Questions on alarm panel

clarke85

Hi there,i just want to know is this panel sold in ireland

DSC PowerSeries PC1616
think its a 7 zone expanable to 16, can you tell me how it compares to the current alarms on the market like the hkc,

Reason im asking is that it is compatable with a home automation software im purchasing and i have a choice between a couple of the dsc panels and an elk m1 gold panel but i dont think the elk is CE approved or meet our security standards but its features are amazing,the fact that they ar'nt sold in europe is another indication not to use it.

what is its price?

Is it a good panel?

could it easily replace a hkc panel?

how old is the panel?

all input appreciated?

Thanks alot.

KoolKid

Here are the specs on DSC PowerSeries PC1616

•6 on-board zones
•Expandable to 16 hardwired zones
•Expandable to 32 wireless zones
•2 PGM outputs: expandable to 14 (PC5204, PC5208)
•Template programming
•Connect up to 8 supervised keypads with keypad zones
•2 partitions
•500-event buffer
•48 user codes
•Approval Listings: European CE Directives (EMC, R&TTE, LVD), INCERT (Belgium), NCP (Holland),
•IMQ (Italy) Livello 2, SBSC (Sweden) Larmklass 2, EN50131-1 Grade 2, Class II Environmental,
•ICASA (South Africa), FCC/IC, UL/ULC
It is not available in Ireland AFAIK, I think the UK is the nearest and even at that there seems to be only a few distributors.
If you want something compatible with home automation take a look at the Signet 220.

FHarvey

Hi,

I got a DSC Alarm for the same purpose. The specs for the DSC components were:

DSC POWER 1832 ALARM CONTROL PANEL C/W MODEM COMMUNICATOR, BACKUP BATTERY AND LCD KEYPAD.

and

DSC IT-100 POWERSERIES INTEGRATION MODULE , RS-232 INTERFACE

All-in-all I am very happy with the alarm. The Panel itself has all the standard functionality you'd expect from a modern alarm and the keypad looks very well.

I have also interfaced the Alarm with my home automation system (mControl) through the RS-232 module. This works really well and I can amongst other things monitor the status or turn the alarm on/off remotely.

I bought this through a NSAI certified installer in Ireland (They were called MCAlarms and I was happy with them, although I believe there are other suppliers of this equipment if you want to shop around contact DSC directly and they will give you the names of suppliers). The company I used will supply the RS-232 module but the home automation configuration is up to you or a specialist.

Hope this helps!

Jnealon

The DSC is a good panel but if you have standard shock sensors you will have issues as they are not compatible with the DSC Panel.
You can either change the sensors or get an analyser board

KoolKid

Jnealon wrote: »

The DSC is a good panel but if you have standard shock sensors you will have issues as they are not compatible with the DSC Panel.
You can either change the sensors or get an analyser board

Probobly the reason they are not available in Ireland.

clarke85

thanks alot for the replies,im looking to use it with mcontrol too so i'll be getting the rs232 module aswell and setup similar to urself it sounds good.have you used any of its wireless capabilities or smoke alarms of the dsc panel FHARVEY,if so how have you found it?


good to know it meets the EN standards,


as regards the existing sensors i was goin to leave the sensors and replace the eol resistor to the value dsc panel uses,then a couple of months down the line replace them to somthing similar to the Id sensors in the hkc range,but i dont know yet if the dsc has this capability,so i can have control over each window rather than each zone.


found a pdf just quickly on the panel the diagram is as you would expect with just a 6K ohm eol resistor so i would have expected the panel to work out of the box with my existing sensors and the correct resistors,but i must look into this analizer board they wouldn't be selling one for no reason or could you explain more please JNEALON

Thanks again.

KoolKid

Its still looking like SigNet will almost do everything you want. X10 home automation with full browser control. Programmable EOL values (single or dual). All zones analysed (Expanders optional).

WRT HKC ID sensors, from personal experience I would recommend against them.

clarke85

I must say it is impressive but with the research I've done on the home automation I'm going with mcontrol as its not only going to control my alarm system it will be controlling lights multiroom audio camera feeds heating etc and that signet panel wont work with that.
As regard the x10 too I want to stay away from it as i have a bunch of zwave devices which again is controlled via mcontrol,also with the dsc panel and the mcontrol software I like the idea of being able to see and control my alarm status from any windows media center pc or extender aswell as ur mobi.

Thanks again.

KoolKid

clarke85 wrote: »

I like the idea of being able to see and control my alarm status from any windows media center pc or extender aswell as ur mobi.
.

Signet 220 or 300 will give you full control from any web browser..
Anyway you seem to know what you want out of that panel.
The only issue is with analyzed inertia sensors, but thats easily sorted with analyzer boards.
Good luck with your project.

Jnealon

Most Irish panels have a built in analyser on them which will allow them to work with inertia sensors. When an inertia sensor activates the circuit will only open for milliseconds and your standard DSC panel can't cope with this, it will still register as a closed circuit.
Only option is an analyser board or change the sensors to one that have the analyser function on board like the honeywell vipers or the texecom impaqs.
The analyser is just wired in to the zone inputs on the panel and then the sensor is connected to the analyser.