I have just moved to a 51 year old house in Delaware. There is no info on the dictograph system so I don't know if it works, don't know the code to activate etc. It seems a shame to junk it although it wouldn't cover all my needs. Anyone any ideas? Thanks. A.
You said it... "junk it". And it's not a shame. If you're going the "DIY" route and you don't want to run a lot of wire for additional devices, then I'd suggest going with a hybrid panel like the Ademco "Vista" 32 or 128. Find a friendly local dealer that will sell you the equipment and will check to make sure you've terminated everything properly before you power it up. If you're thinking of buying the equipment "online", I'd suggest reading this first.
It would be more "a shame" to try to get it working again.
Anything labeled Dictograph has got to be 25 or more years old. You'd be hard put to find anyone who'd know how to repair or maintain it if they weren't in the business for at least that long. And forget about replacement parts.
I'd guess that the contacts and sensors are of the same "vintage" so you can pretty much expect that anyone coming in to give you an estimate is going to want to change them also. The technology is so updated that it wouldn't make sense to do anything other than just use the wires and add all new equipment. The labor of the wiring is the major part of an installation so it probably wont cost as much as you might think to upgrade the equipment.
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