Fluidmesh Meets The Surveillance Needs Of Fort Richardson Army In Alaska

The Army in Fort Richardson, Alaska needed surveillance at an abandoned Cold War Nike Missile site

Dick Powell, who oversees physical security for the Fort Richardson Army, was tasked with providing protection for the historic Nike Missile property, which also serves as a communication site for several infrastructure assets for the city of Anchorage. Continuous surveillance of both the upper and lower sections of the site during all lighting and weather conditions was needed. Powell turned to John Banks of Evergreen Fire and Security in Tacoma, Washington to serve as integrator for the project.

Banks hadn't worked with wireless mesh before, but knew that Fluidmesh was the way to go for this installation to provide the customer with the clarity and lack of latency required. He installed the five mile point to point link using the Fluidmesh® 2200 Duo - the only wireless product designed and manufactured specifically for security, video-surveillance and mission-critical condition monitoring applications. It's able to transmit the video streams coming from the cameras directly attached to it and route data packets through the optimal network path.

Challenge:

The Army in Fort Richardson, Alaska needed surveillance at an abandoned Cold War Nike Missile site. It's situated on a mountain just outside of Anchorage and several wireless towers for Anchorage utilities and other critical communications are also on the site. Hikers and thrill-seekers climbing the fence and vandalising the structures presented some liability concerns. Installing the five mile point to point link was especially difficult due to the harsh environmental conditions at this site. Although only at 3800 feet, it's in a microclimate location that endures inordinate winds of over 150 mph, extreme temperature changes, and much snow.

Solution:

The Fluidmesh 2200 Duo provides a solution that minimizes PTZ latency and gives a consistently good signal transmitted on the two best separate frequencies.

Benefits:

"I am now able to provide 24/7 coverage and protection for this site and meet the requirements of the task from the Commander," Powell reports. The biggest hurdle, he says, was trying to overcome the communication portion for the CCTV. The wireless connection was economical for the distance covered and meant not having to install fibre. "The clarity and the real-time viewing are impressive and continually provide us with information for the enforcement personnel to respond. This resolution has given us credibility with our commanders and provides the personnel that monitor these areas an unbelievable view of the entire area for miles of coverage," Powell points out. "Our hats are off to Evergreen Fire and Security as well to Fluidmesh for its dependability and picture quality. I will match this quality of picture to any CCTV that I have ever viewed or had installed."

Banks, who began the installation in July '09 and finished in August '09, adds that: "Fortunately, we didn't really need much technical support but Fluidmesh was always quick to respond to any requests we had."