Cable Solutions: Altronix HubWay16Di & eBridge EoC

Altronix is a pioneer in providing the security professional with solutions and alternatives including power supplies/ chargers, timers and relays. Over the last few years Altronix has brought out several new products which are aimed at the structured cable market.

Specifically, the products provide solutions for devices which are designed to be used in a structured wiring environment including IP, Fire, Life Safety, Security, Access Control and Video Surveillance.

Structured Cabling

The term ‘structured cabling’ was originally used to describe a standardized cabling architecture, specified by EIA/TIA 568 but it is often also used to describe building, campus or municipality cabling infrastructure.

Elements of Structured Cable Architecture include:

Point of Demarcation is where the public switched telephone network (PSTN) ends and the on-premises wiring begins.

Equipment or Telecommunications Rooms contain the hubs, central patch panels and other consolidation points (normally 19 inch rack-mounted) for the building, campus or municipality’s network and other subsystems.

Vertical or Riser Cabling connects between the equipment/telecommunications rooms, frequently between floors, although they may be on the same floor also. This is why riser diagrams are not necessarily schematics of inter-floor wiring, but instead are diagrams showing inter-device connections.

Horizontal Wiring connects telecommunications rooms to individual outlets or work areas on the floor.

Work-Area Components connect end-user equipment to outlets of the horizontal cabling system.

Structured cabling is classified in the NEC (National Electric Code) as Low Voltage or Limited Energy. Cabling types used in structured cable plants include category 5e (CAT-5e), category 6 (CAT-6), and fiber optic cabling, multi-conductor shielded and non-shielded cable.

Terminations and interconnects employ a variety of modular connectors, jacks, plugs, splices, and terminal strips.

ALTRONIX recognized that although analog video and coaxial cable had been the legacy technologies for decades, there were drawbacks to coax and as IP technologies have matured also recognized the benefits of IP and structured wiring.

Anatomy Of A Video Surveillance System

• Cable
• Cameras
• Processors
• Storage
• Connectivity

Three main drawbacks to coax are price; handling issues and performance, not necessarily in that order,

Compared to UTP, coax is expensive. In most video systems, coax is not actually the cable type used. Siamese cable is used instead. Siamese cable is a composite construction combining a coax cable and a pair of stranded wires used to power the camera. Compared to UTP (unshielded twisted pair), Siamese is expensive.

For as long there was no viable alternative, the industry used coax, but when technologies permitted the transmission of analog over untwisted pair, the trend caught on and ALTRONIX has led the transition with a host of products designed for the purpose of replacing coax with UTP for analog video applications. Compared to UTP, coax is bulky.

Analog over UTP

We were faced with pulling cable for 32 cameras for a large public library which was an old buildingfeaturing plaster and wire lath, built like a bomb shelter, three stories and few dropped ceilings. Our first thought was how much better it would be for the installation crew not having to pull Siamese.

Running Siamese is a battle. Besides its weight and diameter, Siamese is rigid and not flexible. It snags knots and gets caught (especially for the younger, less experienced installers). For retrofit installations, it is not the ideal choice.

UTP goes in faster and easier, and by using it, the customer is getting a future-proof infrastructure leaving the door open (or ajar) for a future upgrade to IP cameras.

On another project involving a high school athletic complex, the design called for placement of several cameras in remote structures located several hundred feet from the head-end.

Plan A would be to trench and install several Siamese cables.

Plan B was to instead direct burial mulit-conductor CAT 5 with baluns and Altronix Hub.

We shelved Plan A; went with Plan B and never looked back.

Altronix HubWay16Di Passive UTP Transceiver

This hub w/Integral Isolated Camera Power transmits UTP video, RS422/RS485 data and power over a single CAT-5 or higher structured cable. This unit provides 16 camera channels in a space-saving 1U EIA 19” rack mount chassis which may be rack, wall or shelf mounted.

Video transmission range is up to 750 feet maximum per channel. Units are compatible with AC and/or DC fixed or PTZ cameras when utilizing Altronix HubWayAv, HubWayDv or HubWayDvi Video Balun/Combiners.

A Balun is an impedance matching transformer that connects an unbalanced line to a balanced line. The unbalanced side the input or output is grounded, while the balanced side is not. The input signal comes in from a video source, as an unbalanced signal, typically in a coaxial cable, and is converted to a balanced signal and goes out on an unshielded twisted pair CAT 5 cable. On the other end the UTP connects to another balun and is converted back to an unbalanced signal. Hence they are called BAL-(balanced) UNS (unbalanced).

Baluns offer a high immunity to noise and eliminate ground loops between the camera and head-end.

The HubWay features individually selectable 24VAC or 28VAC fuse protected outputs with surge suppression.

An optional HubSat4D Passive UTP Transceiver Hub with Integral Isolated Camera Power can be used as an accessory module to transmit video from up to 4 cameras over a single CAT-5 or higher structured cable back to the HubWay16Di. The HubSat4D provides power to these cameras locally to eliminate the possibility of voltage drop associated with long cable runs.

 Altronix HubWay16Di SPECS

Input:

• 115VAC 50/60Hz, 5 amp or 230VAC 50/60Hz, 2.5 amp.

