Described as an explosion of colours and scents, the RHS Chelsea Flower Show is the ultimate gardening event – and demands the most effective temporary surveillance system.
Due to the show’s worldwide popularity, visitor numbers are capped to a total of 157,000 – evenly allocated throughout the exhibition week. This helps to ensure that there are no overcrowding issues, making it a relaxing experience for all visitors.
The foundation of security at this year’s central London event was an NVT-based temporary security system and control room installed by Mobile CCTV
Cameras were positioned at critical points but Mobile was faced with limited installation set-up time which ruled out the use of traditional co-ax cable.
Security had to blend in with the background at the show, said Mobile managing director Don Wetherell: “This is especially true with the temporary surveillance system, and we take great care to provide a system that blends into the background of the show, whilst allowing the ultimate in quality monitoring performance and site coverage.”
No compromises
Using NVT’s video transmission technology meant the company did not have to compromise on camera positioning, he said.
“We work within a very limited installation set-up time. Pulling a traditional coax cable network would take weeks and cause a large amount of disruption to the other facilities being set up at the show, with the NVT UTP solution, a comprehensive Cat5e network can be set up in a fraction of the time.”
Cameras were positioned at critical points throughout the site, and location was based on the team’s eight years experience of providing temporary surveillance for the show.
Said Wetherell: “We continually refine the system year-on-year, but always have to look afresh at the camera layout, as each year the show and its design can be considerably different from the previous.
“The very nature of a garden show means there can be lots of tree or fence lines to block camera views that, last year, may have been completely unobstructed. So the flexibility that using NVT UTP transmission gives us is invaluable.”
NV-214A-M video transceivers were mounted to the video output of each of the cameras employed around the site.
A mini-coax pigtail lead allows quick mounting onto the 17 fixed cameras and easy in-camera mounting into 21 dome cameras deployed this year.
Up-the-coax type telemetry data signals are transmitted over the temporary Cat5e UTP network to active NV-3272 DigitalEQ and NV-1662 receiver hubs in the control room and equipment room.
Using this technology, Mobile were able to achieve camera distances of up to 1,000 meters from the specially built control room where multiple DVRs recorded images.
Technical support and operations officer at the show Phil North, said the clear images paid off in the Joint Control Room
“Police commanders and security managers use the images to provide overall and detailed information on crowd control and for specific security issues, such as unattended baggage, or suspicious individuals in the crowd.
“Show management are looking to monitor footfall and people flow around the event, making sure the ‘allotted time-slot’ ticketing system is working to plan, and crowd movement is fluid throughout the site.
“The medical team are constantly in demand, attending anything from minor injuries, like cuts and bruises, to more rare and serious incidents such as heat related fainting or even cardiac episodes.
“From the JCR we can instantly provide detailed pictures of the location of any casualties, and even an overview of the area and nature of the injury.
“This helps the medical staff dispatch the correct level of assistance.”
Cameras viewing the perimeter identified ticket touts and security staff or police were dispatched to move them on.
Said North: “From a tout’s point-of-view, it can be relatively easy to avoid the florescent security jackets of roving patrols but they are unable to detect that they are being tracked on the CCTV system.”
Mobile CCTV have now been supplying temporary surveillance at the show for eight years.
Said Don Wetherell: “We are proud of our association with such a high profile event, and consider NVT, one of our key technical partners in making this a success.”
