Re: Audio Video and power over cat 5

[shb*NO*SPAM*@comporium.net (Si Ballenger)]

On Tue, 20 Sep 2005 18:56:04 -0400, "Jackcsg" <nospam@xxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

>"Si Ballenger" <shb*NO*SPAM*@comporium.net> wrote in message
>news:4330896d.45613929@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> On Tue, 20 Sep 2005 09:29:23 -0500, Chris W <1qazse4@xxxxxxx>
>> wrote:
>>
>> >Does anyone know of an inexpensive device that will allow me to run both
>> >video and power to my cameras using cat 5 cable?  It would also be nice
>> >to have audio on one of the cameras as well.
>> >
>> >Are these things really all that complicated?  Can't I just wire up the
>> >connectors to a cat 5 cable myself?  What would be really nice is a box
>> >with 4 RJ45 jacks on one side and 4 audio and video on the other side
>> >that would also send power down all 4 lines from one power supply.  That
>> >would really make for a clean installation.
>>
>> I run line level video, audio, power and ground on four conductor
>> cat3 wire, so cat5 should also work. Running the wire adjacent to
>> ac wires might pick up hum in the audio. Get some wire and just
>> try it out.
>
>Line level video (I'll assume you mean analog), audio (Line Level?) Power
>and ground on four wires? I'll assume you mean 4 pair? And just how far do
>you run this?

My runs are about 60'. I've heard you can run composite video
well over 100' before you have to resort to baluns and twisted
pair wire.

>I tend to think that many are confused about PoE. It's designed for VERY
>short runs. The most 24 awg wire can handle amperage wise is about 1 amp.
>Now you can run Ethernet 300 feet. Can anybody tell me how much power, say
>12vdc @ 1 amp, will be at the end? Not 12vdc.

You are starting to mix apples and oranges now. From what I've
read, poe uses four wires of eight in cat5 cable for 10-baseT and
two of the other four for power/ground. I've got an old webcam
computer in the back of the house and have it connected to the
router in the front of the house with cat3 four conductor phone
wire. If you need to get more power down the wire, use 24vdc
instead of 12vdc and put a 12vdc regulator on the end. I've got
the cheap cam below and noticed it just uses four wires. Instead
of cutting the ends off the supplied cable, I just ran cat3 and
put connectors on the ends after the wire was run through small
holes and stuff. The power requirements for this CMOS cam is
small. My CCD cams use around five watts. This is all home hobby
stuff and not intended to be commercial grade.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=91851

>Short runs, yes.
>Line level audio should be in a shielded cable, or at least by itself.
>Here's a good test of what the audio will do. Use an expansion bus wire to
>extend your zones to a remote module, in that cable, say a six conductor,
>run your power, and data bus loop, and also use the other two pair for your
>siren loop. Only, don't use sirens, use a siren driver in the panel, and
>some 8 ohm speakers at the end. Enjoy your troubleshooting nightmare. Yummy!
>
>