A luxury Chicago mixed-use complex recently used UTP cable to support its analog surveillance cameras when a local area network (LAN) for the property was not yet in place. M&R Electronic Systems designed and installed the video surveillance system for Centrum Properties Roosevelt Collection, a residential, retail and entertainment complex. The property comprises two, eight-story, 342-unit residential lofts, a two-level retail plaza, 16-screen movie theater and enclosed 1,500-vehicle three-level parking garage.
The project called for approximately 100 cameras to be installed throughout the two-block city square complex covering approximately 1.3 million square feet. M&R's president Richard Superfine explains that the security and surveillance systems had to be in place and running before or at the time of the property's opening. However, the local area network (LAN) would not be operational until after construction was completed.
"The long cable distances and the absence of a building-wide LAN prohibited us from using IP cameras, and due to the significant number of cameras being deployed, installing individual coax and power cables for each analog camera would have been expensive and labor-intensive," says Chuck Augello, senior project manager with M&R.
The solution was the implementation of HubWay UTP Transceivers from Altronix; the use of this technology "significantly reduced the installation and cabling costs without sacrificing video quality," Augello says.
Adds Superfine, "We bid and secured the project within the budgeted amount based on our design submission employing analog cameras. There were very few utility closets and we had only a few collecting points to which we could bring the cabling back. That's why the combination of Altronix HubWay UTP Transceiver Hubs and HubSat Power Injectors worked so well. We wired the HubSat Power Injectors in the IDF closets that were available to power the cameras, and then transmit video and data signals to the HubWay UTP Transceiver Hubs at the MDF."
The HubWay UTP Transceivers are available in a range of models, capable of transmitting video up to a mile with several units that also provide camera power. The transceivers support 16 and 32 cameras with features like auto picture and gain control as well as compensation for video polarity. The units are designed in a 1U rack that can be wall- or shelf-mounted.
M&R vice president Jim Valentino says the centralized transmission system also eases servicing the system, because if there is an issue with a camera it is easy to pinpoint the problem.
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