How to Install a CCTV System for the Fish Farm - Part 2
(For Part 1 of How to Install a CCTV System for the Fish Farm, please click this)
D. Wiring – 220 Volt Power Lines
1. Buy the following items:
· 3 rolls of black, no. 14 electrical wire (common size for lighting circuits), TW type (used for outdoors). Note: one roll is 150 meters each
· ball insulators and screw-type insulators
· electrical tape
· plugs for the 220 volt wire; smaller plugs for the power adapters
· wire connectors, wire clips
2. Plan the wiring system for the CCTV power source
Each CCTV camera runs on 6 volts power. The power adapter provides this low voltage to the camera on site. The adapter converts a 220 volts input to 6 volts output for the camera. The basic idea is therefore to supply a 220 volt input power to each of the three metal poles in various parts of the farm.
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| Power adapter, (white box) at right, converts 220 volts to 6 volts for the camera |
Since the system is wired to provide power to the metal poles, we needed to tap an existing 220 volt power outlet in our farm house.
The wires were hooked first to a junction post (a wooden post already installed and used for our farm lighting system). This post acts just like a junction box in a typical house system. From this junction post, we made a parallel wiring connection to supply the same 220 voltage to Pole #1; another parallel connection to Pole #2, and another to Pole #3.
3. Do the following steps:
a. Provide enough length of electrical wire (#14) from the main power outlet inside the farm house all the way to the junction post. In our CCTV project, we used a pair of single TW type insulated wires.
b. Install two ball insulators outside the house through which each of the single wire is anchored and looped.
c. Install ball insulators at the junction post (in our system, we installed 2 facing south toward the farm house, another 2 facing east toward Pole #1, and another 2 facing north toward Poles #2 and 3). Note: Instead of a ball insulator, you may use a screw type insulator on the wooden post.
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| Ball insulator (dark brown), being installed at the junction post |
d. Connect the electrical wires from the farm house to the junction post. In our farm, the wires need to cross the Main grow-out pond (about 48 meters wide).
e. Install additional posts (made of bamboo) for supporting the power line between the junction post and Pole #1 (60 m away). Because of the fairly long distance, we provided two bamboo posts (plus wooden brackets on a coconut tree) for wire support (see photos below) before finally hooking them up to Pole #1.
These support posts, by the way, were also used to prop up the Cat5 video cable.
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| Attaching wooden brackets to a coconut tree as additional support for power line and video cable |
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| Installing a bamboo support post for power line and also for video cable |
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| A bamboo support post |
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| Installing support arm on an existing light post before connecting wires to Pole #1 (see orange post at the background) |
f. Using a linesman’s ladder, install a ball insulator for each wire at the power line bracket at the metal pole. When the power lines reach the metal pole, insert each of the two wires into the ball insulator and loop the wire to form a secure knot to prevent slippage or movement. From the ball insulator, make sure that the remaining wires are long enough to be connected to the 3-slot power outlet in Step B12.
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| Installing ball insulators for the power line on the bracket; see extra length of wire long enough to reach power outlet inside the plastic jug |
E. Wiring – Video Cable Lines
After installing the 220 volt power lines that will supply power to the cameras, we need to install the cable lines to transmit the video signals from the cameras to the DVR and the monitor.
For our fish farm CCTV system, we used a Category 5 (Cat5 for short) cable instead of the usual coaxial cable for two reasons. First is for cost effectiveness. A Cat5 video cable has 4 sets of twisted pair wires inside. Thus, one cable can support up to four cameras, that is, video signals from up to four cameras can be transmitted over a single Cat5 cable (one camera per pair of twisted wires).
Another reason is the Cat5’s ability to transmit video signals over longer distances. A Cat5 cable with video baluns, (passive or active), allows one to locate CCTV cameras even farther. Passive baluns, I learned from research, allow a run of up to 500 meters. Using an active video balun, allows the user up to 2,000 meters reach (it has mechanism to boost the signal and transmit a stronger signal over a longer distance). For our system, passive video baluns connected at both ends of our Cat5 cable are more than sufficient.
A roll of Cat5 cable 305 meters long costs P4,345. A pair of video baluns costs P180. For each camera, a pair of baluns is needed.
