Wireless CCTV With Installation

[larrymilla 0]

Hi friends,

 

I would appreciate your professional advice on a project I'm about to commence.

 

I have designed a 4 cameras system to be installed over a very large dumping site.

 

I am considering speed dome cameras like Axis 233d or Acti speed dome. I already have Aver 4ch NVR.

 

All the cameras would be connected to NVR via wireless radio network. I am yet to decide on which radio/antennae to employ.

 

All the cameras + radios will be powered with solar panel connected with battery.

 

A single pole will carry; the solar panel + battery, the radio+antenna, the speed dome camera each.

 

I plan to establish remote connections to the office of the management via internet. They will need to be able to view and control the cameras remotely via the internet.

 

Now, I want your inputs before I start making purchases; I have not done this kind of project before and I don't want to make any mistake. How do you see this design? What other things can make it better? What brands have you tested and can recommend or brands I should avoid?

 

I will appreciate all your kind response here.

 

Thanks

[ilk 0]

Hi friends,

 

I would appreciate your professional advice on a project I'm about to commence.

 

I have designed a 4 cameras system to be installed over a very large dumping site.

 

I am considering speed dome cameras like Axis 233d or Acti speed dome. I already have Aver 4ch NVR.

 

All the cameras would be connected to NVR via wireless radio network. I am yet to decide on which radio/antennae to employ.

 

All the cameras + radios will be powered with solar panel connected with battery.

 

A single pole will carry; the solar panel + battery, the radio+antenna, the speed dome camera each.

 

I plan to establish remote connections to the office of the management via internet. They will need to be able to view and control the cameras remotely via the internet.

 

Now, I want your inputs before I start making purchases; I have not done this kind of project before and I don't want to make any mistake. How do you see this design? What other things can make it better? What brands have you tested and can recommend or brands I should avoid?

 

I will appreciate all your kind response here.

 

Thanks

 

For Nigeria use point-to-point (PTP) radio links on non standard frequencies. (ie not 900MHz, 2.4GHz or 5GHz)

 

Ilkie

[hardwired 0]

First problem most people run into- massively undersizing the solar panels and battery size. If this is a site that you only want surveillance on during certain hours, you should also plan on using a electronic timer at each camera location to shut off power to the cameras and transmitters after hours, or make sure you have sized the solar system accordingly.

 

Here's a calculator to start with- http://www.batterystuff.com/kb/tools/solar-calculator.html

 

Speed dome cameras use a LOT more power than standard IP megapixel cameras, you may want to consider more fixed cameras rather than PTZ's. (PTZ cameras also tend to be pointed in the wrong direction when something happens, unless you have a full time operator for them).

 

For the wireless links, I've had a lot of success with Ubiquiti equipment. If you have line of sight to all camera locations, I'd suggest their 5GHz gear. Depending on the distances involved, you could use their NanostationM5 units at each camera location, and the Rocket M5 with a sector or omnidirectional antenna at the NVR location. For 4 cameras or so, that should give you plenty of bandwidth for decent frame rates and resolution.

 

In Nigeria, you should be able to use the 5GHz UNII and UNIII bands, so that will give you a lot of channel choices to find a clear link channel, unless you are in a really congested area.

[larrymilla 0]

@Ilkie, thanks.

I have not used wireless equipment that works at 5GHz frequency before, but I will certainly attempt it this time as Hardwired as also advised the same. But let me ask u, which of the 3 frequencies you mentioned will give me the best result and what are their differences?

 

@Hardwired,

For the solar power system, I planned to use 200 watts solar panel that will be connected to 160Ah battery on each pole to power the Camera & the Radio, wont that be enough to power the system round the clock?

Because of the volatile nature of the place, we can not suggest many cameras as they will be too conspicuous hence be subjected to vandals; it is a wastes incineration and recycling site. I believe the four cameras will be effectively controlled from the remote office & I think the ability to pan & zoom would make them effective.

The longest distance from the NVR base to any camera is 700 meter, so I think any other good radio should do the work in case I cant lay my hands on Ubiquitis equipments as I doubt their availability in Nigeria; I know of TP-Link, Microtik, Senao and some other few ones.

 

I thank u both for ur contributions while I await further ones and from others.

[hardwired 0]

Here is a link to Ubiquiti resellers in Africa: http://www.ubnt.com/purchase/africa. I've also used quite a bit of Mikrotik equipment, and had it work well, but I don't usually recommend it first to people due to the difficulty of programming it for first-time users.

