Re: troubleshooting old alarm, worked perfectly till this am....

[Wednesday Rowan <wednesdaytgw@xxxxxxxxx>]

On Tuesday, July 21, 2015 at 9:33:10 PM UTC-7, JoeRaisin wrote:
> On 7/21/2015 10:09 PM, Wednesday Rowan wrote:
> > **** entered my questions between *****
> > are multimeters pretty similar, will a cheap one work?
> > I've not tried a hobby that required one yet ;-)
> >
>=20
> Yes.  All you need is to read is basic resistance - any meter will do.
********************************
will pick one up,
Q looking in the panel I see the wires from upstairs (the two I suspect are=
 the windows are not wired each to a contact in the panel as I expected but=
 wired together with the red crimped tubes(what are these called?), and the=
 two from upstairs are not wired together (I then expected them to be, wire=
d together to make a "zone" (zone 1 and zone 2) but are split, the two from=
 upstairs are wired into a 1/2 wire (is there a term for a wire that is hal=
f the wire?) that comes from the downstairs bunch.... that wire is split to=
 a burgundy wire (looks purple in the pic) from the group of wires covered =
by the thick grey tube)=20
I still hoped to just disconnect the upstairs windows (less likely to be th=
e entry point) so I can set the alarm when I leave today.... the experiment=
ing is going to take some time and I have a 12 hour day today then early to=
morrow... I'd like to be able to set the alarm until I have time for the ex=
periments.....
originally there was a mat at the patio door and at the stairs... they both=
 stopped working and not certain if those wires were removed by the people =
who did some repairs after some water damage... i wondered if it might be a=
 wire from that....

is there a way for me to figure out which wire is which window or door?
also, doing this alone so there is no way other than running back and forth=
 to see what effect something at the sensor effects the panel....

the more I learn, at least if I find it is beyond me, I hope to be less lik=
ely to be ripped off by an alarm repairman... had a garage door repair pers=
on charge a lot and not fix the motor a couple years ago. right now, scrimp=
ing to keep up, situation will be better in another year then I can save to=
 upgrade... when I do I'm going to follow the alarm guys around and learn t=
he system ;-)=20
right now, I don't want to deal with someone who is not a troubleshooter an=
d tells me (for $300) I need a new $3000 system... there is no way to do it=
.... and I imagine a person who can do repairs, it is still going to be exp=
ensive...I hoped the more I figure out, at least the less time spent on tha=
t... unless I can do it, then.. even better... my life story... besides, it=
 is interesting=20

again, thank you