When visitors see the Traveling Wall, the American Vietnam Veterans Traveling Tribute for the first time, they tend to feel patriotic and proud to think of themselves as American. The wall is both consoling and inspirational and it triggers some deep emotions especially for the families whose loved ones made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of the country.
When visitors see the Traveling Wall, "the American Vietnam Veterans Traveling Tribute" for the first time, they tend to feel patriotic and proud to think of themselves as Americans. The wall is both consoling and inspirational and it triggers some deep emotions especially for the families whose loved ones made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of the country.
In 2013, the Sunset Hills Historical Society of Saint Louis, Missouri, organized the event and the AVVT Traveling Tribute Wall was to appear on the grounds of Lindbergh High School. It was estimated in advance that over 100,000 people would visit the Wall during the 4 days appearance.
With the potential for that many people gathering in one location, keeping everyone safe and secure was paramount. System integration for the event was assigned to ABF Security Systems of Fenton, Missouri. With the assignment to provide security to this very visible; yet temporary event, Mike Polizzi, ABF Security President turned to respected Security Industry Manufacturers' Representatives RW Kunz and Associates to recommend a comprehensive solution to this challenge. RW Kunz's Mark Bowers and Brad Cooper selected equipment from Pelco for the IP camera and recording equipment and chose ComNet Communication Networks to provide the network transmission equipment.
As the Wall was to only be displayed temporarily, the traditional method of running cables or using fiber optic transmission was impractical. Facing a unique challenge, Kunz's Bowers recommended to ABF that they employ the new ComNet NetWave wireless Ethernet product line. This all-new NetWave product line is very easy to install and use, and was the suitable solution in this application. In fact, prior to the arrival of the Traveling Tribute, a site survey was performed. At the time of installation, trailers and tents supporting the event were in the wireless transmission path. However, even with this these potential obstacles in the line of sight, the cameras all came up without any trouble. 4 Pelco IM Surevision 1.2 Megapixel day/night AF Low Light WDR Rugged Cameras were placed at strategic locations, the furthest being 90 yards away from the monitoring location. 2 cameras were observing the backside of the wall and 2 more were observing activity from the front. This setup gave complete coverage of the entire event.
To get the video back to the head-end monitoring location, the ComNet NetWave NW1 point to multipoint models were selected. The 4 NW1 client units were installed close to the camera locations. The camera output was 10 frames per second at 1280 × 720 resolution. Using H.264 compression, each of the 4 cameras required 2.5Mbps of bandwidth. The Netwave NW1 handles up to 95Mbps, so the total 10Mbps bandwidth from this installation required only a small percentage of the NetWave NW1 capability. The IP-Video was then seamlessly transmitted back to a NW1 Access Point, where it was all collected and fed into a Pelco DSSRV recording system.
1 of the many advantages the NetWave wireless Ethernet system offers is the simplicity of set up and use. Mike Polizzi and crew from ABF Security Systems, the integrator on the project report the NetWave system was very easy to install and use, and the picture quality was great. According to Kunz's Mark Bowers, “setting up the NetWave gear was as easy as it was promoted. It truly lives up to the “Power, Point and Play” promise ComNet pledges.”
The Saint Louis County Police Department monitored the event constantly for the entire 4 days the Wall was in place. No incidents occurred and the system operated flawlessly during the entire event.
The event drew a very large crowd consistently over the course of the event. Even though both the wall and security network were considered temporary, there is no doubt as to the long-term effectiveness of the ComNet NetWave wireless Ethernet product line.