nyphonejacks

test

2015-12-17T16:46:00.000-05:00

Testing to see if images show up from picasaweb...

if this works, I may be able to salvage all of the posts where images are not showing...

Installing a double DIN radio in a 1997 Toyota Corolla G

2015-12-15T22:22:00.002-05:00

I recently purchased a 1997 Toyota Corolla that had a defective stereo. I wanted a radio with a video screen, but according to all sources that I could find only a single DIN radio fits in this vehicle.

Old Kenwood stereo missing faceplate,
Original Toyota add on tape deck and pocket below vents

The Geo Prizm is basically GMs version of this vehicle, and it uses a double DIN radio, but it is mounted lower then where Toyota mounts their radio. I did see a single post on a Toyota forum where someone had installed a double DIN radio in this lower location, however it didn't look installed very good, it was sticking out where it didn't line up with the dash panel.

I used the existing single DIN pocket
to replace the head unit I removed

I didn't want to use a single DIN stereo that had a motorized screen that pops out because it would block the vents when the screen was opened, and figured if I couldn't get the stereo to fit I could always just return it to the store.

Double DIN Pioneer installed

Seriously it was much easier to mount and install then I even imagined. I thought that I might have to modify or fabricate something to get the radio to fit properly. In reality the only minor issue I ran into was that the wire was just barely long enough to connect. I should have extended the wire to make it easier, however it was just long enough that I will leave it as is since extending the wire is just going to stuff up the limited space behind the radio.

Dash panel put back on

Next up, connecting a parking brake bypass for the video signal, finding a more permanent location for the bluetooth microphone and installing cameras (the head unit allows for a back up camera as well as a second camera, which I will likely add several cameras to with a video selector switch.

Close up of single DIN pocket
The hole is left over from the wired remote
for the old trunk mounted CD changer.

Powered up for the first time

Green wire is parking brake lock for video,
I will be installing a bypass switch

It can be done!

An even larger CAT6 network install (Part 1) rack and ladder installed.

2015-12-15T22:00:00.000-05:00

This install was put onto hold even before the other "large CAT6 network install" was started.

All of the cabling had been pulled at this location before we started that other large install, but work at this site was put on hold.

Finally we were able to get back to working on this network. It consists of over 400 wire runs for VoIP, PC, IP cameras, speakers, monitors, door bells and card readers

We installed a 15u wall mount rack to install the NVR and IP camera network.

We also installed a full 4 post rack where all of the patch panels and switches for the VoIP and PC networks are going to be located.

We currently have a single ladder coming across the top of the racks, but will likely add a second rack to install servers on. All access control units will be mounted to one of the walls. The entire room has plywood walls behind the sheetrock.

4 ceiling mount TVs installed

2015-12-15T21:48:00.001-05:00

So we had to install 4 50 inch televisions with ceiling mounts for one of our customers. They were installed into beams using lag bolts.

Installing the poles, checking spacing distances.

The only problem was that the customer only had 3 of the 4 televisions, so we had to return a few days later and hang the final TV.

Got all poles installed, and first TV installed.

Another view of the installed TVs

Yet another angle of the TVs

View from below

View from behind.

Hooking up the strobe lights to the work truck

2015-12-15T21:42:00.002-05:00

Grille removed to install front strobes

Front strobes test

Front strobes mounted and installed.

Had to dremel the rear tail lights to mount rear strobes.

Rear strobes installed in rear tail lights.

Rear strobes test

Everything working!

Small network hidden inside the wall.

2015-12-15T21:35:00.004-05:00

We prewired this network after the construction phase we had to run the wires behind the baseboard molding. The customer wanted the network hidden out of sight, after everything was completed and the location of the network was determined.

Getting everything hidden behind the wall.

Since it is a very small network we were able to cut out a section of the sheetrock and hide the router, switch and patch cables inside of the wall behind an access panel.

Everything hidden out of the way.

