Alarm systems, what do you have?

I've used Napco and Moose (now obsolete) systems on my previous homes. In the current house I'm installing an ELK-M1G home automation system. BTW, most of the people who post regularly here (including me) are in the alarm industry.

XR-200

2 Alphanumeric custom display keypads 7 glassbreaks 2 dual tech motions 2 sirens 8 Hochiki 2wire smokes 1 Potter wateflow 2 OHD switches 1 8 relay expansion board - turns on spotlights, controls lawn sprinklers - (just find the wet guy running away from my house) 2 16 zone expansion boards 1 Uplink Anylink 4 CCTV cameras modulated through all TVs in the house. 1 broken driveway annunciator...to hot out there to fix it right now. 1 howling Beagle dog 1 .45 stainless Combat Commander 1 .45 long Colt Revolver 1 .38 snubby 1 .380 Llama auto 1 Ruger .223

yah...that oughta do it.

When you include yourself in the "alarm industry", you should also mention that you're on the "fringe" of it.

1 Vista 20P 2 Alpha Keypads 2 Sirens 3 Aurora motions 4 DS 2 wire smokes 3 5809 wireless smokes 9 5816 transmitters on all sheds, enclosed trailer, generators, bikes, and scooters. 1 Mean wife (Brooklyn Born) 1 X10 interface for inside & outside lighting(never bothered with it yet)

I know...That is way overkill... :)

Jim Rojas

Crash Gord> XR-200

Then you'll need the attached decal.

You're a real DMP user?

You have a residential fire sprinkler system (or some strange lawn set up through the alarm system)?

I like this one.

Jim Rojas

Crash Gord> Then you'll need the attached decal.

I went for a wireless system (Powermax+ from Visonic) and their best Quad IR motion detectors. Installeded it myself. Very happy, no problems.

A Yard Sign, with zero false alarms........ :-))

Yes, dealer and user.

Yes, residential firesprinkler

Yes, strange lawnsprinkler setup through alarm as well as normal landscape controller.

DSC PC1550 that came installed with the place when we bought it... would love to tear it out and put in a Paradox system though, the DSCs are a PITA to program.

PC1550 is a low end POS. But it isn't hard to program at all. IMO, the only panel that DSC makes that actually requires a manual would be the Maxsys or their new stuff. And those are a real POS. I like Paradox. What I don't like about them is the endless panel revisions...worse than Microsoft it seems :)

Jim Rojas

Matt I>> Just wondering what people out there have and how they like it.

You're kidding, right? They're the easiest panels in the world to program from the keypad. DSC software rots.

Sure, if you like figuring out bitmapped options.

Thanks, but I much prefer Paradox's programming, at least on the models I've worked with.

It's really pretty simple. There's a worksheet where you enter in all the options you intend to use. Then you just turn on the appropriate bits.

I've only programmed one or two Paradox panels. They were those annoying all-in-one wireless systems. I hated them. I understand their other lines are much easier to configure. I'll try one out one of these days.

Paradox has some issues with their software. It is not really clear cut on how to get the panel to turn on the dialer. You have to play with it to get it right. The panel doesn't automatically send signals out of the box. You have to turn things on.

DSC software is nice and simple, but their auto detect modules feature needs to be fixed. They also need to reintroduce the unsupported modems addon. I don't like the MD12. Which by the way also works with Paradox software.

Jim Rojas

Matt I>>> DSCs are a PITA to program.

Sort of like you'd turn on the extra "bits" on that Napco LCD keypad so it'll read: "Attention Burglar!" on one line and "Go ahead. Make my day!" on the other... How do you do that, by the way?

Which they didn't introduce until well *after* you left your installation business... So... Where did you program these panels? I know.... I know... Over the phone... I can understand why they would be so annoying, since the Paradox software isn't all that "clear" to deal with... You have to be able to think "en Francaise". Sort of like Leadtek (a manufacturer of computer components), only with them you have to be able to "translate" their bad Chinese/Engrish.

Once you understand them, yes...

It might take you more than one (one of these days).

Yeah, and it's way more of a PITA than it needs to be. It's a silly way to do it. It's like the systems were designed by an old-school computer programmer.

What don't you like about the new DSC panels? js