TECHNICAL REPORT

ON
INSTALLATION OF CLOSED CIRCUIT TELEVISION IN ENGINEERING LECTURE ROOMS

SUBMITTED TO

MR ABIODUN ODUMOSU
THE ACTING DIRECTOR
SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING, ABRAHAM ADESANYA POLYTECHNIC
IJEBU IGBO, OGUN STATE

AUGUST , 2015

BY
MR ADEWOLE ADEKUNLE. O
(TECHNOLOGIST )

TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT..i
1.0

INTRODUCTION...1
1.1

2.0

3.0

4.0

Operation of a CCTV system..2

PROCEDURE FOR THE INSTALLATION OF CCTV CAMERA SYSTEM...3

2.1

Planning phase ..3

2.2

Wiring phase..4

2.3

Camera mount5

2.4

Monitor and Recorder connection.6

TESTING....7
3.1

Checking the camera connection...7

3.2

Checking the video cable connection.7

3.3

Checking the power cable connection...............................................................................7

3.4

Checking the monitor connection to DVR.7

CONCLUSIONS....8
4.1

Recommendations..8

REFERENCES

ABSTRACT
This report present the installation of a Closed Circuit Television system, which consist of
mainly smart cameras, cables, Digital Video Recorder(DVR) and other accessories. The presence of a
Close Circuit Television (CCTV) in towns and city centers, homes, offices has grown enormously in
the past few years. Closed Circuit Television systems are now used in modern buildings for different
purposes.
The use of smart camera, dedicated safety or security critical gadgets, events like fire outbreak
or security events like burglary, glass break can be autonomously detected. Integrating CCTV system
into building or office automation system provide the opportunity to react to critical events by , for
example , informing the operator about the occurrence of such events , providing relevant video data ,
and most important concurrently initiating appropriate actions as necessary.
This project report focuses on the integration of smart camera system into lecture rooms of
school of engineering , Abraham Adesanya Polytechnic, Ijebu Igbo, Ogun State. The main goal is to
assist in curbing examination malpractices. The steps involved in the installation and materials used,
and their effectiveness are fully considered in this report.

II

1.0

INTRODUCTION
Examination malpractice is a major problem in most of our higher institutions of learning in

Nigeria. Students engage in different forms of malpractices ranging from copying through giraffing,
bringing into examination centers already made answer sheets, colliding with the examination
invigilators in order to cheat. All these are major

problems being faced by examination bodies but

with adoption of Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) System in lecture rooms, malpractices can be
reduced to minimal level, if not absolutely eradicated. Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) can be used
as a useful piece of evidence when students are to face examination disciplinary committee.
Examination disciplinary judges can watch footage or view photos from the security cameras and
based their decision on it, to establish the true state of the allegations on the students. To verify
whether the students on trial did indeed commit the offence or not. In as much as Closed Circuit
Television(CCTV) plays

a significant role in protecting the public and assisting the police in

investigation of crime, the same way it can be used by examiners or examination body in investigating
examination anomalies inform of cheating or malpractice.
A CCTV system provides security using one or more cameras connected to a recording device
and viewing monitor. Once setup it can monitor any space covered by the installed cameras. The key
components of every closed circuit television system are single or multiple cameras,

recording

system(Digital Video Recorder), and video display unit(monitor). Closed Circuit Television (CCTV)
systems are broadly divided into two major types namely: Analog and Digital system which can also
be subdivided into wired CCTV system and wireless CCTV system respectively. In wired CCTV
system all components are connected together through a cable or wire. Cameras send video signals
through a conductor such as coaxial cable to the CCTV monitor and recorded on video via Video
Cassette Recorder (VCR) in analog system or recorded as digital information in a Digital Video
Recorder (DVR) in digital system. High capacity hard drives are used for storing video data in digital
1

system. In wireless CCTV network, cameras communicate with the receiver through radio link. Use
of wires and conductors are minimal and wide area network are easily achieved when wireless CCTV
system is adopted.
In this project report CCTV wired Local Area Network (LAN) was focused on because of the
financial constraint faced in the execution of the project work. Wireless network are costlier than wired
network.

