Texecom Premier - Bitten off more than I can chew :(

Hi all,
Apologies for the long post ( summary near bottom)
I have recently installed a new alarm system in my home. I have fitted a few simple alarm systems over the years but I am stuggling a bit with this one and yes, I have probably bitten off more than I can chew.

Premier 24 (metal) v8.28
Premier Com2400 communicator
Premier 8XP-W (Ricochet Wireless Expander)
5x Impaq Contact-W (Wireless Shock+Contact Detectors)
Premier Elite LCDLP Keypad
Texecom Speech Dialler
Wintex v5.5 build7

I have fitted the Alarm Panel, Com2400, Keypad, wired PIR detectors and wireless Expander with 5 Wireless detectors without any major headaches but I am struggling to getting my head around some of the programming.

I have programmed the wired front door contact and the 3 wired PIR detectors to Zones 1-4 which seems fine.

I have 5 wireless shock sensors with built in contact/reed switches (Impaq Contact-W) which I have 'learnt' to the wireless expander OK.


My problem is that I can't quite get my head around configuring the zones.

As I understand it...
The Premier 24 comes with 8 zones built-in and a further 16 zones are available using 'Expanders' giving a total of 24 zones.
The Keypad has 2 zones and 1 programmable output.
The Premier 8XP-W Wireless Expander has 8 zones.

My Configuration...
Zone 1-8 Contol Panel zones
Zone 9 Exp1,1 "Not Used" "Secure"
Zone 10 Exp1,2 "Not Used" "Active"
Zone 11-15 Wireless Devices (see below)
Zone 16 Exp1,8 Secure
Zone 17-24 Exp2,1 to Exp 2,8

(Zone 11-15 are wireless shock sensors that I assigned to these zones when 'learning' them to the Wireless Receiver which I now think should be moved)

(see image at bottom)

I thought, if I 'mapped' the 2 zones on the Keypad as 'None' they would not show on the control panel and so not take up a Control Panel 'Zone' or 'Slot' leaving the zone available for another device but that doesn't seem to be the case. It seems that the keypad is automatically assigned a Control Panel Zone but the Control Panel ignores its 'Status' if the zone is programmed as 'Not Used'. I thought that, as each of the Keypads zones were mapped to 'None' they would not 'take up' one of the Control Panels Zones. ohhhh... I have just thought... I suppose that I can still use the zone with another deivice even though one of the keypad zones is also assigned to that zone. (?) . Wait a minute, the zone on the keypad is not a 'trigger' device like a PIR that needs to be associated to a zone on the control panel, it is an 'input' that needs to be associated to a zone on the control panel so that a trigger device connected to it activates that zone on the control panel. (Damn, I could have connected my front door contact and Hall PIR to the Keypads zones rather than channelling the wall down my hall!

I am assuming that the Keypad (set to Network Address 1) is Expander 1 and using Zone 9 and 10.
Why is Zone 10 (Exp1,2) Active ?
What is Zone 16 (Exp1,8 ) ? Is it the Keypads' programmable output ??
I assume that the Wireless Expander (set to Network Address 2) is automatically assigned Zones 17 - 24.
Now that I have discovered that the Wireless Expander is configured to use Zones 17-24, I assume that I should re-program the wireless devices to also use Zones 17-24 (actually 17-21 as I only have 5 wireless devices).

The Premier 24 can ONLY have two expanders. I thought that I could add another 8 zone Expander in the future to use all the available 24 zones, eg.
Control Panel Zones 1-8
New '8 Zone' Expander Zones 9-16
Existing '8 zone' wireless expander Zones 17-24

I don't think I can do this now because it looks like the Keypad is acting like an Expander using Zones 9, 10, 16.


I am looking for someone to confirm or correct my assumptions and save me hours (and hours) of Trial and Error by pointing me in the right direction.

So... I'll try to summarise...

Why is Zone 10 active ?
What the hell is "Zone 16" Exp1.8 ?
should I change the Wireless Expander to 'Network Address 1' and Keypad to 'Network Adrress 2' which will organise the zones 'flow' (1-8, 9-16, 17-19).
should I change the Zone of each of my wireless devices to match the zones assigned to the wireless expander ?
The Premier 24 can only add two expanders, so does that mean I can't add another 8 zone expander in the future because I already have a wireless expander and the Keypad acts like an expander?

I am considering...
Changing the Wireless expander to 'Network Address 1' which I assume will then occupy Zones 9-16 and re-programming my Wireless devices to tha corresponding zones (ie. 5 Devices to zones 9-13).
Changing the Keypad to 'Network Address 2' which I assume will occupy zones 17 and 18 (19 Exp1,8 ???) I am sure that I read somewhere that the Keypad should set to Network Address 1 ? (update : I have just read in the manual that the Keypad is 'deault' to address 1 , so I should be able to move it to any address I want)

I think my problem is that I keep confusing control panel 'zones' with actual physical inputs and also trigger devices (contacts, PIR) if that makes sense and that each device should be on its own zone. It's funny that when you are looking at something complicated you seem to forget the basics.

I am confident I will be able to work out all the issues on my own but with your help I should be able to do it in a few days rather than a few weeks (months???)

