Surveillance camera wiring

The output on a BNC can be converted to an RCA with no problem (there are adapters you can buy that work well (with very little in the way of signal loss). It's best to buy a good quality Coax for the run from the camera to where-ever it is you're going to hook it up to. RG-6 would work well (and is readily available). RG-59U is also a good choice but more expensive. Good luck!

Huh? RG6 is almost invariably more costly than RG59. Professional installers have been using RG59 for CCTV systems for years. If you were using high definition (HDTV) cameras you'd need to use RG6, preferably quad shielded. However, it is highly unlikely you'll find a need for HD in a typical surveillance project.

| I have some questions though about the video signal. A camera such as | the Sanyo vcc-4794 has a BNC connector for the video output. I was | planning to connect this to a coax cable to bring it from my garage to | my house. Is this signal from the camera the same as the video | component of RCA cables?

Yes.

| Is a coax cable the best choice or should I just run a single wire | equivalent to the RCA video wire? Many of the modulators take in RCA | and put them on coax but I just want to make sure I buy the right | stuff.

Yes, coax is suitable for both baseband video and RF applications. Any good "RCA video wire" *is* coax. I terminate all RG59 and RG6 cable with F connectors and then use suitable adapters (usually F to RCA or F to BNC) at the camera and equipment ends. This makes it easy to change equipment (so-called "professional" is usually BNC while "consumer" is RCA) and also means I need remember only one crimping procedure (which also covers RF applications). :) Note that you can often get bags of adapters on eBay for the cost of one or two at Radio Shack, but watch the shipping charges.

Dan Lanciani ddl@danlan.*com

At some point I have to put the signal through an RF modulator to transfer the camera video onto a cable channel.

Should the modulation happen near the camera (ie. garage) or in my house? In other words, it is better to have the signal travel as the video component or as an RF signal?

It's usually best (assuming you use a good quality camera) to keep the signal as a composite video most of the way. Decent cameras will have an output that will travel farther with a better SNR than the RF output of most modulators.