1.1

OPERATION OF A CLOSED CIRCUIT TELEVISION (CCTV) SYSTEM

CCTV is an acronym for Closed Circuit Television, an installation of directly connected

components creating a circuit which cannot be viewed by anybody outside the circuit. This is different
from terrestrial television broadcast system which can be viewed by anybody with an antenna or other
receiving equipment. CCTV system are customized to suit the nature of the premises and the security
needs of the users. The ideal CCTV system should provide excellent quality pictures in both day light
and darkness, and provide high quality images for recording evidence or to help analyze an event.
The images captured by the cameras are sent to CCTV recording equipment (Digital Video
Recorder). The monitor can be watched by CCTV human operator or left unmonitored. With advances
in technology and software, Digital Video Recorder (DVR) are now equipped with advanced features
such as motion recording and event notification. When set to motion record, devices will only record
when the CCTV camera detects motion; this saves storage space because device is not recording
during period of no activity.
As applied to CCTV system, event notification is the process of sending a text message, recorded
telephone message or email when motion is detected. This is particularly useful for unmanned system.
2

The recorded information can be stored and received by those who have access to the recording Digital
Video Recorder (DVR). Modern Digital Video Recorder (DVR) also have network connection for
internet connectivity for video streaming online, live footage can be accessed remotely via a personal
computer or mobile devices like tablet pc or android phone.

2.0 PROCEDURE FOR THE INSTALLATION OF CCTV CAMERA SYSTEM

There are different ways and methods that are used in installing a CCTV system, but major
factors to be considered in installing the cameras are; the coverage area to be captured, the number of
available cameras, how much video storage space available, remote access availability, the types of
ports available at the Digital Video Recorder ( DVR) machine. The following steps were taken when
installing the CCTV system.

2.1 PLANNING PHASE: first step in any camera installation is to plan cameras and monitoring
equipments location. When planning for camera locations, lighting condition was taken into
consideration, as cameras are not expected to be installed in low light room. Cameras are not to be
pointed directly into the sunny area because it will add glare to the picture, even if the camera has back
light compensation it will not be enough to eliminate this problem of glaring. Besides light condition,
the distance to the monitoring object which are students is equally important.
Since we have only two cameras with fixed focal length, and to maximize cameras coverage and
get most out of the system, for least amount of money, the cameras were installed in strategic position.
One camera installed in lecture room 1 and the other in lecture room 2. These cameras were positioned
in strategic places to achieve maximum area coverage. The Digital Video Recorder (DVR) was
positioned in the office of the director, school of engineering .The diagram below fig.1 shows the

position of the camera in lecture rooms and the coverage area shown. The cameras were installed in
such a way that it captured of the students population in lecture room 1and room 2.

Fig.1

2.2

Position of the camera and the coverage area

WIRING PHASE: This is the most time consuming and important part of any camera

installation. Installation need to be carefully planned in order to minimize cable length and ensure good
quality video signal. Cable length was kept below 400ft and good quality cables were used. Since cost
implication was our basic concern, less expensive RG6 standard coaxial cable with a separate run of 2
core 1mm cables for power were used. Running RG 6 cable (TV type) with a separate run for power
was the only possible solution as power outlets are not near each of the cameras and also because of
cost. The power outlets were hidden in order to prevent students from gaining access to it, and
switching off the camera. Individual plug in power supplies were used to power the cameras with the
power cable running as separate and independent line to each of the camera socket. All wires and
cables were routed through the ceiling to the office of the director, school of engineering, where the
Digital Video Recorder (DVR) was positioned. When running the cable couple of loops of extra cable
were left at both camera and monitoring location this extra length of cable is needed if in the future
monitor or camera location will have to be moved. The diagram below fig .2 shows the arrangement of
the complete system.
4

Fig.2.

Arrangement of the complete CCTV system

2.3 CAMERA MOUNTING

Most Dome and Bullet cameras are fitted with infra red Light Emitting Diode (LEDS). The
cameras infra red LEDS switch on automatically when the ambient light level falls below certain
threshold. So both cameras were used in the installation. The cameras came with mounting screws and
bracket included. The bracket was firmly attached and camera position adjusted. Cameras are mostly
powered with 12V DC, but some differ for each type of power supply and input style. The power cable
in our case has two conductors which have red and black coverings. So the red was used as positive
and black as negative terminals. The diagram fig.3 below shows how the cameras were mounted to the
wall and positioned to capture wide area in each of the lecture room.

