<B>University challenge </b>
IDS has overhauled CCTV coverage at a London University campus near Kings Cross in London with a digital multiplexing system from Dedicated Micros. With more than seven sites within the City Centre and a growing threat from drug related crime in the neighbourhood, the university consulted IDS to come up with a security solution.
IDS installed 20 colour dome cameras at external locations covering the car parks, main roads and entrances to the halls of residence, lecture theatres and the marking centre, with 10 Digital Sprite multiplexers in the control centre controlling two cameras each. The system also controls an external archiving drive, a high specification printer and a spot VHS recorder. Images are stored on an integral hard drive with storage capacity for up to 31 days of coverage. Operators can produce instantaneous hard copies, or transfer digital images onto standard VHS tapes for potential police use.
Because of the Digital’s Sprite’s integral networking capability, IDS was able to extend the system to include all the internal cameras already installed, without re-cabling a new network, which would have proved expensive. Cameras have been connected via a single cable that simply plugs directly into the back of the Digital Sprite.
<B>On the mend</b>
The Bristol branch of ADT Fire and Security is installing a CCTV system at the Gloucestershire Royal Hospital as part of a GB pound 30,000 investment in security and safety systems aimed for completion in August. The installation involves two new pan and tilt CCTV cameras which will monitor exactly who is on hospital grounds, as well as a fixed camera which will monitor the exit from the children’s ward.
Two other existing cameras will be upgraded to colour monitors to give security staff a more detailed picture of events on hospital grounds. One is to be positioned to monitor the rear entrance, while the other is a fully functional model able to track people. Additional monitoring in the control room will also enable security staff to maintain efficiency on the 15 hectare site.
<B>Stadium venture</b>
Soundtrack AV has installed CCTV cameras at Southend United Football Club’s Roots Hall stadium using the Titan 450 dome camera housings from Conway Security to provide 360 degree coverage of the entire football ground for police and club marshalls. The dome housings have been specially designed around Pentax 12-240mm 20:1 zoom lenses, with pre-sets enabling it to focus on possible trouble spots in the ground. Twenty pre-sets have been established, and the Titan forms part of a 13-camera system, with pictures monitored at a control room in the ground’s west stand. The Titan 450’s optically flat screen enables quality pictures to be delivered.
An optional wiper feature keeps the screen clear of water and dirt, and a tough aluminium construction protects the camera and receiver from the elements.
<B>Club sandwich</b>
Tyco Integrated Systems has installed a system designed to manage the safety infrastructure at Oxford United Stadium. Comprising distributed TV systems with 24 CCTV cameras, access control including the SCANgate system, emergency telephone, fire alarm, public address and voice alarm system, safety and security at the new stadium is taken care of for the club’s 12,573 supporters.
In addition, the football club has a car park that holds 1,160 cars so security and safety at the venue is paramount. 20 speed dome cameras and four fixed cameras were installed, most of them within the stadium and car park, and some covering the approaches to the stadium.
Tony Ashley, safety officer and stadium manager at the club, said: “CCTV is the most important tool to have in a stadium as it is not only security which benefits from it, but safety as well. The CCTV is such a good system that I have two part-time operators manning it at football matches.” <B>Terminal vision</B>
Capital Vision has installed a CCTV system aimed at combating theft and vandalism at the Purfleet Thames Terminal. Located between the M25 and the A13, it is one of the most important container ports in the UK with numerous terminal tractors, seven- tonne sideloaders and a 40- tonne mobile crane attachment. A roll-on, roll-off, ferry system is operated at the terminal for cars entering from Zebrugge, with cargo accommodation stretching over 90 acres and space for 1,000 trailers.
The system installed comprises 2020DC pan and tilt heads offering 24 degree per second pan and 12 degree per second tilt, a tailor-made matrix and Omega telemetry receivers and keyboards from Conway Security Products. The pan and tilts operate Baxall cameras that are protected by Conway housings, and the whole installation is hardwired around the site. The receivers are also said to stand as an industry benchmark for variable speed performance with unrivalled creep speed and DC variable speed offering 75 pre-sets and 40 tours.
<B>Anti-vandal gamble</b>
Stortech Electronics has answered the challenge to provide a high-performance surveillance system in an architecturally sensitive environment with an innovative solution that satisfied customer requirements while making the most of current technology. The client’s brief asked for a system that would provide effective footfall monitoring while complying with strict planning and architectural requirements, as well as stipulating that it had to be vandal proof.
With its wide experience in delivering custom designs, Stortech encased a number of Pecan CB60H miniature surveillance cameras within the top of the building’s perimeter railings, allowing the system to remain unnoticed and away from human interference. The hi-resolution, dual PCB colour camera was also fitted with an advanced compact lens to further enhance surveillance capability.
