NEW IP VIDEO NETWORK A/B SWITCH MAKES NETWORK REDUNDANCY EASY
Some of our customers have indicated that they would like to switch off a network IP camera under special circumstances with a simple switch that there customers could use and if the camera is supplied with power that is non-P.O.E. (Power Over Ethernet), then you can just cut the power to the IP camera and the network goes dark. In other circumstances, the customer wants to choose between two cameras at different locations showing only one camera at a time. Of course they could go into the NVR set-up using a keyboard and shut off the camera by programming means or unplug the network cable and plug in the other camera cable, but that is not very convenient and well beyond most of there customers ability. It might be easier to use a simple network A/B switch controlled directly by the customer.
These applications include courtroom control of IP cameras; sometimes the judge wants to be able to shut down the camera at certain times. In jails and prisons for privacy reasons some security areas could be blacked out normally but come on in emergencies to record the situation. Swimming pool surveillance cameras could be on during non-use periods and turned off during supervised times. Can you think of a situation where your customer might want to turn off a camera without having to unplug it manually?
With analog camera signals these applications were accomplished with a simple video switch. But now with the new network cameras it is not as easy to do with just a single relay. Any network switch must switch all 4 pairs of network wires and maintain the proper line impedance to reduce high frequency reflections that can reduce the quality of the IP network camera signal. It also must handle and switch the P.O.E. signal as well.
There is a new low cost IP camera network A/B switch that can server as a camera cut-off or an A/B camera switch. This product is called the IPX-24 and will handle two IP camera networks and switch between them using an external AC or DC 24 Volt source. If you need to use 12 Volts AC or DC then you can order the IPX-12 made for mobile video applications.
This network switch will handle all forms of the P.O.E. signal as well as the data to switch between two camera network signals. This switch uses an external voltage for direct relay switching to route the P.O.E. and data. When this switch disconnects a network camera from the NVR and P.O.E. source, the camera will also power down reducing the operating hours on the camera and eliminating the possibility of interference from the un-used camera.
The control voltage that operates the switch can come from an source of 12 or 24 Volts by way of a remote control relay or a local switch to make installation and operation easy. Also this unit can be used on any type of network signal as long as the network uses the 8P8C (RJ-45) connector. The unit is fully isolated and has an LED to indicate which network is active.
