Epoe trench 750ft long

[Bryan]

Finally finished filling the trench and cutting the grass with a push mower. In the pic, that long thin line along the drive is the trench. Tomorrow will put 1" PVC up the side of the gate post and start working on the connection at the house.

 

[sebastiantombs]

Looking t your job now I don't feel as bad about doing 200 feet worth here. I will say it does tend to keep you in shape though.

 

[Bryan]

Put PVC water pipe up the gate post for protecting cabling. Twisted the ends on the furthest ethernet cable so I could identify it back at the house (from 5 other cables). Temporarily protecting finished 12VDC ends til everything is settled. Yeah, should have had a turned down end but just had 90 degree, will fill with silicone when finished.

 

[sebastiantombs]

I'd suggest Duct Seal instead of silicon seal. Duct Seal is an electrical putty that will remain pliable and can be removed, should it become necessary, should a need arise. You can pick it up at Lowes or Home Depot in the electrical department or from Amazon to save a trip to the store.

 

[Bryan]

I'd suggest Duct Seal instead of silicon seal. Duct Seal is an electrical putty that will remain pliable and can be removed, should it become necessary, should a need arise. You can pick it up at Lowes or Home Depot in the electrical department or from Amazon to save a trip to the store.

Thanks a bunch!

 

[Bryan]

Installed 2" PVC pipe in floor for 6 cables. Overkill but never know when I want to add more cables. Used a hole cutter this time. Sprayed water with a plant mister while cutting since it smoked some. You really have to be careful when doing this. Sawdust, carpet underlay etc should be thoroughly sprayed with water - in the cut, under the carpet edge, down in the hole. Used slightly undersized round saw, then finished hole with dremel. Wanted the pipe to be tight. Last pic shows I almost made a few cables too short. Table was pulled away from the wall a coupe of feet and 2 cables came even to back of NVR.

 

[c hris527]

Installed 2" PVC pipe in floor for 6 cables. Overkill but never know when I want to add more cables. Used a hole cutter this time. Sprayed water with a plant mister while cutting since it smoked some. You really have to be careful when doing this. Sawdust, carpet underlay etc should be thoroughly sprayed with water - in the cut, under the carpet edge, down in the hole. Used slightly undersized round saw, then finished hole with dremel. Wanted the pipe to be tight. Last pic shows I almost made a few cables too short. Table was pulled away from the wall a coupe of feet and 2 cables came even to back of NVR.

WOW! If I did that, I would be headed for divorce court. I have a wood stove in the basement, I remember cutting the floor for vents and yes It can get a bit hot at times. You in ways have given me some Inspiration running cams down my driveway and to the back of my property, Looking forward to seeing the final product.

 

[Kerry Hull]

I did something very similar to my gate 1000' but I used rg6 with a set of hpna connectors along with 10/3. That is where I have 2 camera's setup with and edge router that gives me a full 100mb out there. Good Job trenching that by hand, I rented a trencher.

 

[Bryan]

Working on cable ends. Furthest cable out checked good. I connected like colors together at the far end. At the house I used an ohmmeter to check which cable was connected. So green-greenwhite etc showed 35 oms between pairs, with no resistance to another color. I'll label it far gate, disconnect the ends, and connect the next cable ends. Sounds slow, but would rather check like this than hook the NVR to a cable a mole has chewed on.

 

[ctgoldwing]

. . . The voltage drop on the 14 awg was enormous. will take about 18V to get 12V at the end. Couldn't afford 1000ft of 12 awg.

Bryan I currently have 6 cameras installed in the woods with about 10 different IR sources on trees as well as 2 4port switches. The furthest run for me is about 100m but the loads are constantly changing as I add more cameras / lights. I run 48 volts out to the trees. There I use a 12 volt buck voltage reducers like this one:
Amazon.com: Down Voltage Regulator, DROK Car Power Supply Step-Down Module DC 20-55V to DC 12V 10A 120W Waterproof Buck Converter Volt Transformer Reducer Board: Home Audio & Theater
it's all of $18.00 and will provide 12 volts out up to 10amps with any input voltage from 20-72V input

To get the 48 volts I use something like this:

Amazon.com

It's all of $21 and will supply up to 10 amps (480w)

What will that get you? Well, if you are drawing 2 amps on that 12 volt side there will be about 1/2amp draw on the 48volt side. If you use 18ga wire (assuming 1000' run or a total of 2000' of wire) the resistance ~13ohms. You will get a voltage drop in the wire of 13ohms*1/2amp=6.5 volts. So the buck device will get 48-6.5= 41.5 volts. Twice what it needs to operate fine. You could triple your 12volt load and still be fine. Plus you would probably save over $100 in wire cost.