Small network cleanup with surface mount box

2015-12-15T21:30:00.003-05:00

So I installed phones at this customer, and a week later he called to complain that his network was "messy" and when are we going to come back and clean it up.

BEFORE

Generally I don't like to touch a network that I didn't install, and there is no reason for me to touch it, which is why it wasn't cleaned up when the IP phones were initially installed. It also cost time and money to neaten up an existing network, and someone has to pay for that.

Box and hardware mounted inside.

So we were given the OK to neaten the network and installed a box to hide everything in. All of the hardware was mounted inside of the metal box with double sided tape.

Closed up box.

The customer was satisfied with the end result, and in the end it only took about half hour to put together.

AFTER

12 inch deep rack installed and patched in

2015-12-15T21:21:00.002-05:00

Sometimes where the customer needs or wants their network to be located does not offer sufficient space for a full sized wall mount rack. This was the case with this installation where the depth of the closet was very narrow.

Front view of the rack

So we installed a 12 inch deep wallmount rack to conserve space. Also installed are ICC blank patch panels, Cisco switches, a Cisco router, Bogen UTI-1 for paging, and a Trip-Lite rack mounted surge protector.

Close up of the patch panel

Multiple relay installation

2015-11-11T14:11:00.001-05:00

So, the same customer from a few posts back that had everything prewired for me, where we installed 4 racks, I had to install a few relays for several doors.

Viking relays, RC2A and three LDB2

I always wanted to use a bus bar in place of using wire nuts or b-connectors for the splices when working with multiple relays, so I figured this was a great project to use a pair of bus bars to distribute 16 VAC between the multiple relays.

Patch panel, DVR and alarm were already there.

The patch panel, DVR and alarm panel in the photo were existing and not installed by me or my crew. I only installed and connected the 4 relays and 2 power supplies, wires also already were run to where they needed to go to.

Stapled up all the wires neatly.

Used two bus bars to distribute the 16 VAC to activate the door latches

Ready to buzz those doors!

Neatened up the power supply wires

Think it came out pretty neatly.

Co-Worker decided to get some shots of me working

Here I am connecting the N.O. and common
of the keypads by the doors to the
N.O. and common of an LDB2

Large CAT6 office wiring job (part 3) Patching everything in

2015-11-11T13:59:00.002-05:00

If you aren't fast enough patching the entire network in, their IT guy is gonna start patching the PC network, and the camera guy is gonna start connecting his shit.

At least we patched in the VoIP phone's network neatly (the white patch cords).

Hopefully we will have some time to get back in here to dress the rest of the network.

4 foot standing single post floor rack installation.

2015-10-25T19:41:00.003-04:00

We found the perfect place to install this customers network, an out of the way place in their office that wouldn't take up useable floor space.

4 foot single post rack

The only problem being that there is limited ceiling clearance, so we opted for a 4 foot single post floor standing rack.

That's me and the new rack

I had my co-worker snap some photos of me working around the rack to give perspective to the size of the rack.

Looks like I'm working...

But these were all posed pics...

The business end of the rack,
need to come back and dress it up.

That's about everything:
12 outlet rack mount surge protector
2 48 port patch panels
24 port PoE switch
24 port GB switch

Close up.

15u rack mounted to the wall

2015-10-25T19:31:00.001-04:00

This job was wired a while back, there was no power, and there was a dead rat in the drop ceiling. The lack of power and material the wall was made of prevented us from being able to mount the rack to the wall when we were here to do the wiring. Because of the conditions of the location during our wiring job, there are no other photos of this location currently.

4 wall mounted 8u racks installed and patched in

2015-10-25T19:26:00.002-04:00

So this customer had someone else run all of the wiring. I would probably have run all of the wiring to a single location in this room and installed everything on a single floor mounted rack, but since everything was already wired behind plywood walls (and not run in from the ceiling, so not sure how to pull back to reroute) I decided to install 4 wall mount 8u racks.

Four racks ready to be mounted

Ready to mount everything to walls

One of the GB racks.