Video:

• Sixteen (16) channels of video over twisted pair up to a distance of 750 ft. per channel.

• Sixteen (16) 75 ohm video outputs.

Data:

• RS422/RS485 data inputs.

Power:

• Individually selectable 24VAC or 28VAC power outputs with OFF position.

• Electronically isolated camera power.

• Unit provides up to 1 amp max. per channel not to exceed a total of 16 amp maximum current.

• Class 2 Rated power limited outputs.

• PTC protected outputs are rated @ 1 amp per channel.

• Surge suppression.

Visual Indicators:

• AC input power indicator.

• Sixteen (16) individual power LED indicators.

Features:

• Illuminated master power disconnect circuit breaker with manual reset.

• IEC 320 - 3-wire grounded line cord (detachable).

• Unit can be rack, wall or shelf mounted.

• 1U EIA 19” rack mount chassis.

Accessories:

• Optional HubSat4D allows transmission of up to four (4) video signals over a single CAT-5 or higher structured cable.

• Video Balun/Combiners:

- HubWayAv - for use with 24VAC cameras.

- HubWayDv - for use with 12VDC cameras.

- HubWayDvi - for use with 12VDC cameras without isolation.

HubWayAv2 Video Balun/Combiner

Altronix’s new HubWayAv2 is used at the camera end of the cable with any HubWay and HubSat UTP Transceiver Hub  to route Video/Data and Power from the Altronix HubWay or HubSat units for either fixed or PTZ  24VAC/12VDC cameras.

Data: Data/PTZ RS422/RS485 output.

Video: 75 ohm video input.

Power: 1 amp supply current (based on power supply rating).

eBridge Solutions

Following the same platform configuration as their other adaptive technologies, Altronix eBridge Ethernet over Coax adapters are available as eBridge1CT, eBridge1CR and eBridge16CR.

The eBridge1CR and 1Ct form a paired set which enables fast 10/100Base-T Ethernet digital communication to be transmitted over Coax cable. The eBridge is also packaged in 4- and 16-channel versions

The eBridge1CT and eBridge1CR are plug and play units which facilitate system upgrades from analog to IP cameras/devices utilizing existing legacy Coax.

In addition data transmission over the Coax can be extended to 1500 feet (five times the 100m/328ft Ethernet maximum length), eliminating the need for repeaters. At the same time the units can combine Composite Video Signal with the Ethernet data enabling connection to an analog input on a monitor or matrix switch.

A crossbar switch (or a matrix switch, as it is more commonly called) is used to make the output of multiple video appliances available simultaneously to multiple devices. In a typically all the video sources are located on an equipment rack, and are connected as inputs to the matrix switch.

The matrix switch enables the signals to be re-routed as required.

ALTRONIX eBridge1Ct and eBridge1CR Specs

UL & CUL Listed for Information Technology Equipment (UL-60950-1)

CE Approved

Input:

• 12VDC to 24VDC Class 2 power supply (polarity not observed) or 12VAC to 24VAC Class 2 plug-in transformer.

Power Consumption:

• eBridge1CR/eBridge1CT; eBridge16CR, 12VDC/175mA, 24VDC/90mA, 12VAC/325mA, 24VAC/175mA.

Ethernet:

• Connectivity: RJ45, auto-crossover.

• Wire type: 4-pair Cat-5 or better structured cable.

• Distance: up to 328 ft. (100m).

• Speed: 10/100BaseT, half/full duplex, auto negotiation.

• Throughput is rated to pass 25mbps of data at distances up to 1500 ft. With proper headend equipment, multiple Megapixel cameras can be used.

Coax: • Distance: up to 1,500 ft.

• Connectivity: BNC, RG-59/U or similar.

LED Indicators: • Blue LED - Coax link connection.

• Yellow and Green LED (RJ45) IP Link status, 10/100Base-T/active.
• Green LED - Power.
Operating Temperature: 14ºF to 122ºF (--- 10ºC to +50ºC).
Storage Temperature: -- 22º to 158ºF (--- 30º to +70ºC) Storage.
Humidity: 20 to 85%, non-condensing

Accessories: Composite video cables (included) - enables simultaneous composite video signal over the same coax.

Applications for the eBridge1Ct and eBridge1CR include retrofit digital IP cameras in an analog CCTV installation. They work with Megapixel, HD720, HD1080 and VGA (SD) cameras

• Extend Network link distance in an industrial environment.
• Upgrade deployed CCTV coax to a digital network for Retail, Casinos, Airports, Schools, Hospitals, etc.
• Enable simultaneous transmission of composite and digital IP video.

Another issue is the cameras, and as time goes on, the price of IP cameras continues to go down, bringing them into the same price range as higher end analog cameras. Many earlier performance barriers associated with IP cameras have been overcome. Many features of IP cameras are totally unavailable in analog cameras.

Since IP cameras use network technologies and computer processing and storage hardware which has also become extremely cost effective which further enhance the value of IP cameras.

Hard drives and network storage are terms familiar to most customers and if not they can call up the elementary school and ask their kids who are experts.

Finally software and applications make remote video management, surveillance and archiving all more flexible and convenient than ever before.

For more information, contact your local locksmith distributor or visit www.Altronix.com.