DIY CCTV installation: equipment installation

Recommendation points

• Cable routes: type and method of installation
• Indoor cable routing
• Laying a cable line on the street
• Installation of cameras
• Installation of the DVR
• Connecting the video surveillance system to the power supply
• Commissioning of video surveillance (setting up a video recorder)

After you have selected all the components of your video surveillance system, which we told you about in detail in the previous article, you can proceed to the installation of the video surveillance system with your own hands. How to do this we want to tell you in today’s review..

In the previous article – “Do-it-yourself video surveillance installation: system design and equipment selection”, we considered the issues of equipment selection in sufficient detail. Now let’s talk about the installation of video surveillance systems.

Cable routes: type and method of installation

To connect all the components of the video surveillance system and their functioning as a whole, it is necessary to lay the cable routes correctly. This is the first step in installing a video surveillance system.

Regardless of the location – both indoors and outdoors, the installation is carried out using a coaxial cable or “twisted pair”. The first is single-core; is used to connect analog video cameras; it does not require additional video adapters to be installed on the line. In fact, this is an ordinary “antenna” cable. To reduce the negative influence of electromagnetic interference, the coaxial cable is equipped with a reliable external protective screened coating.

1 – twisted pair with shielding for external air routing; 2 – coaxial cable combined with a two-core power cable

Twisted pair is a cable with one or more pairs of conductors that are intertwined. Due to the binding, the negative influence of electromagnetic interference is significantly reduced. Using twisted pair, digital IP cameras are usually connected..

Depending on the installation method, the cable can be designed for internal or external use. Installation types – by air, underground, on horizontal and vertical surfaces, etc..

It is recommended to start laying cable lines from the cameras farthest from the DVR, only then closer. This will help you use the cable rationally. Practice shows that regardless of the place (room or street), the cable must be laid with a margin.

Indoor cable routing

The installation of cameras inside the premises implies the fact that there are no significant temperature changes in them. In such conditions, the use of cable channels is allowed, in which several lines can be placed at the same time. In practice, the cable channel will not be able to guarantee protection against severe physical damage, but in return will help to hide all the wires from prying eyes. Also, such a gasket is the observance of fire safety rules. If at the facility where the video surveillance is located, aggressive conditions of the internal environment are expected, it is preferable to use a special corrugation, which will protect the cables from negative external factors.

To fix the cables, it is important to use high-quality and reliable clamps, they will serve you for more than one year, but several decades. In the event that the aesthetic appearance is not important, you can use durable electrical tape. If you plan to lay cable lines on plasterboard or wooden structures, we recommend using a special stapler with staples. Thus, the fastening will be reliable, and at the same time aesthetic (unlike nails and screws).

Laying a cable line on the street

Outdoor video surveillance requires a special approach to laying the cable and the cable itself (they use only a special cable for outdoor installation). Open (pulling along the walls or fences of the object, pulling through the air using poles of power lines or additional supports) and hidden (underground, inside walls) methods of installing cable lines.

If you need to stretch a cable to a neighboring building, while hiding it from unwanted views, it is placed underground in an ordinary plastic or metal-plastic water pipe, for which trenches must be dug. This is financially beneficial and even more practical than using a specialized corrugated pipe. If the movement of vehicles or other heavy equipment is expected in the protected area, metal pipes are laid in trenches to ensure proper protection of data transmission lines.

When laying wires through the air outdoors, do not neglect the natural unfavorable conditions – strong gusts of wind and lightning during a thunderstorm: the line should be provided with lightning protection means (insulation), and the total length of the “air” loop should not exceed 35-50 m.

If during the cable laying it became necessary to bend it, remember that the maximum bending angle should not exceed five diameters of the same cable. Otherwise, a line break at the bend is inevitable..

It is important to take into account that the cable lines of the video surveillance system should not run in the vicinity (less than 40 cm) to other power cables. They are direct sources of electromagnetic fields, which will certainly interfere with the signal from CCTV cameras..

Important! If the cameras are located at a distance of more than 100 (IP cameras) or 300 m (hybrid), at the indicated intervals, it is necessary to additionally install signal amplifiers replicators.

Installation of cameras

A video surveillance camera should not only provide an effective overview of the protected object, but at the same time remain invisible to the view of potential intruders. In addition, it must be accessible for maintenance if necessary..

Digital video cameras are connected using a twisted pair cable, two RG-45 lugs and power cables. Installation of analog and hybrid video cameras requires the use of a coaxial cable with tulip connectors: red – for power, white and yellow, respectively – to receive a signal from a video device.

It is important to select strong and reliable fasteners so that the fixation minimizes vibration, shaking and the possibility of the camera falling. The mounts that come with cameras are often impractical and unreliable. This has been shown by the practice of specialists in the installation of video surveillance systems. Do not install cameras (especially outdoors) on metal surfaces or using metal brackets: during a thunderstorm, the camera will turn from a CCTV device into an excellent lightning rod. If cameras are installed for surveillance in long-term construction conditions, we recommend immediately connecting them to the DVR (there are frequent cases of theft and unauthorized dismantling of video devices).

Installation of the DVR

Although the DVR is the main node, which receives information from all cameras connected to the system, its installation and connection is a simple process. All that is needed is to correctly connect the cameras to the connectors intended for them, a monitor for displaying information and other peripheral devices (keyboard, computer mouse), as well as a power source.

We recommend placing the DVR in a protected place, hidden from the eyes of strangers, but with constant air circulation. The temperature in this room should not be more than 30 degrees Celsius. Additional use of a durable anti-vandal box with a key will not be superfluous. Do not overheat the device.

In addition to the temperature regime and the use of additional protective equipment, the place in which you plan to place the DVR must be equipped with an electrical network (220 V) and access to the Internet.

Connecting the video surveillance system to the power supply

After the equipment is installed and the cables are routed, you can supply power to the equipment.

First – to the recorder, and then to the cameras themselves. If power is used not via PoE, but with a separate cable through special connectors of the video camera, it is important to observe the polarity (plus to plus, minus to minus). This is due to the fact that in video surveillance systems, DC 12V is used to power cameras..

In general, the order of power supply is as follows: first, we supply power to the cameras using power supplies or a separate cable, and then from the cameras to the DVR.

All connectors and connections should be isolated from the external environment as much as possible, and in order to avoid oxidation, it is advisable to use junction boxes.

Commissioning of video surveillance (setting up a video recorder)

We have come close to the final stage: the project of the video surveillance system has been drawn up, all the necessary components have been purchased, the cable lines have been laid, the video cameras are fixed in the calculated places on reliable fasteners and the corresponding cable is connected to them – coaxial or twisted pair, – it remains to go to the commissioning work. The classical algorithm for their implementation includes the following stages:

• installation of date and time markers on each recorder;
• formatting the hard disk (s) that they intend to use as storage for media data;
• setting the recording mode;
• setting up remote access to each camera.

Fine-tuning the DVR is a topic for a separate article – we can talk about it for a long time. We only note that more and more often automatic gates are being integrated with video surveillance – this makes it possible to activate the opening mechanism by recognizing the license plate. If you wish, you can independently build a real “smart home”.

This completes the installation of the video surveillance system – it is completely ready for work. Having installed video surveillance, do not forget that equipment (especially video cameras) need periodic maintenance – cleaning the housings, wiping dust from lenses, etc. According to the experience of specialists, video surveillance and access control systems require maintenance at least twice a year. This will preserve the reliability and durability of your video surveillance system..