will be using one, so to explain the single camera avenue.
Now buying regular video cable will run you hundreds of dollars, depending on distance. I was turned on to baluns. They use a cateory 5 cable (network cable) to transmit a video signal, and they work quite well. In fact they also make audio baluns, so you can transmit audio over cat 5 cable.. The video cable will run 100.00+, and I suggest you buy stuff that is off brand, and the solid cable, not the patch cable that is flexible. The solid stuff wont fray.
The baluns you buy from smarthome.com. I suggest calling them when ordering, and ask them which ones to get. The ones I suggest are the tooless baluns. These allow you to slide in a spliced wire, and there are "teeth" that grab it, and hold. The other type use a screw, and if you decide to move the camera, you can do so without needing a screw driver. The screw ones hold on to the small wires. But I have found aren't nearly as good as the tooless ones. You will need two baluns, one for each end. They are easy to hook up, you choose which pair of wires of the 8 in a cat 5 cable to use. There is brown, blue, green and orange pairs. One of the pairs is solid, the other has a stripe. Generally to make it easier, I use the striped wire as negative, and the solid color as positive. With cat 5 cable, you could technically run up to 4 cameras using one cable, you cant do that with regular video cable.
The cameras I would get are at polarisusa.com. They sell weatherproof cameras, along with others. However weatherproof are more rugged. They also take the worry away from getting dusty, or wet. I also suggest getting a camera with IR emitters. They allow you to see in the dark, out to x feet. The personal prefrence is whether you want color or B&W. Color wont matter in the dark, B&W tends to have more distance in the dark with IR.
Now when you do order that camera, buy a cheap one, they run 100.00, some less. But get one with a base that is easily adjustable. So you can position it the way you want it. It also makes it nice if it has a base that is easily mounted on a wall or ceiling, so you can remove it, and place it at another location.
Now one word of caution, with the cat 5 cable, dont move it around like video cable, in other words. Dont run it, then spool it up each time, the little wires are solid copper, and will fatigue. The distance is the biggest advantage (along with cost) with cat 5 cable. You can transmit a signal up to 1800' (color), or 2200' I beleive with B&W.
Where you buy the cat 5 cable is newegg.com, they have a large selection, and they do have a number. LIke I said, dont buy any fancy stuff. Buy stuff that will work, and most of it does, actually all of it.
Also what you will need with the baluns would be BNC to male RCA. The end where the camera is, should have a bnc connector on the camera cable, so you should be set there. You can hook up the one at your house end to a regular tv with a RCA jack (video in), and simply tune to composite in or whichever it is..
So there ya have it, any questions ask..
Jeff
The things you will need will be video cable, a couple baluns, a camera and a tv. Depending if you want to use two cameras or not, you will need either a video switch, or a quad processor. The quad processor allows automatic switching between signals, or you can display two video signals on the sam tv. What it does is split the screen in two, three or four ways. However in most cases, you will be using one, so to explain the single camera avenue.
Now buying regular video cable will run you hundreds of dollars, depending on distance. I was turned on to baluns. They use a cateory 5 cable (network cable) to transmit a video signal, and they work quite well. In fact they also make audio baluns, so you can transmit audio over cat 5 cable.. The video cable will run 100.00+, and I suggest you buy stuff that is off brand, and the solid cable, not the patch cable that is flexible. The solid stuff wont fray.
The baluns you buy from smarthome.com. I suggest calling them when ordering, and ask them which ones to get. The ones I suggest are the tooless baluns. These allow you to slide in a spliced wire, and there are "teeth" that grab it, and hold. The other type use a screw, and if you decide to move the camera, you can do so without needing a screw driver. The screw ones hold on to the small wires. But I have found aren't nearly as good as the tooless ones. You will need two baluns, one for each end. They are easy to hook up, you choose which pair of wires of the 8 in a cat 5 cable to use. There is brown, blue, green and orange pairs. One of the pairs is solid, the other has a stripe. Generally to make it easier, I use the striped wire as negative, and the solid color as positive. With cat 5 cable, you could technically run up to 4 cameras using one cable, you cant do that with regular video cable.
The cameras I would get are at polarisusa.com. They sell weatherproof cameras, along with others. However weatherproof are more rugged. They also take the worry away from getting dusty, or wet. I also suggest getting a camera with IR emitters. They allow you to see in the dark, out to x feet. The personal prefrence is whether you want color or B&W. Color wont matter in the dark, B&W tends to have more distance in the dark with IR.
Now when you do order that camera, buy a cheap one, they run 100.00, some less. But get one with a base that is easily adjustable. So you can position it the way you want it. It also makes it nice if it has a base that is easily mounted on a wall or ceiling, so you can remove it, and place it at another location.
Now one word of caution, with the cat 5 cable, dont move it around like video cable, in other words. Dont run it, then spool it up each time, the little wires are solid copper, and will fatigue. The distance is the biggest advantage (along with cost) with cat 5 cable. You can transmit a signal up to 1800' (color), or 2200' I beleive with B&W.
Where you buy the cat 5 cable is newegg.com, they have a large selection, and they do have a number. LIke I said, dont buy any fancy stuff. Buy stuff that will work, and most of it does, actually all of it.
Also what you will need with the baluns would be BNC to male RCA. The end where the camera is, should have a bnc connector on the camera cable, so you should be set there. You can hook up the one at your house end to a regular tv with a RCA jack (video in), and simply tune to composite in or whichever it is..
So there ya have it, any questions ask..
Jeff