Old Brinks equipment

On Monday, September 16, 2019 at 10:55:58 PM UTC-5, snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wro te:

he 2000 series and under), and before you tell me about how its proprietary yadda, I've got the necessary tools to program, and these aren't even goin g to be residentially installed. With that said, does anyone have any old b rinks stuff? It will usually be something like DSS or DCU / DTI / Arrowhead / Scantronics

I remember that junk, about the only place you will find those will be on E bay

got it, I just wanted to see if I would be able to get lucky.

Hi Ian,

There are a few more places that they would be available throughout most of the US. I know for a fact of many places scattered around the southern US, and that would mostly be landfills. That is where most units went that I e ncountered since the early 2000s.

On another similar depressing subject, Monitronics files & emerges from ban kruptcy!

Monitronics International Inc., which operates the Brinks Home Security ser vice, filed for bankruptcy after taking on too much debt and losing too man y customers. 07/01/19

The home-monitoring company, which is owned by Ascent Capital Group Inc., l isted debt of $1.84 billion in court documents filed in Houston, with plans calling for the company to eliminate $885 million of that amount. The Chap ter 11 filing allows the company to stay in business and serve its approxim ately 900,000 residential and commercial customers while it works out a rec overy plan. (Most of that is probably from customer lawsuits after finding out that the ir systems cannot be used by other alarm companies.)

You've heard the saying, birds of a feather, flock together... This certain ly could not be more true than these 2 companies. Unbelievable!

News Flash: Monitronics emerges from bankruptcy with plans to hit public markets again

08/30/2019. sigh... They've let the thugs out of jail again!

Chris Baloney is the new chief marketing officer for Brinks Home Security. Oh sorry, that should have said Chris Moloney.

I'll tell you what Ian, I will send you every Brinks boards that I find, an d you can send me every Monitronics boards that you find, since those are a cinch to get into and divert to any central station.

It should be totally illegal for any company that fails to clearly warn its potential customers that the motherboards are locked into the Brinks/Monit ronics monitoring centers! You know, there just might be a precedent for th at! I remember something about telephone companies somewhere in the past th at used to lock their customers' phone numbers into their services. I think that now you can keep your number...Hmm. I think that is why I can move my 5 cellular phone numbers to anyone's service, as I please.

As an added benefit to this post, a customer told me about Cricket Wireless years ago. 5 lines for $100 total with tax, unlimited. It is owned by ATT. They did change it a little while ago, now you only get 4 lines for that p rice so, I am grandfathered in. You just go online to cricketwireless.com a nd purchase a sim card for $9.99.

Hogan

of the US. I know for a fact of many places scattered around the southern U S, and that would mostly be landfills. That is where most units went that I encountered since the early 2000s.

ervice, filed for bankruptcy after taking on too much debt and losing too m any customers. 07/01/19

listed debt of $1.84 billion in court documents filed in Houston, with pla ns calling for the company to eliminate $885 million of that amount. The Ch apter 11 filing allows the company to stay in business and serve its approx imately 900,000 residential and commercial customers while it works out a r ecovery plan.

heir systems cannot be used by other alarm companies.)

inly could not be more true than these 2 companies. Unbelievable!

n 08/30/2019. sigh... They've let the thugs out of jail again!

. Oh sorry, that should have said Chris Moloney.

and you can send me every Monitronics boards that you find, since those are a cinch to get into and divert to any central station.

ts potential customers that the motherboards are locked into the Brinks/Mon itronics monitoring centers! You know, there just might be a precedent for that! I remember something about telephone companies somewhere in the past that used to lock their customers' phone numbers into their services. I thi nk that now you can keep your number...Hmm. I think that is why I can move my 5 cellular phone numbers to anyone's service, as I please.

ss years ago. 5 lines for $100 total with tax, unlimited. It is owned by AT T. They did change it a little while ago, now you only get 4 lines for that price so, I am grandfathered in. You just go online to cricketwireless.com and purchase a sim card for $9.99.

How many did you come across

of the US. I know for a fact of many places scattered around the southern U S, and that would mostly be landfills. That is where most units went that I encountered since the early 2000s.

ervice, filed for bankruptcy after taking on too much debt and losing too m any customers. 07/01/19

listed debt of $1.84 billion in court documents filed in Houston, with pla ns calling for the company to eliminate $885 million of that amount. The Ch apter 11 filing allows the company to stay in business and serve its approx imately 900,000 residential and commercial customers while it works out a r ecovery plan.

heir systems cannot be used by other alarm companies.)

inly could not be more true than these 2 companies. Unbelievable!

n 08/30/2019. sigh... They've let the thugs out of jail again!

. Oh sorry, that should have said Chris Moloney.

and you can send me every Monitronics boards that you find, since those are a cinch to get into and divert to any central station.

ts potential customers that the motherboards are locked into the Brinks/Mon itronics monitoring centers! You know, there just might be a precedent for that! I remember something about telephone companies somewhere in the past that used to lock their customers' phone numbers into their services. I thi nk that now you can keep your number...Hmm. I think that is why I can move my 5 cellular phone numbers to anyone's service, as I please.

ss years ago. 5 lines for $100 total with tax, unlimited. It is owned by AT T. They did change it a little while ago, now you only get 4 lines for that price so, I am grandfathered in. You just go online to cricketwireless.com and purchase a sim card for $9.99.

