Im trying to setup a LONG RANGE wired Camera

[kentuckynet 0]

Im trying to setup a LONG RANGE wired Camera, I have gates at the end of my drive way some 3,500' away from my house.

I bought a Sony Color IR Camera off ebay and was told it would work for me at this distance. The wire is an 18ga twisted pair with no breaks anywhere along the way. Where the camera is mounted i have power so thats not an issue.When all hooked up i just have a grey blurry frozen looking picture.

So i bought a inline type booster that guaranteed to work up to 4,500' well it doesnt.

 

Description of the booster i bought( i treid putting the link but this site wouldnt all)

 

The new VCA-3 takes video amplification to a whole new level. The VCA-3 will maintain high quality video for any single camera up to 4500 feet. It has controls for input impedance, balance, linear gain, HF gain and LF gain. The VCA-3 has a built-in surge protector. Compact size, high performance, industry leading features and cost effective price combine to make the VCA-3 the best video amplifier we've ever offered.

Comes with cables, power supply, video amplifier, easy instructions and 1 year manufacturers warranty.

 

 

Ok....how can i make this work?

Wireless is out of the question due to obctacles.

Can i buy a stronger booster?

Are the plain jane video baluns i bought junk?

The people who sold me the booster for $100 were not sure of the exact location where the booster should go, 2 techs said within 10' of the camera and the other 3 techs said about halfway to the house???

 

I really need someones help who knows!

 

thanks in advance

kentucky

[rory 0]

Yeah I would not believe that 4500', especially from a $99 device.

We spend in the hundreds if not thousands for products to send video up to 3000+ feet, called Active UTP (eg. NVT, Nitek, Polvision, etc).

 

Also, that "booster" is for composite video such as when using Coax cable. Even then, high quality coax video amplifiers cost alot and only push it around 2000' max (approx).

 

Passive Baluns wont go that far. You will need an Active at one end at least. Suggest Passive at each camera, and then an Active Hub at the DVR end, if there is more than one camera.

 

Also, you will need to power the camera locally, meaning near the camera.

[zmxtech 0]

sounds like a job for solar power and a microwave link,

 

did they give you a set of steak knives >?

 

 

z

[kentuckynet 0]

I can send the booster back and get my money back.

 

There is only one camera.

 

As stated in my post power is right there at the camera.

 

One camera.....one monitor...not sure what a dvr is but i dont have one.

 

What exactly do i need in between the camera and the monitor???

 

a balun that transmits and one that receives???

Is this all?

 

thanks

[rory 0]

Transmitter on the camera side, and a receiver on the Tv end. (would be a DVR if you were recording it).

 

NVT is pretty expensive but it would work, one Active on the camera end and one passive on the TV end. Best to email them from their website though for the particular parts required, or even a retailer online should know. If in Europe I would recommend PolVision.

[kentuckynet 0]

Would these work...they say 4000'

 

Pelco TW3001AT 1 CH Transmitter for UTP, Active 120 VAC

Pelco TW3001AR 1 Channel Receiver for UTP, Active

[rory 0]

I've never researched Pelco UTP products, but going by the specs looks like it will work, with active at both ends, as you mentioned.

 

if you can, also check out the NVT NV-652R and NVT NV-653T, as I know they will work.

 

http://www.nvt.com/products/NV_653T.html

http://www.nvt.com/products/NV_652R.html

 

NV-652R:

8,000ft 1.5 miles (2,4km) (NTSC only) when used with NV–653T transmitter and Cat-5 wire

 

 

Only one issue, you will need Cat5 or Cat6 Twisted Pair Cable.

What is the 18AWG you mentioned?

[kentuckynet 0]

thanks for all the help.

 

One last question looking at the picture of the receiver unit, i see where my wires will screw down under the terminals but what will type of connector will i use to adapt from the receiver unit to the monitor? It has an av video jack.

