Keeping the Channel Islands Harbor safe – year after year!

WTI has worked with the Channel Island Harbor in Oxnard, California on many different projects over the past few years. Originally, a single P/T/Z camera was installed for basic viewing of the surrounding area as a beautiful shot to share with our customers to demonstrate the functionality of our P/T/Z cameras. The camera was situated so that anyone viewing the camera could watch sunrises and sunsets, the ocean waves crashing on the beach, and boats docking or leaving the harbor.

A few years after the installation of our demo camera, we decided that this location would be a great place to test more of our products. The next opportunity available to us was with our MACH I Ethernet/IP radio system. There were approximately 8 businesses in the general area that were requesting an internet connection for their offices, which we knew we would be able to provide wirelessly from our main headquarters. From a crow’s eye view, we were about 6.1 miles away from their head end; which was worrisome at first since wireless systems require line of site, but with proper mounting we were successful in our goals. With the link up and running and the businesses happy with their setup, we decided to branch out with that signal.

A local friend of the company, who also owned one of the businesses that was now receiving WTI internet services, was first to try home internet service using the MACH I system. His home was located approximately one mile away from our new head end. At his house, we mounted a patch antenna with another MACH I unit and faced it in the direction of the head end, and without a hitch he was up and running with a full speed internet connection in minutes. With this system up and working properly, we could now offer this service to anyone else in the area that requested it.

Back in the harbor, we had heard that there have been a lot of issues regarding propane tanks being stolen from the cages that were around the outside of the buildings; along with an ATM machine (you would be surprised how often that actually happens). It was assumed that it was being perpetrated by a local couple that lived nearby and we decided to take action immediately. These thefts were obviously not happening during the mornings or mid-day due to the high amount of business activity during these times; this job would require high-quality video being shot and recorded in the dark of night.

WTI’s Ambervision II had worked so well in previous jobs that it was yet again the prime choice for this new scenario. Taking the proper rout, we created our head end in a small room in one of the businesses only accessible by two people on a regular basis. We installed three Ambervision II cameras along the main wings of the building, followed by one more secured in a corner of a hallway to watch over the area where the ATM machine was located. To finish off the building, we mounted a C-MAX Ultra Dome on the roof.

The Channel Islands Harbor has had great success over the years and has progressed continuously day by day. This, of course, leads to expanding buildings and allowing more businesses to come in and create a home for themselves. While the new buildings were going up, we received a call to add more surveillance cameras; these were primarily for daytime use and an overall visual of the construction sites while the building was going on.

Taking the layout of the existing buildings, the one opposite of building A (the Ambervision II side) was where we decided to work from. A C-MAX camera was used in 4 different locations for this new job; one camera in the front, one in the back, and two facing out over the water. All of the cables for the new cameras were run back to the original room to allow all 8 cameras to be centrally monitored.

The business owner was able to watch day by day as the new building went up and save the video as needed. This set-up has not only worked as proper security for the area, but has also allowed the businesses to cut and save clips of video that they wanted for sentimental value of their expanding businesses.

Since the first day WTI’s cameras went up at the harbor, six years ago now, there has not been one theft or act of vandalism.

It has been extremely gratifying to watch this project evolve over the years; not only have we satisfied customer needs again and again, we have also helped make a local harbor safe for business and the community.

~Patrick Kearns, Product Specialist

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WTI (Wireless Technology, Inc.)

Video Surveillance Products Dedicated to the Broadcast, Global Security and Transportation Markets!

www.gotowti.com ● www.wirelesstech.com

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Keep an eye on your assets – anywhere, anytime!

Ah, the cellular telephone.

Seems like everyone has at least one of these cool little devices now-a-days. With a cell phone not only can you make and receive calls, you are able to take digital photos, record short videos, play games, text message, email, the list goes on and on. However, there was an important function missing… until now! Video surveillance has gone totally mobile!

With the affordability of surveillance systems, more and more are popping up everywhere; large businesses, small businesses, homes and various high-risk public places. People want to keep an eye on their assets, especially in difficult economic times like these. Company owners want to make sure employees and customers are not stealing from them, parents want to make sure that their homes and families are safe when they aren’t there; and until recently people with these systems needed a computer or to be at their video storage device to view the video.

Now, on the go, anywhere in the world a cellular telephone can be used to view the video – live or playback. In some instance all that is required is a specific application downloaded to your cell phone, in others (with certain DVRs) you can view the live feed on a web browser on the phone.

It’s amazing how quickly the cellular telephone evolved from a huge block phone that required a suitcase of components to operate into something that allows us to do everything we need to do in our daily lives in one compact hand-held device.

