Alarm system wanted...any ideas what make ?

robowen

I need to finally get an alarm system.
I put in all the wires for a system about 5 years ago, but never got round to doing it.

I've no idea what is a good make and what isn't
Can any passing alarm engineer / sparky reommend something please ?

rob

alanobrien

robowen wrote:

I need to finally get an alarm system.
I put in all the wires for a system about 5 years ago, but never got round to doing it.

I've no idea what is a good make and what isn't
Can any passing alarm engineer / sparky reommend something please ?

rob

A friend of my boss fits the things and only fits Scantronic.
When i looked around for a system in my new place to update the old one i liked Scantronic but they were not available for direct sale to the public and were expensive so i ended up fitting one of these;

http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/TSOPTG3.html

plus lots of these;

http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/TSMICROX.html

and two of these;
http://www.allaboutelectrics.co.uk/index.php?doc=12&vid=297

which have "hold off" mode so you can fit them without scaring the whole neighbourhood.

Had it for 18 months now and it has worked faultlessly.
Not to bad for the price.

weekendwarrior

alanobrien wrote:

A friend of my boss fits the things and only fits Scantronic.
When i looked around for a system in my new place to update the old one i liked Scantronic but they were not available for direct sale to the public and were expensive so i ended up fitting one of these;

http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/TSOPTG3.html

plus lots of these;

http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/TSMICROX.html

and two of these;
http://www.allaboutelectrics.co.uk/index.php?doc=12&vid=297

which have "hold off" mode so you can fit them without scaring the whole neighbourhood.

Had it for 18 months now and it has worked faultlessly.
Not to bad for the price.

Good recommendations, I have fitted a few of the optima alarms and they are very reliable and not at all expensive.

Steer well clear of ADT, not sure if you can buy the parts or if you have to get them to install it but when they break they are very expensive to replace!

Mr_Meanie

I have fitted the Accenta 8 type with the remote keypads at front and back doors, very neat and reasonably straight forward.

http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/TSACG3.html

Gorgeous_George

Perhaps the OP could team up with someone who has a wieless alarm, what with his alarmless wire.

I've got a dummy box in a cardboard box in a Screwfix bag in my garage. That should keep the burglars away!



GG

robowen

Thanks for those replies :beer:

Alan, Is there an option to combine wired and also wireless sensors
I forgot to include cables to the doors and I also need to include a newly built extension with a sensor.
I could also need a sensor in the garage too :rolleyes:

rob

EasilyAggravated

theres a million and one possibilities. but first, how many PIR's do you plan on using. how many sets of door/window contacts. PA button. most modern control panels allow 6 zones, so most people use 4 PIR's, 2 door contacts.
you can buy control panels with more zones but tend to be a little bit more expensive. sit down and plan what you need and where you need it. as for the wires you already have installed, im assuming its just the 4 core cable. theres also the option of a dialer. this dials a preset number if your alarm goes off. let us know how many PIR's you need. how many sets of contacts and anything else you might want

robowen

ok...at the moment I have all pre-installed cables routed back to under the stairs. This is where I plan to have the main board.
I have a cable for mains power.
I've got a cable in the kitchen for a remote keypad.
Then I have 4 cables, 1 in each corner of the four downstairs rooms (lounge / dining room / kitchen / hall.
I've used 6-core alarm cable.

I need a sensor in the extension, but might try to use the dining room cable. After the extension, the dining room became an 'L' shape, so I dont really need it in there. It might be difficult to route the cables to the extension, so I need an option for a wireless sensor...if I cant route the cable.

I need something for the front and back door. Front is upvc, back door is wood.

I need something for the garage, and I want a really loud piercing 'warbler' in there too.

Lastly I need a bell-box front and back.....forgot to route cables for this

I put these cables in when we had all the floor boards up the first 6 weeks we were in this house. Without making some of it wireless, I'm not sure I want to rip everything up again.

rob

EasilyAggravated

the contacts to the doors you could run to 2 of the sensors. as the sensor only needs 4 wires and the contact only needs 2. at the control panel you would then set up sensor as normal and use the 2 extra wires to connect the contacts. im not 100% but im sure there isnt an option to use wireless and wired together. you might have wires showing when the installations done but this is inevitable if you dont want to start destroying floors etc. as for the bell boxes couldnt you just use 1? failing all that couldnt you just ring someone?

alanobrien

robowen wrote:

Thanks for those replies :beer:

Alan, Is there an option to combine wired and also wireless sensors
I forgot to include cables to the doors and I also need to include a newly built extension with a sensor.
I could also need a sensor in the garage too :rolleyes:

rob

Afraid not, but i know Scantronic certainly do offer the facility on some models.

p4u1_2

EasilyAggravated wrote:

the contacts to the doors you could run to 2 of the sensors. as the sensor only needs 4 wires and the contact only needs 2. at the control panel you would then set up sensor as normal and use the 2 extra wires to connect the contacts. im not 100% but im sure there isnt an option to use wireless and wired together. you might have wires showing when the installations done but this is inevitable if you dont want to start destroying floors etc. as for the bell boxes couldnt you just use 1? failing all that couldnt you just ring someone?

It's a few years since I put in an alarm system but the last one I did recommended 6 wires for a PIR as follows:
2 - Power
2 - Alarm Activation
2 - Anti-Tamper

Are you suggesting doing away with the anti-tamper, or has something else changed?

Also, you can install 2 PIRs on one cable. This may save you having to run a new cable from the control box. To include the anti-tamper circuit you would need 8 core, but you can use 6 core if you exclude the anti-tamper circuit. Not sure if you can install 2 PIRs on one zone by putting the sense wires in series.