Galaxy Alarm advice please

[texasjohn]

Hello,

This is my first post and I'd be grateful for any help. I'm in a bit of trouble with the wife.

We inherited a Galaxy 8 Plus system that the previous owner had installed in the house. We had it serviced by a local independent company a couple of months ago, no faults found.

Yesterday I came into the house in a tizz as our car had broken down and I'd limped it home just about with wife and kids in tow. The alarm was set at the time...I rushed into the house and straight past the entry PIR (which of course started beeping to remind me to unset) into one of the zones and, lo and behold, I set the alarm off. I then went back to the panel and typed in my PIN to unset the alarm. You'd think everything would be back to normal at this point, as I'd used the PIN to deactivate the alarm.

But no, 'code 06320 call alarm co' now appears and we can't set the alarm at all (this is the part the wife is angry about). It tells me that Zone2 Intruder PIR has been activated, well of course I know that, it was me!

Surely as a user I should be able to reset the condition? It's not a tamper condition, the alarm was set off but the PIN immediately typed in and cancelled the siren within seconds of it going off.

This all happened within the space of 15-20 seconds, so well within the normal timed allowance for entry and unset of the alarm.

I guess this is why we were told to close all the doors in the house before setting the alarm, so that fools like me at least have to think twice before entering an armed zone!

I noticed a thread on Galaxy 2 from back in 2010 and hoping that those ladies or gents are still about and can offer some advice.

Thanks in advance, John

 

[Handymanjo]

The alarm system is now on engineer reset
You need the anti code to reset the system
Was the alarm monitored before ?
If not ask alarm company why it is on engineer reset
You could be charged to change this

 

[scott1980]

Your system is asking for a remote reset, it seems that at some point your alarm was monitored with police response. It is a requirement of those types of system to require a valid reason for the activation to be communicated to the alarm receiving centre, who will issue a reset code if they think the activation was a genuine error. It’s only usually a requirement for a confirmed alarm (2 separate detectors triggered) but some companies do enforce it for single activations to manage false alarms.

If your system isn’t monitored with police reesponse anymore, the panel should be programmed for user reset on alarm which doesn’t appear to be the case. 2 options then, as I see it!

Contact your alarm service company and explain that you want the remote reset facility disabling. They can reset the panel for you at the same time. There’s likely to be a charge for this but it’s a straightforward job for someone who knows what they are doing.

I wouldn’t recommend this but it is an option. You would need to factory default the control panel, enabling you to enter the default engineer code to gain access to the programming. This would mean totally reprogramming the system and is likely to cause far more problems if you’re not familiar with Galaxy alarm systems. Also, I’d be reluctant to do this if you have a maintenance agreement with your alarm company.

 

[texasjohn]

Thanks for your prompt replies. The previous owner of the house used to have it monitored by ADT but the contract was cancelled when they sold the house to us. So, it's no longer monitored and hasn't been since we moved in (I spoke to ADT just after I moved in and they confirmed all this).

We set it off by mistake when we first moved in (seeing the post above maybe I only activated ONE PIR) and we were able to reset it as I described above.

Some months later, after we moved in, we got a local company to take it over, they came in and reprogrammed the keypad (it now reads 'LOCAL COMPANY NAME' and not 'ADT' on the keypad display). I'd specifically told them that I didn't want any monitoring (the local company doesnt offer that anyway, they told me) and I simply wanted the alarm checked and serviced.

I've read the other thread and done a bit of searching online. As I understand there is the PIN to unset and set the alarm and also a couple of higher level options? A user code and an engineer code. Now I wouldn't expect to have an engineer code but I would expect as owner of the house to have been given a user code, if there is such a thing on my Galaxy 8 system?

 

[alan333]

Before I upgraded mine to a Galaxy G2-12 I probably had a Galaxy 8 or 8 plus (I say probably because all the paperwork said it was an 8, but the motherboard looked nothing like any of the info/installation manuals I could find about 8's. Apparently it's not uncommon for ADT to customise Galaxy panels).
Anyway I'm pretty sure mine threw similar codes if the alarm was triggered, but I could get around the problem somehow such that the alarm would work again. The menu structure on my self installed G2 is very similar, and I have mine customised so the panel won't throw "call alarm co" faults, but... to reset my current alarm after it's triggered I need to 'view' the event which triggered it by (IIRC) pressing ENT while the message shows, then scrolling left/right to view the fault, then I'm pretty sure it's ESC to get back to idle mode, but maybe there's another ENT first (can't remember). Simply exiting the menu by pressing the user code before viewing the event doesn't reset it.

 

[alan333]

we got a local company to take it over, they came in and reprogrammed the keypad (it now reads 'LOCAL COMPANY NAME' and not 'ADT' on the keypad display).

As I understand there is the PIN to unset and set the alarm and also a couple of higher level options? A user code and an engineer code. Now I wouldn't expect to have an engineer code but I would expect as owner of the house to have been given a user code, if there is such a thing on my Galaxy 8 system?

You can have the banner say whatever you wish.

There are a few different code levels: user, manager, engineer (maybe more, I'm rusty on it). As the OWNER of the system I'd demand all codes, even if the engineer one was kept in a drawer somewhere for these occasions.