The camera offers a horizontal picture resolution of 450 lines and delivers high-quality images in light levels as low as 1 lux. The camera module also incorporates a DC controlled auto-iris function that automatically adjusts for optimum contrast and functionality.
<B>Pentagon upgrade</b>
Secure Engineering has upgraded the surveillance system at the Pentagon Shopping Centre in Chatham. The contract involved installing 16 high-speed dome cameras throughout the 380,000 sq ft shopping centre, most of which were discreetly recessed in ceilings to ensure criminals were less aware of being watched by security staff. The dome cameras can also rotate a full 360 degrees in less than two seconds, making it much easier to monitor and track suspicious activity.
The lenses used on the cameras allow security staff to identify individuals up to 60 metres away. Images are relayed back to a control room within the shopping centre while being simultaneously recorded onto S-VHS tapes.
The entire upgrade was completed within three weeks, including the installation of an additional fully-functional dome some 400m away from the security control room. The expanded system also enables both the Centre Manager and Operations Manager to select and monitor cameras from their own offices.
<B>Smart answer for FSA</b>
Sound and Vision Technologies, part of Tyco Integrated Systems, has installed an access control system using smart technology door readers and multi-function cards at the Food Standards Agency’s (FSA) new headquarters at Holborn.
The system provides a solution for access doors, fire doors and reception turnstiles within the building with alarms routed via the access control management software. It allows all events to be logged and investigated only by authorised security staff.
SVT contracted Newcastle-based Morley Electronics to design the system around its Nexus access control system. The modular system allows each controller to give fully distributed intelligence using its on-board processing capabilities. Working in conjunction with Morley’s Visikey management software, the controllers provide all the features required to control more than 80 Gemplus smart readers and 600 user cards. A photo ID system backs up the system with ID card print capabilities held on-site for complete self-containment.
<B>Chinese whispers</b>
Tom Sun, an installation company based in Jinzhou in North Eastern China, has installed a Baxall Pyramid video management system to monitor traffic and pedestrian management in the coastal town centre.
Government officials decided to install a CCTV system throughout the centre, which spreads across 10 square kilometres, giving the contract to Baxall’s Chinese distributors, Shenzhen Inter Electronics. 24 Baxall CDSP9313 pan and tilt cameras have been installed. The 1/3rd inch cameras come with backlight compensation and line lock. The cameras provide steady, high-resolution images over a fibre optic network, which links back to the main control room at the Central Security Headquarters, where a matrix system that has been specifically designed for medium to large sized applications has been installed.
The 24 Pyramid DC telemetry receivers give variable speed control of ptz and iris functions and are connected to a Pyramid 48 input matrix which links all the camera inputs and monitor outputs allowing any camera to be held and sequenced on any monitor. The whole system is operated through three Pyramid PY-KBD-L keyboards, two at headquarters and the other in the traffic control centre, to monitor some of the highways in Jinzhou.
<B>Video on the water</b>
Bureau Maritime Onderzoek and its partner the Alwijnse Groep, have installed remote video communications units supplied by Motion Media Technology to new and existing ptz colour cameras together with audio capabilities as part of an ingenious surveillance scheme covering bridges and lock systems on some of Holland’s major canal gateways.
Pilot schemes have been established on six under-trafficked sections of the waterways, with a 50% reduction in operating costs. The reductions have been achieved by cutting the number of staff on site, without compromising on safety. The sites had been manned by up to five people, but they are now monitored via a central control centre.
Traffic control officers manipulate cameras from a regional control room, and can also speak to the ships parked in the lock to give them instructions on site. When a ship approaches a bridge or lock, sensors mounted along the approach trigger Motion Media’s video transmission units to compress and transmit images via ISDN.
Meanwhile all images are captured on a time-lapse VCR. This also speeds up the investigations of accidents, and the installers are now drawing up plans to install the system at 40 locations throughout the country.
<B>Branding up</b>
Tyco Integrated Systems has installed an integrated security solution for the first Brand Centre in the UK to showcase all Honda products, including cars, motorcycles, power equipment and marine as well as supporting a body shop, workshop and extensive used car and motorcycle display.
The system comprises six colour, mono-switching dome cameras and eight colour, mono-switching fixed cameras. In the control room, a multiplexer, matrix, VCR, split screen, spot monitors and one control keyboard have been installed. In addition, Tyco Integrated Systems also supplied and installed an intruder alarm system that was put in by a NACOSS approved installer, and uses IR beam detection linked to the cameras, with internal detection methods and recording facilities.
The complexity of the site required an integrated solution that would also give flexibility for customers and staff. Paul Alston, Retail Facilities Manager at Honda UK, said: “Tyco Integrated Systems was able to provide and install a system for us which covers all areas of the facility with customised software in a security control room, providing system integration.”