Do the following steps:
1. Attach a porcelain ball insulator near the overhang ceiling of the house where the DVR and monitor is located.
2. Attach another ball insulator at the junction post in addition to the 6 ball insulators already in place for the power line (see Step C-3c).
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| Inserting a Cat5 cable to the correct ball insulator at the junction post; see the other ball insulators for the CCTV power lines |
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| Inserting a Cat5 cable to a wrong ball insulator at the junction post (should be to the one at the top); middle pole extender is for CCTV power line; right pole extender is for our existing pond lighting system |
3. Take the entire reel of cable to the junction post as a starting point. Pull the outer end of cable from the reel, slowly unwinding or rolling out the cable, and pull it across the pond toward the farm house (where the DVR and monitor are located).
4. Insert the end of the Cat5 cable to the ball insulator at the farm house overhang ceiling.
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| Cat5 cable being run through the wall of the farm office, up the ceiling, and down to the DVR inside |
5. Allow enough length of Cat5 cable to run from the ball insulator, then down the wall to the DVR.
6. Go back to the junction post where the cable reel sits. Take the reel (while slowly unwinding or rolling out the Cat5 cable from the reel) from the junction post all the way to the Pole #1 (about 60 meters away).
7. Allow a long enough slack and extra length of cable before cutting it off from the reel.
8. Take the cut end of the Cat5 cable all the way back to the junction post. Insert the end into the slot of the ball insulator, loop it twice, then secure it in place by using an ordinary electrical wire to prevent slippage or movement.
9. Pull the cut end of the Cat5 cable to the first support bamboo pole, then hook it up to the second bamboo support pole, then to the third support pole. Finally, take the end of the Cat5 cable until it reaches the metal pole (Pole #1).
10. Using a linesman’s ladder, attach a ball insulator to the Cat5 cable bracket at the pole.
11. Insert the end of the Cat5 cable into the slot of the ball insulator, loop it twice, then secure it in place by using an ordinary electric wire. Make sure that the Cat5 cable has enough slack before connecting to the 3 cameras to be installed in Pole #1.
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| A single Cat5 cable seen at the top (above the 2 power wires) and hooked to a ball insulator attached to a metal bracket on Pole #1. See the coiled part of the cable - this provides the slack for the baluns (which are then connected to the cameras) |
12. Take the coiled part of the Cat5 cable, uncoil it, and pull the cable end to the ground. Do the wire stripping and balun attachment on the ground to make the job easier.
13. Using knife, make an incision lengthwise on the black outer sheath of the Cat5 cable. Pull the rip cord back to expose the 4 pairs of twisted wires inside. Each pair consists of one white wire and a colored wire. The colored wires are blue, green, orange, and brown. Cut the outer sheath and cord.
14. Using a wire stripper, strip the pairs of inner wires that will be connected to the cameras. In our case, we have 3 cameras mounted in Pole #1, so we need to strip 3 pairs of inner wires inside the Cat5 cable (orange pair for Camera 1, brown pair for Camera 2, and green pair for Camera 3; blue pair is left unused).
15. After stripping off the insulators from the inner wires, attach a video balun to each pair of inner wire. The balun has two slots, one white and one gray. For each pair of inner wire, connect the white wire to the white slot of the balun, the colored wire to the gray slot.
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| Three video baluns connected to three sets of twisted wire inside a Cat5 video cable. Each balun is connected to each of the 3 cameras mounted on Pole #1. Note: counterpart baluns are connected at the other end of the Cat5 cable at the DVR side |
Note: A pack of baluns contains a pair. Use one piece of balun at the camera end and the other at the DVR end. Use a marker to indicate for which camera the baluns were used and to what color wire it is connected. You’ll need these information when you do the post-installation testing later.
F. Installing Cameras and Power Adapters at Pole #1
1. Install Camera 1 at the topmost camera bracket. Mount the camera (with four mounting holes) on the bracket using 4 sets of nuts and bolts.
2. At the right side of the bracket, mount the outdoor DC power adapter using nuts and bolts (through its 2 mounting holes).
3. Do the same for Cameras 2 and 3 and their matching DC power adapters.
4. Connect the video balun (with the orange wire) to Camera 1 through the balun’s BNC connector.
5. Connect the balun (with brown wire) to Camera 2, and the third balun (with green wire) to Camera 3.
6. Connect the DC power lead (female connector) from the camera to the male connector in the DC power adapter.
7. Plug in all the three DC power adapters to the 3-slot power outlet (inside plastic jug) already installed on the pole (see Step B11).
