Intruder Alarm Questions and Answers

eman66

altor wrote: »

Hi eman66,
You have the system in 3 years so your contract is up with them.. Is it a wire free alarm or wired ?

It's the wire free one.

altor

eman66 wrote: »

It's the wire free one.

Your new house is wired for an alarm so it is up to you if you want to bring it with you.. You could install the wire free in the new house.
Do you know if it is a simon or concord wire free system, is there enough sensors to cover the new house ?

How come phonewatch want a disconnection fee if your 3 years monitoring is up ?

eman66

Good point about the number of sensors. The new house is a lot bigger and without counting it would need a lot more sensors.

This is what the letter from Phonewatch says..

If you are discontinuing the monitoring of your alarm, and your alarm is connected to a landline, we would be grateful if you could contact a member of our Customer Support team to schedule a disconnection visit. There will be a charge for this visit.

Please be aware that as your system is linked to your telephone line, it will continue to communicate with our Monitoring Control Centre in the event of any alarm activations or system fault. Each signal will generate one local phone call blah blah... please arrange a disconnection visit asap.

altor

They are just trying to get more money off you.. It is true the alarm will send them in signals but it will be classed as a standalone alarm so they wont respond to any activation..
You would not mind if they said they where going to disconnect it from there system for free but to charge you is a laugh...

dave1984

I changed the battery on my alarm the other day and now have "22 Call Engineer". It says its the Bell & SAB. The internal bell still works but outside bell doesn't. Light is still on on the outside bell but no ringing?

KoolKid

If you enter Clear Set Full does it display SABB Fault?

altor

dave1984 wrote: »

I changed the battery on my alarm the other day and now have "22 Call Engineer". It says its the Bell & SAB. The internal bell still works but outside bell doesn't. Light is still on on the outside bell but no ringing?

Hi dave,
This means that there is a fault on the system. It is telling the engineer it cant see the bells on the system. Check and see if you pulled on one of the cables in the panel when you changed the battery, if you did repair it and down power the system and power it up again. This should remove the fault.
Any problems, let me know..

Darando

I have a HKC panel in my apartment. Panel is showing the orange battery fault light.

Anybody got a walk through guide of how to replace the battery??

Don't fancy paying €100 for an engineer to call out. If I know how I can usually do this stuff.

Cheers.

altor

Darando wrote: »

I have a HKC panel in my apartment. Panel is showing the orange battery fault light.

Anybody got a walk through guide of how to replace the battery??

Don't fancy paying €100 for an engineer to call out. If I know how I can usually do this stuff.

Cheers.

Hi Darando,
Turn off the power going to the panel. "This is important as there is a risk of electric shock" Open lid, put in your user code to stop alarm ringing, take out old battery and replace with new one. You will need a 12v 7.2 ah battery. Best thing to do is bring the old one with you when your buying a new one.
Hope this helps..

dave1984

How to default alarm, still have '22 Call Engineer'. Turned off power, took out battery and it didn't do anything. Still showing fault with SAB & Bell.
internal one still sounds but external one doesn't. Light stays on on the outside one. when i try to set alarm it says Fault SAB & Bell. how do i default to clear faults? i have checked wiring and all looks ok. There is a clicking sound coming from internal bell every now and again.

KoolKid

22 Call Engineer refers to the sounders bus.
Disconnect internal & external bell .
Reconnect external on its own & see if SABB fault disappears.
Then try the same with the internal.
It is posibly a short on one of the cables bring both devices down.

dave1984

Thanks ALTOR, great help!

altor

dave1984 wrote: »

Thanks ALTOR, great help!

Your welcome dave1984, always here to help..

s_gr

Hi,

I have a quick question in relation to the signet alarms, can they be set and unset remotely over the web?

What connectivity do you have with the panel over the web?

Also anyone recommend using them?

KoolKid

s_gr wrote: »

Hi,

I have a quick question in relation to the signet alarms, can they be set and unset remotely over the web?

What connectivity do you have with the panel over the web?

Also anyone recommend using them?

Highly recommed them . They are our best selling units at the moment.

The SigNet 220 & SigNet 300 have built in web browser which gives you full control remotely.
You can actually do more via the browser than with the keypad.
With the 220 & 300 you can also add X10 control which can also be switched remotely.

altor

s_gr wrote: »

Hi,

I have a quick question in relation to the signet alarms, can they be set and unset remotely over the web?

What connectivity do you have with the panel over the web?

Also anyone recommend using them?

The one thing i would say about using the web to control your alarm be that monitoring or for remote access is if your electricity is off so is your modem.
The signet panel is good but i would be more interested in using a built in text dialer which has a back up power supply to monitor the panel or remotely access any alarm panel..

s_gr

Thanks. One last question, i presume i can fit a text dialer also to the signet?

Also has anyone used the fobs for activating and deactivating the alarms. Does this disable the pin code, just in case the fob is lost can a pin number be also used to activate and deactivate the alarm?

KoolKid

altor wrote: »

The one thing i would say about using the web to control your alarm be that monitoring or for remote access is if your electricity is off so is your modem.

