Camera Drones To Provide The Pro AV Industry With The Next Great Sales Opportunity

Dealers looking to capitalize on a $12-billion commercial sales opportunity that also promises to pull through additional sales of traditional AV and IT components should include camera drones into their 2015 product mix, according to Stampede Presentation Products, Inc. President & COO Kevin Kelly, who last week introduced the category to attendees of the 2014 Stampede Vendor Summit in Buffalo, New York.

“While drones are already a major success in markets around the world, the North American market presents the largest commercial sales opportunity in this new category. We believe that North American sales of camera drones are set to take off in 2015 as more and more vertical market end users come to realize the enormous benefits bring to their businesses,” Kelly said. “Over the next two years, as legislation is enacted to provide clarity to the marketplace, more companies in virtually every vertical market will utilize the exciting and convenient tools that camera drones have to offer.  Make no mistake about it.  Camera drones are no pie in the sky.  They represent a huge new opportunity for both our dealers and our manufacturer partners.  Camera drones can be sold to existing end user commercial customers and they will most definitely bring in new customers to the ProAV industry and that will benefit everyone.”

According to Kelly, camera drones are a strategic and cost-effective way to capture aerial photography in the form of digital video. The agricultural industry, for example, is an early adopter of drones to assist in their daily life. Camera drones offer farmers valuable data to determine irrigation needs and help plan harvesting. Covering expansive distances, camera drones enable the private use of technology on their own land. Collecting data via remote control saves the farmer time, as it essentially replaces the action of getting into a pick-up truck and traversing the land.

“The use of camera drones also proves to be more cost-effective overall, as farmers can more accurately determine the required levels and fertilizer use, eliminating waste,” Kelly added.

Beyond agricultural use, Kelly emphasized, first responders are also adopting drones as a means to monitor dangerous situations in real time. Law enforcement, local police, and firefighters will likely use aerial photography and cinematography to monitor potentially life-threatening situations like fires, floods, or traffic accidents. In case of a natural disaster, law enforcers may deploy multiple drones at once to assist in search-and-rescue initiatives. “This is a more effective way to search for missing people, or to warn others to stay away from dangerous areas,” Kelly said. “Drones promote immediate and ongoing awareness, so that first responders can safely and effectively monitor a situation.”

Educators are also adopting drones to enhance security efforts, Kelly asserts. For example, higher education facilities such as universities are purchasing multiple drones to act as an extension of their campus security systems. “Drones provide more accurate and widespread coverage, and will help security offers to keep University students safe,” Kelly said. “K-12 environments are bound to follow, maximizing the security in schools across the country.”

According to Kelly, once an end-user decides to purchase a camera drone, dealers have an opportunity to work with them on developing their content transmission and storage, along with the various monitors, drone pilot controls required to pilot the drone.

“It all adds up to selling a small, or large, command and control solution with every drone as well as video content editing and storage equipment,” Kelly emphasized. “With numerous camera, content transmission, and command and control options, dealers will have the opportunity to specify unique solutions that provide meaningful solutions to end-users and profits to the dealership.”

Hoffman Pro Systems Keeps Avista Stadium in the Game with an Entire "Eco-System" Solution from Furman Sound

The deeper you go into baseball’s complex organizational infrastructure, past the glamorous major leagues, past the grittier AAA and AA minors and into the single “A” leagues, the tradeoff becomes apparent: the passion — of the players, the teams and the small towns that treasure them — soars while budgets struggle. That’s been the case at Avista Stadium, home to the Spokane Indians of the Class A Northwest League. The team, an affiliate of Major League Baseball’s Texas Rangers, won the 2005 Northwest League Championship and in 2008 captured the Northwest League Title.

The stadium, built in 1958, has seen several minor (and a few major) renovations over the years as annual budgets allow. Cary Cummings, systems designer at Spokane, Washington based Hoffman Pro Systems (www.hoffmanprosystems.com), which has been tending to the stadium’s audio system’s needs for over two decades, points out that the budget for audio system upgrades typically, for various reasons, ends up as a lower priority. However, a major renovation came in under budget last year so the audio system was able to get a well-deserved upgrade.

