Trying to match an Optima alarm panel to a Radio Shack Safe house bell box

Not familiar with the Gen4 only the compact 6 but 90% of the ADE range use negative (-VE) switching for strobe and bell. This means that unless you fit switching relays the box you have will not work. From your list the sounder you have is designed for positive (+VE) switching and as you assume connections are as follows:-

-ve supply = Hold off (A) STB +ve switch to strobe. FLS +ve switch to sounder. Tamper A & B are normally a switched pair to the box micro so would be wired Tamper A to -ve supply Hold off (A) (linked in bell box. Tamper B connected to SCB (T) tamper Return (T) HTH CJ

The old alarm panel finally gave up the ghost, so I had to replace it with an Optima Compact Gen4 Panel.

The panel wants the following:

Board Bell Box

Bell - ------ Trig (B) Bell + ------ Hold Off + (D) SCB (A) ------ Hold Off - (A) SCB (T) ------ Return (T) Strobe - ------ STB

The Radio Shack bell box doesn't have TADB

It has: Power + (I presume that's Hold Off) Power - (Ditto) STB + (There is no strobe -ve ) FLS + (This may be the sounder, again, no FLS -ve) Tanper A Tamper B (Tamper A and B shorted together, just to stop the damn thing going off)

Can anyone please help?

Thanks. Alistair.

replying to Fitch, Alistair wrote: Thanks for that.

Thought as much.

I bit the bullet and soldered a stripboard with two relays, diodes and terminal blocks, and stuck it in the bell box. No room at all in the alarm panel.

Works a treat,

Now I have to devise a way of getting it to talk to the autodialler. The Optima Compact is the cheapo version that doesn't come with the comms interface. Ho Hum,