Type of Cat cable for Suspension

nemoz2

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I am a senior citizen and want to setup a POE camera near the front of my lot. I want to suspend a cat ? cable 80' in the air, then 40' under the eve of my house, and then into my house
to POE switch. I live in Alabama where it gets hot in the summer. Can anyone suggest what kind of ethernet cable I should use. I have been told by someone to use CAT6 Shielded ethernet
cable. Thank you for your advice.
 

sebastiantombs

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Do you have any way to get power out to that location? The best solution is either a dedicated wireless bridge or a fiber cable. Both provide the necessary electrical isolation for the camera and NVR/VMS.

That said, if you're going to run overhead wire outside CAT6 shielded is the proper cable. The shield needs to be well grounded at both ends and it is probably a good idea to get a surge suppresser in that line as well. In Alabama you tend to get more than your share of thunder storms so being "conservative" with lightning protection is probably a very good idea. Remember that a surge/spike can happen even with strikes further away than you might expect possible.

There are cables with built-in "messenger" wires to take the strain off the CAT cable, itself as well. In any case the cable needs to be UV rated for outdoor use. That style cable is a lot stiffer than normal CAT6, which is fairly stiff to begin with, which makes it more difficult when pulling it inside the house and to install RJ45s on it at both ends.
 
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looney2ns

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Do you have ac power at the camera location?
Your in AL, so it'd be wise to use a pair of these instead to protect against lightning surges.

Or use a fiberoptic cable to avoid the same lightning issue's.

You would want a built in support wire so your not hanging the cable by the twisted pair cables, something like this.
for either the fiber optic or the ethernet cable.
 
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sebastiantombs

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Another thought would be to mount a PTZ on the house, or a fixed varifocal, to allow you to zoom in 60 feet isn't too bad and I'd say a Dahua 5241E-Z12 would work fairly well at that range.
 

nemoz2

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Do you have any way to get power out to that location? The best solution is either a dedicated wireless bridge or a fiber cable. Both provide the necessary electrical isolation for the camera and NVR/VMS.

That said, if you're going to run overhead wire outside CAT6 shielded is the proper cable. The shield needs to be well grounded at both ends and it is probably a good idea to get a surge suppresser in that line as well. In Alabama you tend to get more than your share of thunder storms so being "conservative" with lightning protection is probably a very good idea. Remember that a surge/spike can happen even with strikes further away than you might expect possible.

There are cables with built-in "messenger" wires to take the strain off the CAT cable, itself as well. In any case the cable needs to be UV rated for outdoor use. That style cable is a lot stiffer than normal CAT6, which is fairly stiff to begin with, which makes it more difficult when pulling it inside the house and to install RJ45s on it at both ends.
Thank you very much for your prompt reply..
 

nemoz2

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Do you have ac power at the camera location?
Your in AL, so it'd be wise to use a pair of these instead to protect against lightning surges.

Or use a fiberoptic cable to avoid the same lightning issue's.

You would want a built in support wire so your not hanging the cable by the twisted pair cables, something like this.
for either the fiber optic or the ethernet cable.
Thank you for your prompt replies.
 
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Teken

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Lots of great advise given so will offer my extra $0.000000000000000001! :lmao: If we assume you intend to pursue a overhead connection insure both sides has strain relief. A drip leg on both sides must be present to avoid water seepage to building or hardware. As it pertains to grounding all Earth Grounding will be bonded to the single point ground used by the homes electrical system.

Failure to adhere to this basic principle can and will cause a ground loop and a voltage differential. A voltage differential is what can and will damage hardware in and around the home. As others noted if you're going to invest all of this time and effort to string more than 80 feet of wire.

It's highly recommended to use fiber or a PTP (Wireless Solution) to avoid induced EMF.

