My 20+ year control panel has died so I need to replace it and the rpk. It’s also time the bell box was updated too.
My first thought was the Honeywell Accenta Gen 4 (the larger case version) with a Reson8 siren but then I started doing research here and elsewhere and noticed that Texecom was highly regarded – so I’ve been checking out the Texecom Veritas and Premier Elite 24 Control Panel together with the Odyssey 3 siren. (To be honest, I’ve spent so much time reading the Premier Elite 24 CP Installation/User Manuals that my mind seems focused on it, even though it might be overkill.)
Any thoughts on the options mentioned?
At the moment the urgent thing is to get a replacement control panel, remote keypad and bell box set up. Then, in a few months I will review the rest of the system and bring it up to date.
Questions:
The Odyssey 3 bell installation manual shows 8 connections to the CP:
- 5 standard ones
- 2 additional for Grade 3 (presumably going the the Aux Tamper on the CP?)
- 1 “optional” connection (not sure of its purpose).
As my existing wiring is 6 core, would it work fine with just the 5 standard connections, and would the Engineer’s Hold Off still work when the Engineer’s code is entered into the RKP?
There is an Odyssey Premier 3E and an Odyssey Premier Elite 3, both the same size but the Premier Elite 3 seems to have a louder siren and enhanced security. For a normal house in a high density housing area, is there much to be gained from the Premier Elite 3 over the Premier 3E?
The existing wiring is all CCL (i.e. with separate tamper wires) so presumably a global tamper would have to be connected to the Aux Tamper connections. If I do get a Premier Elite 24, I was wondering about getting an 8XE expansion board with it which, according to the manual, can be set as Zones 9-16 or Tampers 1-8 and using it for separate tamper connections, instead of a global tamper. Does anyone know whether the Zones 9-16 vs Tampers 1-8 is set by a toggle on the 8XE board or by the Zone Types in the panel configuration procedure?
I was also thinking about getting a COM2400 board for its SMS text capabilities (i.e. to text me if there is an activation) but I’ve read that SMS through a service provider isn’t exactly 100% reliable. So I’ve been looking at the Texecom “Speech Dialler with Text”. Is this a decent bit of kit?
Programming the system (and using the Engineer’s code, etc) depends on the RKP (if one doesn’t have Wintex). Is it s good idea to have two RKPs as a safeguard against one of them failing?
Finally, many bell boxes have an option for “comfort” lights that flash to show the bell is working. Of course, if the “comfort” lights stop – it also shows the alarm system isn’t working! What do people think about using these?
(Apologies for this long post and for asking silly questions.)
My first thought was the Honeywell Accenta Gen 4 (the larger case version) with a Reson8 siren but then I started doing research here and elsewhere and noticed that Texecom was highly regarded – so I’ve been checking out the Texecom Veritas and Premier Elite 24 Control Panel together with the Odyssey 3 siren. (To be honest, I’ve spent so much time reading the Premier Elite 24 CP Installation/User Manuals that my mind seems focused on it, even though it might be overkill.)
Any thoughts on the options mentioned?
At the moment the urgent thing is to get a replacement control panel, remote keypad and bell box set up. Then, in a few months I will review the rest of the system and bring it up to date.
Questions:
The Odyssey 3 bell installation manual shows 8 connections to the CP:
- 5 standard ones
- 2 additional for Grade 3 (presumably going the the Aux Tamper on the CP?)
- 1 “optional” connection (not sure of its purpose).
As my existing wiring is 6 core, would it work fine with just the 5 standard connections, and would the Engineer’s Hold Off still work when the Engineer’s code is entered into the RKP?
There is an Odyssey Premier 3E and an Odyssey Premier Elite 3, both the same size but the Premier Elite 3 seems to have a louder siren and enhanced security. For a normal house in a high density housing area, is there much to be gained from the Premier Elite 3 over the Premier 3E?
The existing wiring is all CCL (i.e. with separate tamper wires) so presumably a global tamper would have to be connected to the Aux Tamper connections. If I do get a Premier Elite 24, I was wondering about getting an 8XE expansion board with it which, according to the manual, can be set as Zones 9-16 or Tampers 1-8 and using it for separate tamper connections, instead of a global tamper. Does anyone know whether the Zones 9-16 vs Tampers 1-8 is set by a toggle on the 8XE board or by the Zone Types in the panel configuration procedure?
I was also thinking about getting a COM2400 board for its SMS text capabilities (i.e. to text me if there is an activation) but I’ve read that SMS through a service provider isn’t exactly 100% reliable. So I’ve been looking at the Texecom “Speech Dialler with Text”. Is this a decent bit of kit?
Programming the system (and using the Engineer’s code, etc) depends on the RKP (if one doesn’t have Wintex). Is it s good idea to have two RKPs as a safeguard against one of them failing?
Finally, many bell boxes have an option for “comfort” lights that flash to show the bell is working. Of course, if the “comfort” lights stop – it also shows the alarm system isn’t working! What do people think about using these?
(Apologies for this long post and for asking silly questions.)
