19 Jun 2006

Chubb Electronic Security has significantly improved CCTV surveillance at Maidenhead Rowing Club using the latest lighting technology from CBC.

Following the attempted theft of two high value coaching launches with outboard motors, the rowing club asked Chubb to upgrade its CCTV system.

"Although the incident was caught by a fully-functional day\night dome camera it occurred during winter when light conditions were very poor.  As a result the images were of little use," explained Ken Bedwell of Chubb.

"The rowing club asked us to find the best way of preventing this from happening again, and Chubb also wanted to evaluate products that could be used in similar installations around the country."  CBC supplied Chubb with the latest Ganz IR500 infrared illuminator, designed to boost the performance of any suitable camera in poor lighting conditions.

The Ganz IR500 is a long range LED infrared illuminator, delivering additional benefits of long life and low maintenance.  It is equipped with varifocal illumination allowing the angle of light projection to be altered between 20 and 60 degrees to fit the specific demands of an installation.  At Maidenhead Rowing Club a Ganz IR500 has been set up to give the most effective IR coverage possible with a range of around 45 metres - with a different configuration it can reach up to 200 metres.

Because is uses invisible infra-red light not white-light it has no visual impact on this environmentally important site - a famous Brunel bridge which attracts visitors from around the world is located near to the club and within range of the CCTV system.  The Ganz IR500 lamp has coped with tough weather conditions and over the past three months and has performed faultlessly.  "We noticed a significant improvement in picture quality immediately.   This test has been very successful in aiding the evaluation process by providing a valuable insight into the product's performance in a real-world situation," adds Ken Bedwell.