Jul 13 2008
CCTV, CATV, NFG, WTF?
Despite the relative warmth I spent a good portion of today running wires, drilling holes, cursing, muttering, drilling more holes, cursing and muttering some more and finally filling holes simply to provide a break from the muttering.
Yes, this was the beginning of the long awaited CCTV system overhaul and final installation. The first step was finishing the hole in our exterior wall to run cable through (this is the first of three such holes). Sadly my 12″ masonry bit proved to be just a bit short (no kidding…) and some improvisation was called for, in the end para cord was fished through the wall and awaits the effort of pulling wire through a hole that is not noticeably larger in diameter than the wire.
Deciding not to irritate myself any further I started running wire to the permanent location for the DVR, UPSs and so forth (telco, CAT5, RG6, RG59 and power wire along with a GFI outlet - I’ll need to install another breaker for this, but at least the wire is there). Then having done the legwork for that I revisited the CCTV/CATV distribution system (there are pictures of this, but my installation of Paint Shop Pro got corrupted so you’ll have to wait until tommorow to see it) for the house and discovered through trial and error that the combiner/distributor module I’d acquired was NFG, and instead improvised using splitters as combiners.
I discovered that the material I had read online about satellite and CATV happily residing on the same coax doesn’t apply here. Although the two may reside on different frequency ranges any attempt to introduce them both onto the same line results in neither working (actually on reflection this may not be true, as this series of tests was conducted before I discovered the combiner/distributor was NFG).
The upshot is that the CCTV feed happily resides at channel 75, and if I can get another distribution module then I can make sure that every TV in the house can see the cameras. I’ll need another video amplifier, as the one I had originally pushing the multiplexed signal through the house was less than adequate to the task, and the video quality is rapidly diminishing.
So, ending the day I need;
- A new combiner/distributor module for our CATV.
- A new video signal amplifier for the Multiplexor Feed.
- New breaker for my main panel
I’m working some long shifts this week and get a long weekend for my trouble, so hopefully I’ll make some real progress on this soon.
I should also build a new Linux DVR box with a larger HD and better DVR cards (higher FPS rates) as long as I’m relocating the system, but I’ll have to do some shopping around on prices. The existing system is adequate, just not perfect.
Did that make sense to anyone but me? Did anyone actually read down to this part?
-GRIN-
(I’ll post pictures, promise!)
I read it (Didn’t understand much) but it sounds like you needed a longer drill bit.
There was some technical CCTV stuff but I got lost.
So let me get this straight, it works, or is about to work, or might work after you get the right parts?
But for sure a longer drill bit would have helped…..
Pictures will be up, once another thing (That isn’t working) starts to work?
Was this a day off?
Really?
Do you feel unsatisfied?
Oh wait it gets better…”Despite the heat” he says….HA…
Highs of 80’s..
It was over 100 down here Brother add a humidly and forget about it.
Read, initialed, understood, ignored and used to boobytrap the dispatch log, just like any other memo of yours…
Piet: The short version? I need a longer masonry bit and my image editing software is kaput.
Less fun trimming all the rest out though, isn’t it?
-GRIN-
Greg: Damn you! Have you passed the bar yet?
In the end it’s still less work than just getting a dog, right?
Mike: Might be, I’ll think about it the next time I take my surveillance system for a walk, or step in it’s fecces when working in the yard… oh wait, I think I have my answer ready….
-GRIN-
Yup, read down to the bottom…
Made sense.
You should technically be able to have two separate frequencies going down the same wire, as long as they are multiplexed properly.
Safer to run two separate wires, unless it’s not a “safety of flight” issue.
At least that’s according to my hazy memories of being an avionics tech…