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Offering effective protection for vulnerable CCTV systems CCTV systems provide an ideal opportunity for the protection of electrical, coaxial, data and telecommunications cabling by flexible conduit, but particularly in vulnerable locations, explains Meirion Buck of Adaptaflex.
Installations vary considerable from schools and business premises to shopping centres and from motorway gantries to underground stations and airport terminals. All have a significant CCTV requirement and yet all have a degree of vulnerability if that requirement does not have adequate protection. That's where a reliable flexible conduit system suitable for the application comes in.
The specification of a complete system is all important. So often the likelihood of possible sabotage or vandalism of the system is overlooked, with the most susceptible part of the system, the totally unprotected camera umbilicals from the power cables through to the image cable. Many systems look at protecting against water ingress with the use of cable glands rather than the entire system integrity question.
More and more, community CCTV systems are being installed and all too often the umbilical cabling simply trails from the back of the camera offering a natural target for any would-be vandal or person of intent.
Use of a suitable flexible conduit system can so easily provide dedicated protection whether it is against water ingress or a more arduous application where a requirement exists for protection against vandalism.
With the increasing risk associated with terrorism, remote or satellite locations for CCTVs, such as high profile locations where the public are drawn in significant numbers, railway stations, underground systems, ferry ports, airports, shopping malls, and now even leisure complexes, all having an increasing requirement for surveillance systems.
Many people have the misconception that CCTV cameras are located in inaccessible places, hence, are not vulnerable. That is not the case at all. Simply a tour of your local town will reveal just how vulnerable cameras are to attack if not protected. Circumstances in shopping centres mean that the location can sometimes be as low as six feet from the ground.
The necessity for such an installation is that no other location exists to monitor a strategic thoroughfare, because of low overhangs and building designs. But here the camera is suitably protected both in the type of housing and protection of the cables.
CCTV systems are often relied upon for their ability to provide a clear and defined picture to ensure the safe operation of an area, such as an underground station or a secure installation. Such an application invariably includes the supply of a suitable flexible conduit system protecting the camera.
In many circumstances this equates to not only a form of ingress protection for the coaxial and power cables, but also one that affords the essential umbilicals with a degree of security in the form of a vandal resistant covering. Here the specification can call for a plastic coated metal system, but equally and more increasingly popular a braided stainless steel outer sheathing. This provides vandal resistance offering more than adequate protection for the vulnerable cabling within.
Offering one of the most advanced ranges of flexible conduit systems available, Adaptaflex can supply a suitable system for any given application, whether the camera is mounted internally or externally, or on a building, gantry or tower.
The systems are suitable for static or rotating cameras, the flexible and fittings facilitating movement and providing the required ingress protection and cable protection. Correct specification of systems always depends on the individual application and with such a wide range of dedicated flexible conduit systems in the Adaptaflex range it is relativelystraightforward to specify the most suitable.
Considerations such as cable size, ingress protection, security, location, accessibility, serviceability, static, rotating, vandal resistance etc., will all point to the most suitable flexible conduit system to specify.
14 November 2007
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