Astec bought by HKC

fred funk }{

Irish Fire wrote: »

Have you had much trouble with the digis? I've have some (not a huge amount) Line not releasing after call etc... silly stuff really

To be honest I hated the Securewatch panels so I didn't really do that many of them but I did some and never really trouble with them. I have a good few Securewaves in with dialers and haven't had much trouble at all. I remember the Astec's used to not release the line back after a dial out.

What did HKC say about your problems?

Jnealon

Their securewatch 8-12 panels were very reliable, I probably had issues with two or three. But then they sat on their hands and didn't develop the panel and it was over taken by others.
The 16-120 was painfully slow to operate and even slower when you had a few expanders and a gsm unit connected
Shock sensors were not that reliable but I knew a few installers who liked this unreliability as it guaranteed them a call-out
Panic buttons gave me a lot of problems
Grade 2 contacts also gave me a lot of problems
ID sensors gave a few problems but not as much as the two above.
There is more but I could get myself in trouble if I go on

altor

Irish Fire wrote: »

Have to admit I would use HKC a fair bit but I'm begining to shy away from their gear, I find when I have problems it's mostly with HKC gear. Maybe just me but shying away none the less. Anyone agree?

I have used a lot of different systems over the years and to be honest I find HKCs very reliable. Yes the 8/12 is slow to respond to an engineers commands but apart from that it is a good system. I find the wired sensors the same as any other make with regard there lifespan. They wont last forever. I have gotten a few over the years problems with the digis also but nothing that has not be rectified by HKC.

KoolKid

Astec in Pearse Street is now closed.
Got this notification today.

Astec will move from their premises in Pearse St with effect from Monday 7th November.

Please use existing contact details for orders.

The Astec Trade Counter will close on Friday November 4th

Astec would like to thank you for your continued custom


Regards

Nick

KoolKid

And so it begins. .
Rang Astec today at twenty past four for support.
Got the reply no one here sorry..
How long did they say they were supporting Astec products?? ???

altor

Astec New Opening Hours

Mon – Thursday from 07:45 – 16:15

Must still apply now they have moved to Ballymount.

KoolKid

4:15 is a terrible early time to finish doing biz.
Could always get Frank or Tony at any hour. God forbit you have a problem at half four...:rolleyes:

altor

Or twenty past

KoolKid

Ahh I miss Frank and Tony for those calls. At least with Siemens I can rely on
I. H. to be at the end of the phone any time.

altor

I don't think Frank and Tony are too worried about us here, they sold us out to be honest.

KoolKid

I doubt it was through choice TBH.
I wouldn't write of Frank either...;)

altor

I do agree somewhat but they did sell us out, if they knew this was coming then they could of at lease informed installers of what was happening. There where a lot of obsolete systems installed in the last year.

KoolKid

Now is you were interested in buying a company & that company started telling its customers that what would happen?
The price would fall. That would have been a very bad move by them. Business suicide IMO.

fred funk }{

I'm not too happy about it either. I have a lot of Fusions installed this year and last year. Astec were pushing the Fusions until the very end and even after the take over I was still asked why I wasn't buying panels anymore .
Still selling 'soon to be obsolete' equipment without installers knowing about it is bad form.

They were losing money every month and when the offer came in they took it, sure who could blame them. Tony was an employee in there and he lost his job when HKC took over, a real Gent of a man. Astec was owned by Frank and Ken, both of whom made a nice tidy sum from the sale (deservedly so).

altor

KoolKid wrote: »

Now is you were interested in buying a company & that company started telling its customers that what would happen?
The price would fall. That would have been a very bad move by them. Business suicide IMO.

In hind site not really as HKC has made the system obsolete.

KoolKid

After the deal was done. It still would have affected the value of the business.
Regardless of HKCs intentions, it was sold as a going concern.

bbability

altor wrote: »

altor wrote: »

They will not be supporting any of Astec systems and will be making most of the Astec products obsolete in the next 12 months.

The two wire is gone in the next 12 months.

I'm only reading this now. I installed a few Astec systems for friends and family over the boom years. My own is the first to require work after. 6 years. I liked the simplicity. Although my SAB is giving trouble it was a huge selling point for me.

I may upgrade to a HKC in the new year..

KoolKid

Also take a look at the Siemens 4000 range. Its around the same price , but with some nice features over HKC.

altor

bbability wrote: »

I'm only reading this now. I installed a few Astec systems for friends and family over the boom years. My own is the first to require work after. 6 years. I liked the simplicity. Although my SAB is giving trouble it was a huge selling point for me.

I may upgrade to a HKC in the new year..

Make sure it is the Securewave rather than the Securewatch. Much better panel. The Astec system was always a good system if installed correctly. If it is only the bell gone then the global sabb and the sabb interface S22 will get you going again. At lease with an upgrade later it will work with most of the systems on the market. You can still get the sensors off the Astec system and still use global sensors if they do come to an end. I would only consider this an option if the control panel was to stop working or you wanted the added features of another system.

jamesd

If a house was currently wired for an Astec 49DV ( 3 doors ,6 PIR's and 3 keypads,1 int and 1 ext siren) can another system be installed to replace the Astec 49DV if it was to fail in a few years ? Or due to the astec wiring would the new system have to use wireless instead?

Jnealon

The only way to know is count the number of wires and amount of cores in the cables back at the panel.
Ideally you would have at least 7 six core cables at the panel

jamesd

Jnealon wrote: »

The only way to know is count the number of wires and amount of cores in the cables back at the panel.
Ideally you would have at least 7 six core cables at the panel

7 cores from each device?

Jnealon

jamesd wrote: »

Jnealon wrote: »

The only way to know is count the number of wires and amount of cores in the cables back at the panel.
Ideally you would have at least 7 six core cables at the panel

7 cores from each device?

No
Ideally you would have at least 7 six core cables at the panel

altor

jamesd wrote: »

If a house was currently wired for an Astec 49DV ( 3 doors ,6 PIR's and 3 keypads,1 int and 1 ext siren) can another system be installed to replace the Astec 49DV if it was to fail in a few years ? Or due to the astec wiring would the new system have to use wireless instead?

The only way to know is by looking how the house is wired. Some houses where wired for Astec systems only so if that is the case you may need to install a hybrid system to utilize the wires that are there plus add wire free components to any area that the cable cant be used due to the original install of the cables.

An example would be a 4 core cable going from the window to a panic then to the outside bell.

erickeogh89

Hi,

Noticed from one of your posts a while back that you deal with the Astec panels, Was wondering would you have an engineers manual for them.

I'm just after moving into my own and theres numerous fault codes displaying. I've only ever dealt with HKC panels so not 2 sure of these

Any help greatly appreciated

Cheers
Eric

KoolKid

Sent you that by PM.
Any problems let me know.