“Due to these limited budgets, we’ve had to do incremental upgrades over the years, but last year we were able to upgrade the sound system’s front end —a new Peavey Media Matrix NION processor and Crown amps,” says Cummings. “It was a substantial upgrade; we replaced the analog mixer, EQ and delays with all digital signal processing via the Media Matrix.”

The rarity of such upgrades makes them all the more valuable, so Hoffman Pro Systems included another, equally critical piece of equipment: a Furman F-1500 Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) backup battery and power conditioner. It’s the core of an entire Furman ecosystem of protection for the entire sound system that includes a CN-1800S SmartSequencer™ 15-amp bidirectional power sequencer, an ASD-120 AC Sequenced Power Distribution unit that can address six 20-amp circuits, a CN-20MP MiniPort switch, and a PS-REL relay that detects the presence of AC power and, in response, closes relay contacts that are wired to a terminal strip. In this installation, it’s wired to one of the GPIO (general-purpose input/output) ports on the Media Matrix, which then signals a warning to the operator and also logs the event. 

The F-1500 UPS is critical to keeping Avista Stadium running efficiently and cost-effectively, says Cummings. “That’s the first line of defense, really,” he says. “It’s the best way to protect every part of the sound system, new or old.”

The Furman F1500-UPS delivers battery backup designed exclusively for audio/video professionals and home theater aficionados.  For decades, traditional audio/video components were simple analog devices designed to easily weather power outages of well over two seconds. Later, as computer and microprocessor based components gained in popularity, their extraordinary sensitivity to even a fraction of a second power loss was managed with traditional UPS (uninterruptible power supply) technology.

Unfortunately, these units were solely designed for the IT professional. Though they included many technologies and features appropriate to that application, they fell short for premium audio/video components. Though many of these manufactures later recognized the ever-emerging professional audio/video, broadcast, and home theater market, their lack of experience led merely to a re-tooled chassis. These hastily produced UPS devices lacked the technologies necessary to truly optimize protection, performance, and control for today’s audio video components. The Furman F1500-UPS more than fills this void, and offers customers unparalleled battery back-up technology, created from the ground up to meet the exacting demands of the world’s most sensitive audio, video and control systems.

The CN-1800S SmartSequencer™ offers another kind of AC protection, allowing the various major components it provides power for to power on at programmable intervals, preventing any risk of surge or overload. “We have the CN-1800S set to a fairly slow sequence, with the Media Matrix processor turning on first followed by the ASD-120 100-amp distro, then the wall controller at the audio control station, because the main processor has to be turned on first in order for all the systems to ‘see’ each other.”

Cummings says the protection that the Furman products offer provides very necessary confidence for the team, its fans and the stadium personnel in an aging venue. “Systems like the new processor we added last year are not cheap, and Furman is an investment in protecting them. What’s also great is that in the process, the Furman UPS is protecting itself, too, because it does its job in a non-sacrificial way — the UPS will continue to be there, working, even after it encounters an AC glitch.”

In fact, Furman power protection has made Cummings feel a little like the advertising legend Maytag repairman, a role that’s fine with him. “The only reason I’d get a phone call about the UPS is if it’s not doing its job properly,” he says. “And so far, we haven’t gotten a single call.”

The Furman CN-1800S (15 amp capacity) and CN-2400S (20 amp capacity) SmartSequencers are designed for commercial A/V installers.  The units combine AC power distribution, protection, filtration, sequential system power on/off, and optional compatibility with Panamax/Furman’s BlueBOLT® hosted remote power and energy management platform.

The CN-1800S and CN-2400S feature Furman’s SmartSequencing™ technology, which allows large and complex A/V systems to be powered on and off safely with the simple press of a button or turn of a key, even by nontechnical personnel. The SmartSequencer’s bidirectional communications between installed units enables a primary unit to control and sequence multiple secondary units, ensuring that multi-zone electronic systems are powered on and off safely and dependably from a single control point across an entire installation. Units can be connected via current loop at runs of more than 1,000 feet, with backwards compatibility with Furman’s legacy sequencers and/or third-party products.

