1 minute ago, PeterJames said:

You will need the echo if you want to do anything by shouting at it 

I suppose Reading is too far from sunny Sussex for you to come and install it for me? 

(Hikvision video intercom with 3 monitors, Alexa, Broadlink and that analytic camera)

Its not too far for us we cover upto North London, we have a few jobs in Basingstoke Windsor and Slough which are all your direction from us.

 

Couple of issues firstly we are Dahua installers not Hik but we can supply and install Hik. We cant install kit supplied by others we are NSI gold ISO 9001 which means everything we supply has to have a trail back to the supplier.   

 

The other problem is that I do the broadlink kit for my house, and as a sort of hobby, we dont install it commercially none of my engineers will be familiar with it.

 

That said I can preprogram it here, is the gate already automated or do you need that doing too.

18 minutes ago, PeterJames said:

Its not too far for us we cover upto North London, we have a few jobs in Basingstoke Windsor and Slough which are all your direction from us.

 

Couple of issues firstly we are Dahua installers not Hik but we can supply and install Hik. We cant install kit supplied by others we are NSI gold ISO 9001 which means everything we supply has to have a trail back to the supplier.   

 

The other problem is that I do the broadlink kit for my house, and as a sort of hobby, we dont install it commercially none of my engineers will be familiar with it.

 

That said I can preprogram it here, is the gate already automated or do you need that doing too.

Thanks for that. My gate is double automated - control is either via the usual fob remotes or an ancient POE access control system which needs to be replaced. But I was intending to buy my video intercom kit from China so I probably need to find a freelance installer.

Im in China next week, but not looking at CCTV, the problem with China and CCTV is you have to see exactly what your getting right down to component level otherwise you end up with a load of tat.Then you have to buy enough of it to make it worth while, and theirs, which means that unless your selling to the trade the kit you purchased is old hat before youve sold it all.

I would never buy a single system of anything from China

13 minutes ago, PeterJames said:

Im in China next week, but not looking at CCTV, the problem with China and CCTV is you have to see exactly what your getting right down to component level otherwise you end up with a load of tat.Then you have to buy enough of it to make it worth while, and theirs, which means that unless your selling to the trade the kit you purchased is old hat before youve sold it all.

I would never buy a single system of anything from China

Yes, I've found a lot of horror stories during my research so I am restricting myself to vendors which have had multiple recommendations in reputable forums - and I am buying the latest generation kit with the maker's branding, English language and upgradable firmware. There will still be risks - not least if/when something goes wrong with the kit even though it comes with a warranty - but there are also persuasive reasons for taking that chance. After all, the system is made in China so it should be no different in quality to the same kit which has travelled down the global distribution chain.

 

I intend to start piecemeal so that any initial problems will warn me off continuing with the bulk of my order. Then I'll come back to you, cap in hand.

33 minutes ago, Chappie said:

After all, the system is made in China so it should be no different in quality to the same kit which has travelled down the global distribution chain.

Bear in mind that there is huge differewnces in quality some are downright dangerous

4 minutes ago, james.wilson said:

Bear in mind that there is huge differewnces in quality some are downright dangerous

qfa Hik copy cameras with plastic lenses that warp in the sun, second and third, and fourth rejected cmos chips. If you're not buying from a Hik registered dealer it will be a copy. Same with Dahua, they dont make cameras for anyone else. they dont sell their rejects either, they retail them as a DIY product called HiVision 

Bear in mind it costs the same to make a cheap camera as it does to make an expensive one, so the only savings you are gonna make is on the components used.

You can buy decent stuff with Hik firmware but you need to know exactly what your looking for, and even then it wont be the same you wont have the settings the same as a hik . Both James and I have been there done that have the Tshirt. I go to China regularly but I wont buy CCTV until they have their act together. Dahua is our base CCTV after that its Milestone and Mobotix  

1 hour ago, Chappie said:

Yes, I've found a lot of horror stories during my research so I am restricting myself to vendors which have had multiple recommendations in reputable forums - and I am buying the latest generation kit with the maker's branding, English language and upgradable firmware. There will still be risks - not least if/when something goes wrong with the kit even though it comes with a warranty - but there are also persuasive reasons for taking that chance. After all, the system is made in China so it should be no different in quality to the same kit which has travelled down the global distribution chain.

 

I intend to start piecemeal so that any initial problems will warn me off continuing with the bulk of my order. Then I'll come back to you, cap in hand.

Although installers will fit your kit , it's not there problem if it doesn't work or doesn't do everything you expected

 

Most buy there own kit to make it cheaper, but you won't get cheap support after its in , and reading what your saying seems you going to DIY it sooner or later 

Edited September 18, 20196 yr by al-yeti

1 hour ago, Chappie said:

cap in hand.

I wonder what the answer would be to that ......

 

Just being realistic dude

4 minutes ago, al-yeti said:

I wonder what the answer would be to that ......

 

Just being realistic dude

I would take it on the chin. But I imagine a lot of people try to get the job done cheaply before realising that it was a false economy. If you're going to turn them all away, that's likely a big chunk of the market.