Today I rewired my two cameras. One was connected to my POE switch with a stranded patch cable and the other was connected to my router with a powerline adapter. I bought a roll of solid copper cat5e and rewired both cameras. I didn't have a tester so I hooked both cameras up and they worked fine. However, now nighttime picture is awful. Any thoughts? Possibly bad cables? Should have used stranded?
New runs with solid copper cat5e picture worse
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fenderman
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A bad cable will not cause basic image noise...how is the nighttime image worse?
Did you change any of the cameras image settings? or reset the camera?
fenderman
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You cannot compare an indoor shot to outdoors. If you take the camera back inside it will likely look fine because of the additional lighting.
Post an image of the blue line.
jmulvihill
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Stranded wire has more surface area and less voltage drop across it. When IR Illuminators kick in you may be experiencing the difference in voltage drop between solid and stranded. You can scale back on your IR through the camera menu, or even turn it off to see if it makes a difference. Some cameras have auto-gain functions that get grainy when they reach the end of the lux of the camera. If the gain is adjustable, you can optimize the grainyness. Point of note: Make sure your RJ-45's are compatible to the cable used solid or stranded. Good luck!
fenderman
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Stranded cable has a higher attenuation rate than solid.
I thought the only purpose of stranded wire was to make life difficult. Or to make cables more flexible. I forget which.
zero-degrees
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@jmulvihill you might want to do some research - stranded cable is junk in the IP Video World, also it has much higher attenuation like Fenderman stated. Below is a note from a cable manufacture even citing its limitations...
Solid UTP Category cables have solid insulated bare copper conductors. These cables are used in permanent and semi-permanent installations. They are designed for longer distance horizontal and backbone cable runs, PoE (power over Ethernet), and HD applications. Solid Category cables should not be over-flexed, bent, or twisted beyond the cable recommended specifications. All Cat5e and Cat6 solid UTP cables are designated with minimum bend radius for performance standards. Proper cable installation is essential in order to maximize the performance of the cable.
Stranded UTP Category cables have multiple strands (typically 7 strands per conductor) of insulated bare copper conductors. These cables are typically used for patch cords/cables connecting workstations; from wallplate outlet to patch panel; and from patch panels to individual workstations. Because these cables are more flexible than solid conductors, they are excellent for portable uses and applications where repeated flexing is common.
Stranded Category Cables have a higher attenuation than solid category cables. Depending on your application, you should restrict their use to short distances. SCP recommends that you use stranded category cables for applications under 6 meters/ 20 feet. We manufacture long length stranded Cat5e and stranded Cat6 cables up to 100 ft/30 meters, but their use should be restricted to non-HD applications.
Also for future reference here is the twisted pair cable standards document http://docs.google.com/gview?url=http://www.nag.ru/goodies/tia/TIA-EIA-568-B.2.pdf&chrome=true
Solid UTP Category cables have solid insulated bare copper conductors. These cables are used in permanent and semi-permanent installations. They are designed for longer distance horizontal and backbone cable runs, PoE (power over Ethernet), and HD applications. Solid Category cables should not be over-flexed, bent, or twisted beyond the cable recommended specifications. All Cat5e and Cat6 solid UTP cables are designated with minimum bend radius for performance standards. Proper cable installation is essential in order to maximize the performance of the cable.
Stranded UTP Category cables have multiple strands (typically 7 strands per conductor) of insulated bare copper conductors. These cables are typically used for patch cords/cables connecting workstations; from wallplate outlet to patch panel; and from patch panels to individual workstations. Because these cables are more flexible than solid conductors, they are excellent for portable uses and applications where repeated flexing is common.
Stranded Category Cables have a higher attenuation than solid category cables. Depending on your application, you should restrict their use to short distances. SCP recommends that you use stranded category cables for applications under 6 meters/ 20 feet. We manufacture long length stranded Cat5e and stranded Cat6 cables up to 100 ft/30 meters, but their use should be restricted to non-HD applications.
Also for future reference here is the twisted pair cable standards document http://docs.google.com/gview?url=http://www.nag.ru/goodies/tia/TIA-EIA-568-B.2.pdf&chrome=true
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jmulvihill
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Original thread sounded like the stranded worked and the solid did not.
I researched, as you said, the solid has a lower resistance/meter than stranded. (Not typical in electrical world, but works here.)
Thanks for the info.
I researched, as you said, the solid has a lower resistance/meter than stranded. (Not typical in electrical world, but works here.)
Thanks for the info.