Also, werent monitronics control panels vista systems? If not, I have a ton lying around.

Hi Ian,

Yes, Monitronics did use a vista panel with a chip that locks you out of be ing able to program the central station number. That was their way of keepi ng it only to themselves, and perhaps they will still keep on that route... my best guess.

Their problem is that it is actually an infantile solution to try to secure their monopoly.

"The chip is the door to the central station telephone number that is st ored on the mainboard."

So picture it, and you will see that if you change out their door with a br and new door to the room that has the central station number, you will sudd enly have access to it. After you change the central station number in the room, just put the old door back in so that you are not out the cost of a n ew door. Though, those new doors can be bought on the open market anyway.

If you remember that most brands of boards actually store the information t hat is inputted onto the mainboard, and not on the chip itself, then you wi ll begin to see a fatal flaw with most systems.

The same thing can be done to Concord, Concord Express, etc.

I decided a while ago to freely give it out to anyone who needs it. It is n ot that any customers will be lost because of it, since customers more or l ess stay because of the quality of their systems and the service of the com pany that they are with.

So now, your ton of vista panels can now be used or sold. It's up to you. E njoy your new found treasure.

As to actually wanting those Monitronics boards, they are not really appeal ing since we would need to change out the chip anyway for modern day commun icators. Perhaps for some 'tight' customer who does not want to dish out mu ch at the onset, it might be good. But usually those types end up being a p ain in the long run anyway. 'Happy Type Customers' are good customers, the others we leave to the competition...There are a lot of houses and business es out there anyway.

Hogan

being able to program the central station number. That was their way of kee ping it only to themselves, and perhaps they will still keep on that route. ..my best guess.

No that wasn't the reason, the REAL reason was to standardize programming, something not easy to do when you have hundreds of installers, did the same thing with Lynx, Interlogix Simon and Concord

re their monopoly.

Not really, it worked as designed, and the boards were unlocked when reques ted

Not a monopoly at all when someone can replace the chip for next to nothing

stored on the mainboard."

No it's on in the processor

brand new door to the room that has the central station number, you will su ddenly have access to it. After you change the central station number in th e room, just put the old door back in so that you are not out the cost of a new door. Though, those new doors can be bought on the open market anyway.

Amazing isn't it?

that is inputted onto the mainboard, and not on the chip itself, then you will begin to see a fatal flaw with most systems.

It's in the processor or a rom chip

not that any customers will be lost because of it, since customers more or less stay because of the quality of their systems and the service of the c ompany that they are with.

Good for you

Enjoy your new found treasure.

aling since we would need to change out the chip anyway for modern day comm unicators.

That's not true at all

Hi Mark,

Well, if you really believe that to "standardize" programming on a mainboar d, means that only the central station telco is set in stone, go ahead and keep on believing that.

To really standardize programming, you would want to set other parts of the board into non-changeable parameters.

It does not say much about that company's technicians, if they just cannot be trusted to input the correct telco number. I mean, they did send all the zones to the central station anyway at the install, didn't they? If that c ompany was so concerned with 'standardization', they would have sent a sign al from each zone to the central station. Then, would they not have seen th at oops, no signals came in so I must have put in the wrong telco or accoun t number maybe???

Sorry, it sounds very hollow to hear that all that was "Standardized", was the central station number.

And was does that say about those techs who could not be trusted to use the right telco number?

I think that it is time to face the truth, as it appears that you have been in denial for quite a while. It's okay if you are not ready, at least just think about it some. Perhaps in time you will see that it does not ring tr ue at all to everyone who has never been associated with Monitronics as lon g as you have.

ADT which is a much bigger company, they trusted their techs to input the r ight telco since they had very many different numbers. Gee wiz, if I could not trust a technician to use the right telco, I would not trust that tech to do anything right at all!!! He would be fired, and then, I guess he coul d go to work for Monitronics- and I would even give him a recommendation!

Also Mark, I do need to address your claim about the location of the inform ation. You see, years ago I discovered quite by accident about replacing th e chip in a Honeywell panel. A customer whom we had for years, needed a ser vice call and I had to get into the programming. The particular installer c ode for his system somehow did not work. I was very puzzled as normal proce dure before exiting programming for us is to do a final check on #88, as we ll as #20 to make sure. This system did not react, I was locked out. For so me reason that I do not remember, I somehow decided to just switch the chip instead of changing out the board. I took a new board and carefully remove d the chip, and then inserted it into the locked board. Well, I was then ab le to easily get into power-up, then * and #, and voila, I was into program ming. So, I #20 and found that the installer somehow was corrupted as one o f the number was actually a letter. I changed it back to the original code for that system, powered down, and traded the chip back to the original tha t I had just taken out. And of course, everything worked just fine after th at.

