Apologies if i am restarting an old debate but ruling moeny out of the equation which cable is best cat5 or coax siamese cable.

I would prefer to use cat5 with baluns as i believe it is easier to work with and but what about the quality?

UTP quality is good as long as the Balun you use is decent. Which is better? Each has it's pro's and con's. Do a search and read, read, read. I believe that UTP is better, according to this forum and the posts I have read to date.

A lot depends on the distance you are going to run. Remember that CAT 5 doesn't handle voltage real well over long distances since the wire is very thin compared to the 18 gauge in siamese. Also good siamese has about a 1000' maximum range for video.

Ive just used Secolarm Baluns over 150' and the quality loss is greater than RG59 Cable I have always used in the past. Only ever use it for convenience not because you would prefer to use it. I used it as I was also running telco, alarm, and networking between 2 buildings so it saved on conduit, plus if I did have issues I could always install an active transceiver. Another reason to use cat5 (UTP) is to use amplified transceivers for crisp video up to 1.5 miles, this exclused the baluns ofcourse.

Rory