(click thumbnail)Fig. 1: Security cameras watch over a site.Gary Kline, Cumulus VP of engineering, passed along pictures of work his Houston market engineers did to harden their transmitter sites.
Robbie Green is the IT manager for Cumulus Houston. He points out that in Fig. 1, the security cameras almost look like spotlights. To the uninitiated, a daytime visit would be caught on camera.
Robbie and his crew went a step further. When choosing cameras, they bought models capable of night vision. Next was the purchase of a DVR that records inputs from both cameras. The DVR is capable of e-mailing a message whenever it detects motion. The e-mail will include a still image of the motion that triggered it.
(click thumbnail)Fig. 2: The DVR will not only store images but e-mail them as well.Should something suspicious take place, the video cameras can be accessed remotely and in real time.
Robbie and his staff also added a new security light out front. It’s motion-triggered, only at night.
Fig. 2 shows two DVR images of someone at the front door. No, it’s not a copper thief, it’s Cumulus Engineer John Whiteside. He’s installing one of the super-secure locks, seen in Fig. 3.
Robbie adds to bring your blowtorch if you forget the keys — no one is getting past those doors.
Great ideas to keep sites safe.
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Here’s a neat Web site for cleaning up.
Click on lafreshgroup.com and take a look at their Tech Pack.
(click thumbnail)Fig. 3: No one’s getting through these doors easily!
The La Fresh Group packages a variety of cleaning accessories; this pack is a collection of three types of road-tested products to assist with cleaning digital gadgets; it costs $9.99 a pack.
Inside you will find both wet and dry screen cleaning towelettes, anti-bacterial towelettes and lens cleaning towelettes. Similar in size to the wet-naps you get at a good BBQ place, the towelettes are ideal for keeping computers, cameras, even cell phones clean and dirt free.
By the way, golfers should note there’s even a Golf Pack.
Order on line for free shipping.
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Wes Boyd, market engineer for Cumulus Youngstown, often passes along useful tips for Workbench readers.
He’s done it again with news of TinyCAD. This is an open-source schematic capture program for Windows, available for free from Source Forge.
(click thumbnail)Fig. 4: Keep electronics clean and working well with clean wipes from La Fresh.The program helps you draw circuit diagrams and comes complete with symbol libraries to get you started. In addition to being able to simply print your designs, you can use TinyCAD to publish your drawings by copying and pasting into a Word document, or saving as a PNG bitmap for the Web.
You can also use TinyCAD as a front end to a PCB layout program (see the links), by getting TinyCAD to create a netlist of your circuit.
TinyCAD is open-source so you can use it for free, and you can download the source code for use in your own projects. Here’s the link: tinycad.sourceforge.net/
For help and support, go to the Yahoo! group called TinyCAD. In this group you can talk to other TinyCAD users. It’s an excellent place to start if you are new to the program.
Thanks, Wes, for a useful — and free — tip that will help everyone become more productive.
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Stantron, a division of Mayville Products Corp., has introduced a new product, the Glide and Turn Equipment Rack.
Shown in Fig. 5, the rack features all-steel construction and is designed to fit into a wall or closet.
(click thumbnail)Fig. 5: Easy access to the back of equipment is provided in this Glide and Turn rack.
The upper part of the rack slides out and can be rotated to reach the back of the rack for access to connectors or cabling. The rack design keeps equipment hidden from sight, yet provides complete access for maintenance. The Glide and Turn rack is available in sizes from 10RU to 30RU.
For information, go to www.stantronracks.com.