I have just got Wintex so I should be able to show screengrabs if it helps.

Thanks in Advance
Gary

P.S. I haven't tackled the Speech Dialler yet but it seems simple enough ( famous last words )
P.P.S. If this post is too long and confusing, just tell me to p?ss off, I will understand

1St Question,

have you read the Manual?

I thought I should update the thread with my own discoveries as I go along...

I am now guessing that Keypad 'Network Address 1' is different from Expander 'Network Address 1'. I assumed that ther was only one network.

This is not clear in either the Keypad Installation Manual or Control Panel Installation Manual unless I overlooked it given my inexperience.

Still not sure what would happen to the 2 Keypad Zones if I had two 8 Zone Expanders fitted?
Control Panel Zones 1-8
Expander 1 Zones 9-16
Expander 2 Zones 17-24

What happens to the two zones on the Keypad?
Do I just assign each of them to one of the 24 zones...

Gary

Just reading that got me confused !!! you can map the keypad zones to to any of the 24 zones if you are not using them set as none.

As standard zones on 24's on premier keypads aren't enabled and will not use up any space on your system, in order to use the keypad zones you have to 'sacrifice' zones from one of your expanders or the panel.

So in essence if you have panel and 2 expanders and a keypad, you would have effectively 26 zones possible, but only be able to use 24 as the panel only supports 24.

If you choose to assign a keypad zone to be remapped as zone 15 then you will no longer be able to use that zone on the expander (expander 1 zone 7)

Hi , I am at the same stage you are,,
texecom 24 ver2.9
3 wired pirs.
2 wired mag contacts.
4 wireless pir, s and 2 wireless shocks.
and 1 wireless 8 zone exp.
I am loading these by the keypad and checking with
winter, ,,, ricochet software.
It has been a nightmare,,, And seems texecom and the texecom engineers love to make us suffer the installation manuals leave to much to be desired

garyharrison said:

What happens to the two zones on the Keypad?
Gary

Click to expand...

The manual is very clear about on page 22
"The zones inside the keypads are not seen by the system until
they have been mapped to a zone number (see page 65 for
details)"

The manual is designed for engineers who have knowledge on how systems work.

So some things are not immediatley obvious but the information is there.

if you need a helping hand I am in Oldham so get in touch if it needs hands on approach.

secureiam said:

The manual is designed for engineers who have knowledge on how systems work.

So some things are not immediatley obvious but the information is there.

if you need a helping hand I am in Oldham so get in touch if it needs hands on approach.

Click to expand...

Free of charge?

I am not advertising my services on here.

Who and how I choose to help someone and whether any fee is involved or not would be at my discretion.

Thats just so I don't get people hassling me, if your trading as a business you cant afford to help everyone for nothing now, have to put food on the table,

Yes these are proper panels with all the configuration you could ever want. A bit challenging for us novices but stick with it and you will come out with a system that does what you want rather than what someone thinks is what you want.

I fitted a 24 with two expanders and never used the spare zones on the keypad. Just map the keypad zones to 'None' and use the panel zones and in your case the W expander. Keep the keypad as the setting it arrived with. The expanders have to be setup so they are unique, which is just a jumper setting. Use '1' for zones 9-16 as 1-8 is on the panel

Wintex makes it so easy to program and even easier now with a ConIP board to put it on the house network.

Like most people on here, I am not an installer, but diy'er!! Although I do have quite a lot of electrical and computer programming qualities. I must admit, I find the manual a little confusing, it is written for engineers and not for the DIY. My experience so far as been to read the manual, get confused and then just blindly play with it until I have figured it out for myself. Then I go back read the manual, and it only then makes some sort of sense. I feel it has one or two steps missing, that maybe as an engineer you already know.

So I am slowly (and painfully) making progress. I have now ventured onto the Ricochet side of the alarm.... and for the life of me I cannot get the Ricochet software to see the XP-W, any of the PIR's. yet it all seems to be working within the panel. Just the Ricochet has no function. Yes, updated (at great expense!) the panel which is a 48.

How can I tell the version of the XP-W 32, to make sure it is the right version?

I am guessing, but here goes.

You on an Elite panel verson 2.x with a version 2 expander.

You connect to the panels com port not the ricochet expander, open wintex contect to the panel, then click on ricoshet monitor.

to bottom this it be best to call a professional who can either call round or talk you through it over the phone for a fee. If you not on the baove system then there are other things that need to be done and it depends wholly on your eaxct setup.

The panels are not really designed for diy people and theres been lots of changes recently making things more diffccult to follow in some respects.

Well, thank you for your... reply! But that goes against the whole DIY thing! and would make this particular webpage pointless if we just gave in and got in the professionals. The idea is that other people who have had the same problem share their solutions, if the professionals want to help then that is nice of them.

And you guessed wrong.

Hi Andrew.

sorry if its seems harsh.

but without certain information up front anyone would be just guessing on the best way forward for you and that could take up hours of valuable time.

here its given freely, and you have posted on several forums.

Depending on your panel and expander version will depend on how you use the Wintex and ricochet monitor.

Can you use Wintex with the panel?

For example the person starting this thread would have to connect directly to the wireless expander and open richochet monitor.