Only a thousand??? I had a couple I was called in to give them a quote on an alarm system at $1500.00 and they put me off but scheduled me in to do a $5000.00 home theater installation that the owner had all the equipment and was going to attempt but got cold feet when he saw how much there was to it.
Of course, I turned them down ..... (yeh sure ....;-> i figure now that they saw what I could do with the HT they'll call me back for the alarm.
That's the " I Want My MTV" generation for ya.
RHC: Yeah, it also might be that an alarm system is not a "fun thing" to buy; it's seem by many as simply an unfortunate but necessary purchase that they would rather do without. So it makes it easy to go cheap, or not go at all.
Had another interesting thing happen today. I had confirmed an installation for today a couple of days ago as I always do, and when we arrived, there was no one to be seen. Since the guy was a doctor, he couldn't be reached, so pissed off as hell, I left my card in the door and went home. A wasted day !! He calls my son later and gives no reasons for not being there, and no apologies, so my son said I would call back and reschedule.
Yah right, when hell freezes over!! As a doctor, he can leave me waiting for hours and I put up with it because I know his time is valuable, but he doesn't have the decency to treat my time as valuable as well. I'm thinking should send him a bill for a day's labour and see how he likes that.....
Prick !!
Ok so I got a brand new battery and replaced the old one.
When i did the switch, the system didnt even react...weird!
Should I let it charge for a bit before testing it ?
You should totally power down panel then power up ac then hook up battery to let it do a complete reboot and clear out any troubles. once electronics start acting up like computers it better to turn them off and start from scratch to allow the micro processors to reboot.
I'm glad to report that all is fine now (simulation worked: bell rang, central was notified, etc)
We'll see how long this battery will last.
thanks for the help/discussion
RHC: Yeah, it also might be that an alarm system is not a "fun thing" to buy; it's seem by many as simply an unfortunate but necessary purchase that they would rather do without. So it makes it easy to go cheap, or not go at all.
Had another interesting thing happen today. I had confirmed an installation for today a couple of days ago as I always do, and when we arrived, there was no one to be seen. Since the guy was a doctor, he couldn't be reached, so pissed off as hell, I left my card in the door and went home. A wasted day !! He calls my son later and gives no reasons for not being there, and no apologies, so my son said I would call back and reschedule.
Yah right, when hell freezes over!! As a doctor, he can leave me waiting for hours and I put up with it because I know his time is valuable, but he doesn't have the decency to treat my time as valuable as well. I'm thinking should send him a bill for a day's labour and see how he likes that.....
Prick !!
================================================================= A number of years ago I had a new doctor. Long story short. After spending 45 minutes in the waiting room (twice)for the first appointment in the morning I walked out. When I got home and wrote him a letter telling him my frustrations along with a invoice for my time along with a demand for my medical records so I could find a doctor that respected my time.
I got a check about 2 weeks later, with no apologies.
Les
Now Robert!!!!!!! I know that you and I don't have the same kind of philosophy in all things but I can't imagine that you'd miss an opportunity like this, especially with a "doctor"
Simply call him back ...... make an appointment to start the job early in the morning......... and when the time comes for you to be there, give him a call, tell him you ran into a little delay and that you'll be there within two hours. When that time comes, call him and tell him that you're en-route and will be there within a half hour ...... then call him and tell him that you hope he enjoyed wasting his time the way he wasted yours but you've decided that you prefer to deal with people who have more consideration for others. And that if he would treat you that way BEFORE you were doing business together, that you couldn't imagine what he would do to you once you were more involved. Have a nice day................
Estimate is 3 to 5 years but possibly longer if you followed the advice and got the 7 amphour battery. With your system, I'd suggest that you use some kind of an external reminder to remind you to check the battery in 3 years and change it then. If you don't change it at the three year point then you should check it at shorter and shorter intervals as apparently your system requires you to manually check it rather than it automaticaly letting you know that the battery is weak. It's likely that the panels build in battery check circuit will only respond negatively if the battery is bad but probably wont let you know if the battery is weak or "NEAR" it's end of life.
Do you know how to test the battery to be able to "anticipate" it's end of life rather than waiting until it's actually to late? Remember now, if the battery is bad, and you don't know it, it's quite possible that if an actual alarm occurs, the panel won't be able to blow the siren or send a signal to central.