All 4 racks mounted, almost finished wiring up

One of the PoE racks

Finishing up wiring HD jacks to patch panel.

One of the GB racks.

Panoramic view of all 4 racks.

Large CAT6 office wiring job (part 2) 4 Post racks and wire ladders.

2015-10-07T18:54:00.001-04:00

Since this is such a large project, with a lot of photos, I have decided to break it up into multiple posts.

Side view of racks and wire ladder.

This is where we stand at the end of the workday today (that I publish this post)

Front view of the 2 racks and wire ladder.

We have installed two 4 post racks side by side, with cable management in-between the racks.

Wire ladder with wires coming up from basement.

We've installed a wire ladder going up the wall, bringing the wires from the floor (from the basement)

Wire ladder 90 bringing ladder over racks.

A 90 degree bend in the wire ladder extends the wire ladder over the two racks and across the room all the way to the opposite wall.

Another side view of ladder rack and racks.

A view from underneath.

Large CAT6 office wiring job (part 1)

2015-10-07T18:51:00.001-04:00

So we were commissioned to do a rush job to get a large office wired up and live in a very short period of time.

Wires in network room, run thru basement.

We had to break thru several brick walls to route our CAT6 cabling...

Brick wall we had to break out to bring wires thru to basement.

We ran all of the cabling thru the basement, and thru the ceiling where possible in the basement.

Two entrances for wires going to basement.

We will need to install some wiremolding for the wiring that we are unable to run across the ceiling.

Strapped wires over a pipe in the ceiling,
so wiring would be out of the way while we worked.

Many of the locations that the walls are solid brick, or concrete are run inside 3/4 conduit to protect it from being damaged.

Wiring snaked inside wall, and in conduit (far wall)

Wherever possible we ran the wiring inside the sheetrock, even though there are no drop ceilings, and they installed the sheetrock, taped and painted the walls before we could run low voltage, and before the electrician even showed up.

Wiring run inside conduit from basement.

Since this is a larger project I have decided to break this post up into several different posts. This one focuses on all of the prewiring that we are still in the process of completing.

Wide view of wires run to basement in conduit.

Part 2, which I also posted today shows after we installed two 4 post racks, wire and wire ladders.

More wiring run inside conduit.

We have about a week and a half before the deadline for the project, which I believe that we should make, however I do not believe the other trades will be ready by then.

More conduit wiring.

Also, we are supposed to be installing door phones, and door buzzers, however we did not get that stuff on our building/wiring plans/drawings, so that wiring will not be completed until after the deadline, however all network functions should be up and running by our deadline.

Wiring run across basement ceiling
(will be hidden inside wire molding)

We have had a crew of between 2-5 people working 6 days a week to get this project completed.

Another brick wall we had to break thru to route wires in basement.

Check out Part 2 for the rack install, and stay tuned for further updates to this project.

Another brick wall broken thru.

Wide view of above photo (brick wall broken thru)

Wiring pulled thru basement ceiling ready to be pulled upstairs in conduit.

Wall cut outs that allowed us to snake everything inside the walls in basement.

More wires ready to be pulled upstairs in conduit.

Wiring running front to back in basement
(will be covered with wire molding)

Wiring to be covered with wire molding.

Wires snaked thru basement ceiling and run upstairs in conduit.

Planned website updates...

2015-09-23T13:39:00.000-04:00

Instagram is always the fastest way to view images of recently completed jobs and projects.

The website is generally updated in bulk with several in progress or completed jobs time permitting, but is the best place to view in details information pertaining to each featured job.

I am considering updating the entire layout of the website, but do not currently have the time to do so. Things that I am considering for the update is to go back to a two row visual for the website instead of the three row layout that it currently is. I am also considering breaking up the Job Photo Archive page into multiple pages based on categories, such as prewire jobs, complete network/racks, and before/after clean up jobs.

STAY TUNED...

