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Author Topic: Additional uses for the JNIOR Carsten Kurz Film God Posts: 4340 From: Cologne, NRW, Germany Registered: Aug 2009 posted 01-30-2019 06:15 PM                     Bruce - how do you structure your buyer profiles? And what do you believe, who is making the actual decision pro/contra JNIOR? How much do you know about the target areas? I know you mentioned some examples earlier, and you probably know what type of specific functionality is used/needed in these different areas. I recently visited a new installation by CinemaNext, and they used the Proyecson PAA-20+ Automation Adapter. I was wondering why e.g. they decide to use a JNIOR and when the Proyecson. The Proyecson has some obvious benefits (19" mountable, front soft buttons), but is a lot weaker on the software side. It's ethernet based, but it basically is a dump relay switch box. Don't know how it competes with the JNIOR price wise. I am a tech savvy exhibitor, but many cinema operators are not interested too much into what device is installed, they think more in immediate functionality for them. Press a button, place a cue, expect the result. The question is, who defines functionality in the exhibition area. The integrator, the cinema owner, the projectionist (if exists). I think it is quite important to know who you talk to and what level of expectation that person has. I also think that many JNIORs installed in cinemas are underutilized. I guess most are used in a standard Doremi style installation, activate lights and curtain, and that's it. Many cinema operators probably do not even know what a JNIOR is, even if one is installed in the back of their racks. So, they don't know what else it can do. - Carsten  |  IP: Logged Dave Macaulay Film God Posts: 2321 From: Toronto, Canada Registered: Apr 2001 posted 01-31-2019 02:10 AM                     Almost all the Jniors we install are just used for relay control for lighting and masking plus an input for the fire alarm trigger. We have used some of the more advanced functions but that brings complications if one fails - a replacement has to be loaded with the configuration used. To avoid the headaches of archiving that data and the issues arising when one is replaced and doesn't work because the tech didn't know it was "special", we like to leave them at default requiring only the addressing setup for a replacement.  |  IP: Logged Bruce Cloutier Expert Film Handler Posts: 161 From: Gibsonia, PA, USA Registered: Aug 2016 posted 01-31-2019 07:51 AM                        Rick splits his time between Sales, Marketing and Support. Like I said we don't do much Marketing and to Cartsen's question we probably don't know who makes the purchase decision. That is something to ask Rick. I believe he would say that the integrators make the decisions. The theater owners that stop by our booth often either don't know they have JNIORs or perhaps have noticed them but still wonder what they do. Once a theater chain defines their standard system configuration they just replicate it over and over. Pretty much our approach has been to make a really smart, flexible and cost-effective controller as a reliable and capable tool and let it take on a life of its own. Basically someone (in any market) who needs a controller finds the JNIOR in a web search and tries one. We throw in some freebie application development just because Kevin gets bored and loves new challenges. It almost always leads to additional sales in that market/application. Over time that entry festers and we move more and more units to an increasing number of customers in whatever segment. There is a surprising list of completely unrelated applications using the product almost religiously. The feedback is all good. We're just the complete other end of the spectrum from the Crestrons. The JNIOR was not meant to be just a cinema product. We added the CINEMA application to it and continue to refine that to give the controller that cinema feel with macros and all of that. We weren't targeting rack-mounted automation with switches like eCNA, Christie's ACT, and others. Eventually we prototyped the control panel to expand the JNIOR and give it some kind of user interface. But as Steve apply noted it starts to become somewhat of a "kludge". That is not our intention of course. We will be rectifying that (hopefully) over the upcoming year or two. I'm just looking to you all for ideas and priorities. It is your satisfaction with the thing that drives us, the sales are just a necessity to keep us alive and kicking. We don't have any cranky investors to keep happy (just me). Later this year I would like to bring someone additional in to support Marketing and Sales. It would make sense to tap someone from this market with the market specific knowledge and experience that we don't really have ourselves. We might open a position for a tech to assist in development and perhaps create a training program. I'm open to all of that too.  |  IP: Logged Carsten Kurz Film God Posts: 4340 From: Cologne, NRW, Germany Registered: Aug 2009 posted 01-31-2019 08:28 AM                     Well, that's where it becomes interesting - the JNIOR offers sophisticated software functionality, but is very often used below it's potential (at least in the cinema environment). So, one option is to educate buyers to use that functionality (which means, integrators have to spend on manpower for training and programming), or, offer a simpler solution that competes price-wise. Or, improve other design aspects (19", buttons, etc.). You said you have a client cinema close by. Did you go there already and got some insights in how they operate? I recently visited two colleagues, and, among other things, was, err... slightly irritated how 'retro' their auditorium heating control was organized. Some usher had to judge on the number of patrons/seats sold and then was to go to a machine room and flip a switch between off or on... We do have a thermostat with a week-range-timer (and pretty constant exhibition schedule) which helped us save a lot of money, but it certainly can be improved by some limited local and remote control intelligence. The trouble is, no exhibitor is taking something like this up themselves, no integrator deals with heating, and no heating/HVAC tech wants to fiddle or is allowed to fiddle with the presentation gear. Some of our german trade organisations picked up 'green cinema' a while ago, and issued papers on options and typical solutions. Some larger operations where able to get cinema techs, energy, HVAC, techs and consultants on a table, but the smaller operations have trouble to do that. But that's exactly where a JNIOR could shine. - Carsten  |  IP: Logged Bruce Cloutier Expert Film Handler Posts: 161 From: Gibsonia, PA, USA Registered: Aug 2016 posted 01-31-2019 12:57 PM                        We observed the tech at a nearby cinema replace a couple of old Christie ACTs with our Control Panel and a JNIOR. To get "some insights as to how they operate" we would need to get in tight with the ownership and spend time to observe operations. There's not the incentive for them to play along with us until they need a solution for something. I actually have HVAC background. I was VP of Engineering for American Auto-Matrix (AAM) who in an earlier life were responsible for the conversion of HVAC systems from vacuum signalling to microprocessor control (c1972). We haven't placed JNIORs in the HVAC industry. I wasn't in a position to pursue it and the previous INTEG ownership were not familiar with it. We would need to implement BACnet really to get into that. Not impossible. We did have conversations with a cinema customer who wanted to use the JNIOR to throttle his air conditioning. While we could program the logic we couldn't help him interface with his HVAC system. He could not provide much information and we couldn't risk him damaging anything (including himself and/or the whole theater). He didn't have the HVAC contractor involved. It is a good concept though. A good HVAC system would detect the added cooling load and adjust. Generally you undersize the system it isn't able to quickly respond to the theater filling up in just 15 minutes. So you need some predictive mode which the JNIOR can do. We would just have to work hand-in-hand with the HVAC system contractor (their form of integrator). I have a JNIOR on my furnace handling two-stage humidification. Basically the normal evaporative humidifier is insufficient for the size of the house. So the JNIOR kicks in a steam humidifier when humidity needs to catch up. Makes the place really comfortable even like today when it was below zero over night. But I have a Carrier system and had purchased the communications option so the JNIOR can query humidity status. This isn't running CINEMA by the way. I think the program and details are on jnior.com. I can go verify that if anyone is interested.  |  IP: Logged Tony Bandiera Jr Film God Posts: 3067 From: Moreland Idaho Registered: Apr 2004 posted 02-03-2019 12:58 PM                     Bruce, I just sent you an email discussing a few things. Funny you brought up HVAC, I just finished a BACnet install for one of the major HVAC companies. I think one of my contacts there could assist in bringing JNIOR into that area.  |  IP: Logged

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