outdoor rated Cat V cable

[bopritchard]

i'm setting up an outdoor web camera...do i really need an outdoor rated network cable or will a regular one hold up fine?

 

[Kwick18]

I would say it depends on where you live and how much it will be exposed to the elements.

 

[bopritchard]

i live in Raleigh, NC...pretty moderate climate...drops below freezing 1/2 dozen times a year....100 degree days maybe 5 or 6...this camera will only be outside for 1 year

 

[Jtodd]

Direct sun it probably a larger part of the problem over the tempature. UV rays breaking down the jacket. You should also consider putting electrcial protection on it. I've seen Cat5 protector modules, but I don't remember who from right at the moment.

Justin T. Clausen
Physical Layer Implementation
California State University, Monterey Bay

 

[skip555]

c\like justin said the UV is what will get you

I would run it in conduit if at all practical.

you can get protection from panamax ( Im sure there are plenty of others)

 

[AvayaNovice]

That outdoor rated cat5 does weird stuff in the sun. I've seen it stretch out, etc. It's kind of like filled RG-6 drop cable... in the summer, it squeezes all of the fill out.

What I would do... is put conduit up to the camera if possible, even if it's only flex, or poly pipe worse case scenario, and use some type of duct fill on it.

If your camera is outdoor rated, it probably has a housing for the connectors that's weather sealed, yeah?

 

[jimbopalmer]

This would be the time to plan how to protect the rest of your network from a voltage spike outdoors (lightning)

I tried to remain child-like, all I acheived was childish.

 

[mikeydidit]

I think the protectors that skip mentioned would be a must. A lightening hit to your switch will cost you a lot more than the protection will. I would also look into the liquid tight type conduit to make this as weather proof as possible.

Mike Jones
LSUHSC

 

[Bobg1]

A lot depends on where you are mounting this.
If its out in the middle of nowhere up on a pole, you should definitly protect the circuit and the cable.
If by chance it is under a roof overhang where the elements realy won't get at it, you shouldn't need to worry.

 

[DTSMAN]

I have a few outdoor infared cameras going and what I did, of course these cameras are small and light weight, I ran conduit to the location and installed a 4 inch electrical box with the sealable lid, made my connections inside and mounted the camera to the removable lid. These were wired using the coax with power leads sistered to the side and we mainly did it to hide and protect the power connectors and bnc connection. Job came out real clean compared to the first one we did strapping the leads to the camera mount.