Providing robust control options, the CN-1800S and CN-2400S are equipped with RS-232 ports and command sets for PC control or integration with control systems. An optional RS-232-to-Ethernet adaptor — sold separately — adds full IP-addressability to the unit so it may be controlled, programmed, and monitored from any Web-enabled device with Panamax/Furman’s cloud-based BlueBOLT platform.

Furman and Diversified Systems Keep the Slow Motion Video Going for the Fast-Moving Oakland A's!

The red-hot Oakland Athletics are sitting atop the American League West just after the mid-season All-Star Game break, and ESPN doesn’t refer to the team as the “Surging A’s” for nothing. But another kind of power surge, one that could have had dire consequences for this winning’s team’s stadium video display show and live in-stadium entertainment, was avoided in mid July, thanks to the timely installation of a Furman F1500-UPS uninterruptible power supply and battery backup/power conditioner.

Earlier this year, AV systems designer and integrator Diversified Systems installed a new Grass Valley slow-mo video playback system, consisting of a Grass Valley® Dyno slow-motion controller and Summit video server, replacing an older Grass Valley Profile slow-motion system at the Athletics’ 35,000-plus-seat O.co Coliseum, which it shares with the NFL Oakland Raiders. As part of this system upgrade, a Furman F1500-UPS uninterruptible power supply and battery backup/power conditioner was included, to protect the rack containing the Summit server.

“The slow-mo video system is crucial to the A’s in-stadium video operation,” observes Mark Sackett, Project Manager and Systems Engineer for Diversified Systems’ work on the stadium’s AV systems, noting that the slow-motion replays on the stadium’s huge Diamond Vision video displays are substantial revenue generators for the team, attracting additional advertising between clips of tight plays. “It really keeps the fans in the stands engaged.” 

The Furman F1500 sat in its rack unnoticed, as it’s supposed to do, until one day in mid July, when a power surge due to an electrical storm hit the control room racks overnight, taking several of them offline — except for the rack holding the Summit slow-mo server, which never even blinked during the power surge. “The [video] switcher and the router were knocked off line briefly, but the Furman F1500 protected the server, exactly as it was designed and intended to do,” says Sackett. “Surge protection and power conditioning seem like very small parts of a complex system like a stadium’s slow-motion video, but if there comes a time when you really need it, it’s suddenly the most important component in the rack. We were very happy we had a Furman unit in there. It really made the difference.”

Core Brands Debuts Furman P-8 Pro C Power Conditioner Featuring Advanced Power Management for Audio, Video and Broadcast

Underscoring its commitment to meet the increasingly complex and challenging power conditioning needs of audio, video and broadcast professionals, Core Brands today introduced the Furman P-8 PRO C Power Conditioner. This Classic Series 20Amp power conditioner delivers superior protection, outstanding performance and exclusive Furman technologies such as Series Multi-Stage Protection (SMP) and Linear Filtering Technology (LiFT).

Featuring a rugged 1-RU chassis with a minimalistic front panel, the P-8 PRO C is ideal for power conditioning applications where front panel metering and illumination are not required. The P-8 PRO C provides users with Furman’s acclaimed SMP surge protection circuit. The technology’s ability to safely absorb, clamp and dissipate transient voltages virtually eliminates service calls. The device’s over-voltage circuitry (EVS) protects against accidental connections to 208 or 240 VAC by shutting off incoming power until over-voltage is completely corrected.

The nine-outlet unit is also equipped with LiFT — providing filtration against excessive AC line noise, ensuring optimal performance without any leakage to ground.

“Our new P-8 PRO C classic series power conditioner for audio/video professionals builds on the success of Furman’s renowned P-8 PRO II,” said John Benz, Director of Power and Accessories for Core Brands. “Using our power protection and filtering capabilities, the P-8 PRO C features our venerable Series Multi-Stage Protection circuit as well as Furman’s exclusive Linear Filter Technology, creating advanced and comprehensive transient voltage suppression and conditioning for any professional A/V application.”

More information on the P-8 PRO C and Furman’s full line of products is available at www.furmansound.com.