So, the installer code is not on the removable chip, but somewhere on the b oard. That is why over the years, I have retrieved every installer code of every company that had previously monitored those systems. We have a very l arge list of competitor installer codes. I actually get a thrill when I go for a takeover and the previous company is unknown to me. I do not despair, I just smile and get a chip off of a new board and install it on the exist ing system. That new competitor code is recorded and the whole thing might take 10 minutes. Ahh! Such a good feeling!

There are various other ways for other brands, some more time consuming, bu t always so rewarding. So, your line-by-line denunciations do not make a fa ct false, unless I thoroughly misinterpreted your comments.

You are aware that your name is plastered all over the internet on Monitron ics programming, don't you? That does make you appear to be a Monitronics g uy from way back at least to the early 2000s. You should make your readers aware of that fact though.

Well, I do hope that you have a good and safe day, sincerely. I am not tryi ng to marginalize you, it is just that I will not stand for incorrect infor mation. I would rather help folks as that is better. So now, anyone who rea ds this will know how to get into any Honeywell panel at takeover. We only lock them out while we are monitoring a system. We will even tell you the c ode of that system over the phone if we have to, since every one of our sys tems has a unique installer code anyway.

Hogan

ard, means that only the central station telco is set in stone, go ahead an d keep on believing that.

I should keep on believing it I was the one who set the defaults back in 20

02, so far you've been ignorant on everything. BTW it's the same reason why ADT and Protection One had their own version of stock boards

he board into non-changeable parameters.

Such as?

t be trusted to input the correct telco number. I mean, they did send all t he zones to the central station anyway at the install, didn't they? If that company was so concerned with 'standardization', they would have sent a si gnal from each zone to the central station. Then, would they not have seen that oops, no signals came in so I must have put in the wrong telco or acco unt number maybe???

You've never made a mistake programming the receiver or account number? I'v e done it, techs are human, they also liked not enabling downloading

s the central station number.

I doubt you've ever seen it from my side, then you'd know

he right telco number?

When you deal with hundreds of telco numbers it's easy to do although most of the issue was incorrectly programming the account number

en in denial for quite a while. It's okay if you are not ready, at least ju st think about it some. Perhaps in time you will see that it does not ring true at all to everyone who has never been associated with Monitronics as l ong as you have.

I think it's time for you to face the fact you have no idea what you are ta lking about, everything you've said about Monitronics has been flat out wro ng so far, it's either been guesses or opinion and not facts

right telco since they had very many different numbers. Gee wiz, if I coul d not trust a technician to use the right telco, I would not trust that tec h to do anything right at all!!! He would be fired, and then, I guess he co uld go to work for Monitronics- and I would even give him a recommendation!

I can't speak for ADT however I know many who work there and they have many of the same issues we had, I'm impressed you've never made any mistakes pr ogramming a panel

rmation. You see, years ago I discovered quite by accident about replacing the chip in a Honeywell panel. A customer whom we had for years, needed a s ervice call and I had to get into the programming. The particular installer code for his system somehow did not work. I was very puzzled as normal pro cedure before exiting programming for us is to do a final check on #88, as well as #20 to make sure. This system did not react, I was locked out. For some reason that I do not remember, I somehow decided to just switch the ch ip instead of changing out the board. I took a new board and carefully remo ved the chip, and then inserted it into the locked board. Well, I was then able to easily get into power-up, then * and #, and voila, I was into progr amming. So, I #20 and found that the installer somehow was corrupted as one of the number was actually a letter. I changed it back to the original cod e for that system, powered down, and traded the chip back to the original t hat I had just taken out. And of course, everything worked just fine after that.

How am I wrong? I stated that replacing the processor (that big square chip ) makes it into a standard panel, you can do the same thing with the ADT Sa fehome 3000 which is a Vista-20P

board. That is why over the years, I have retrieved every installer code o f every company that had previously monitored those systems. We have a very large list of competitor installer codes. I actually get a thrill when I g o for a takeover and the previous company is unknown to me. I do not despai r, I just smile and get a chip off of a new board and install it on the exi sting system. That new competitor code is recorded and the whole thing migh t take 10 minutes. Ahh! Such a good feeling!

I guarantee my list of Installer codes is bigger than yours it, and you hav e confirmed how it's not about locking in a customer when all you have to d o is replace a chip currently available as a standard part from ADI

onics programming, don't you? That does make you appear to be a Monitronics guy from way back at least to the early 2000s. You should make your reader s aware of that fact though.

I've never hidden that fact

ying to marginalize you, it is just that I will not stand for incorrect inf ormation. I would rather help folks as that is better. So now, anyone who r eads this will know how to get into any Honeywell panel at takeover. We onl y lock them out while we are monitoring a system. We will even tell you the code of that system over the phone if we have to, since every one of our s ystems has a unique installer code anyway.

For someone who will not stand for incorrect information you sure do put a lot of it out about Monitronics