volanti

OK all, what is the deal with UNAuthorized vs Authorized resellers? Each manufacturer has a big scary disclaimer about what an awful human you must be purchasing through an UNAuthorized reseller. They even put up a real nice list naming everyone. They then make it damned near impossible to find an AUTHORIZED dealer. This seems someone insane, is this just how the market is? How wary should I be of "UNAuthorized dealers"? Am I really a rotten human being for ordering from them, or is it just that they will decline the manufacturers warranty? Thanks for your clarity. Dan

What is your experience with Everfocus DVRs? I had someone suggest them and spoke highly of them, apparently they are used quite often at USGOV installations. Thanks in advance Dan

Hello all. First off, thank you so much for your participation in this board. I have been reading for a while now, and your input and assistance with others has gotten me this far. I have been performing network and A/V installs for over 15 years, but this will be my first CCTV system. Your assistance is greatly appreciated. I am currently in the design phase of replacing an installed system at a Hotel. The system installed was just nasty, and the installation itself is even worse. I will start a thread on how NOT to install a system later. I am gutting and replacing everything. Here is what I have so far. I have a budget of about 10K US. I am putting in a total of 12 cameras, 6 indoor domes covering common areas, 4 IR bullets covering a back door, a loading dock, and 2 mounted under a vestibule covering the front door, and one PTZ covering the lobby. 7.5 to 15 FPS will be fine, 30 days of storage, and I can lay the data back to a Network Storage Device. All cameras will run through GEM baluns over new CAT5E, each camera with a home run to the DVR/Power panel. DVR: Samsung SRD 1650-DC - I did the math, a 3Tb system should be good. Indoor Dome Cameras: CNB DBM-24VD, MonaLisa chipsets Indoor speed PTZ: CNB DBM-24D Indoor bullets: CNB WCM-20VF Outdoor PTZ: CNB SDN-22Z27F (This is going to be living on top of a 12 story building on the lake in Chicago, so it has to be tough and quite weather resistant) Power: Samsung 24AC-18-8UL Baluns: Gem Your comments are welcome. A few questions. The CNB cameras, although rated very high, are kind of big. How do you guys feel about the Samsung cameras? They seem to have similar qualities, but are smaller and bit more "sleek" fitting the design of the hotel a bit better. Is there another brand I should look at? Opinions on the Samsung DVR? Local monitoring is not as important as monitoring over a web interface and smartphones. (iPod and Androids) What supplier do you guys recommend? I am not familiar with the ones from the board here, and I would rather spend money with someone you know vs. Amazon or some giant warehouse monger. I like to keep things local. Once again, thank you in advance all. Dan

outstanding idea on presets. I have a PTZ controller that was here and a monitor I was going to install in the server room where the DVR (and all other IT equipment) is if someone really needed to drill down and see what was going on. What dealer do you normally buy from? I see CNB has a list of "no-go" folks, but no list of auth resellers.

Thanks for your input Soundy, very much appreciated. Vandal Resistant - Where the cameras are located should be relatively safe from vandals save for 2. I will update those, thank you. PTZ - There will not be a "Full Time" hotel security staff at present, and the PTZ will be either fixed or on a very limited patrol. The intent was to give staff the ability to PTZ from either a computer or smart phone as needed.