A DVR with built-in full duplex eight-camera multiplexer is located in the master bedroom with a color monitor. PHOTO COURTESY OF AVTECH SYSTEMS


Peace and quiet is not something you associate with the parents of 3-year-old quintuplets. But Silvia and Paulo Polovo of Totowa, N.J., have found just that – well, the peace part, anyway. Paulo, whose home was the target of a “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” makeover last season, got much more than he and his wife expected.

The huge boost in the peace of mind department that the Polovos received is due to their ability to keep track of all of their quintuplets as well as monitor their home with a state-of-the-art home security system.



Wiring for this analog camera in the living room was run down the wall and through the basement to get to the DVR in the master bedroom. PHOTO COURTESY OF AVTECH SYSTEMS
David Samuel, vice president for Avtech Systems, Teaneck, N.J., says his company was contacted by Bosch for the installation.

“We’ve had a long relationship with Bosch,” explains Samuel, whose business he estimates to be 90 percent commercial. Because of their geographic proximity, Avtech was selected to do the installation, which was completed in less than a day, he calculates.

The home’s owners and its dining and living rooms, master bedroom and upstairs children’s bedroom were made over while the homeowners were away as part of the episode.

“Although the Eazeo system is traditionally used in shops and small businesses, we were able to quickly install this system in the Polovo’s home,” he continued. “It was an ideal choice for the ‘Queer Eye’ show, since it’s a self-contained security solution that’s simple to install.

“And from the visual perspective, this particular installation was well-suited to the Eazeo system due to the low profile of the dome camera, and the ability to flush mount the cameras to the wall in the children’s bedroom. All wiring was concealed by running the cables under the floor, along the ceiling of the basement. We were able to give the Polovos more flexibility, added security and better peace of mind without compromising the home’s aesthetics.”

The Eazeo Observation System from Bosch is a complete, plug-and-play system that can accommodate up to eight cameras.

Four cameras with built-in audio capability are installed throughout the house: two minidomes in the upstairs, L-shaped children’s bedroom, one in the living room and one outside aimed at the backyard.

A DVR with built-in full duplex eight-camera multiplexer is located in the master bedroom. Two color monitors are used on the first floor.



This outdoor camera was installed to keep watch over the backyard. PHOTO COURTESY OF AVTECH SYSTEMS
The first has a built-in multiplexer and is placed next to the DVR in the master bedroom. It functions as a master monitor to the second slave monitor, which is located in the kitchen.

Cable was run mostly through the basement for the cameras and DVR on the first floor, through walls for the second-floor cameras and along the outside of the house for the outdoor camera.

The Polovos use their new Bosch security system to keep tabs on all of their children, and can even playback recordings to determine who actually started an argument – an invaluable resource when dealing with siblings!



A minidome above the window is one of two cameras that provides views of the L-shaped upstairs children’s bedroom. PHOTO COURTESY OF AVTECH SYSTEMS
In addition to the cameras that monitor the children’s bedroom, play area and living room, there is a camera posted outside the home, so Silvia and Paulo can use the system for traditional home protection surveillance, as well.

The Polovos plan to add additional components to increase the viewing capacity of their system. Another feature the Polovos plan to incorporate is the IP-enabled technology that would allow Paulo to view the camera recordings over the Internet, in real time. Images can then be accessed while Paulo is at work, or if he and Sylvia are on an outing and wish to check in on how things are going at home with the babysitter.

Paulo noted, “It’s so much easier to manage the household with this surveillance system. Now, we can be working in the kitchen, and keep an eye on who is doing what, and where everyone is. We’re very appreciative of Bosch for supplying this system.”



David Samuel (right), vice president for Avtech Systems, Teaneck, N.J., which installed the surveillance system, found Queer Guy Jai Rodriguez shown here and the rest of the television people pleasant to work with. PHOTO COURTESY OF AVTECH SYSTEMS
Samuel enjoyed his brush with the Fab Five and was impressed with the experience. “I met all five of them, and they could not have been more pleasant to work with,” he declares. “The entire staff was very appreciative.

“I don’t meet that many people who have their own TV shows, but they were extremely friendly and very pleasant to work with,” he comments.



Side bar: On the Job

Bosch Eazeo Observation System

  • Four analog cameras
  • DVR with built-in full duplex eight-camera multiplexer
  • One color monitor with built-in multiplexer for master bedroom
  • One color monitor for kitchen


Projects in the News

  • The Miami Dade Water Utilities Facilities in Miami Dade County, Fla., will have the Continuum line of access control solutions from Integral Technologies used in a $4 million installation by integrator ATC International. The new system will provide access control and tracking of equipment, personnel and vehicles for Miami Dade’s five water treatment plants, along with all well fields and pump stations throughout the county. RFID technology is being incorporated into the systems.
  • George Bush Intercontinental and William P. Hobby airports will be equipped with Radar Video Surveillance (RVS), a perimeter and intrusion detection system that tracks ground-based moving targets. Both airports will serve as beta sites for the advanced video processing system (AVPS) from Honeywell, which monitors and analyzes certain behaviors captured by video. RVS, a software system originally developed by Honeywell Aerospace and used to protect ports and track missiles, was adapted for ground use and will be used to monitor the airports’ perimeters. In the case of Bush Intercontinental, the system will monitor an area of 30-plus miles.
  • The leading fitness chain in South Africa, Planet Fitness, is using varifocal lenses from Rainbow CCTV at its gymnasium and leisure complexes. The lenses employed are the 3mm-8mm and 5mm-50mm models, which are being used with internal cameras, predominantly high-resolution color units. The integrator is Johannesburg-based Spidereye, which also is offering audio on their own brand of digital video recorders to offer the client sound recording. Spidereye is a consultancy and integrator covering high-end industrial, leisure and infrastructure projects.