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EMNOTWENI UPGRADES ELECTRONIC SIGNAGE
On Friday 6 December Emnotweni Casino in
Mbombela (formerly Nelspruit) celebrated
a grand re-launch after the completion
of an extensive expansion programme
that included enlarging the casino area,
as well as adding a conference venue
and multi-purpose arena. Mbombela is
located in the heart of the Lowveld, and
is a key point along the Maputo Corridor.
It is a growing and vibrant city, and with
the expansion of the Emnotweni Casino &
Entertainment Complex is set to become
the region’s preferred conference and
events destination.
Owned by Tsogo Sun, the largest hospitality and
gaming group in Southern Africa, the Emnotweni
Complex provides professional conferencing,
banqueting and events facilities; quality
accommodation at two Emnotweni Hotels, and
access to a range of dining and entertainment
experiences at one convenient location.
The re-launch - at the exquisite new Emnotweni
Arena - featured a music spectacular headlined
by international singing sensation, Lira. The
celebrations were tinged with sadness as the
news of Nelson Mandela’s death the previous
evening lay heavy on everyone. Emnotweni’s
Director of Operations and Complex General
Manager, Ig Olivier, said: “We dedicated our
launch concert to Madiba, as a celebration of
his life. We also thank everyone who joined us in
celebrating our re-launch and tribute to Madiba.”
When Tsogo Sun embarked on the expansion
of Emnotweni they also decided to expand
the electronic signage system to include the
new areas. The original analogue system had
been installed in 2005 and consisted of a
combination of Sierra Matrixes and Kramer
Transmitters, Receivers, DAs and scalers. When
Tsogo Sun, the parent company, approached
Mtshali-Moss Projects Africa (MMPA) to design
and project manage the upgrade of the system
it was decided to switch over from analogue
to digital and to replace the old Emnotweni
system with a new full HD Digital System.
MMPA in turn contacted Orlando da Silva to do
the installation. Orlando as a trusted supplier of
Tsogo Sun, has been involved in installations
and continuous upgrades at a number of their
casinos. MMPA researched various options and
came to the conclusion that of all the available
digital systems Kramer offered the most costeffective and reliable solution.
The following products were installed: a Kramer
32 x 32 Digital Matrix switcher; 16 HDMI input
cards; 24 x Fibre outputs; 22 x Fibre Receivers;
VP729 Scalers; Kramer HDMI Fibre TX and RX
units; HDBaseT TX and RX units; Kramer DVI
cables x20; a Crestron CP-3 Control Processor;
and 2 x Crestron Touch Panels. The Kramer Card
based Routers (Kramer CORE system) function
well in every installation they have been thrown
into. They remain very stable while being very
cost effective against all competitors. Kramer
continues to develop new cards for these units
allowing them to cater for many types of Pro AV
solutions.
However, the installation was not without its
challenges. Due to the size of the property
MMPA decided to use a complete fibre solution,
with fibre running to all the screens. “There
was some nervousness as it was our first Fibre
solution,” said MMPA’s Djalita von Mollendorf
“but Kramer Israel was very helpful. Jason
Johnstone at Electrosonic SA was never more
than a phone call away if we needed any help.
The installation went smoothly with no hitches.”
This was mainly because Orlando did a
pre-installation mock-up of the system in
Johannesburg, so as to avoid any surprises
during the actual installation in Emnotweni
Casino. “There were some concerns around
the HDMI/DVI-D EDID limitations, so the mockup was an invaluable exercise that certainly
helped the project run so smoothly,” says
Orlando. Part of the job was to mount all the
ELECTROSONIC SA HONOURED AT ISE
In February Electrosonic SA received Crestron’s Exceptional Distributor of the Year Award at
ISE (Integrated Systems Europe) 2014, which was held in Amsterdam. Every year at ISE Crestron
hosts a sub-conference for its distributors. Delegates get the opportunity to learn about
organisational changes, get sneak previews of products in the pipeline, and to network with
international colleagues. Crestron also uses the event to reward distributors for their commitment
in various sectors of the industry. Electrosonic SA received the award for “Exceptional Distributor
Commitment”, as recognition for their investment and commitment in establishing Crestron House,
in Johannesburg.