Help with Alarm system design.

[rustybolt]

I am currently in the process of designing an alarm system for my home. I have a garage attached which i run a home business from and i want to have this as a seperate area within my system which is always alarmed.

I want a keypad inside my front door, and also another keypad just inside my garage door so i can enter the garage through my electric garage door and disarm the alarm for that area.

I am going to be fitting this system myself so would appreciate a few pointers.

Can you have the garage on a seperate zone which can be disarmed from the garage on a panel like the Veritas Excel?

I have also seen the Premier 48 which would do what i need but i wonder if this is overkill on such a property, can anybody recommend a way of doing this on a reasonable budget.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Russ

 

[SteNova]

i've just fitted a prem 24 this weekend, if you get a hardened prox pickup you could put it outside the garage door, save having the alarm beeping as your waiting for the door to go up, also this would save having to set any pirs in the garage as entry zones if the keypad is inside

 

[rustybolt]

how would that work? is that a sort of proximity device?

There will be one Duel Tech PIR facing the door from the end of the garage. One mag contact on a rear UPVC door and one heavy duty mag contact on the roller door.

I wanted to be able to come in through the garage door and disaram that area. I want the house disarmed seperately to the garage. Is that possible using zones on a control panel or would i need a bigger panel like the prem 48 which is capable of up to 4 areas.

thanks for your help

 

[SteNova]

one of these

http://www.alertelectrical.com/Burg...-Tags-or-Stand-Alone-Door-Access-BBC-0001.asp

it's cheaper than the cheapest keypad with prox i've got one at the back door, one at the front, keypad upstairs.

i'm assuming someone else will be along soon to sort out the programing issue of zones/areas

 

[rustybolt]

interesting, does the tag go on your keyring?

If so, a thief would have the keys to your house and the means to disarm the alarm if you lost them, unlike a pin code. Or am i been paraniod!

Id like some more input on this if anyone can lend some advice

Russ

 

[Firesec]

Hi,
The design you have in mind is a fairly straightforward system.
I personally would install the Honeywell galaxy range of intruder systems for what you need a G2-20 would be adequate. It has 12 zones on board and is expandable up to 20. I currently have one operating exactly how you want yours to. Protecting both my office/home on separate areas.

You can have various setting options.
One keypad controlling the whole system (either as separate areas or as one large system)

2x keypads, One located inside each area, controlling them independently.

1x keypad in the house and 1x external proximity reader on the garage.

The keypads can have a built in proximity reader.

It all comes down to your budget.

As for the proximity tags they have a small hole that you can put onto your key ring, however as you thought. If your keys were to be stolen they can use the tag to unset the alarm. BUT it is a very quick and a simple operation to delete the proximity tag from the system rendering it useless.

 

[rustybolt]

Hi Firesec.

thanks for the input, im kinda swayed by the Texecom range, as i want the com2400 so i will be texted in the event of an alarm.

I take it any panel that can run the proximity tags will work how you say. I was looking at the Prem 24, however i rang Texecom to pick their brains, and was told that i would need the Prem 48 so i could run 2 areas. I thought that this panel would be a bit excessive for a domestic property?

Surely i can set up any panel to run the 3 garage sensors as one zone that can always be armed seperate to the house? What about the Prem 24 previously mentioned?

So would i need two keypads, 1 inside the front door, and the other inside the garage door. And one proximity sensor on the outside of the garage door so i could enter through the garage door after disarming it from the outside. Would I be able to arm the garage when I leave using the prox sensor?

thanks for your help

 

[SteNova]

prem 24 is one zone
prem 48 is two zone

the cost diff between the 24 and 48 isn't much, it's the keypads that cost £

to cover the garage seperatly with a 24 you would have to do part arms, we have one thats used at night to cover non sleeping areas, this has to be done from a keypad, i'm assuming with the 48 a different user or prox fob can disarm zone 1 or zone 2 or both

download the prem 48 installer manual and have a read

you can arm and disarm on the prox, if you can get it all to arm right on the prox only then you only need one keypad for programming

i'm sorry i don't know more i only reasearched what i needed to know and i'm still learning

 

[Firesec]

If you wish to install multiple keypads / proximity readers it is possible. However thinking about your system design in more detail, you could get away with a single keypad in the house which can control both the house and garage separately.

Either way you would program the system to operate in two areas:
Program all of the zones for your house into AREA A
Program all of the zones for your office into AREA B.

Then from the keypad you will have the ability to arm both areas independently of each other while retaining the part set function to use as a night time set.
When you get to the programming stage we can discuss it in more detail.

As for the multiple keypads and/or proximity readers. I know you can set the keypads to activate all areas or only certain areas that you can pre-define at the installation stage.
I would expect if its anything like the galaxy you can program the proximity readers to operate in the same way. However don’t hold me to that as it’s been many years since I have installed the Texecom kit and proximity readers were not available at the time.

As for the com2400 it’s a standard digital communicator (which the galaxy has as standard)
If you plan on using this for text message alerts, speak to your telephone provider beforehand. You will need a message centre number which you will need to program into the panel otherwise it will not send messages. Don’t panic, they should not charge you for the number as it should be freely available.

All of the above is biased on the Premier 48,
If you need any more help, let me know.

 

[rustybolt]

Where would you recommend i purchase the stuff from. Ive looked on Brewtime however they dont do Honeywell that i can see.

Ive compared the prices from other sites, and there doesnt seem much difference between the Galaxy and RKP, and a Prem 48 and a RKP.

See as i would need the com2400 for the Texecom the Galaxy would seem better value for money as it has this built in doesnt it?

However, the Prem48 enables you to have up to 4 areas, does the Galaxy have this capability?

thanks for your help guys

 

[rustybolt]

one other question, when you arm using the Prox, how do you know its armed, does it beep or have an LED so you know its armed?

 

[SteNova]

one other question, when you arm using the Prox, how do you know its armed, does it beep or have an LED so you know its armed?

intermitant beeper while any zones are active, once the entry exit is clear you get a rising count down beeper, once it's stopped it's armed.

i'm sure an 'armed' led could be fitting in a viewable position if you wanted one

 

[Firesec]

The baby galaxy panels such as the G2-20 and the G2-48 have 3 standard areas + 1 common area

For a G2-20 (12 zones on board with 8 more zones using a RIO (expander) with keyprox (keypad/prox reader) 3 prox tags and the built in PTSN communicator you should expect to pay around £180

Looking through brewtime the equivalent premier 48 system is closer to £230

On the galaxy system as you will have your system partitioned into areas the setting/un-setting procedure is as followed:
Setting.
Enter your code and press the A key or Present and hold your fob in place for about 3 seconds.
The panel will ask what number groups to set.
Enter then group numbers and press enter.
System will give you an audible warning via the keypad to warn you the system is setting.

Un-setting.
Enter your code and press the A key or Present and hold your fob in place for about 3 seconds.
The panel will ask what number groups to unset.
Enter then group numbers and press enter.
System will unset.

If you wish to check if any group is set or unset just enter your code and press the A key or present and hold your fob in place for about 3 seconds. This will then show the screen telling you what is currently set/un-set

Also as SteNova stated it’s possible to fit an indicator for each area to show its set/unset state.

 

[rustybolt]

any recommendations of where to buy the stuff from?

 

[Dibsh]

any recommendations of where to buy the stuff from?

google

securitywarehouse
vfmalarms

between the 2 of them - you should get what you want\need. There are other brick\mortar places but depends where in Yorkshire you are.