 

As for the wire its just an 18ga pair thats stranded inside a aluminum foil type shielding...it is direct bury yet i ran it in conduit. Its a type of phone line but stranded rather than solid and little larger diameter i think than normal phone line....(it has to work as i will not run a different wire)

 

Also do you know any one place on the web that has better prices on the units?

 

thanks again...wish i had come here first!

 

kentucky

[rory 0]

It would be BNC connectors but they are only for coax (RG59/6). The thing is, the UTP devices will only work with UTP (twisted pair) cable, not stranded or any other wire. Stranded is typically used for power or audio, sometimes for alarms also. For video though you want a solid center (stranded may also work for video in some cases but personally I would not use it). Either way, for these UTP Devices, you will need UTP Cable which is cat2, 3, 5 or 6, cat5 or cat6 for over 3000' distances.

 

There really is nothing else to suggest, after coax there is either UTP or Fiber for longer distances, and Fiber being much more expensive UTP is the choice of most standard applications.

[kentuckynet 0]

so are you saying my cable will not work?

 

After playing with the dip setting and adjustments I was able to get a decent picture today with the 99.00 junk booster but not good enough...to make me happy.

[rory 0]

Yep its the wrong cable for Video unfortunately. Need Cat5 or Coax (copper solid center and copper outer braid) (Coax only good up to 750-1000' approx).

[Lolo Wolf 0]

You could of used coax (RG6 copper) with a quality amp and get approx 4500 ft installers tell how they run RG-59 600-800 ft. without a amp probably accomplished using topshelf quality cable with ideal cable/conditions, but a amp is needed to insure an acceptible image. Amp placement really can be argued,signal quality is highest at the camera so you are boosting a strong signal to begin with, amp at the monitor (at that distance) often will just boost a degraded signal that is dirty, placement where the signal starts to degrade is ideal but you have to take into consideration that you will have to power to the amp, outdoor would be additional work to properly pull pwr from you exsiting AC. Always try to be conservative when spec on distance be it UTP or cable, its tough to get credible claims made today in this industry based on white papers that often are just used as market hype. At that distance outdoor, no matter what you pull (cat ot cable) use a product that is designed for outdoor service, if you choose to use conduit or not. 3500ft is a bear when you have to revisit the run later after it fails due to water egress. Spend your time and money on quality gear either cable/or as suggested by Rory, UTP amplified products with the correct wire. Your install may work as you stated but nowhere near the performance you could aquire with correct gear specified for your application.

[kentuckynet 0]

ok i took "some" of your advice and bought the NVT NV-652R and NVT NV-653T....hooked it all up and it works on a scale of 1-10 about an 8 !!!

 

The camera im using is a sony 1/3" color HAD CCD

420 lines

36IR LED F8 Night Vision

Lens 12mm

Model:DV-LH4142

 

My new question is can i use a dufferent camera and even improve on my picture even more?

Is black and white better on these long runs?

I have a dumpster about 100' from the camera and i cant quite make out the letters on the side. I can EASILY identify anyone who comes up to our gates and know if i want to answer the phone when the gate rings.....as this was my main reason for the installation.

 

The 18awg seems to work fine with the boosters.

 

Thanks for any advice on cameras...they may all be the same for what i know.

[rory 0]

Hi, glad it worked out. You will need to go to the actual camera to test its abilities first. Hook it to a monitor there (CCTV CRT or a TV) then adjust properly (can take some time to get it setup correctly).

 

First, having Sony in the title does not mean it is a Sony Camera, as it is not. Sony does not make those type of cameras, they make Chips which other manufacturers use, some are cheaper than others, typically the more the camera costs then the more the chip costs, and it will in most cases also have more features and be better video overall. For example, there are many variations of the Sony Exview Chip, ranging from cheap to expensive.