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| A fully installed and painted Pole #1: Cameras 1, 2, and 3 with their matching power adapters; Cat5 cable (topmost); a pair of 220 volts power line hooked to ball insulators below; 3-slot electrical outlet inside plastic jug |
8. At the farm house, connect the main CCTV power source (220 volts) line to an automatic voltage regulator (AVR) (latter helps stabilize power and protect against surges).
9. To supply power to the cameras, plug in the AVR to the wall outlet.
G. Installing DVR and Monitor
1. First, install the surveillance hard drive on the Digital Video Recorder (DVR). Do the following steps:
a. Using a small screw driver, remove 8 screws from the top cover of the DVR.
b. Attach the hard drive to the base of the DVR. Four mounting screws come with the hard drive.
c. Attach the power and SATA (Serial Advanced Technology Attachment) cable to the back of the hard drive.
d. Reinstall the top cover of the DVR.
2. Connect the DVR to the monitor, either through a VGA cable (the older standard) or HDMI cable (default standard for the higher end monitors) depending on the type of monitor you purchased. If you bought the lower end monitor, you won’t find any HDMI slot at the back, only VGA.
3. Connect the Cat5 cable to the back of the DVR. Do the following steps:
a. Take the end of the Cat5 cable that is intended for the DVR (see Step E5). Note that this was already installed earlier and that enough length of cable has been reserved to allow connection to the DVR/monitor area inside our farm office.
b. Cut the black outer sheath of the Cat5 cable lengthwise, and pull the rip cord back to expose the 4 pairs of twisted wires inside. Separate the 4 pairs and choose the orange, brown, and green pairs (remember that each pair has a white wire and a colored wire). Leave the blue pair aside. Cut the black outer sheath and cord.
c. Using wire stripper, strip off the insulators of the 6 inner wires for the orange, brown, and green pairs.
d. Attach a video balun to each of the orange, brown, and green pairs of inner wires in the Cat5 (DVR end). Use the remaining piece of the pair of balun that was used at the camera end in Step E14.
e. Make sure that the balun connections are made correctly for each color at both ends of the Cat5. For example, the orange wire connected to the camera (through a balun) is also the same orange wire connected to the DVR (via its counterpart balun).
f. After connecting all the 3 baluns to the Cat5 cable, insert the BNC cable of the balun to the correct BNC video input port at the back of the DVR. To connect the BNC, push the cable in and turn clockwise to tighten. Do this for all 3 baluns.
Thus, in our system, the balun with the orange wire goes to the DVR’s Video 1 port for camera 1; balun with brown wire goes to Video 2 port for camera 2, and balun with green wire goes to Video 3 port for camera 3.
For record purposes, make a note on where each camera is facing, pole where it’s mounted, the color wire it’s connected in the Cat5 cable, and to which Video input port it is connected in the DVR. You’ll need these info for your post-installation tests.
H. Installing the Other Cameras in two Other Metal Poles
For Poles #2 and #3, we followed the same step-by-step procedures as in Steps C, D, E, F, and G.
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| Pole #2 installed for Camera 5 facing west and Camera 6 facing south |
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| Pole #3 installed for Camera 7 facing northwest and Camera 8 facing north toward the houses at the background |
The only notable difference is that we ran only a single length of Cat5 video cable to service both Poles #2 and 3. Since a Cat5 cable contains 4 pairs of inner wire, we used 2 pairs for Pole #2 and the remaining 2 pairs of the same Cat5 cable for Pole #3.
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| Pole #2 painted with red oxide at foreground, ready for installation of power lines and Cat5 cable; see my assistants working on the junction post installing the needed ball insulators for the power lines and Cat5 cable |
Both poles are located north of the junction post. Pole #2 has 2 cameras and located about 5 meters away north of the junction post. Pole #3 also has 2 cameras and located also north of the junction post around 40 meters farther away from Pole #2. We did the following steps:
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| Installing Camera 8 (facing north) on Pole #3 |
1. Ran the Cat5 from the farm office where the DVR is located, hooked it up to and anchored it at the junction post (using ball insulator).
