BNC connectors and crimping tools
The BNC is a widely used connector in CCTV installations. The BNC, or Bayonet-Neil-Concelman, connector was named after its original designer Bayonet-Neil-Concelman. It is a popular connector used in CCTV installations. There are different types of BNC connectors, and three of the most popular types of BNC connectors are:
- 3 piece BNC crimp
- Screw type BNC
- Soldering BNC
Three piece BNC connector
3-piece BNC crimp is most popular and preferred by many CCTV installers. They are widely available from all CCTV wholesalers and some high street retailers have also started selling them. The popularity of three-piece BNC makes it a mass produced BNC type. However, they are not easy to install and some specialised skills and tools are required to crimp.
The initial cost of these crimping tools can vary from £50.00 to £70.00 and this includes RG59 crimp and BNC wire stripper.
It is expected that as a CCTV engineer you should have good experience in using these tools.
Many things can go wrong if BNCs are not properly crimped. As a CCTV engineer, you do not necessarily need to understand how all CCTV equipment works, but you should have good experience in BNC crimp.
Video signal strength and BNC connectors
In a CCTV installation, the video signal transmitted by the CCTV camera is known as a composite or baseband. In a good BNC termination, video lost can’t go higher than 0.3 to 0.5 db. There are silver and gold plated tips, and gold plated tips are better to use as they have higher resistance compared to silver, when low current or electronic signal is sent via low resistance signal, tarnish can interfere with joints and therefore it is best to use gold plated tips.
What you should not do when crimping a BNC connector?
Avoid using electrical cutters or pliers – Stripping the cables with cutters for the required length is quite difficult and when stripping the copper, small pieces can fall over the centre core or tip, and this can cause issues with video quality.
Can I use pliers to crimp a BNC ring?
By using pliers to crimp BNC connectors, you may end up squashing the whole ring.
It is better and advisable to buy proper crimping tools for the required cable. There are two popular types of coaxial cable – RG-59/U and RG-58/U – and you may need to buy different types of crimping tools for them.
If you are not familiar with BNC crimping then it is better to use soldering type BNC connectors. You should take extra care when soldering iron guns are being used, as they normally work at high temperatures and sometimes the smoke that comes out of them can trigger smoke alarms.
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