Clear to whom? In your world maybe, but not in the real world. The installing dealer has a responsibility to provide the product/service contracted for. The dealer is under no ethical obligation to make the system DIY friendly, unless that is specifically provided for in the contract. And if the system is monitored by the dealer, then that dealer has a responsibility to himself to see that Mr. DIY can not fiddle with the system. js
Gasp!!! :-)
bada bing.
| >>>>>>>
| >>>>>>> yes. | >>>>>>
| >>>>>> Wow - I wish I knew that 2 years ago before I committed to a DMP | >>>>>> system... | >>>>>
| >>>>> DMP is an over rated closed system. Make sure your monitoring | >>>>> contract does not automatically renew and terminate it. Get a | >>>>> several more ethical company to come in and give you bids on | >>>>> replacing it with a more open system with better support, pricing, | >>>>> and features. | >>>>
| >>>> Wow, great advice. Time to get rid of that crappy DMP system. What | >>>> would you suggest, Radio Shack? | >>>
| >>> The OP has indicated a DYI bent so Napco or DSC would be a better | >>> place for him to be than DMP. | >>
| >> Perhaps, but you inferred that his alarmco was unethical for using | >> DMP, and was somehow cheaing him by using proprietary equipment. | >
| > Clearly the OP had no idea he was buying a closed system that he | > could not touch. It is clearly the responsibility of the installer | > to make that clear to the purchaser. | | Clear to whom? In your world maybe, but not in the real world. The | installing dealer has a responsibility to provide the product/service | contracted for. The dealer is under no ethical obligation to make the system | DIY friendly, unless that is specifically provided for in the contract. And | if the system is monitored by the dealer, then that dealer has a | responsibility to himself to see that Mr. DIY can not fiddle with the | system. | js | |
Now calm down Frank. I know how that might affect you. Just calm down and think of calm waters ..... a nice beach. A warm breeze. Brazilian music playing in the background.
I have a DMP XR200-485 panel which can support up to 16 keypads though I currently only have 4 installed. I know how to program the keypads...
Thanks
Actually, I don't really blame my alarm company. They are high quality, high service, and high price. They actually have been quite good to me but they are really more geared to catering to people who would rather pay than get their hands dirty. Personally, I prefer doing things myself mostly because then I enjoy it and I can get exactly what I want -- saving money is less important.
No. My dealer is actually very high quality and high service (and high price) -- in fact, they primarily target the high end/high income segment. Their ideal customer is one who would rather pay them to come change the battery in a smoke detector.
They will certainly sell me a new keypad as long as I pay for them to install it. However, that would take all the fun out of it since I get a lot of pleasure of learning things and doing them myself. The money saved by diy is only secondary and relatively small.
They (like most dealers) make most of their money from monitoring...
Calm waters, a nice beach, warm breeze, and Queen. "Live Forever" Freddie Mercury.
How much money will be saved if you screw something up working on your monitored system? Have you bothered to let them know you want to work on the system?
I'm not doing it for the money saved -- I'm doing it for the self-satisfaction. I have been building/repairing/designing with electronics and computers for more than 30 years so I'm not too worried about causing major damage -- if I do, I can almost always fix it and if I can't, I am willing to assume the risk of paying for my screw up.
I have a good relationship with the alarm company (which again is high quality/high service) and several of their techies. In fact, they are the ones who gave me all the codes to the system and set me up with Remote Link which allows me to access and program every corner of my DMP panel. In fact, their techs like working with me because I tend to be more leading edge then most of their clients -- for example, I was one of the first "guinea" pigs to try out the ICOM module for the DMP system and we learned together how to use it. That doesn't mean that they know every little thing I do to the system but they certainly are not oblivious to the fact that I have the keys to do so...
Again, I repeat -- I am not anti-installers or dealers. I like my dealer and they deliver great service. However, I still prefer the pleasure of diy with the savings being only a secondary reward -- in fact, if I valued my time appropriately there wouldn't be any savings :)
Then buy your keypad from them and be done with it. You stated this thread with looking for DMP parts based on price, you were given the answer..... Thread closed?
do you have access to programming too? do you know at what address all your zone module are?
set me up with Remote Link which allows me to access and program every corner of my DMP panel.
What are you using to connect to your panel?
you the brownstone nyc guy?
you have a 485 in a house?
ok only 4 keypads but what else...what other devices are using addresses or are you running expanders on the LPX bus??
the 200 supports 8 device addresses so if you're using 4 for your kpds and you have say 4 x 714's or 1 x 16 zone zone expander then your finished...unless you know some tricks.
| > What panel? | > How many keypads now? | > How many and what device addresses are currently in use? | >
| > Depending on your answers, you may not even be able to add one. | | I have a DMP XR200-485 panel which can support up to 16 keypads though | I currently only have 4 installed. I know how to program the | keypads... | | Thanks
Then you should have installed the whole system yourself if you wanted total control over it........ I see a Honeywell panel in your future :-))
I am learning and doing this more for the fun and challenge. If I had the choice to do it over again, I probably would have chosen a more DIY-friendly panel. But overall, I am satisfied with the alarm and the service.
Icom module and Remote Link on my laptop...
Yes -- I have a spreadsheet of all the zones and can dowload all the panel parameters via Remote Link.
I'm not worried about damage to you although it'll be interesting if something happened and you took the blame for it, I'm more worried about everyone else on the receiver that does the monitoring
And I know several people who are great with electronics and lousy with security systems
I have 3 16-zone zone expanders plus each keypad of mine provides an additional 4 zones. So technically I have: 8 zones (XR200-485 panel) 48 zones (3 expanders) 16 zones (4 keypads) ------------------------- 72 zones
Of those, I currently have 51 zones in use which give me 21 more available.
I believe that the keypads and the zone expanders are on the LX bus so they don't use up a zone.
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