what is the best wire for a perimeter alarm

Pretty sure he's talking about just using the BX as sheathing and running the alarm wiring inside of it...

Next you'll be telling him to wire up his keypads with CAT 5E... Shielded wire... sheesh! We've got alarm systems installed in homes where the customer's are running ham radios. I've not had a single false alarm that's related to "radio interference". About the only "interference" I get these days is from young punks driving around with bass speakers the size of garbage can lids playing something they call "tunes" at a volume level that's gotta be close to 140 dB. You can actually *feel* them coming from a block away. To top it off, when they stop next to you they'll invariably be talking on their cell phones although God knows how the heck the person on the other end can even hear what they're saying.

Reminds me of an estimate I was asked to do down on the water front, many years ago. They were opening a sea food snack bar and wanted security. The store had been abandoned for quite a number of years but still had drop ceiling tiles. I was doing a survey and got up on a ladder and moved some ceiling tiles around and as I tilted them, these black and white what looked like "chips" cascaded to the floor. I didn't get down from the ladder to examine them but proceeded to move tiles and shine my light above the tiles. It was dirty but there were these little piles of black and white "pieces" lying in piles all over the tops of the tiles. As I looked closer the black pieces were rat and mouse droppings but it didn't register what the white pieces were. Not a sign of any activity though, so I kept shining my light around and all over the tops of the tiles were these parallel ( about a 1/4 inch apart) what looked like small tubing running side by side from one end of the room to the other and into the walls. Then when I followed them to the electrical boxes, it finally dawned on me what I was seeing. The rodents had chewed all the plastic insulation off all the romex wires that were in the freekin building. I just couldn't believe my eyes. What a fireworks display ....... had the power been turned on.

Gopher-proof wire's the only way to go.

No. Not gopher proof wire. Anything but gopher proof.

Must be a different building code where you are. Any commercial job here gets thin wall, or Greenfield etc. I've yet to see a rodent get through any type of EMT. But where you are on the waterfront perhaps something from

20,000 leagues could come up and get you.

Here is a case where a little knowledge becomes dangerous. Someone reading your post might get the idea that running shielded wire is always *best*, and alarm companies don't do it simply for pricing reasons. That is simply not true. Your belief that shielded wire helps with lightning induced problems doesn't prove true in real life either in most cases. Trading RF problems for wire capacitance issues is not a good trade. You might not even know such wire capacitance problems can exist, or how they might manifest themselves. Using shielded wire when it is otherwise not called for can be an extremely risky business, especially mixed in with an out of spec gauge of wire. Occasionally problems with RF occur that running shielded only makes worse, especially on any analog data loop. A few panel manufacturers ban its use outright, especially some fire panel manufacturers. Then again some few manufacturers insist on using shielded wire, typically only on the data runs. Running shielded wire can DECREASE the total allowable run distance by up to half on many data loop type systems (yes that technology is used in residential type systems). Other systems have a very heavy spec on the allowable wire capacitance (especially fire systems using an analog addressable schema). Too much capacitance in a wire, especially shielded, can bring it own set of unique and vexing issues to have to trouble shoot. And before you ask, yes there definitely is a capacitance spec on wire and many panel manufacturers make use of that spec. In other words, follow the wiring recommendations of any panel manufacturer carefully. If you plan to deviate from the recommendations, then consult the panel manufacturer about any type wire you plan to run that is in any way different.

"Bill" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@mid.individual.net...

Well years ago I was able to see the difference between the old "relay" systems and the new (at the time) transistor/IC systems. The transistor/IC systems had problems the relay systems never had.

Lightning storms would cause all sorts of false alarms or would damage the control.

Systems near radio station transmitters would have all sorts of problems.

Enormous warehouse buildings with miles of wiring had weird problems.

Installing shielded wiring or installing the wiring in metal conduit solved these problems.

ok... double stranded barbed wire then

20- 30 years ago, yes. now a days just use twisted conductors to defeat inductance and emi.

Too bad he went to all that trouble of re wiring. He might have saved some time with simply installing the correct value choke instead.

This was 20 or possibly more years ago and the wiring in the bulding was done some years before that. Certainly wouldn't pass now. And in places like that, who knows, wiring may have been done by a DIY'er or somebody got paid off.

Gay futures? I wonder. You mean like commodity trading? Instead of pork bellies or orange juice you could trade in gay futures? Purchase the rights to all the newly declared or exposed 'mo' politicians. Sounds like a new reality show. I'm changing the channel to anything but that.

Jeez what a goof

Jim wrote in news:1190082854.576047.7320 @w3g2000hsg.googlegroups.com:

Euwww!!

THAT is not what i meant! (Shudder) no one needs that visual.

Not my fantasies, Mine involve large breasted females.

Hey ..... maybe we should join forces.

I've been on a life long quest to find the perfect pair. Ya know ..... everytime I think I've found them ..... I still have to look at the next pair.

Hey ..... ya never know!

I've developed some pretty good manuvers to watch, without my wife catching on ..... too! On the beach, book on my lap, head tilted down, eyes looking out the top of my sunglasses ..... etc. Looking along the beach for a picture to take, through the telephoto lens of the camera.

On the other hand, she's probably on to me ..... and just doesn't object anymore.

Is that why you were banned from all the local dairies? When you said you liked four on the floor, everyone thought you were talking about cars!

Reminds me of the line in the movie, "Witness," where the Amish farmer asks Harrison Ford, "What's the matter . . . haven't you ever handled a tit before?"

Ford says, "Sure, just never this big."