Bar Cameras — Part III (The Hardware Store)
(Editor’s note: This is Part III and the conclusion of our Bar Cameras blog — The Hardware Store. Thank you for joining us.).
The Hardware Store
Though H&S scopes out materials before each installation, there are times where additional parts are needed. Sometimes they need to be ordered or a member of the team brings it out to the site. And sometimes the technicians head to the hardware store next door to keep the process flowing.
Hills takes a couple of trips across the street from the BR to pick up conduit couplers and later to conduit pipe. A big part of a successful install is having the right tools for the job.
“It’s good to have a hardware store next door,” Hills chuckled, after picking up 10 feet of conduit pipe for $9.55. “Hopefully this is our last visit,” he laughed while talking with the woman sales clerk as he paid.
Before putting in the last two cameras, Hills and Mence must run the conduit piping to a junction box, where the cabling will then be directed right and left through more conduit piping to their final destination: the two corner cameras. “It’s a very methodical process,” Hills said.
Threading the cabling through the conduit piping is done manually, either with or without fish tape (harder plastic wiring taped to the cable to ease it more quickly and easily through the piping). In this case, Mence pushes the cabling through, while Hills navigates the fish tape, pulling the wiring through from the far end of the metal tubing.
Troubleshooting
As Hills and Mence wrapped up the final stages of the install, connecting the cabling to the two outdoor cameras, they looked forward to their next assignments with interest. Hills is scheduled for a security system install in New London, WI, and Mence will head to Beaver Dam to put in alarm communicators. Both enjoy the diversity of the assignments, the drive time through central Wisconsin and getting to interact with new people.
With the cameras connected, Hills and Mence put the finishing touches on the BR project, getting the internet connection and firing up the DVR (Digital Video Recorder) to test the cameras’ connectivity.
Of the eight cameras, seven come up the screen. Hills troubleshoots, changing ports with the cable to see if that is where the problem lies. No dice.
He heads downstairs and out back to check on the cable connection to the camera, while Mence checks on the camera angles indoor to ensure they aim in exact direction that the customer wants.
As Hills returns with no success in bringing up the eighth camera on the screen, he gets on the phone with the equipment supplier to let him know about the problem and see if he can solve the problem while he’s onsite. They determine it’s likely a faulty DVR, and it must be replaced, and Hills contacts Lukasavige to let him know about the glitch. With the customer, Hills decides the following Monday H&S will bring a new DVR to the business.
Hills gives the BR staff a tutorial to operate the system, navigating the mouse to demonstrate where to click on the screen for various functions. He promises to give them further instructions the following week when he returns with the new DVR to ensure they are comfortable and up-to-speed on the system.
As Hills and Mence cleaned up, Hills noted the importance of leaving the site as clean as when they arrived, and: “The most important thing is making sure you have all your tools.”
Ironically, he began searching for his drill, first outside, then inside the BR, before coming back outside and finding it next to where he’d finished the final camera install. “That’s what I’m talking about,” he laughed.
“You need to have a backup for your tools. If you lose a cutter, you better have another cutter ready,” he observed.
