A showcase of security solutions

A test and demonstration facility showcases sensor dependability and integration capabilities

It is hard to imagine that nestled in the quiet serenity of England’s picturesque Cotswolds region, peacefully coexisting with herds of grazing deer, is an elaborate security proving ground where sophisticated perimeter intrusion detection systems are being put to the test.

Keeping unauthorized intruders out is serious business for Arizona-based Southwest Microwave, manufacturer of outdoor perimeter security systems. Sensors from Southwest Microwave have fortified the world’s highest security sites since 1971, and are installed across broad ranging applications, often in harsh climatic extremes.

Ensuring the reliability of these systems is a mission that the company’s wholly-owned European subsidiary, Southwest Microwave Ltd. (SML), fulfils on a daily basis at its internationally acclaimed 2000 square metre test and demonstration facility in Eckington, Worcestershire, UK.

Building the ideal secure environment
Built in 2002 on what was once a debris-laden plot bordering the firm’s offices, the site went through a transformation to become a shining example of industry best practices. This is due in large part to the project development efforts of Tony Backx, Southwest Microwave’s European General Manager.

“Building the UK Test and Demonstration Facility was no simple undertaking, especially given the challenging terrain and rural location of the facility”, Backx explains. “Soil had to be brought in by the truckload and graded. A special PVC membrane was then added against weeds and covered with vast quantities of imported gravel. The weeds returned almost immediately, and the site has required monthly preventative treatment ever since.”

Backx explains how cable ducts were put in end to end, concrete for a camera tower was poured and power distribution poles and boxes were installed. Fences were erected prior to adding the final layer of gravel, with each post mounted in solid concrete. The Test and Demonstration Facility meets both British and European Standards. Fence construction is in compliance with BS1722 Parts 10 and 12 and includes chain link, 50x50 mm and 358 weld mesh and steel palisade. Barbed wire, razor coil and catenary wire topping structures line the fences.

“The pigeons liked the razor coil best”, Backx recalls. “When it first went in, they built nests and laid eggs. Safe as houses in there.”

Detection technologies
“One of our key objectives is to offer end users, specifiers, consultants, systems integrators and installers the opportunity to observe Southwest Microwave’s leading-edge perimeter detection systems installed and operational in a real world environment”, Backx says. The site offers visitors a first hand look at the consistency of detection achieved with Southwest Microwave’s revolutionary INTREPID MicroPoint Cable cut/climb attack sensor across varying fence conditions.

Along with the MicroPoint Cable system, many of Southwest Microwave’s other detection systems are put to task at the site, including various bi-static microwave sensors, passive and active infrared barriers, dual technology sensors, and the latest addition to the INTREPID family of products – the MicroTrack covert buried cable sensor.

The facility also features CCTV cameras and a fully equipped weather station, complete with wind analysis tools and precipitation collectors.

Each detection device is integrated into PC-based monitoring and control systems, which interface to onsite CCTV equipment for instantaneous evaluation of an alarm at the precise location where it occurs. Infrared lighting and video recording devices ensure that alarm activity and climatic data are captured on a 24/7 basis and stored for later analysis. “We want to know the cause of every alarm that occurs at this site. Day or night”, Backx says. “With 24-hour event monitoring and audit trailing, our personnel can call up alarm history and illustrate to visitors how our sensors react during specific weather conditions, which are often a concern.”

In fact, the test range was intentionally oriented north-south to illustrate just how effectively the INTREPID fence sensor eliminates weather-related nuisance alarms. Southwesterly winds are the region’s strongest, coming up from the Atlantic through Bristol Channel. Winds like these will cause a traditional fence sensor to go into alarm. Southwest Microwave’s “intelligent” fence sensor can differentiate between a point impact, such as a cut or climb attack, and a distributed disturbance, like wind or heavy rain. Visitors see first hand how the INTREPID system will alarm only for legitimate intrusion attempts.

Since it was first commissioned, the UK Test and Demonstration Facility has played host to officials representing many security sensitive sites and agencies including US and UK Government and Military, UK Police Forces, British Airport Authority and Secret Service teams from around the world.

This article was contributed by Southwest Microwave