Regardless of the type of cabling or transmission (Wired / Wireless) the use and deployment of a SPD (Surge Protective Device) is required. Anytime you break 50 feet in cable you have essentially created a long antenna just waiting for God to make a collect phone call on. :facepalm: Lastly, all accessories & hardware should be outdoor weather rated to provide you years of trouble free service:

  • Stainless screw: Apply anti seize to the bolts and screws and apply a small dab of silicone to protect the heads
  • Water proof box: All junction boxes and fixtures should have rubber seals and gaskets
  • Dielectric grease: All electrical connections including the RJ45 jack should have dielectric compound to reduce air & moisture
  • Glands: Any RJ45 connection that is exposed should use water tight glands to mate the two sections together
  • Dry Pack: Given the region and damp climate install extra silicate dry packs where possible
  • UV Protection: Apply UV protection to the metal housing to prevent damage
  • Rain X: Apply what ever flavor of water repellent of your choice to the exterior glass so water is repelled and dries faster
  • Wind Guard: If the camera will have a microphone install a wind guard in place as it will reduce howling in high winds
 
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tigerwillow1

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As it pertains to grounding all Earth Grounding will be bonded to the single point ground used by the homes electrical system.
Just to be clear, I'm interpreting this statement to say that the shield should be grounded at only one end.

I've been following the earth grounding and bonding debates for about 10 years after having a solar electric system installed. I ended up with 2 grounding points about 80 feet apart that are bonded together with a dedicated conductor. The installer explained that he does the grounding a few different ways depending on which inspector is assigned to the permit. This subject has many similarities to a group of engineers figuring out how to split the lunch check.
 

Teken

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Just to be clear, I'm interpreting this statement to say that the shield should be grounded at only one end.

I've been following the earth grounding and bonding debates for about 10 years after having a solar electric system installed. I ended up with 2 grounding points about 80 feet apart that are bonded together with a dedicated conductor. The installer explained that he does the grounding a few different ways depending on which inspector is assigned to the permit. This subject has many similarities to a group of engineers figuring out how to split the lunch check.
I'm going to over generalize for just a moment with respect to both sides of a shielded cable being grounded. If everything was equal both sides of the shielded Ethernet cable would be grounded. This assumes both ends of the Earth ground share the same potential (resistance) from point A to Point B. That is rarely the case and thus one side of the Ethernet cable is grounded to the buildings electrical (Earth) ground.

The key is that all components are connected to the same ground plane . . .

In this case the ground strap provided by the POCO which is tied (bonded) to the electrical service panel, water pipe, etc.

The most reliable and consistent grounding method known to man is called uFer grounding which my home also uses. It should be noted that the difference between component ground, chassis ground, and Earth ground can and will vary depending upon soil type, moisture present, building envelope, and all of the thousands of electrical items in a home. One example of how a ground loop can be created is say a person installs a camera and uses the OEM metal junction box.

The side of the building if made of metal / concrete / brick acts like a ground plane. Meanwhile the camera's component ground & chassis ground is tied to the building electrical Earth ground.

When such a condition exists a ground loop can be seen and the typical black bar is displayed on the image. To resolve such a problem an isolator is installed in its place and the easiest and effective solution is to mount the camera using a plastic junction box. This decuples the camera chassis from the buildings structure and allows the entire camera to simply use the electrical Earth ground provided by the POE / 12 VDC.

Now lets change gears for a moment as it pertains to an isolated solar IP camera system. In such a system if the camera is mounted to a metal pole one would think grounding is done - wrong! No matter what type metal pipe the internal resistance is much higher than a piece of copper wire. As such this is why a dedicated minimum of 6 ~ 12 AWG is used depending upon the length of the pipe, expected current, and surface area to be protected.

It goes without saying the type of accessories used to secure the grounding cable is just as important to allow a solid physical connection and long term conductivity: Clear Bare Metal Surface, Star Washer, SS Bolt, Conductive Nyogel, Copper ground rod / Multiple in parallel if ground soil resistance exceeds 25 ohms.
 
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