PIRs for house with ceiling heating & cooling vents and "pets"!

DSC makes okay low end panels. Their PIRs may be another thing entirely. Inexpensive may be their only claim to fame. Try a Bosch TriTech for pet immune motion detectors.

Pet and Animal Immunity The detector is able to distinguish between signals caused by humans and signals caused by pets (one dog up to 27 kg [100 lb], up to 10 cats, and other small animals such as birds and rodents). This provides immunity to false alarms while maintaining proper catch performance of human targets.

The PIR's were installed (located) incorrectly by an inexperienced installer. They need to be relocated away from the heatong ducts, or at the least, replaced with dual-technology units. Who did the install?

Hi alarman,

Yes, some of the PIRs are actually quite close to the heating ducts. The people who did the install are a Melbourne company called Insec security

(Yes I am in Australia) . I have already called them. So hopefully they can do something. However, the guy I spoke to is trying to get me to accept that this is the way it is, and that I should never ever let my heating come on when the alarms are armed. If he is correct, I might have to get some highly paid heating technician or electrician to figure out how to ensure the heaters can be totally disabled!

On the idea of dual tech PIRs, if I understand the theory correctly, is it because of the microwave element that this technology might be less vulnerable to alarming when the heaters come on?

I concur with alarman; the motion detectors are not installed properly. As a general rule, you should not be able to feel any strong drafts at the motion detector, and this applies to dual tech units as well as to straight PIRs. Three feet away from a register is entirely too close. The solution is moving the units to a different location, not installing dual techs in the same bad locations. Your alarm company is probably loath to do this because it would mean running wire instead of just swapping equipment.

It is your alarm company's job to provide you with a system that works reliably, not to tell you to turn off your heating system. If you aren't getting satisfaction from the people you are talking to, discuss your problem with the company's service manager.

way it is, and that I should never >ever let my heating come on when the alarms are armed.

That has to be one of the most ridiculous things I have ever heard. However I want to say this guy must have a pretty large pair to say that to you, as a customer of his. Certainly you should not have to worry about normal residential heating and cooling issues with a modern, properly installed motion detector. Now if you have a blast furnace and are smelting steel, then there could be a real problem. Short of that extreme he needs to fix the problem. It is not that unusual to have motion detections issues on a new installation. Those problems are easily taken care of most of the time with a single return visit. I have nothing good to say about the DSC motion detectors you've purchased. I have said and will say again that the Bosch TriTech units would be far better detectors for you to have.

"Roland Moore" wrote in news:47202e54$0$9631$ snipped-for-privacy@roadrunner.com:

I Have 5 DSC encore motion detectors installed on my premises. I have to say if installed properly they are very good units. In the 3 years my system has been in service I have not had any false alarms attributed to the motion detectors. In the interim maybe the system may be placed in cross zone or double hit mode if available to reduce the possibility of these false alarms.

Cross zoning and double hit are more for extreme conditions and harsh environments that can accept some measure of sacrifice in catch performance. I only used those as a last measure on a temporary fix. I am glad you enjoy your 5 DSC Encore motion detectors. My compliments to you and DSC. However when you get to numbers of detectors reaching the thousands level you can see a certain unwillingness on my part to try and support the limitations of such units. For the small price delta I'll take the TriTechs and save on customer patience and unneeded service calls.

Yes, that's the idea.

Oh, and your alarmco is full of shit. Get them to replace the PIR's they installed incorrectly, with dual-tech units, or move them. I lean toward the dual techs.

I used to use those when they were Detection Systems. They were not so hot. I am still replacing units with inoperative microwave components. DS knew about it, and shipped them anyway. We're done. js

Have a look at the Paradox DG-75. They're an extremely stable PIR. IMHO, one of the best units out there.

The DS835 with the flashing LED?

Mr Campbell loves that one :)

RHC: Detection Systems for a long time shipped units out to the field with faulty microwave components AND THEY KNEW ABOUT IT...turned me right off !! However, the company was bought out by Bosch as I remember, and the new Bosch combination PIR and microwave units are splendid devices. As my standard motion, I have been using the Paradox DG 75 units, but lately, I have had a number of unexplainable failures which in several cases has caused me to eat false alarm fees. Near as I can tell, they either had a bad run of units, or perhaps they have shifted their production to China with the resulting cheapening of product quality...dunno. Mind you, I still use them in large quantities and I remain happy with them overall.

DSC motions I won't touch at all....far too cheap and far too "hot" with a propensity to false alarm too easily given any environmental oddity....IMO.

Actually, I've had one Bravo 3 in my house for about a year now (OK, OK... I couldn't say "no" to Angela at Tried when she said "try one"). Even with the stupid cat, I haven't had a single problem.

RHC: Count your blessings then ! All these cheap little motions have no "forgiveness" built in.

An analogy I use to explain motions to clients goes something like this. Think of a motion as a glass of water. A cheap motions is like a glass of water with the meniscus full, and even a slight jiggle or movement spills water from the glass. With the better motions, especially the dual techs, it's like a glass of water with the meniscus in a negative mode. You can jiggle it and nothing happens because there is some very little bit of space left in the glass But any real alarm is like hitting the glass with a hammer

I know it's not a perfect analogy, but it works to explain the differences to non technical folks.

Somebody was in the chemistry lab way too long. Next you'll be telling us about the stoichiometry of claculating the mass of an intruder.

I still run into them from time to time, customers never knew the flashing is a problem although it was my understanding the microwave didn't fail but the motion's firmware thought it did

Errr Bravo 1?

RHC: "Claculating".......

Nah !....that was Professor B with his tinfoil suit who claimed to avoid detection by a motion detector. BTW, I wonder where our friend with the Loxxon alarm system is these days.

Feasting on fresh Brazilian Rain Forrest piranha? Hopefully not vice versa.