8 core alarm cable for the cctv

[bickyz]

Hi, a friend if mine has bought a house, which has 8 core alarm cable run from (1) front of the house, (2) back of the house and (3) garden shed to the electrical cupboard underneath the stairs. The cables are just rolled up without any connectors/connections and it seems like it has never been used for anything.

Can these cables be used for the CCTV installation ?

Most of the Maplin CCTV kits I have come across use a coax cable with the BNC connector and a dc power connector.

Any help would be much appreciated, thank you.

 

[Iamchamps]

If it is solid core I.e the individual cables are not stranded then in theory yes you could use as a ethernet for a POE setup.

 

[bickyz]

this is how the cable looks like

 

[bernardgreen]

Using a balun to convert from co-ax ( un-balanced ) to twisted pair ( balanced ) you can send video over twisted pair in cables such as CAT 5 and even telephone cable.

There is a small transformer inside the blue box that converts from un-balanced to balanced at the camera. Another balun does the opposite coversion at the other end.

Alarm cable is not made up of twisted pairs so is not really suitable for carrying video signals. That said if there is only one video and smooth DC power in the cable then reasonable quality video may be possible over a short distance if the cable is not close to power cables.

Best to install CAT 5 (or 6) copper cable ( not cheaper CCA Copper Coated Aluminium ).