Re: My alarm company has billed me before doing anything

["Roland Moore" <roland@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

4 wired glass break sensors (bedroms and dining room)
1 wireless glass break sensor (enclosed porch with closed ceiling)
3

The "3" has me interested. I have never used a 3 before.

"dcalarms" <mdcalvert@xxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1174227086.759165.137310@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
On Mar 15, 12:08?am, "Roland Moore" <rol...@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> >with over a hundred zones in each protected area. That work involved
> > >almost all DSC equipment.
>
> Well it can't be anything in the DSC Power Series because they only go to
> 64
> zones so with a hundred it had to be DSC MAXSYS. That panel would be my
> last
> pick for a large system. It takes about 45 minutes for a full upload and
> another 45 minutes for a full download. There are many other reasons not
> to
> use it, especially if you have to use the analog loop. In our area we
> can't
> use it anyway since it isn't CP-01.


Roland:

I agrre that DSC may not have panels that will control hundreds of
zones.  The plant was previously protected by Wells Fargo Alarm and
the decision was made to use some of the old control panels and the
new panels were DMP brand.  The key pads were also DMP.  I was
referring to most of the PIR sensors being mostly DSC.  They also used
another brand of PIR for very long range coverage where the plant
floor was really large.  Those sensors were about six times as big as
the DSC sensors.

Unlike my home system, where each sensor is a "home run" wire back to
the control panel, the system that was installed was like a long daisy
chain.  The cable had five wires and all sensors were digitally
addressed so that any individual sensor sent a unique signal when it
was triggered.

I thought it was interesting that, except for audible alarms on the
emergency exits, the alarm system had no longer announcement
capability.  If you were near the key pad, it would start beeping, but
they were often not audible because the areas were cleared and sealed
when the work day ended.  Instead, the system was monitored at the
corporate alarm monitoring center in Washington state.  They would
call the guard shack and report the area and zone and the time of the
alarm.  Their dispatcher would stay on the phone and update our
control center until the guard reset the system.  In most cases, we
were on the doors of any area in less than two minutes and the plant
gates gould be closed in less than a minute.  We had role players do a
surprise test of the system several times and we always managed to
catch them before they got to a fence or vehicle.

Changing the subject slightly,  my home system is going to have a
mixture of wireless and hard wired sensors.  My home is about 1300
square feet including a finished basement.  I will use:

4 wired glass break sensors (bedroms and dining room)
1 wireless glass break sensor (enclosed porch with closed ceiling)
3