Video?: Composite video to Cat5

mixedupsteve · 10th December 2010

I have someone who wants me to provide a video feed at a funeral to a remote location aprox 250 feet from the room where the service will be held. My camera is a GL1 and has composite and Svideo outs. I assume it's too far for a composite cable run so I'm planning on using a balun and run Cat 5.
Here's one I've looked at.
Intelix AVO-V1-WP-PAC-F Wall Plate Composite AVO-V1-WP-PAC-F B&H

Any guidance will be appreciated.
Thanks,

reynaud · 10th December 2010

also consider the ETS Lan baluns. I have used both audio and video baluns and they are affordable and very reliable.

cheers,
Reynaud

hbphotoav · 10th December 2010

Quote:

Originally Posted by reynaud

also consider the ETS Lan baluns. I have used both audio and video baluns and they are affordable and very reliable.

cheers,
Reynaud

Ditto that. However, I have a couple of 300' (100m) runs of Belden 9231 that work really well. It's expensive at retail (certainly more than CAT5e) but it's also relatively bulletproof, with very low loss. Best composite cable I've ever used.

HB

Boschen · 11th December 2010

Quote:

Originally Posted by hbphotoav

Ditto that. However, I have a couple of 300' (100m) runs of Belden 9231 that work really well. It's expensive at retail (certainly more than CAT5e) but it's also relatively bulletproof, with very low loss. Best composite cable I've ever used.
HB

+1
I'd prefer a 250' long run of high-quality composite cable over a balun any day. You can easily run a well-connectorized composite cable 300' without penalty. Professional-grade baluns are expensive, and some consumer-grade baluns are very crappy, with plenty of loss and artifacts. That said, I do use them sometimes, and they can be an effective solution in many cases.

AngusF · 13th December 2010

If you're able to rent an adjustable distribution amp and a waveform/vectorscope, you can drive an exceptionally long composite cable.

A couple years back, I had a 1,000 foot run of composite video on Belden 8281 (aka Broadcast Blue). It ran 500 feet from the video switcher to the DA, where it was split to two LED walls, each a further 500 feet from the DA. I used a portable Tektronix waveform monitor to monitor the signal, and was quickly able to get the colour bars to sit perfectly. I had a second person tweaking the DA, as I was 500 feet away, at one of the LED walls. Cell phones with headsets are your friend in this case!

One cautionary note, though: The GL1 has a trick to output colour bars. Don't use it, they're not standard. Any decent video editing software can output standard 75% colour bars; throw an hour of that onto tape, and use them to tune the DA.

Ideally, the DA should be as close as possible to the camera, driving the long cable. This will require a second person to watch the waveform monitor and call out adjustments, but the resulting quality is worth it! I expect the rental cost of the DA and waveform monitor would be less than the purchase of a couple of baluns.

hbphotoav · 13th December 2010

I'd still use a line amp for anything over about 50' from a tinycam's composite driver. About five years ago, I bought a lot (meaning "a collection") of old composite VAC line amps (1x6 DAs, both clamping and "standard"), video alarms, audio alarms, remote power switches, etc. A reseller in Atlanta got hold of them from Turner Broadcasting. I ended up paying about $15 each for 10 or 12 1x6 DAs and stashing the rest.

Steve, PM if you're interested in picking up one. I have three racked together that have never left the "experienced equipment" shelf in the Man Cave.

cbarrett92 · 13th December 2010

They make the same baluns for security cameras and they work very well. For example:

Buy.com - Pair of Passive CCTV Security Camera CAT5 Video Baluns Connection Network Transmission 1EG

These are not the set I personally own, but I have a similar set that can do 1200' over twisted pair with no loss in quality.

mixedupsteve · 19th December 2010

Follow up.
I bought a pair of passive baluns from Valley enterprises. I made my own cable from Cat5e purchased at Home Depot. I wish I had used outdoor cable because the regular cable was very difficult to keep straight and wanted to kink. My partner told me it was a little over 300ft. so I made it 350. You guessed it, it turned out to be about 360. I had to use a 20ft composite video cable on the end to get where I needed to place the camera inside. Everything worked well and the picture (aprox. 6x5 rear projection) was very good. The customer was happy.
Thanks all!

