Saw this at a museum:
Here is the back view:
And from the side (it's a Supercircuits camera):
And here is an overview of the camera in the hallway:
So what do you think? Good? Bad?
Saw this at a museum:
Here is the back view:
And from the side (it's a Supercircuits camera):
And here is an overview of the camera in the hallway:
So what do you think? Good? Bad?
Bad
Poor mounting location no solid foundation
When those pipes become active you're going to get movement
The I-beam above or the wall would have been a better locations and the wiring should have been better protected.
Rick
Just a through or two...
When those pipes become active you're going to get movement
Noticeable movement? Movement that interferes with the proper operation of the camera? Movement that lasts longer than a few seconds?
Am I seeing a zip-tye holding that camera to the strut?
Yes, it was a zip tie. No, I have no idea who the integrator was or if they did it themselves.
Low bidder or self-integrator?
The incompetence in our industry never ceases to amaze me. "Hey, let's just tie wrap the camera up there on the hot water pipe tray...we'll only need one tie wrap...and just think, we can just tie wrap the extra wire around the pipes...after all, they're insulated...no problem!" On the bright side, they took the time to trim the tie wrap tail.
Is that a zip tie?
It's sloppy and messy and looks like junk, but it probably works to expectation.
Ziptie aside, I've seen worse out of 'professional' installers.
In formal (outside the security market) engineering positions I've held, installation effort/cost is estimated as a multiple or fraction of material cost.
For example, If a bridge uses $1 million in steel and concrete, then labor should be 75% of that, for a total price of $1.75 million.
So with that principle in mind, what is an appropriate install cost for this camera?
The installer should be ashamed. Is this located in a commercial building? A museum? The install seems more like it belongs in someone's garage.
He's probably coming back, look he left his ladder in the ceiling :)
Poor work, but... As a former museum guy, I can say this type of quick install would happen if a precious artifact was planned to be in the camera's view for a week or less. Very temporary.
I think its maybe part of the zip-tie velcro exhibit:
Sadly it is far from the worst I have seen. I do give the installer credit for matching the zip ties to the decor. ;o)
Horrible. Any other cameras in there? I am thinking maybe this was their "Hey lets put out an obvious camera so people know we are watching" camera. Maybe? Even if it was an intentional placement to draw attention to the camera they could have done a much better job mounting it.
I did not scope the whole museum but there was another camera mounted on the wall right behind the registration desk (same model I believe).
I would LOVE to know how to make this worse?
1. double stick tape
2. splices
3. paper solar/glare shield
(It can always get worse.)
1) One could argue double stick tape could be more permanent lol
2) You can tell from those images that splices don't exist? Just well hidden ones maybe, which are actually worse than visible ones. Ha!
3) I wondered why there was even a sun shield on it, but if you are using zip ties as fasteners, you probably don't care about aesthetics.
"3) I wondered why there was even a sun shield on it.."
That's a grease shield for the pipe joints that they installed the camera under.
We've had to pull wire through an area below a bar where the grease trap was. Nasty AF!
You know what they say:
Fast, quality, or cheap: Pick two.
I'm guessing this customer picked fast and cheap. Doesn't necessarily reflect bad on the integrator if they delivered exactly what the customer was looking for and came in under budget.
Doesn't necessarily reflect bad on the integrator if they delivered exactly what the customer was looking for and came in under budget.
Integrator: Ok, got it, no holes. What about maybe using a bolt thru one of those truss holes already there?
Customer: What bolt? Your bolt, with one of them fancy tops that don't work with a regular screwdriver? Pass.
Integrator: How then?
Customer: Take two zip-ties, 1 for the camera and one for the cable. Use the back hole of the camera mount, that way it will lean over the front in a menacing way.
Integrator: Should I remove the sun shield?
Customer: At your rate?
Crappy install for a crappy camera....
if its stupid and it works, is it still stupid ?
not the first time I've seen something like this, and with prices racing to the bottom, it wont be the last...
"if its stupid and it works, is it still stupid ?"
of course it is.
stupid is a relative term, while the fact that 'it works' is a functional outcome.
the two can - and do - coexist in the wild with alarming frequency. :)
My guess is internal IT staff. Has all the tell tale signs - no idea how to run or secure cable, doesnt own a drill to secure to anything so use white cable tie that comes with patch panel, and finally gave in to all the super circuits mailers he receives with his copy of pc magazine
Paul, lol, sounds like a compelling theory to me.
finally gave in to all the super circuits mailers he receives with his copy of pc magazine
Btw, is that really the case? does Supercircuits market to IT people in magazines? I am curious.
Supercircuits sends catalogs to everyone. I've run into their catalogs at logistics companies, restaurants, office buildings, etc etc etc
The 'ceiling' environment is challenging and the treatment is 'industrial', so making the camera inconspicuous is almost impossible.
I would have at least used white cabling and painted the connectors to match.
Without knowing what the budget was, not sure if some fabricated enclosures (strictly for hiding the technology) would have been supported.
Not knowing the desired FOV for this camera, I would have considered hanging the camera upside down (and adjusted the rotation of the lens) from one of the I-beams.
Lazy, lazy, lazy.
Probably installed by a "self taught" company with no real training
"You get what you pay for"
This is obviously a bad scenario all around from the mount/platform to the tie wrap, to the likely out of code connection to piping.
Having designed a number of museum camera installations, this example makes me wonder if the museum asked the integrator to install something that they had sitting around. With often small budgets, museum security is not often "museum quality." I find it depends on the quality of the Security Director at the museum as well as the funds available.
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