Fig.3

Cameras (dome and bullet) mounted on the wall

5

2.4

MONITOR AND RECORDER CONNECTION

This is the final connections that took place after the cameras have been installed. The Digital

Video Recorder (DVR) was positioned in the office of the director, school of engineering .Standard
monitor and stand alone Digital Video Recorder (DVR) and distribution power supply were used in the
installation. Power supply cable was mounted within couple of feet from the DVR video ports. One
video cable is needed to connect the DVR with the monitor. DVR monitor output port was connected
to video in of the monitor.
For a well executed system like this, the equipment needs to be protected from power spikes by
plugging them into the power conditioner or better yet battery backup unit. The backup time can be
extended by plugging only the DVR and power supply to the backup unit and the monitor to regular
power strip; this way if power gets lost for sometime the DVR and cameras will still be functioning
normally while monitor is off. Turning off the monitor will not affect the DVR and cameras in any
way. It is actually good to always turn off the monitor if it is not in use to extend its life. The diagram
below fig.4 shows connection of DVR to the monitor .

Fig .4 DVR AND MONITOR CONNECTION

3.0

TESTING
The installation has been completed according to the specification and relevant regulations. The

pre-assembly of all the systems components have been carried out according to the manufacturers
instruction. A thorough test and assessment of the equipment connections were carried out. As certain
procedures are common to most system, so some key aspects of the system are touched.

3.1

CHECKING THE CAMERA CONNECTION; the camera terminals which have

been connected through BNC connector was rechecked in order to eliminate flickering of video signal.
Flickering of video signal is a major problem of improper installation of CCTV camera. The symptom
of this is unstable video, blunt image on display or monitor screen.

3.2

CHECKING THE VIDEO CABLE CONNECTION; the video cable which is the

coaxial cable is checked with multimeter for continuity. Excessive bending around corner was
eliminated. The cable which was laid through the ceilings connected to plank using clips at a specific
interval may be under stress if not laid properly.

3.3

CHECKING THE POWER CABLE CONNECTION; for camera to work, it needs

a 12v DC power supply with enough current rating to power the camera. The power cable was tested
with a multimeter for continuity. Bending around corners was also eliminated. The cable ran directly
from the DVR to each of the camera and have the capacity to deliver the rated voltage at the other end
of the cable.

3.4

CHECKING THE MONITOR CONNECTION TO DVR; different connections to

the DVR are checked. Video cables for different cameras are checked to ensure that they are firmly
connected to the video channel inputs of the DVR. The monitor connection is also checked before
powering up the system.
7

4.0

CONCLUSION
CCTV has many benefits when used in moderation under the correct guidance. Surveillance

cameras can be an invaluable device especially in aiding the examiner or exam investigative panel
judges in their investigation as shown in the case studies. CCTV can also act as a twenty-four hour
police presence, helping to curb student excesses in the lecture rooms. Students activities, anti-social
behavior could easily be monitored with it. Initially used as a means of crime prevention, CCTV is
now used in so many areas. Although the function has changed, the usefulness remains. If used
excessively however , the proliferation can lead to an invasion of privacy and a violation of human
rights.
The cost of the equipments has been an issue but there was need to compromise in the choice of
equipments used. The cost of the cameras and DVR has caused many debates as to whether the cost is
worth the results. Overall, the proliferation of CCTV may not necessarily be the wisest investment but
if the advantages is weigh to the disadvantages , it can still be infer that CCTV System is an invaluable
device needed in any academic environment like ours.

4.1

RECOMMENDATION
The use of CCTV tells a lot about massive growth and security in the world of technology and it

brings a high level of efficiency in the transfer of information all around the world. The use of CCTV
is an idea that can be transferred to other departments or schools for its numerous advantages it has
especially for retrieval of information which could be costly if not seen and it also helps in the proper
safe guard of vital information and records.

REFERENCES
1

Alan R. Matchett(2003). CCTV for security professionals; Butterworth-Heinemann publisher

Forest M . (1983).Design and installation of CCTV System; NTC yellow book published by
Jameco Electronic.

Joe Cieszynski(2003). Closed Circuit Television, second edition: CCTV installation,

maintenance and operation; published by Newness.

Vlado Damjanovski(2013).CCTV, Third Edition: From Light to pixels; ButterworthHeinemann publisher

CCTV seminars by ViDi Labs http://www.cctvseminars.com/.Accessed August 24, 2015

How to design a CCTV system, http://www.diy-alarms.co.uk/pscatalog/en/blog/post/cctvfor-home-and-business. Accessed August 24, 2015.