Cctv Cable, Does Anyone Use Ct125

[Guest daywalker74]

Just wanted to find out if anyone still used CT125 Coax, i seem to have some left over from last years jobs, not sure if i should just scrap it as im sure people now seem to use Cat5 etc!

Is this the case?

Any help on this matter would be great.

[ian.cant]

I cant see any reason not to keep it at the moment, CAT5 isnt always the answer.

[Guest]

CAT5 rarely is THE answer..

[Guest daywalker74]

Thanks guys, i may try to stick it on ebay,lol.

Trying to clear my garage out and keep finding stuff.

Is there a sale/Wanted section on this forum?

[secboy]

CAT5 rarely is THE answer..

Why not george?

Send one cat5 to do one camera and if more are added later in same area pick up spare pair add balluns and away you go--reduced cabling costs--pass on savings to customer or increase profit margin!--all sounds positive to me?

Paul.

[SystemQ]

CAT5 has a big unseen advantage over Coax type of cables and that because you have to use a balun with CAT5. So why is a balun an advantage?

The transformers used in most balun

[Matt the Teckie]

One disadvantage is that as soon as you break the passive barrier (usually about 250-300m if you're using a good balun) and use an active receiver, you can't send FSK telemetry.

It's tempting to use another pair to send RS485 but it often doesn't work well as CAT5 isn't screened.

Also, CT125 is much more sturdy than CAT5 and is therefore better suited for external use (especially if it's going through ducting).

[secboy]

One disadvantage is that as soon as you break the passive barrier (usually about 250-300m if you're using a good balun) and use an active receiver, you can't send FSK telemetry.

It's tempting to use another pair to send RS485 but it often doesn't work well as CAT5 isn't screened.

Also, CT125 is much more sturdy than CAT5 and is therefore better suited for external use (especially if it's going through ducting).

Good point Matt but there is "duct quality Cat5" if you want it ?.Paul.

[SystemQ]

Hi Matt.

My point is that many people don

[Matt the Teckie]

Quite agree Paul. CAT5 baluns also don't suffer the same attenuation factors as coax either.

I'm a bit of a fan of CAT5 myself, however, there seems to be an influx of cheap and cheerful baluns that are only good for about 60m (passive). As a general rule of thumb, the 300m barrier is only really supported by the likes of NVT and SNT. Their passive kit also supports FSK.