In reality , unless you live in the middle of nowhere. power cuts are not going to be an issue. For people who are concerned we would fit a PSU with battery back up to their router/modem , for a lot less than the cost of a GSM unit.
I would recommend web browser access over GSM for the following reasons
1> More cost effective for every text command you pay for 2 texts. To view log can involve multiple texts
2> Faster. You can perform multiple tasks in one go over web browser compared to sending multiple texts.
You also do not have to wait for confirmation texts
3> More control. Via web browser you can do even more than if you were in front of your keypad. Text control is limited to a number of basic commands
4> More flexible. Web browser can be accessed from anywhere uning any PC, any phone with web access or any other device. Text commands will be limited to certain phone numbers.

s_gr wrote: »

i presume i can fit a text dialer also to the signet?

Yes.

s_gr wrote: »

Also has anyone used the fobs for activating and deactivating the alarms. Does this disable the pin code, just in case the fob is lost can a pin number be also used to activate and deactivate the alarm?

The fobs on the SigNet are very flexible.
You can have set/unset by fob only or fob + code for more secure applications. You can also have code entry disabled during entry so only a fob can be used.
If fob or code is the option then yes you can use your code in the event of the fob being lost or damaged.
Lost fobs can also easilly be deleted.
Fobs can also be limited by calander/time/date.
Let me know if you want any more info ..;)

altor

koolkid wrote: »

In reality , unless you live in the middle of nowhere. power cuts are not going to be an issue. For people who are concerned we would fit a PSU with battery back up to their router/modem , for a lot less than the cost of a GSM unit.

In reality it does not mater where you live, most houses have there meter read from outside the premises and as you and i know the electricity can be turned off from there without even going inside the house which i have seen done on many an occasion in a break in..

The price of a gsm compared to the price of a psu is going to be different but look at the price of the signet 220 and 300 to allow you these added features and it makes up for that.

If your going to connect the signet to your modem then the psu is a must, no mater where you live.
This itself is the same reason the alarm panel itself has a back up battery..

BostonB

koolkid wrote: »

In reality , unless you live in the middle of nowhere. power cuts are not going to be an issue. ...

I don't think thats true. I've always had a few power cuts a year in D.15. I think there are shorter mini power cuts during the day more often. As its not unusual to find, clocks and timers effected.

KoolKid

I'm sorry . I have to disagree with you on this one Altor.
In all my years in the business (and thats a lot) I have never seen the power being turned off in order to break in anywhere.
If you are going to that level then you should be using a land line, GSM back up & a direct radio link.
The simpliest solution here is to get a modem/router that has 12vdc power supply & connect it to the panel.

2011

In reality it does not mater where you live, most houses have there meter read from outside the premises and as you and i know the electricity can be turned off from there without even going inside the house

+1
Not only that, but the new ESB meters have an isolation switch on them making it even easier to turn off the supply to the house.

2011

I'm sorry . I have to disagree with you on this one Altor.
In all my years in the business (and thats a lot) I have never seen the power being turned off in order to break in anywhere.

I came across it once. To be fair it was a bit of a unique situation.

The intruders must have known that the home owners were going on holiday for 2 weeks or so. They disconnected the power at the meter and broke in days later!

Just to add: I think web access is a step in the right direction. I would back it up with a GSM though. I have no faith in phone lines on their own.

Never under estimate intruders!! They're not all stupid.

altor

koolkid wrote: »

I'm sorry . I have to disagree with you on this one Altor.
In all my years in the business (and thats a lot) I have never seen the power being turned off in order to break in anywhere.

Agree or disagree koolkid it happens, i would be making sure the psu is installed with any system using there modem to monitor or access there alarm.

koolkid wrote: »

The simpliest solution here is to get a modem/router that has 12vdc power supply & connect it to the panel.

I agree with you 100% on this.. Simplest and best solution..

altor

2011 wrote: »

Not only that, but the new ESB meters have an isolation switch on them making it even easier to turn off the supply to the house.

Thank you..
Proves my point completely..

KoolKid

altor wrote: »

i would be making sure the psu is installed with any system using there modem to monitor there alarm.
..

Sorry I think you mis understood me somewhere!!!????
I was talking about remote access to the system . Although Chubb are running tests at the moment on central station monitoring over IP, I would not be using a modem for monitoring. The modem is giving you access into the panel.

altor

koolkid wrote: »

Sorry I think you mis understood me somewhere!!!????
I was talking about remote access to the system .

Sorry, my mistake it should of read "i would be making sure the psu is installed with any system using there modem to monitor or access there alarm" i will fix it for you now.

koolkid wrote: »

Although Chubb are running tests at the moment on central station monitoring over IP, I would not be using a modem for monitoring. The modem is giving you access into the panel.

If they come up with something lets hope it has its own back up supply of power.

cd76

Hi,

I have an Aritech CS350 and have recently had new windows installed. I reattached the sensors to the window frame but now I get Open zone for both the downstairs and upstairs zones. Can anyone help.

To re-attach the sensors I opened them up and screwed the base plate to the frame and then screwed the cover back on.

many thanks

altor

cd76 wrote: »

Hi,

I have an Aritech CS350 and have recently had new windows installed. I reattached the sensors to the window frame but now I get Open zone for both the downstairs and upstairs zones. Can anyone help.

To re-attach the sensors I opened them up and screwed the base plate to the frame and then screwed the cover back on.

many thanks

Hi cd76,

Make sure the arrows on the sensor heads are pointing up. If they dont this could be causing the open zone.

Hope this helps..

cd76

altor wrote: »

Hi cd76,

Make sure the arrows on the sensor heads are pointing up. If they dont this could be causing the open zone.

Hope this helps..

thanks,

are the arrows insite the sensor ?