(this will probably not occur until October/November time permitting)

Another prewire, aprox 65 wires...

2015-09-23T13:02:00.003-04:00

Basic prewire job, about 65 wires, took 3 of us (1 his first day on the job) about 4 or 5 hours to pull everything, and an additional 1 to 2 hours for me to strap everything up neatly the following day.

Wires ready in network room

Wires run above ceiling

Wires run between beams

Wires run across ceiling.

Jacks prewired

Wiring going upstairs to network room

Wiring run across ceiling

Dropped down for doorphone.

Wires strapped above beams

Wiring run across main room behind beams.

Enclosed WHITE tripplite rack install, cameras, HDMI over CAT5..

2015-09-23T12:54:00.001-04:00

The prewire for this job is located at this post HERE

Recently this office was prewired by myself, the prewire can be viewed in the link just above.

This rack comes with rack rails that accommodate rack screws as well as nuts

This rack was going to be located in one of the offices and visible, and the customer wanted an enclosed rack. I really didn't like how the enclosed rack that I have used in the past HERE looks.

Connecting toggle bolts to rack,

I opted to get a vented white rack, unfortunately it was not available locally, and even with prime it took about a week to arrive from amazon. But the final product was well worth the wait.

Holes drilled out for toggle bolts.

I even opted to color code the patch cords for Voice, Data (which I generally do), and also the IP cameras and monitors.

Rack mounted to wall
Voice and data jacks separated.

Not only was the rack, and IP cameras installed, but we also installed multiple monitors, which we use a 4x1 HDMI splitter and HDMI over CAT5 baluns to get the signal from the NVR to the monitors.

Everything patched in

Rack all closed up
(hanging wires for Verizon Demarc)

HDMI over single CAT5 baluns
connected to monitor
(no photos after monitors mounted)

HDMI over CAT5

Color coded patch cords:
White: Voice
Blue: Data
Orange: HDMI over CAT5 (monitors)
Yellow: IP cameras

Quick 13+13 double network

2015-09-23T12:42:00.002-04:00

Would have taken more photos of this network install, but my camera was acting up and wouldn't focus. I think the lense was dirty or something.

This was done in all CAT 6.

The "Patch Panel" halfway wired.

This was done in all CAT 6.

The "Patch Panel" completely wired

Used wall faceplates because:

1: lack of space in location customer chose for network to be located (behind a door)

2: Customer was cheap. Demanded CAT6, although he didn't know why he needed it, and then complained about its cost being higher than CAT5 even though the company I work for gave him a VERY GOOD price, honestly I would have charged at least 3 to 4 times as much had this been a private job (and I would have used a rack of some kind)

Strapped up high above beams
to prevent wiring getting damaged by ceiling installation.

Whole house audio, intercoms, cameras, etc.

2015-09-23T12:32:00.002-04:00

Not sure if I posted the first group of photos on here before or not, but the semi-finished product is also included in this post towards the end.

A while back about 3 of us were out at this location to complete the prewiring prior to the walls going up. This is a residential install including whole home audio, intercom, doorphone, IP cameras, telephone wiring, etc..

Volume control and slave intercom base

After the walls were finally installed myself and one other tech (different from the first crew) came back to install all of the speakers, intercoms, volume controls, etc.

In ceiling speaker

Once all of the hardware was installed I returned alone to complete any hardware installation, as well as work on setting up and configuring everything at the "network closet"

In ceiling speaker,
volume control,
slave intercom base

After everything was connected up, I returned with the tech who assisted me with installing and mounting all of the hardware to test all of the speakers and complete some finishing touches.

In ceiling speaker

This project is still not 100 percent complete, as there are additional monitors that need to be mounted, door strikes need to be installed, as well as all of the IP cameras that have been prewired.

In ceiling speaker

All the wiring prior to cabinets being installed

Network jack, and intercom base

Wiring for electronic door latch

In wall volume controls

Wiring in wall speaker

Master intercom base, monitor for front door camera,
analog telephone jack

Bluetooth amplifier,
Speaker splitter.