 

[texasjohn]

Before I upgraded mine to a Galaxy G2-12 I probably had a Galaxy 8 or 8 plus (I say probably because all the paperwork said it was an 8, but the motherboard looked nothing like any of the info/installation manuals I could find about 8's. Apparently it's not uncommon for ADT to customise Galaxy panels).
Anyway I'm pretty sure mine threw similar codes if the alarm was triggered, but I could get around the problem somehow such that the alarm would work again. The menu structure on my self installed G2 is very similar, and I have mine customised so the panel won't throw "call alarm co" faults, but... to reset my current alarm after it's triggered I need to 'view' the event which triggered it by (IIRC) pressing ENT while the message shows, then scrolling left/right to view the fault, then I'm pretty sure it's ESC to get back to idle mode, but maybe there's another ENT first (can't remember). Simply exiting the menu by pressing the user code before viewing the event doesn't reset it.

Tried this...

Type in PIN,
the display then shows me 'INTRUDER PIR 2 ACTIVATED' (or something similar to that)
Type in 'ent' to view the event.
the display then shows me 'A=SET, B=PART ENT, 1-5, 9=MENU' (or something similar to that)

I can take pics and post them up if needs be

I was able to cycle through old events when I was fiddling about through the menu earlier on.

Thanks again everyone

 

[Alarm Engineer]

Yes a Manager PIN then User PIN, however no mattter what PIN you have it’s not going to reset without an Anti-code Reset. The code that is generated on your display currently needs to be decoded by software running the correct algorithm. I would get your independed company to reset it & change the programming so that its “user reset” instead of “engineer reset”. If your lucky they could do this over the phone by talking you through it, if not your going to have to pay a callout.

 

[Alarm Engineer]

You can have the banner say whatever you wish.

There are a few different code levels: user, manager, engineer (maybe more, I'm rusty on it). As the OWNER of the system I'd demand all codes, even if the engineer one was kept in a drawer somewhere for these occasions.

No company is going to give out their engineer code, if you have the enginner code and decide to play with the systems programming then disable something by mistake, the maintanting company could be held accountable if the alarm did not activate.

 

[alan333]

A fair point @Alarm Engineer

 

[texasjohn]

Yes a Manager PIN then User PIN, however no mattter what PIN you have it’s not going to reset without an Anti-code Reset. The code that is generated on your display currently needs to be decoded by software running the correct algorithm. I would get your independed company to reset it & change the programming so that its “user reset” instead of “engineer reset”. If your lucky they could do this over the phone by talking you through it, if not your going to have to pay a callout.

Thanks, it is useful to know that this can be achieved with a bit of guidance over the telephone. I will phone them and see if they are prepared to talk me through it over the phone or not. If they won't then maybe I will have it serviced by a different independent for the future annual checkups. I don't think it warrants a call out if it can be sorted over the phone using me as 'remote hands'. Obviously I don't mind paying them something for their time on the phone with me.

I agree with the poster above who says that, given that I own the system I should have access to ALL the codes. Using them is my own risk (of bu66ering up the system).

Edit: Yeah fair comment @Alarm Engineer

 

[texasjohn]

I just rang them, obviously office is closed today. There is an out of hours mobile number for engineering emergencies; I'm not going to bother an engineer on a Sunday morning just for this. It can wait til tomorrow.

Thanks for the information above, particularly to push them on why it's been set up as engineer reset for a two zone activation. If I get burgled and the alarm activates, the last thing I need on top of that is having to pay call out to have the bloody alarm reset!

Update:

One other thing, I did notice that when they reprogrammed the keypad panel they had a long list of possible ADT engineer codes which I presume has been gathered over the years, most of these engineers seem to be ex-ADT. The guy managed to get the right one by chance after about 5 or 6 attempts. He didn't have to crash the system and toally reprogramme it. He was only here about 15 minutes and most of that was renaming the banner and checking the operation of each PIR.

The metal wall box (I presume the main control circuit board) didnt need to be opened at all.

 

[alan333]

As a side note, the reasons I upgraded my system to a G2 was that it was about 14 years old, I had no higher level codes, a G2 is about £30, I could use all the existing parts except the actual panel, and with a G2 I can have full control of the panel over internet/phone app (by buying a £50 ethernet module. A few on here use the service for £1/month, Google selfmon for more info if it interests you). Also mine didn't have an external sounder/strobe, only an internal one. Lots of ADT ones are the same, they're designed to contact the ARC (alarm receiving centre) instead of making noise outside. Handy once you decide not to pay ADT £30/month (for virtually the same service Selfmon gives for the aforementioned quid) that the burglar can take his time in your house as long as he has ear muffs with him.

 

[scott1980]

Not wanting to start something here, but one of the most important things to check on a service visit (amongst other things) would be the control panel backup battery and charging circuit (ie, inside the metal box), something that should have been done when the new company took over the system. I'd argue that the remote reset should have also been disabled at this time, bit of an oversight by the engineer to not check this IMO.

Also, your system may not have a working external bell. Most of the old ADT "dealership" style installations had an internal sounder only. You may want to check this as the outside box may simply be an empty decoy.

 

[sparkymarka]

So .... you are saying you paid to have the system checked and they didn't even open the control panel to test the back up battery ! The most important thing to check !