Steven_W

Looking for solid, reliable kit which is just a wireless magnetic door contact which makes a remote mains powered speaker chime. Must have volume control, or at least 5 levels of volume. All kit I have looked at is very cheap domestic stuff. Any recommendations? all

Jayzus!

After installing kit from various manufacturers from various suppliers over the years, about 2 years ago we went exclusively with Hik kit supplied by Dynamic CCTV. I also have installed OEM kit with possibly the same but unbranded firmware. It may be cheaper, but the problem is post install support. 18 months after install when end user loses their login details and needs a reset, you won't be able to quote a serial number to the wholesaler to get a reset, you'll have to swap out the DVR. I find Hik as reliable as anything else out there, it has a 3 year manufacturers warranty, so even after your own 1 year warranty you can refer the end user to the manufacturer, or charge for a recall but swap kit out for free.

Looks like I'll just pull 4 in, anyway price has gone in now!

I'm pricing an install where I need to future proof for expansion. Currently 16 cams on site, I'll be adding another 8 but with potential for 8 more after that (I'm swapping out existing DVR & installing 2 x 16 ways). I need to allow for some redundancy in case of cable breakdown & the additional possibility of maybe 1 or 2 more cameras. Power will be available at the camera split location where the duct comes out the ground. then run up a pole where cables will be aerial with catenary wire. This will prevent voltage drop. All cams will be HD-TVI 1080p 2mp 2.8mm - 12mm varifocal domes/bullets depending on location. I have to install cams approx 100 or so metres away from DVR. I came across a US manufacturer who makes 4 or even 8 CAT cables in one outer sheathing. This would need to be duct grade preferably gel filled. Obviously I can pull 4 in, but if there is a supplier in the UK that does this I would like a price. I have trade accounts with Luxrite, System Q, CEF, Kew, HBL, Norbain, Techvision, SAS but none of them do this. I have contemplating putting a cab in to the expansion area and multiplexing the signals back to the DVR then separating them maybe using fiber, but I think the cost will be prohibitive. Any suggestions?

Thanks for all your replies gents, quite a thread! Well, since posting this I have done 3 installs with Hikvision tribrid recorders (HD Turbo variety) and 2 using the Dahua kit. The Hikvision is 1080p 2mp & the Dahua is 720p 1.3mp, all using varifocal domes. Well, quite honestly, they all work great & finding differences is hard. I'm still really none the wiseras to which is best, but I am finding the tribrid Hikvision HD Turbo with associated cameras from MIECCTV is generating the highest profit margin. I've had no call backs & rock solid performance. Easy to use interface with all the features you expect. The Dahua stuff is also great but slightly more expensive. Over thepast 4 years I have installed so many different bits of kit to try to find a decent regular supplier that I can get to know inside out... year before last I installed several Luxrite systems, then last year mainly Alien DVRs from Systemq. All work great with no issues, but price wise more costly. I suppose time will tell whether I get a call back after a year or 5 years! Thanks again for all your replies...

I've got several installs coming up with HD kit. I've installed HD-SDI using Luxrite kit which has been fine, but it's super competitive now with suppliers, I have 4 or 5 of them with similarly specced kit, but I want to only use one supplier that is competitively priced, robust & reliable. I'm looking at the "Alliance" tribrids from MIECCTV (they can take a 12TB eSATA hard drive and analogue & HD-TVI cameras with 2 IP cameras). They seem good spec, cameras 1080p 2mp 2.8mm to 12mm varifocal lenses at a great price. Anyone any opinion on SDI versus TVI and what supplier to use? I've also had quotes from Systemq, Aban technology, CCTV direct & Y3K, MIECCTV come out cheapest.