Patch panel, BT amp, speaker splitter.

Patch panel, speaker wires connected.

Master intercom base,
monitor for front door camera,
analog phone jack.

Same as above, but on top is
wiring for additional monitor.

Cleaning up yet another network

2015-08-13T22:47:00.000-04:00

Went to install 3 phones and a paging system, ended up removing old phone system and cleaning up all of the wiring. I set up the phones and paging when I arrived and told them I would return on their off hours to clean everything up. Took 2 of us 2 hours to mount everything and clean up all of this mess.

Before

After

quick and easy basement wiring job, surface mounted wiring

2015-08-13T22:42:00.000-04:00

6 Double CAT5 drops for a total of 12 wires, 2- 24 port patch panels, and 2- 16 port switches.

Strapped to the electrical conduit, and all patched in.

Surface mount jacks

Customer was not concerned with "looks" however we still did what we could to keep the surface mounted wiring as neat as possible.

Strapped to beam

Their existing network rack was a mess, but we decided not to clean it up since we did not want to take them down, and we do not maintain their computer network/router/switch/server, only their voice router/switch.

Strapped on electrical conduit

Start to finish took 2 of us around 2 or 3 hours.

Strapped to electrical conduit

Headed up the stairway to the rack

Wires coming in from basement.

The existing rack:
We only installed top and bottom panel and the switches they are patched into.
All other wiring was left untouched.

Moving a doorphone and wireless relay

2015-08-13T22:27:00.000-04:00

This one was simple, everything was previously installed in the old network room, so wires just needed to be rerouted to the new network location and remounted on the wall, as well as moving one of the door phones from one door to a different door. We ran about 3 drops, only took a few hours to complete.

Viking E20B installed

Blank wall plate covers hole made to snake wire into door latch

Viking E20B

Side view showing where door latch wire was snaked

All the relays Viking RC2As and enforcer 1 channel receivers.

Another Wire molding installation

2015-08-13T22:18:00.000-04:00

So, this customer was just one of those customers that wanted everything done as hidden and unobstructive as possible, with absolutely no damage done to any walls.

They are in an office that more resembles residential work, as there are no drop ceilings.

In order to do this job properly without wire molding it would require a LOT of cutting sheetrock, walls and ceilings. The customer was completely against this.

So that leaves only one option, break out the wire molding and go around the baseboard.

Obviously the holes that had to be made between rooms to get the wire from jack to panel were a problem for him, even after we completed the installation.

Even where we attempted to hide the holes with the wiremolding, he had a problem with the "angle" that a 4 inch piece of molding was installed at in attempts to hide the holes.

All said and done this job was to install 7 network jacks and a panel. It took 2 of us about 3 days!!!

3 days to run SEVEN wires!! Sometimes you can not estimate the time it will take to complete a job sight unseen, sometimes a customer can be so difficult as to delay your progress.

This was all completed during business hours, so some delays could be expected, however, we were locked out of 2 of the rooms in the middle of the run nearly half the time we were there.

We did what we could to work around them, but it truly upset me when one room we were locked out of was for a "meeting" when the door was finally unlocked there was only one person in that room, the other room we were locked out of was for "training" and there was only 2 people in that room.

Seriously, I have never came across such an inconsiderate customer as to hold up progress of installations for whatever excuses they came up with.

I did have to connect everything to a WiMax router because they did not have a wireline internet connection at the time of install. On a subsequent visit I had to remove the WiMax modem and connect it to the FTTH ONT.

Luckily on the visit to swap the WiMax modem with the FTTH ONT the employee who was the biggest obstruction to our progress on the install was not there, so we quickly moved everything over to their newly installed internet and go out of there as quickly as possible, fearing that employee who had delayed us previously might only be out to lunch and could be back at any moment.

Completed wiring job with wire molding mounted on exposed brick HD 720p

2015-07-20T21:58:00.001-04:00