I have zero tolerance for boiler room doctor offices. I give mine 15 minutes before I walk out. I also don't allow my doctor just to write a script. I tell them I have no intention in taking overpriced sugar pills. If he doesn't like what I have to say, the phone book is loaded with these witch doctors. I am more into natural remedies. I have been drinking a gallon water mixed with 1/2 cup of Apple Cider every 1-2 weeks for the past 20 years. It keeps my kidneys & liver clean, and keeps harmful bacteria at bay. If I do get sick, it generally lasts 24 hours. Doctors hate me... :)
Jim Rojas Technical Manuals Online!
Correction: Apple Cider Vinegar
Jim Rojas Technical Manuals Online!
An old manual found on the web suggest to trigger the alarm and detect if the siren sound is weaker when AC power is removed (in which case the battery should be replaced). They suggest weekly checking! (my neighbours would be happy...)
RHC: Yeah, wouldn't that be great feeling of "gotcha". However, life is too short to engage in these sorts of activities, no matter how justified they might be. Things in life that go around, usually come around. Who knows, why leave someone who might affect future business with a bad taste in their mouth. People like this would probably have no problem "bad mouthing" my company in a crowd somewhere no matter how unjustified it is....
People like that are just not worth bothering with when all is said and done. Dealing with idiots is just the price you have to pay sometimes when in business....
Good! that's the way to do it. It would be better if you were to put a voltmeter across the battery when you test it. It can be hard to tell from one test to another if the siren sounds weaker and when it you can finally tell that it sounds tooo weak, it's already too late. Put the meter across the battery terminals. pull the transformer. Blow the siren and if the battery voltage reading goes below 12 volts DC, change the battery. Let the siren ring for about 5 minutes. ( Unfortunate for your neighbors .... but ...) I think weekly is a bit too much when the battery is brand new, but just remember what I said about later on when the battery gets near it's end of life. The older it gets the more rapid the decline in performance. ( Just like people ;-)
And, I've got to say it one more time, after ten years, it's time to upgrade your equipment. The panel may seem to work for you ... but only because you're used to it. I've been doing this for over 40 years and the technology is changing at an ever increasing rate. You could have avoided all of this with a newer piece of equipment that had many times the capability and features of yours for half the price that you paid for the one you have. Although, I would have someone else install it. Not trying to insult you but, you don't seem to have a good grasp on this sort of thing.
Hmmm, obviously you're in a smaller "community" then I am.
"Bad mouthing" a business in my area is like a fart in a windstorm, unless your a mega company.
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RHC: Well I wouldn't call a city of a million people a small community. However, this is a heavy government and high tech area, and everyone is connected together via company and government newsgroups and blogs on the internet. Employees of several of the larger companies in town, as well as a number of government agencies, often discuss who they got their alarm from, and it helps if everyone recommends you. I am told, it makes it a lot easier for everyone reading the newsgroup to make a good purchase, since they don't have to start their shopping from ground zero - others have done the research.
However, as unfair as it might be, if someone "dis's" you up there for whatever reason, this can cost you a lot of sales. In business, it's also never wise to burn your bridges behind you.....
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Allegorically speaking I think that you only have to worry about burning bridges behind you when there are no other paths that will allow you to keep going. I live in the land of many paths. After this many years, of being "on a roll" the thought of retreat is not in my business plan. Only thoughts of retirement loom ahead. There's only one thing that can ruin my day at this point and that's not in my plans either ..... but hey ..... ya never know.
We still have a zillion old panels like the AT&T 8000 out there, the flaw in your argument is that some customers get so used to the system and WILL NOT go for an upgrade no matter what.
As far as the 386 you'd be surprised with them still being used on old dedicated workstations and some dedicated devices, if I recall either the Honeywell Optiflex or 7845i Internet communicator used an old
386SX chip as the main processor.
While some of that is true, what they really did was make alarms available to a much larger customer base who would never pay 5 grand for a new one back in the old days
RHC: Yeah that is most likely very true. But you have to wonder if these old clunkers contribute to the false alarm problem (which is severe in most locals) due to worn out contacts, old and frayed wiring and all the other things that plague old hardware. When I'm taking over an old system and replacing it with a new one, most of the wiring is ok, but very often I can see where it could easily lead to a false alarm (problems of routing, passing over heat pipes, no staples....you name it)
I sense you are correct about many customers getting so used to their old panel they wont go for an upgrade. I remember a few years ago, I put in the latest and greatest for a client, who took it out a few months later and replaced it with an older system with the same keypad she had before....her reason " it's easier to use with my long fingernails"....??????
No question, there definately is a "human element" in the equation.....:))
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RHC: Yeah, ask RLB about that one.....:((
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