Site surveys for surveillance applications, are they needed, are they worth it?
Many wonder whether the promises and benefits of wireless technologies can be succesfully implemented for a surveillance camera network. The answer is a convincing: Yes, absolutely. At the same time, a poor implementation can lead to disastrous result.
Nowhere is a proper site survey and RF design more important than with when deploying a surveillance network. At the end of the day, what is important is that the video signal is delivered to the control room and it’s servers without interruption, major latency or signal degradation. The fact that the communication is wireless should be seamless to the overall operation of the system. In order to guarantee such quality and up-time as is required for surveillance networks an on-site RF analysis is absolutely required.
Wireless signals can subjected to many forms of interference, multi-path properties and other non-standard propagation features that make the transition from a desktop design to an actual implementation quite unpredictable. Using Spectrum Analysis tools and throughput verification setups, Q-Wire can not only verify that the planned design can indeed be implemented, but we can quantify the available real time throughput of each node/link in the network. The correct frequencies for each application and even each specific link can be chosen based on the available spectrum, avoiding the congested channels and leaving interference laden frequencies behind.
While on-site for the RF Analysis, we will take advantage of the time spent looking at each potential transmission point (camera pole) to also perform a Field of View (FoV) analysis. Our custom Q-Wire Site Partner FoV analysis kit provides us with all the tools to power up actual surveillance cameras with the ability to collect day and night sensor images, using multiple lens configuration in order to provide our customers with a real-life view of what the system will be able to see once installed. This way the customer can review the report and determine what FoV best suits their needs for each camera site.
Key output feature of a Q-Wire Site Survey:
Partner with Q-Wire Technologies for a complete Field of View and RF Site Surveys to guarantee the right wireless and optical design for your Surveillance System.