10th December 2010	#1
mixedupsteve Lives for gear Joined: Dec 2008 Location: Chestertown MD USA Posts: 969 Thread Starter	Video?: Composite video to Cat5 I have someone who wants me to provide a video feed at a funeral to a remote location aprox 250 feet from the room where the service will be held. My camera is a GL1 and has composite and Svideo outs. I assume it's too far for a composite cable run so I'm planning on using a balun and run Cat 5. Here's one I've looked at. Intelix AVO-V1-WP-PAC-F Wall Plate Composite AVO-V1-WP-PAC-F B&H Any guidance will be appreciated. Thanks, __________________ Steve

13th December 2010	#7
cbarrett92 Gear nut Joined: Sep 2007 Location: Houston, Texas Posts: 111	They make the same baluns for security cameras and they work very well. For example: Buy.com - Pair of Passive CCTV Security Camera CAT5 Video Baluns Connection Network Transmission 1EG These are not the set I personally own, but I have a similar set that can do 1200' over twisted pair with no loss in quality. __________________ -- Chris Does that board have a headphone jack for those cans?-Joe Porto

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10th December 2010	#2
reynaud Gear nut Joined: Mar 2006 Location: Cape Town, South Africa Posts: 78	also consider the ETS Lan baluns. I have used both audio and video baluns and they are affordable and very reliable. cheers, Reynaud

13th December 2010	#5
AngusF Gear interested Joined: Jul 2010 Posts: 19	If you're able to rent an adjustable distribution amp and a waveform/vectorscope, you can drive an exceptionally long composite cable. A couple years back, I had a 1,000 foot run of composite video on Belden 8281 (aka Broadcast Blue). It ran 500 feet from the video switcher to the DA, where it was split to two LED walls, each a further 500 feet from the DA. I used a portable Tektronix waveform monitor to monitor the signal, and was quickly able to get the colour bars to sit perfectly. I had a second person tweaking the DA, as I was 500 feet away, at one of the LED walls. Cell phones with headsets are your friend in this case! One cautionary note, though: The GL1 has a trick to output colour bars. Don't use it, they're not standard. Any decent video editing software can output standard 75% colour bars; throw an hour of that onto tape, and use them to tune the DA. Ideally, the DA should be as close as possible to the camera, driving the long cable. This will require a second person to watch the waveform monitor and call out adjustments, but the resulting quality is worth it! I expect the rental cost of the DA and waveform monitor would be less than the purchase of a couple of baluns.

13th December 2010	#6
hbphotoav Lives for gear Joined: Aug 2008 Location: NashVegas Posts: 1,044	I'd still use a line amp for anything over about 50' from a tinycam's composite driver. About five years ago, I bought a lot (meaning "a collection") of old composite VAC line amps (1x6 DAs, both clamping and "standard"), video alarms, audio alarms, remote power switches, etc. A reseller in Atlanta got hold of them from Turner Broadcasting. I ended up paying about $15 each for 10 or 12 1x6 DAs and stashing the rest. Steve, PM if you're interested in picking up one. I have three racked together that have never left the "experienced equipment" shelf in the Man Cave.

19th December 2010	#8
mixedupsteve Lives for gear Joined: Dec 2008 Location: Chestertown MD USA Posts: 969 Thread Starter	Follow up. I bought a pair of passive baluns from Valley enterprises. I made my own cable from Cat5e purchased at Home Depot. I wish I had used outdoor cable because the regular cable was very difficult to keep straight and wanted to kink. My partner told me it was a little over 300ft. so I made it 350. You guessed it, it turned out to be about 360. I had to use a 20ft composite video cable on the end to get where I needed to place the camera inside. Everything worked well and the picture (aprox. 6x5 rear projection) was very good. The customer was happy. Thanks all!