Cctv Cable Etc In Parallel With Swa

[OnOff]

My own place.

The time has come to invest in some CCTV (and possibly some break beam alarms) to cover the front of the property. The frontage is approx 150' wide. Something I've been meaning to do but recently found that within 1/2 mile there is going to be a new traveller's site so it's batten down the hatches time. Got to the point where I couldn't even have the garage door open or the existing local ones would pull up at the bottom of the drive and have a peer in bold as brass etc. There's also been burglaries all around; heating oil, trailer & gate thefts etc. I had a pressure washer and coiled extension nicked off the drive when I popped back into the house to get the garage key. They even fly tip up against the "No Fly Tipping" signs. Police are useless. The local stations have all been closed and combined into one 15 miles away. The couple opposite in their 90's were broken into and it took 2 days for the CID to turn up.

A high gate stops them peering in but if they jump over then they are in fact screened from the road and it probably aids them.

I don't really want to go wireless and would prefer hard wired. The obvious route is a 50mm polypipe conduit that runs (<10m) from inside the garage under the block paved drive to the sliding gate motor - +18" deep btw, backfilled & taped. Looking at it now it would have been easy (then) to run a second duct, hindsight etc! This currently contains two 1.5mm 3-core SWA (and a draw wire). One supplying 230vac to the gate and the other (again mains) for the gate pillar lights.

My query then is will I be asking for trouble if I run CCTV cabling within this duct? Does SWA have any screening effect or is it "leaky" in terms of EMF? Was also considering running some cabling through the same duct so I could fit a keypad OUTSIDE the gates on the pillar and possibly the break beam wiring too. Or should I be thinking screened cable for these "other" services?

Worst case I bite the bullet, excavate and put another duct in.

Many thanks. Next question will be "what" CCTV kit!  :lol:

 

[Sidewinder]

We have done this at a client site with some high power SWA's, >100A/ph, the CCTV cables were Cat5 SWA mind, no complaints yet.

 

[ProDave]

Do you want my honest advice?

Move house.

I could not live in fear all the time somewhere like that.

When I'm home, my garage stays open all day. I never lock my car in the day. I regularly leave tools out when I pop in for the loo or a tea break.

 

[OnOff]

Do you want my honest advice?

Move house.

I could not live in fear all the time somewhere like that.

When I'm home, my garage stays open all day. I never lock my car in the day. I regularly leave tools out when I pop in for the loo or a tea break.

On a loser tbh.......wife was born there. Maybe I could move though......... :lol:

Yes the "list" goes on. An area of "outstanding natural beauty" and of "special scientific interest" (orchids). The torched cars have gone down to about once every 6 months now. I think the issue is that the lay-bys where they usually park them are chock full of mattresses and "clear your garden for you governor" type spoil. Had the BIGGEST pile of what must have been 3" SWA sheathing dumped there a while back - the size of a couple of cars left in a field gateway. A local property being renovated was broken into and all the copper inc the cylinder taken. Still it might snow soon and cover everything up! 

 

[NozSpark]

Sounds like a nice place

I live next to one of Wales most economically deprived areas and it's nowhere near that bad :shakehead

 

[Richard-the-Ninth]

The way I look at it.

A swa cable's armour its its screen. (so long as its connected to earth)

Every CCTV camera will need its own coax and supply. Is there enough room in the duct?

The keypad? is it for the gates? I doubt it will have screened cable

The Beams you propose, what are they for? I assume they are perimeter protection?

I would suggest you don't bother with them..........here is why

Unlike in the movies, perimeter beams false alarm quite a lot, UNLESS you install them in pairs or buy the pair units, the reason is birds set them off, falling leaves set them off, any blown rubbish can set them off. The problem if you will, is they are not cheap, starting at £80 / pair, but to "guard" a perimeter you need several pairs, then you have to run a cable to each unit from the house, which will involve more underground ducting.

In short, I would not bother with the beams, install new ducting for the cameras and that way you never will get a problem.

As for what CCTV kit, it depends on what you want to "see" I suggest you read my reply in the post which you will find if you CLICK HERE

 

[Blue Duck]

If I were you I would attach the SWA to the gate and throw away the RCD

 

[Andy™]

electric fence all round. maybe 400v between alternating wires. and the RCD didnt get its month test so wont trip

 

[SLIPSHOD & SLAPDASH]

Dont bother with co-ax. Run a cat 5  & you can connect up to 4 cameras off it. Pick up a local supply from the gate motor for the Psu. 

 

[Richard-the-Ninth]

Dont bother with co-ax. Run a cat 5  & you can connect up to 4 cameras off it. Pick up a local supply from the gate motor for the Psu. 

I stand corrected.

 

[SLIPSHOD & SLAPDASH]

Depending on what DVR you choose for the CCTV  many have programmable  alarm trigger outputs, so you could use the cameras motion detection to alert you of movement, no need for beams. However as Richard the ninth has mentioned you could also get false alarms with this. Right now , with the rain we have it is triggering 4 of my 8 home cameras, the 4 with Infra Red night vision.

Dont bother with co-ax. Run a cat 5  & you can connect up to 4 cameras off it. Pick up a local supply from the gate motor for the Psu. 

I haven't tried, but i recon you could run 8 cameras  of a single Cat5e screened by using the screen as the common return for 8 feeds May even work without baluns . Who's going to try ?

I did experiment in my garage a while ago by rigging up a 8 camera system using as many different types of cables, baluns or not. I even had a camera running on a bit of bell cable through a 50m   extension lead that i plugged a vacuum cleaner into, no interference on anything i tried.

 

[Manator]

You will see all kinds of literature about separating, and distances for cables. To be honest most of it is carp!! SWA cable is twisted, this twisting helps reduce any electromagnetic interference by cancelling out each other. The armour has nothing to do with it, it is not a screen.

Having said all that what I would do is install poacher traps, 12 gauge shotgun shells connected to trip wires within your property at knee and neck level.

 

[SLIPSHOD & SLAPDASH]

Why is the armour not acting as a screen ?

 

[OnOff]

Why is the armour not acting as a screen ?

Sure I'd read somewhere that it's not like braided screening but in fact "leaky" as the armoured strands butt to each other rather than crossover. I'm just going to drag a camera cable through I think, try with the gate running etc and look for on screen interference.