2. From the junction post, ran the Cat5 cable to Pole #2, securing it to a south-facing ball insulator attached to a bracket on Pole #2.
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| Working on Pole #2 at the foreground; see the junction post five meters away; see the white house with red roof (far right) across the pond (this is farm office where the DVR and monitor are located) |
3. At Pole #2, sliced the Cat5 open, and took out two pairs of twisted wires (orange pair for camera 5 and blue pair for camera 6) inside the Cat5.
4. Attached a video balun to each pair and connected the balun to each of the 2 cameras in Pole #2.
5. Secured the rest of the Cat5 to a north-facing ball insulator attached to another bracket on Pole #2. Thus the incised portion of the Cat5 is located between the 2 ball insulators in Pole #2.
6. From the north-facing ball insulator, ran the Cat5 all the way to Pole #3. Note: you may need to provide a bamboo support structure to prop up the Cat5 cable between Poles #2 and 3.
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| Support bamboo brackets nailed to a coconut tree on which to hang both the power lines and Cat5 cable from Pole #2 to Pole #3 behind the hut |
7. At Pole #3, secured the Cat5 cable using another ball insulator, then took out the two other unused pair of inner wires (brown pair for Camera 7 and green pair for Camera 8). Attached a video balun to each pair and connected the balun to each of the two cameras in Pole #3.
I. Powering On the DVR and Monitor and Testing the System
1. Plug in the DVR’s power adapter to 220 volts power strip. Also plug in the monitor’s power adapter to the power strip.
2. Plug in the power strip to the 220 volts outlet of an automatic voltage regulator (AVR). Make sure that the AVR is plugged in to the 220 volts wall outlet and is powered on.
3. Connect the DVR to the Monitor using a VGA cable or HDMI cable.
4. Connect the mouse at the back of the DVR.
5. Once everything is connected and powered on, the DVR will automatically boot up and initialize. Then later the monitor will show the video images from all seven cameras that were installed in Poles #1, 2, and 3.
6. In case something is wrong, do diagnostic tests to isolate where the problems are and what causes such problems.
J. Testing/Diagnosis
In the system we designed, we encountered two major problems described below.
1. No video image coming out of the monitor.
As part of the tests, we checked first the power supply and line aspect of the system. We verified:
a. If the automatic voltage regulator (AVR) for the cameras is working
b. If AVR is plugged in and powered on
c. If wall outlet is in fact supplying 220 volts power – we tested output voltage using multimeter; also connected the cameras directly to the wall outlet but there was no effect, so we put back the AVR.
d. If the power lines are properly connected at the junction post
e. If the power line to each of the 3 metal poles are properly connected to the power outlet mounted on the poles
f. If the power adapters for each of the 7 cameras are plugged in to the power outlets
g. If the power adapters themselves are working – tested individually, power indicator (red light) is on
h. If each camera’s dc power connector is plugged in to the dc power adapter mounted beside it on the metal pole
We didn't see anything amiss. So we went to the DVR and monitor side of the system. We checked:
a. If the DVR and monitor are properly plugged in to the AVR through their power adapters
b. If the AVR is plugged in to a house wall outlet and is working
c. If the the power adapters are properly connected to the DVR and monitor, respectively, and are not defective
d. If the BNC connectors of the 7 video baluns are firmly locked in to the video input ports at the back of the DVR, if twisted clockwise and tight
e. If the DVR is properly connected to the monitor (ours is through a VGA cable since our monitor has no HDMI port although our DVR has one)
Since all the above were checked, tested and found in order, we shifted our attention to the monitor. We tested it by connecting the monitor to a laptop computer using a VGA cable. The monitor worked. This means there's nothing wrong with the VGA cable that comes with the box (for the monitor). It also proves that the VGA port of the monitor is working.
Then we focused the test on our DVR. We had no way to test this in the farm, so I had it checked up at the vendor’s shop in Manila. They connected our DVR using an HDMI cable (not a VGA cable) to their own large monitor and the DVR worked very well. This means that the HDMI port of my DVR is working, but its VGA port has not been tested at all.
