The Do-It-Yourself SBInet
By Bob Brewin | Wednesday, December 05, 2007 | 11:39 AM
By Bob Brewin | Wednesday, December 05, 2007 | 11:39 AM
A group called Techno Patriots in Southern Arizona has set up its own version of the Department of Homeland Security’s Secure Border Initiative Network, called SBInet, replete with wireless cameras. The group says its do-it-yourself version has a better response time than the problem plagued Boeing-built DHS system, according to an article in the Sierra-Vista, Ariz., Herald.
Techno Patriots, which describes itself on its Web site as “basically a high tech Neighborhood Watch group on the border,” said it has installed a commercial grade wireless Internet infrastructure in Cochise County, Ariz., the most highly trafficked smuggling area in the United States.
The group said it has installed video cameras on this infrastructure, which are then monitored by its members, who keep an eye out for illegal immigrants. Techno Patriots said it can easily shift the cameras from one location to another and intends to eventually operate the system 365 days a year.
John Healy, the group’s director, told the Herald that the cameras used by Techno Patriots can be controlled remotely with a joystick, with only a two- to five-second delay from joystick touch to camera movement, compared to a 30- to 40-second delay for the SBInet cameras.
Techno Patriots may have some pretty nifty camera technology, but its Web site needs some work. I tried to use the “Contact Us” page to send an email to the group, only to receive a dreaded HTTP 404 “page not found” message.
Comments
This is just another example of how the government, in their infinite wisdom, manages to waste taxpayer dollars buying technology that is overpriced and still in the development stage from already established contractors instead of buying technology that works at a much lower price from smaller companies. Does DHS really want to catch the smugglers and attempt to stop the problem or just pay Boeing for R&D costs?
Tom Briggs | Wednesday, December 12, 2007 | 07:26 AMDear Mr. Brewin:
Thank you for your article on Boeing's failure to deliver on their SBInet border surveillance system. As a remote operator of Techno Patriots' border camera system I can tell you that a workable system can and is being done at far less cost than standard government contractors are charging.
Sitting in my home in Papillion, Nebraska (just a few miles from Offutt AFB, home of StratCom) I am able to monitor known smuggling routes in southern Arizona which is the busiest smuggling area of our whole southern border. Knowing my camera location, having a pinpointed Google Earth image with all roads labeled, and the local Cochise County U.S. Border Patrol phone number in my cell phone speed dial, when a suspected intruder or smuggler is detected I can notify the local BP and guide them to their target with real-time video surveillance that refreshes on my screen within 1 to 2 seconds of commands to move the camera.
I've tracked cars moving at highway speed from 1/2 mile away from the time they enter my field of view until they are out of range of the camera.
The reported reaction time of the SBInet system is 30 to 40 seconds which is enough lag time to allow the target, even walking, to be lost from view by moving behind brush or other obstacles.
Techno Patriots is demonstrating a system that can and does work. It simply needs to be embraced and supported by those that have the means and connections to fully implement it all across our borders.
Thank you for bringing this project to the attention of the public.
They have fixed that error already. The gov would take much longer via TR, ECP CCB, etc.
Russell B. Dobbyn | Wednesday, December 05, 2007 | 11:59 AMABOUT THIS BLOG
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