# Uk street lights



## MikeFL (Apr 16, 2016)

If the owner of the lights is the owner of the cameras, it should be something any qualified electrician can accommodate.

If those lights are owned by someone else (city, electric company, etc.) then the owner of the lights would have to authorize it and also prescribe who is allowed to do the connection. Or they may flat out deny the request. 

First step is find out who owns the lights.

FYI to Americans, he means a parking lot at a strip mall.


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## gpop (May 14, 2018)

Only reason you would bug power is if the camera was wireless. 
Consider solar for wireless


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## MechanicalDVR (Dec 29, 2007)

Welcome aboard @Tamgunner!

I'd call a certified/licensed electrician in your area and take all the guess work out of the equation.


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## MDShunk (Jan 7, 2007)

I just got done doing two of these recently. They went on light poles, but the poles were only powered at night so stealing a trickle of power was not an option for at least half the day. The arrangement was a box with a solar panel, charger, batteries, and wireless antenna. Camera was mounted on the door of the box. Most of the stuff came from Axis.

These were customer-owned poles, mind you, so no worries there. It's right difficult to get a joint use agreement to hang your stuff on someone else's poles.


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## gnuuser (Jan 13, 2013)

with most pole lighting systems you have to consider how they are wired.
individuals dusk to dawn photoswitches, manually controlled contactors, plc controlled contactors, or timer switches.
each one poses different applications and procedures.


individual dusk to dawn photo switch will have power supplied at all times unless the breaker or disconnect is thrown off.
the photoswitch controls whether the power is switched on to the lamp.
power supply for the camera can be tied into the circuit before the photo switch circuit. but be aware this could cause interference in the camera.


manual contactors, plc controlled contactors, and timers will disconnect the supply power to the pole so cameras would only be powered at night.


solar powering the cameras is ok as long as the battery is sufficient to keep the camera operating the entire time over night.


and as it has been said before it also depends on who owns the light poles whether you can connect a camera to the circuit or not.


it may be a better idea to install camera towers on the building itself 

2 towers with cameras covering the entire lot with overlapping field of view.


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## MikeFL (Apr 16, 2016)

Across the pond it is common to have a separate dedicated grid for outdoor lighting. I can't speak for OP's locale. If it is that separate grid, it's only hot dusk til dawn.


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## septiclecky (Oct 17, 2008)

Tamgunner said:


> Hi all new to here I am a cctv installer and one of my clients has asked for a quote to install cameras in a retail park car park. Issue I have is getting power to the cctv system the client had said we can tap into the lighting for power.
> 
> 1. Is this possible?
> 2.if so what do I need or what company can I contact?
> ...


If it is the owner of the retail car park you will need to find out the following:
1- Do the lighting columns have permanent feed to the base of each column or are they supplied via a contactor and time clock. 

2- Is the a separate ducting to run CCTV cables in away from the mains cables.


If it is not the owner then you will need to find out via your client whether you can install CCTV cameras on the columns from the retail park owners which I very much doubt.


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## gpop (May 14, 2018)

septiclecky said:


> If it is the owner of the retail car park you will need to find out the following:
> 1- Do the lighting columns have permanent feed to the base of each column or are they supplied via a contactor and time clock.
> 
> 2- Is the a separate ducting to run CCTV cables in away from the mains cables.
> ...



If you are going to run a wire to the cameras then you would just use a Siamese cable and bring the power from the same place you are planing to monitor the video. Still would have to ask who owns the light pole you are planning to mount the camera to.


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## Giqexove (Oct 23, 2018)

It's possible, try to find more info in books


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