My big mistake was not taking with me my monitor so it can be checked together with the DVR at the shop (I’ll tell you later why this was a big lapse on my part). At the shop, they told me that it’s best to connect the DVR to the monitor using an HDMI cable instead of a VGA. At the time, I didn't know that my monitor does not have an HDMI port but only a VGA port.
From Manila, I took our DVR back to the fish farm, knowing that it's working and that the monitor has no problem. When reconnected to the monitor and powered it back on, still nothing in view!
So we thought (erroneously) that replacing our monitor with one with an HDMI connector will be the key. I went back to Manila carrying our monitor to replace it with a better one. But this time had our DVR with me. Before getting a replacement monitor, I went back to my DVR supplier (in the same mall) for advice. My DVR supplier this time tested both our monitor and DVR together using a VGA cable.
Lo and behold, there was still no picture! After fiddling with the two devices for a few minutes, the technician found the problem – a DEFECTIVE VGA PORT in my DVR. He replaced the defective part of the DVR with a new one then powered both devices back on. Problem solved!
Went back to my fish farm carrying our DVR and monitor. Things were looking up. Reconnected everything and finally, we had 5 of 7 video images appearing in the monitor. The system is not yet 100% A-ok, but it’s an improvement. A second major problem remained as discussed below.
2. Not all cameras are working.
We did further tests to isolate the problem:
a. Checked cameras not working, i.e., without video images.
Only Cameras 2 and 3 in Pole #1 are not working (Note: there is no Camera 4). Those working are: Camera 1 in Pole #1, Cameras 5 and 6 in Pole #2, and Cameras 7 and 8 in Pole #3. Video images from these five cameras were coming out clear, crisp, high quality.
b. Checked the video baluns for Cameras 2 and 3 and did some tests to see if they are defective.
First for Camera 2, replaced the balun at the camera side with the balun for Camera 1 (which I know is working) and also the balun at the DVR side with that for Camera 1. Now Camera 2 is working! This means that the video baluns originally installed for Camera 2 are defective.
c. Did the same for Camera 3 (i.e. replaced the pair of existing baluns with the pair used by Camera 1 and tested in Camera 2). Result - Camera 3 is still not working.
d. Checked Camera 3 thoroughly and we noticed something amiss in its female DC power plug connector. When plugged into the male DC connector in the power adapter, the connection is not tight, so that camera is not properly powered. To be sure, we compared the appearance of suspect female DC power plug connector of Camera 3 with 2 others.
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| Defective female DC power connector (black) at right compared to a non-defective one (red) at left. Note: a camera has two cables coming out of the unit - one is for video (yellow above) and the other is for DC power (red above). |
Based on the above tests, we isolated the problems and their causes - 2 pairs of defective video baluns and one defective camera unit (with its defective female DC power connector).
We returned the defective items to our supplier and they gave two pairs of new baluns and one new camera unit as replacements. This time, we made sure that the video baluns and camera unit were tested at the shop before accepting delivery. The first time we bought the baluns, we accepted them as is, untested. It was a mistake.
The good news was that after we reinstalled the two replacement pairs of video baluns and the replacement camera unit, our CCTV system for the fish farm was finally up and running 100%.
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| A fully functioning CCTV system for our fish farm (white light at right is flash from my camera); viewing can be done for one camera (full view), 4 cameras, or 8 cameras at the same time; can choose touring option so that video images of various locations are highlighted on a rotating basis |
Post implementation
News about our CCTV cameras spread among neighbors. They got curious about the 3 red-oxide painted metal poles in our farm, the 7 bullet cameras looking out in various directions with their sharp-eyed infrared lens. Some also interviewed our caretaker who answered questions and showed off actual live video footages, for good measure. Curious neighbors were clearly awed by the clear images which can be zoomed in and out and also recorded 24/7.
Did it improve results of our operations? So far, so good. We had our CCTV in place for a number of months, and I guess word spread around. We noticed intrusion stopping suddenly. The deterrence factor apparently kicked in. Results of our last harvest were a good indication. Number of bangus stocked all accounted for. No losses.
Thinking of putting up a surveillance system for your farm? Go for it. It’s doable as a DIY project, if you have some extra cash to spend. You’ll have your share of mistakes and lapses. But it’s a learning experience. And when the system is up and running, you’ll get your money’s worth.
For a complete list of Fish Pond Buddy blog posts on fish farm-related topics, please click the Index page.
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