The Many Video Baluns Available in the Market Today

Any video balun talk would automatically translate to security cameras, CCTV systems, and Cat5e cables. While it is true that video baluns are often associated with these, video baluns can also be used with phones and phone cables. The standard video baluns sold today are active and passive video baluns. 

By now, you already know what active and passive video baluns are and how they differentiate from each other. As a review, passive baluns do not really change the signal they receive as they merely transfer the signal from coaxial to Cat5 connectivity or vice versa. Active video baluns come into place for longer distances as signal tends to become more distorted for long range applications. To prevent this from happening, active baluns are used to intensify the signal, transmitting a stronger signal to the receiving balun. If applied inversely, a weak signal received by an active balun will automatically converted into a stronger one before it is sent to the video surveillance appliance.

Power-transferring video baluns are also available in the market nowadays. These video baluns can support power up to 18V-24V DC from the wall. From the power to the camera, there are instances when the signal degrades. What happens is that the 18V signal will be converted into a higher current of 12V DC by a power regulator before it is fed to the camera. There also video baluns that can transmit AC power to the camera. 

Purchased video baluns often come with a wiring guide so the consumer can safely connect the baluns to the wires where they have to be attached to. This is because wires first have to be stripped before being connected to the video balun. While there are fancy baluns that do not require wires to be stripped first since they offer easy connection directly from a cable, the more economical ones would require that wires be stripped first before connection.

PIMFG.com offers tutorials on wire stripping and video balun installation which you should probably watch first before doing it on your own. This guarantees a safe and easy task to accomplish.