New to video and I am trying to quote a system for a potential customer. The customer has asked for a scanner but my distributors have said that for the price difference I would be better to quote PTZ. I have two basic questions:

1. The distributors have quoted systems with outdoor PTZ cameras connected to a DVR but they haven't included anthing to control the PTZ with. They have said all I need is the coax. Seems to me that to control the PTZ via coax, I would need some type of control box or matrix. If I was going to use 485 from the DVR, I would need a 232 to 485 converter and an extra set of control wires going to the PTZ. The DvRs have been Toshiba, Digimerge and Arm Electronics. PTZ has been Arm, Pelco and Sanyo.

2. With a true scanner, is there no remote control for it? do you set the speed and scanning area when installing?

The customer is trying to watch a parking lot, so I am trying to convince him to just use fixed cameras with wide angle lenses so that he gets the area covered at all times.

What do you folks think?

Of the DVRs I have tested or used I have found that the Pelco Spectra and Esprit can be controlled up-the-coax by Pelco DVRs for full control/programming and by Dedicated Micros DVRs with limited control and no programming. With the Dedicated Micros unit you can do PTZ functions and I believe call presets using up-the coax. Bosch Divar can be ordered with Bilinx option allowing you to be able to control Bosch domes up-the-coax. All others I have seen require a data link for control. If you can buy 4 or 5 fixed cameras for the cost of 1 PTZ then many times that is the best way to go since even if you run the dome on a pattern you are going to have to run it slow for it to look decent in playback, your are likely to miss something, and you wear the motors out quicker. The number of channels on a DVR does not seem to affect the cost that much. We love domes in the right application but they are often overused because they are fun to play with.