atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums Wiring - Telecom Carriers - Trunks & Services Security, Alarms and Paging RG59?

We are having a new security system installed. I'm doing the cable. The security system vendor specified RG59 95% rated. Anyone know that means? I contacted Anixter about it. They asked if it needs to be 20, 22, or 23 guage, stranded or solid. I didn't know gauge was even an option. I figured all RG-59 was the same gauge.

I would contact the security vendor for exactly what he wants and get it in writing , you don't want him blaming all is issues on the wrong cable

I am with skip on this, confirm with the security vendor exactly what he wants. Also find out if he wants power ran with each RG59 run. I am assuming this is for cctv so he is probably looking for RG-59 Siamese cable which has an 18/2 cable attached to it which is used for power.

The vendor has been hard to get ahold of, and, somewhat cryptic. Doesn't sound good does it? Anyway that is why I'm asking for your input. So I can try to speak with some level of confidence on the matter. As for power, I know that is going to be provided by a separate 18/2 cable. I got an email from him a few minutes ago saying that he will provide the cable. What a relief. That should minimize the finger pointing.

Like AnthonyH mentioned, it's best if you are going in there blind to go ahead with the Siamese cable. If the power pair isn't needed, it just won't be used. Come to think of it, most Siamese RG59 is 95% braid anyway, so you probably won't be able to buy it any other way.

22 gauge solid for basic RG59 with 95% braid should be fine unless the runs are unusually long. If so, then bump it up to 20 gauge. The 95% means the coverage of the braid, meaning that there are 5% worth of "holes" in the braid. That's fairly typical for CCTV, so any supplier will understand what you want.

Hm, this guy doesn't want to run the cable?
Sounds like an IT person moonlighting as a security camera installer to me.

Personally, unless I'm going to use existing cable that is in good shape I like to run my own cable. But when I do use existing cable or if the customer wants some of their people to run it I always add a note to the contract stating I won't be responsible for any cable problems in the future and that I will bill for my time to troubleshoot any problems that occur.

Out of curiosity, what reason is he giving for not wanting to run the cable?

Just another thought, but our company has stopped using siamese and coax in favor of CAT5 and baluns for cameras. The benefits are many, and have paid off big time for us in terms of simplifying installations.

Starion I have recently started using cat5 as well. So far I have had very good success with them as well. I have been using the MUXLABS baluns, what type have you been using?

We've been using Nitek. They have a couple of configurations we haven't seen elsewhere, and they have some nice rack-mount concentrator stuff too.

We just added 5 new cameras to a big steelyard here. All 5 cameras to a central point with a power supply and a 66 block, then a couple of CAT5 "busses" back to security. Worked like a champ and saved us a ton of coax. Try THAT with RG59!

I just took a look at the Nitek stuff...looks good. Do you buy direct from them or purchase threw a distributor? If so which distributor?