Re: Tamper Contacts

["Frank Olson" <Please-use-the-email-links@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

"Will" <DELETE_westes@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:QaqdnSExLOYLRM_eRVn-jA@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> "Frank Olson" <Please-use-the-email-links@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in
> message news:uLl4f.199011$oW2.183322@xxxxxxxxxxx
>> That's only part of the reason to use it.  A dishonest employee could
>> very
>> easily remove the cover from a motion sensor and wad it with toilet paper
>> (I've seen that done) so it won't sense anything.  In this instance,
>> employing the tamper would alert the CS who would in turn notify the
>> customer.
>
> I guess someone would probably at the same time remove the tamper wires
> and
> set them in whatever state (closed or opened) that would be needed to fool
> the panel?   There would be a brief tamper alarm, but it would go away and
> the alarm center might not act on it.

*Any* UL or ULC listed station would act on a tamper alarm.  No matter how
"brief".


>
> What would be a lot more useful to me would be some device that would send
> out e-mail notifications to a list of people based on circuits being seen
> as
> open or closed (user settable).   That way even a single tamper alarm is
> going to be seen by someone inside the company, almost for sure.    Does
> such a thing exist, or I guess you could just use a separate alarm panel
> for
> this purpose?

Most panels have a "pager" notification option.  Talk to your alarmco to
confirm it's available and activate it.  I can tell you that your CS *will*
act on a tamper signal.


>
>
>> Sometimes.  If, for instance, end-of-line resistors are properly placed
> (at
>> the motion sensor for instance), then either a "fault" or "trouble" will
>> show up at the keypad preventing the end-user from arming the system
>> until
>> the problem is repaired.  If, in the process of cutting the wire, the
> power
>> supply is also shorted out, then all the keypads in the system will
>> become
>> inactive and a call for service will go out to the installing company.
>> However, if end-of-line resistors aren't used and the power supply is
>> only
>> momentarily shorted (the panel employs MOV's or an automatically
> resettable
>> circuit breaker), then you could wind up with a short across the alarm
>> terminals.  The panel would never "see" an alarm from that zone and you
>> would have no way of determining at the keypad that something was amiss.
>
> Does having the tamper circuit in place improve this situation?
>

The chances are extremely slim that anyone would be "lucky enough" to cut
the wire in this manner.  He'd have to have to be sitting on a bag of
horseshoes.