The big advantage for me is having that 48volts out there. It gives me flexibility to extend my camera coverage. I already have 2 switches powered by 12volts mounted in the trees - and can add more. No need to pull any more cat5 wire.

 

[Bryan]

Bryan I currently have 6 cameras installed in the woods with about 10 different IR sources on trees as well as 2 4port switches. The furthest run for me is about 100m but the loads are constantly changing as I add more cameras / lights. I run 48 volts out to the trees. There I use a 12 volt buck voltage reducers like this one:
Amazon.com: Down Voltage Regulator, DROK Car Power Supply Step-Down Module DC 20-55V to DC 12V 10A 120W Waterproof Buck Converter Volt Transformer Reducer Board: Home Audio & Theater
it's all of $18.00 and will provide 12 volts out up to 10amps with any input voltage from 20-72V input

To get the 48 volts I use something like this:

Amazon.com

It's all of $21 and will supply up to 10 amps (480w)

What will that get you? Well, if you are drawing 2 amps on that 12 volt side there will be about 1/2amp draw on the 48volt side. If you use 18ga wire (assuming 1000' run or a total of 2000' of wire) the resistance ~13ohms. You will get a voltage drop in the wire of 13ohms*1/2amp=6.5 volts. So the buck device will get 48-6.5= 41.5 volts. Twice what it needs to operate fine. You could triple your 12volt load and still be fine. Plus you would probably save over $100 in wire cost.

The big advantage for me is having that 48volts out there. It gives me flexibility to extend my camera coverage. I already have 2 switches powered by 12volts mounted in the trees - and can add more. No need to pull any more cat5 wire.

Sheeeit..that's a good idea. I've already installed 2 wire direct burial 14AWG and bought a cheap variable 12 to 24V power adapter at 2.5 A. Not planning to use anything but a 15 LED IR light and a mic, but if I had to ever upgrade that would be a big help. I have bought those DROK boards in the past for stepping up 12V car batteries to 19.5V for a laptop, and regulated 12V to my router from a car battery. Never had a problem. Thanks for the idea.

 

[Bryan]

Working on my camera enclosure. Bought a $13 PVC mailbox from Amazon, cut the bottom tabs off. The B5442 Z4 camera will fit all the way to the back, and at full wide angle the edges still don't show. Not planning to use the camera's IR so it won't reflect back. Don't want to be wiping spiders out every other night at the end of a 750ft driveway. If you had a square post could keep the tabs. Mine's a round telephone pole at 8 ft.

 

[Bryan]

Working on junction box while weather is changing.. Yes I know I use cheap solutions..retiree.

 

[djernie]

Working on junction box while weather is changing.. Yes I know I use cheap solutions..retiree.

I'm not retired and i still want cheap solutions.

 

[Bryan]

So glad i dug the trench at least 6 inches deep. Mole found the trench easy digging..he just kept going for about 40 ft. Didn't damage the cable where it comes up near the pole. They dig right on the surface of the ground.

 

[sebastiantombs]

I don't want to rain on your parade, Bryan, but moles dig near the surface when they're looking for food, and they eat a lot which means they dig a lot. They also dig tunnels, think freeways, down around eight inches to a foot to be able to commute to grazing areas. I don't know if they'll chew on wire/cable though.

 

[ctgoldwing]

I don't want to rain on your parade, Bryan, but moles dig near the surface when they're looking for food, and they eat a lot which means they dig a lot. They also dig tunnels, think freeways, down around eight inches to a foot to be able to commute to grazing areas. I don't know if they'll chew on wire/cable though.

When we first moved in here about 30 years ago we had a mole problem in the front lawn. A call to the CT Aggie station led me to a 'spore' solution. It is environmentally safe. You spread this spore over the lawn. It increases in coverage year after year and kills the Japanese Beetle grub that the moles are after. It is supposed to last 25 years. It worked great for me. But. . . its more than 25 years. I just reapplied it again this spring as you could see the damage the moles were doing again.

If the moles are after the same grubs it might work for you.

 

[sebastiantombs]

Yes, I've heard that "milky spore" will get rid of moles and keep them away for some time period by killing the Japanese beetle grubs. It is dependent on soil conditions, though, from what I've read. Sandy, poor, soil conditions aren't high on the list of conditions when it is most effective.

 

[ctgoldwing]

Working on junction box while weather is changing.. Yes I know I use cheap solutions..retiree.

Hey, I'm not retired - guess that makes me just cheap

 

[Bryan]

Hey, I'm not retired - guess that makes me just cheap

View attachment 66228

I think I've seen those somewhere!