WTI offers every piece of the cell-phone viewable surveillance puzzle, except for the cell phone of course. With WTI cameras and DVR equipment, setting up a system that can be viewed anywhere in the world is as easy as 1-2-3! Check out the full line of solutions available at: http://www.gotowti.com/Products_Main.htm.

~The WTI Team

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WTI (Wireless Technology, Inc.)

Video Surveillance Products Dedicated to the Broadcast, Global Security and Transportation Markets!

www.gotowti.com ● www.wirelesstech.com

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Oh, The Pressure!

With today’s video technologies continuing to rise in complexity and cost, the pressure of making the right decision… well… The “pressure” here is not the pressure of decision, it is the decision of pressure.

Decision: A pressurized outdoor camera or a sealed outdoor camera (non-pressurized)?

Why have pressurized cameras?

Typically, the location of the camera will be in an area that is known to have some type of air-borne contaminants that could damage the internals of the camera. Contaminants can be anything from oil, water, or any particulate matter from manmade or natural occurrence. The thought here is that if the camera is internally pressurized above ambient pressure, these contaminants will be prevented from entering.

The core purpose of pressurization in an outdoor camera is to “ensure that no water, moisture or dust is able to enter the camera enclosure and cause premature failure of the electrical, mechanical or optical components.”

The above quote was taken from a previous blog entitled “Dry As A Bone” in describing the challenge of building an outdoor camera; to read the entire article click on the link below:

http://gotowti.typepad.com/my_weblog/2009/09/something-sidewinder-related.html.

The manner in which the seals are created for the Sidewinder P/T/Z camera is the same manner in which the seals are created for the all fixed cameras manufactured by WTI. A sealed outdoor camera (from WTI) meets the same core purpose as that of a pressurized camera; contaminants are prevented from entry.

Consider the maintenance cost reduction benefit of a sealed camera: no pressure checks! (Also, no alarm conditions when internal camera pressure drops)

Consider the installation site. Underwater (sea floor monitoring) or extreme altitudes (weather balloon) will indeed require some type of pressurized camera enclosure. Highways, intersections, utility infrastructure sites, building perimeter, etc… Why have pressurized cameras?

~David Scales, C.T.O.

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WTI (Wireless Technology, Inc.)

Video Surveillance Products Dedicated to the Broadcast, Global Security and Transportation Markets!

www.gotowti.com ● www.wirelesstech.com

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Digital Video Recorders and Network Video Recorders – save, store and playback.

A Digital Video Recorder (DVR) is a peripheral device that records information to a variety of storage devices (internal or external hard drive, USB port, a CD or DVD, etc.), digitally, from many sources. Some DVRs only record video but most will record both video and audio as well as other information (such as alarm functions). A DVR provides many advanced functions over the older standard - the VCR. These functions include video searches by an event, the specific time, a specific date and by each individual camera.

With a DVR there are many different video quality and frame rate options so that the user can optimize the disk space for their specific needs. DVRs can be set to automatically overwrite the oldest footage on the disk when the disk becomes full so that recording does not cease just because the internal hard drive has no more space. Most new-model DVRs will also allow the user to set up remote access to the security footage that can be called up over a web browser from any PC. Software packages are starting to come put now that even allows users to call up their DVRs right on their cell phones.

An NVR, on the other hand, is a Network Video Recorder which is hooked up directly to a network and is totally IP based. NVRs are extremely flexible since they are managed remotely over a LAN and they can simultaneously record and allow access to live video streams from the IP cameras connected to it. NVRs usually feature recording and playback capabilities, intelligent motion detection, P/T/Z camera control and a user-friendly GUI.

A NVR has some similarities to a DVR, but those similarities are limited to the fact that they both record and playback video. An NVR is a true digital system. NVRs receive digital images/video/audio over the network and record them digitally to a hard drive; while DVRs can accommodate both digital and analog cameras.

NVRs are becoming the more popular storage device because they can accommodate a larger number of cameras, they are easily integrated into existing systems, and they are incredibly flexible since they have no dedicated monitors or keyboards and all management and viewing takes place over the network on a PC.

WTI offers a wide variety of both NVRs and DVRs – check out our selection online at http://www.gotowti.com/Products_DVRs.htm or take a look at our entire line of solutions at http://www.gotowti.com/Products_Main.htm.

~The WTI Team

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WTI (Wireless Technology, Inc.)

Video Surveillance Products Dedicated to the Broadcast, Global Security and Transportation Markets!

www.gotowti.com ● www.wirelesstech.com

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