 

Quick google search came up with a no name OEM Color/IR camera, so if you were to spend a couple more dollars you could get a nice True Day/Night camera that would give you accurate color in the day and then BW at night with decent level of Infrared (approx up to 60' but if you need more you would have to pay double for a camera with alot more IR and then it would come with a 5-50mm lens).

 

I would also ignore that 220' IR that they claim pertaining to that camera.

 

Best cameras for Day Night and Long range Infrared is ofcourse the Extreme CCTV cameras, but they cost alot. I have added UF500's before and they will light it up like it is daylight out to a few hundred feet (even more with even more expensive IRs), but the cost is horrendous. EX82's light it up around 100' out from the camera, also not cheap (dual cameras). There are some no names that are similar (check out CNB cameras for example) though have never tested them, being in the biz we need something that we are 100% sure will work and Extreme CCTV is tried and tested.

 

100' IR will be a task for most no name cameras, while at the same time providing a decent day and nightime image, but your best bet would be to look for a True Day Night with IR and a 5-50mm lens (or similar), as that is designed for longer range and having the IR Cut Filter it will give you accurate colors in the day, and also more sensitive BW at night. Stay clear of cameras with DSS if at all possible, at least in this case; more headaches than it is worth.

 

KT&C for a budget, CNB for midrange, Extreme CCTV for the high end.

 

my 5 cents

[kentuckynet 0]

The camera i have now seems to pull everything up a little closer than i would like.....what lens would i want for like a wider farther away angle?

 

Thanks again for all your help.

 

One last thing i really dont need the infared ability on this camera as my gates are lit.....would you still reccommend the same camera?

[rory 0]

Hi, okay, though if its 100' away thats quite a distance. If the current 12 mm (thats what the google search came up with) is zoomed in too much, then maybe try an 8 mm or 6 mm. 100' is pretty far though, with a 4mm you wont be able to make out much after 50-75'. If you get a camera with a 5-50mm Varifocal Lens you can then adjust it on installation. If you dont need the IR, you could try a Day Night box camera then use a decent housing and a 5-50mm lens. The bullets can be somewhat easier though as its all in one.

 

Panasonic, Bosch, GE, Sanyo, all have decent day night box cameras (make sure its one with an IR Cut Filter).

 

Otherwise you could get the 5-50 with the IR then just use it or disable it by unplugging the IR cable inside the camera (if it has one). CNB has one without IR with a long varifocal zoom range, not sure how it is though as it uses DSS.

 

You could get all enclosed day night cameras from Sanyo and Panasonic but they are very expensive. Otherwise Ganz and others have pre-configured kits with box cameras and housings.

 

Problem will arise as you zoom that view out wider but if there is then more dark in the image than there was when it was zoomed in, it will not see as much in the darker areas. The IR will help where it can, up closer at least, though the beam is probably narrow like 20 degrees, 30 degrees if lucky. If it is not too dark though the BW mode the True Day Night camera will go into will generally work well under most low light situations - too dark though and it will pixelise and or not see much of anything.

 

Hard to tell though without seeing the location, some plans, or photos of the area/desired focal view.

 

Rory

[Lolo Wolf 0]

Camera placement in relationship to the gate and where your lights are located (on the gate, type of light.. etc) all will help in determining what type of cam to use. If you are observing in/out traffic that should be considerd as well , need to be positioned so that you minimize the glare and saturation from headlights at night.

[kentuckynet 0]

You guys have been a lot of help...thanks again.

 

Its really cool being able to see traffic go by when you live alomst 3/4 of a mile from the highway....way cool!

 

Thanks again

mack

[kentuckynet 0]

New question:

 

Is there a way i can view the video from my camera on the computer monitor? I know there is but i guess im asking what would i need to buy and how would you go from say windows to the view from the camera?

 

thanks as always

[kentuckynet 0]

Hello is anyone there?

[vin2install 0]

You would need a DVR with network capabilites or you can use a TV tuner box for your VGA monitor. Those run about 70.00. Those you can still view your cameras by switching inputs or have PIP too.