How to wire DVR security cameras?

Security cameras have different image resolutions, and methods to connect to other systems. Some business security cameras are used indoors, while others are used outside. Some can pan, tilt, and zoom to cover a larger area, while others are made to read license plates as cars pull into a parking lot. Every business needs a system of security cameras.

Before you start putting together a wired security camera system, you need to know how everything works together. Every system is made up of a set of cameras and a DVR box. The DVR box acts as the user interface for the entire system and stores all the recorded video.

All of the cameras connect directly to the DVR box using either BNC cables for analogue systems or ethernet cables for digital systems. If you have an analogue system, you should skip the BNC cable and instead get special adapters called baluns that let you use Ethernet cables instead. These are much easier to set up and are more modern in general. Since the cameras directly plug into the DVR box, if you put a camera on your back patio, you will need to run the camera's cable through your house to connect it to the DVR box. Depending on how your house is built and how you plan to run the cable, this can get a little tricky.

The DVR box is then plugged into a power outlet, and an external monitor is connected to the DVR box so that you can control the whole system, see a live view of all the cameras, and watch recordings from the past. Most systems come with a mouse, but you should also get a keyboard.

• Security Cameras Wiring

The following are the major steps to wire security cameras.

• Decide where you want to put your camera

When you want to set up wired security cameras, you can't just put them up anywhere. Think about what makes the most sense in terms of how easy it is to install.

• Get ready to set up the camera

Depending on where you put your cameras, you may need tools other than the ones others use. For example, you drill through wood, drywall, and aluminum, so a regular power drill and some basic drill bits will work just fine. But if you need to drill through brick or another masonry, you'll probably need a hammer drill with some masonry drill bits.

• Connect each camera's location with wires

Once you've drilled holes for your cameras, it's time to run cables to each of their spots. Here, the order of things might be different for you depending on your situation, you'll be drilling holes through walls or ceilings to get cables to where they need to go.  

• Connect the wires to the DVR box

Once you've put all the cable runs where each camera will be, you can run all the cables to the DVR box.

• Put the cameras in place

From here on out, things get a lot easier, since running the cables is by far the hardest part. The cameras should take only a few minutes to set up. Start by connecting the camera to the cable that comes out of the hole. Then put what's left back into the hole. You can wrap the connection with electrical tape to keep it from coming loose by accident. Next, get the mounting screws that came with your kit and use your power drill to attach the camera to your house. After you've put the camera in place, you can make some rough adjustments by loosening the adjustment screws and then tightening them back up when you're done. Keep in mind that you may need to make more fine-tuned changes once you can see what the camera sees live, so you're not quite done with this step yet.

• Put it all together

Once the other end of the cables has been run through your house, you can start connecting them to the DVR.

• Set up the user interface

Here, things can be different for you depending on what kind of camera system you have, but the process of setting up the camera is probably the same for all of them.

Conclusion

Once your camera system is up and running for real, check the video feeds to see if any of the cameras need to be adjusted. As was explained above, use the small screws on the camera to move it to where you want it.