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[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index] RE: Was X10 and Energy Saver Bulbs - Now tandem Alarm systems
Hi
Roger,
My first comment would be that if your original
system
is a homebrew one then I would seriously think of just scrapping the panel
and
connecting the sensors and sirens etc into a new Comfort install. This way
it's
all in one box and under one software supervision - it will make for easier
troubleshooting and greater flexibility - also all your zone status info
can
come out a UCM for later HA expansion. However assuming you can't do
this
then......
The panel linking is fairly simple although
setting
and unsetting needs to be thought about carefully
- (it is not always intuitive to other users).
One of my systems is a RedCare linked, professionally
maintained (Galaxy) panel that was already installed when I bought the
property. The other is Comfort that I have added. Basically on one
system
you configure outputs that transfer certain information to the other - this
is
usually the set and part set status and obviously 'alarm'
condition (possibly as separate alarm and bells if you have a
silent
alarm delay). I also have taken the entry / exit timer and some zones
(PIR's)
out this way. Some alarms do not have enough outputs but you can nearly
always
get at the set/partset/alarm status. I also use the four partitions that
Galaxy
offers to cover different areas eg I rent an attached property and they
have
their own alarm keypad. Each partition has it's own set of status
information.
In my case the original maintainer was reluctant to
offer
me full (engineer) access to their panel and also wanted to fullly isolate
their
inputs and outputs from my wiring. They only wanted >their< installed
PIR's etc to be able to trip their alarm citing Nacoss regs. So I used
their
system as the master meaning that it is the controller for the other slave
(Comfort) system. When I set this system it also sets Comfort for me. I use
a
full set and part set output from the Galaxy to cause an appropriate
setting
mode in Comfort.
I can set Comfort independently from the Galaxy and I
use
this for my night (occupied) setting for example. Apparently the
recommendation
is that during an 'occupied' alarm condition then the RedCare signalling is
not
normally enabled so this is quite satisfactory. I have used some PIR
outputs
from Galaxy to Comfort to cover rooms that I want protected at night
(and
also for occupacy sensing), this avoids installing duplicate PIR's in some
rooms.
One grey area is how to trigger the siren box
from
Comfort. This is only a problem if your other alarm system (which is
directly
connected to the bells) is maintained & hence out of bounds. It needs a
workaround otherwise you end up having a siren for each system. My alarm
company
was really only concerned that I couldn't introduce a signal from Comfort
to
their panel that caused an alarm condition & Redcare activation. When
their
panel was set they only wanted originating alarm conditions from their own
installed devices to trigger alarms. My proposed workaround was to have an
input
to their panel that brought on the bells and sirens but didn't signal using
Redcare - this is a 24HR active input and hence I can set Comfort without
Galaxy
and vica versa. I have to say the alarm company took some persuading on
this. -
at one stage (when they were being uncooperative) I had them put in
two
wireless keyfob/pendant type transmitters one as a 24HR panic button
(Redcare
linked) and one as a bells only activator. This was a kludge to allow me to
later buy another RF transmitter that I could set to the same code as the
bells
only one and then trigger from Comfort to bring on the bells - look no
wires
! When they saw this flaw in their arguement they actually prefered I
use
a direct (isolated) input as this way I could turn the bells off easily as
well;
with an RF transmitter they latch on. I used the spend on expanding their
system
as leverage to persuade them - plus they became a little more confident in
my
understanding of their system when I was showing their engineers how to do
it
!!
Hope that is of some use - I don't know if you have
full
access to your traditional system - if you do then you will have a much
easier
ride. If your system has programmable outputs even better. Otherwise you
might
want to think about reversing the roles of each alarm system (master /
slave). One thing that can be confusing still in my system is which
panel
is originating an alarm condition - having two keypad type alarm setting
points
won't help the WAF, and when you have tennants as
well...
Kevin
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