sundance-communications.com/forum Forums Wiring - Telecom Carriers - Trunks & Services Security, Alarms and Paging RG59 vs RG6 for cctv

I normally use rg59/U Siamese cable when installing cameras. I found rg6/u Siamese cable for almost half the cost (not Chinese) of the rg59, is their any reason I could not use the RG6? The runs are all short about 50'-75' each.

Thanks

Rg6 is fine Anthony,
at 1/2 the price just make sure it's 95% copper braid and not aluminum and that the center conductor is solid and not stranded.

you may also want to consider using UTP with the baluns.
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MrG

Thanks I will double check before I order it.

I have used UTP with baluns (and prefer it these days), but this is for a small 4 camera system and the runs are short.

Thanks again

you were right I missed that, it was aluminum braid, I knew that was to cheep, I just went with my norm. Thanks Again

Yeah, I stick with RG59 solid copper and copper braid. Never used RG6 for cameras but if it was copper I assume it would be fine. The shield makes a big difference.

I was searching around for this a few months ago and this is what i found.

I'm sure this is nothing new to you but here's a pretty good article.

Link

RG6 Dual or Quad Shield shouldn't be utilized for base band applications, such as video projectors, component video, plasma TV’s, etc. It may sound like a great solution because of all the layers of shielding, but RG6 Dual and Quad Shield don't have the proper type of shielding for the above described applications. It is manufactured using foil shields and braided aluminum shields. The makeup of the shields differs between models. The effective range of operation for foil shields is above 50MHz, which makes them perfect for rejection of radio frequency interference, or RFI, that may have an effect on satellite or cable installations. At frequencies below 50 MHz, however, foil shields are not effective. The braiding on the RG6 Dual shield and the RG6 Quad shield doesn't have enough coverage to work effectively with baseband applications.

The frequencies that are used in High Definition are usually around 37 MHz. For those lower frequencies, an RG59 with an 95% copper all-copper shield is designed to block RFI inclusion at base band frequencies. RG59’s “big brother” is an RG6 Single Shield , which consists of the same makeup as RG59 but has a thicker center conductor, for less signal loss, and longer runs. Because RG59 does not have a foil shield, it shouldn't be utilized for satellite feeds or cable feeds.
So as long as you stick with regular RG6 you should be fine. However, don't assume using a higher quality cable, will necessarily perform better.

On the same note, I have used RG6 Quad for CCTV and have not had any problems, however its not recommended for the reasons mentioned above.

i have tried cat5e with video ballens on each ends works awsome

When I worked out at JFK airport we ran fiber (VERY long runs) for the cameras. They also worked very well.

Sam

Great link, rustynails. Dumb question, but here goes: does the shielding serve more to keep the signal inside the cable or keep unwanted frequencies out? I think it is the latter, but I'm not sure.

Is there a chart that tells you how far you can run the siamese cable before needing to up the wire gauge (i.e, go from 22 to 20 to 18 gauge feeds)?

Those that are using cat 5e: are the cameras locally powered or are you sending power through one or more pairs?

Edited for typo.

Jack

Fletcher -

As far as i know the shielding on CCTV is to keep unwanted interference OUT. On Amplifier Inputs the shielding is to keep the signal IN and not let it get out to mess up some input someplace.

I have a chart for PA speakers showing how far you can run X amount of Wattage on Y gauge wire, but nothing for CCTV.

With the fiber cameras we had local power.

Sam