 

If you or one of your staff have a pretty high level of experience with wireless gear, it could be a good choice.

 

One of the advantages of Ubiquiti gear is that it has a built in spectrum analyzer feature that makes finding usable frequencies much easier.

 

Ilk was actually recommending against consumer band, unlicensed gear such as this, but in my opinion, the cost and complexity of licensed frequency links usually only make sense in extremely high end jobs.

 

The biggest source of interference in the 5GHz band is usually wireless Internet service providers, you may want to talk to the ones in your area to coordinate channel usage to avoid interfering with each other (and you may want to use one of them for Internet service, as well).

 

Your solar calculations seem fairly reasonable, keep in mind the wireless link will run about 10 Watts or so, plus the camera load. You may want to talk to a solar equipment manufacturer for their recommendations.

[ilk 0]

Here is a link to Ubiquiti resellers in Africa: http://www.ubnt.com/purchase/africa. I've also used quite a bit of Mikrotik equipment, and had it work well, but I don't usually recommend it first to people due to the difficulty of programming it for first-time users.

 

If you or one of your staff have a pretty high level of experience with wireless gear, it could be a good choice.

 

One of the advantages of Ubiquiti gear is that it has a built in spectrum analyzer feature that makes finding usable frequencies much easier.

 

Ilk was actually recommending against consumer band, unlicensed gear such as this, but in my opinion, the cost and complexity of licensed frequency links usually only make sense in extremely high end jobs.

 

The biggest source of interference in the 5GHz band is usually wireless Internet service providers, you may want to talk to the ones in your area to coordinate channel usage to avoid interfering with each other (and you may want to use one of them for Internet service, as well).

 

Your solar calculations seem fairly reasonable, keep in mind the wireless link will run about 10 Watts or so, plus the camera load. You may want to talk to a solar equipment manufacturer for their recommendations.

 

 

In my experience in Nigeria, frequency regulation is non-existent and enforcement action unheard of.

 

In urban areas the 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequency bands are totally saturated with operators using illegal power outputs to blast through the interference.

 

Even if you find a free channel today there is no guarantee that it will work tomorrow.

 

If you happy to take this risk the Ubiquiti kit is OK.

 

Otherwise talk to the PTT about using a licenced band (23 GHz or 26GHz) depending on distance.

 

Ilkie

[hardwired 0]

I agree that sets of licensed links would be the best choice, but a $10,000+ USD per link cost is often out of people's budget. (If you know of some good, cheap backhaul gear, please let me know!).

 

Ubiquiti has just come out with a 24GHz link for about $2000 USD per link, but availability is still pretty limited.

 

You will also have the problems of much higher size, power consumption, and the need for much higher mounting stability at those frequencies.

 

The Ubiquiti 5GHz gear now has the capability of automatic frequency switching, which can help in crowded environments.

[ilk 0]

I agree that sets of licensed links would be the best choice, but a $10,000+ USD per link cost is often out of people's budget. (If you know of some good, cheap backhaul gear, please let me know!).

 

Ubiquiti has just come out with a 24GHz link for about $2000 USD per link, but availability is still pretty limited.

 

You will also have the problems of much higher size, power consumption, and the need for much higher mounting stability at those frequencies.

 

The Ubiquiti 5GHz gear now has the capability of automatic frequency switching, which can help in crowded environments.

 

Hi Hardwired,

 

In these environments the spectrum is way past crowded. In in many African, Middle Eastern and Asian urban environments it is almost impossible to use legally configured 5GHz links now, an issue which will only get worse with time.

 

Interestingly, we are also seeing the start of the same problem in the centre of London in both the 5.4GHz and 5.8GHz bands.

 

If any integrator or operator purchases radio kit for reliable use in in our cities with an expectation of life span of 5 years plus, they are going to be very disappointed.

 

For this project, the Ubiquiti 24GHz link sounds interesting.

 

Ilkie

[hardwired 0]

The Ubiquiti AirFiber 24GHz unit will also allow 700Mbps full duplex throughput on each link, so you should be able to run at least 100 cameras per pole...

 

If the OP is not in a severely congested area, he could at least test the water with a pair of NanoStation M5's, they'll run under $200 USD for a pair.

 

In other bands, Ubiquiti also makes their NanoStations in a 3.65GHz licensed band, as well as the PowerBridge line in 3.65 and 10GHz bands, along with the unlicensed band stuff.